“Okay, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Riley said on a yawn. Even having a nanny, he still got up in the night with the twins if he was needed, the same as Jack did.

“Down,” Max demanded. He punctuated the request with a bash to Riley’s chest with the ever-present Thomas. Riley privately wished his son had a soft toy instead of a hard Thomas toy. Setting Max down, he watched as Max immediately climbed the chair to sit at the table.

“I promised him mac and cheese,” Carol said with a smile. “Apparently it’s his favorite.”

“Did he tell you that?” Riley hadn’t heard Max express a favorite in anything, well, nothing except Thomas the Tank Engine.

“I printed out some pictures and then let him choose. Seemed to work okay. Are you staying? It’ll be ready in ten.”

“Can you keep some for me? I need to talk to Robbie and Liam.”

“In the microwave,” she agreed.

Riley shrugged on a light jacket. Late October in Texas wasn’t cold exactly, but when night fell the chill was enough that Riley felt it. He walked over to the new barn, but there was no sign of Robbie or Liam, so he strolled out past the fences to the fields beyond and finally spied the two men working on fencing about two hundred yards past the barns.

“Hey,” he said as he came closer. Liam straightened at the words and immediately shuffled around so he was facing Riley. Robbie moved slower, but then he had hold of the large roll of wood that Liam was hammering into the ground. “Jack’s not well, and if it’s anything like what Hayley had, he could be out of action for a couple days.”

“Okay. I’m guessing we’re delaying the training session he was running?”

“He said you two could handle it,” Riley said with a shrug.

Liam raised his eyebrows and glanced at Robbie.

“Sure can,” Robbie answered firmly.

Riley was amused at the sudden pride that flashed over Liam’s face, followed immediately by obvious panic. Liam was clearly torn between the subtle assurance from Jack that he could work with Robbie on this, and the probably overwhelming panic that he wouldn’t be able to do his part.

“You should maybe keep away from the D for Eli.” Unspoken was the extra bit about keeping Eli away from infections if they had the choice. No person could completely avoid illness, but in this case, they could keep Eli away from his favorite pastime of cooing over the twins. His immune system was still a little weak, although at least it wasn’t totally compromised as it had been before.

Robbie settled the post and indicated Liam should support the weight.

“Can I just talk to you quickly?” he asked Riley. Then he walked a little way away from Liam. Riley followed and fear gripped him. Why would Robbie want to talk to him alone? Was it Eli? Was the cancer back?

“Is everything okay?” Riley asked.

“It’s this training session with Liam.”

Riley felt relief trickle through him. Eli was one of his best friends, and they may have missed out on a few years when Riley was being a dick and Eli was finding himself—as Jack summarized—but they were close.

“Go on.”

“The ranch they’re sending the guys from backs onto the Bar Five, where Liam was.”

“That doesn’t mean anything; even though the ranch bumps up against Bar Five, it’s miles away, right?”

“Ranching is a small world,” Robbie explained patiently. “They’ll know the bastard that hurt Liam, they may even know Liam.”

“You want to keep him out of this then?”

“Hell, no,” Robbie exclaimed sharply. “He’s a man now, he’s damn good at his job, and he’ll need to face this. I just hate that it’s sooner rather than later. I don’t know much about the two they’re sending, but Liam will have me backing him up and he can face them down.”

“If you think that is best.”

“It’s what Jack wanted. He was going to have Liam in as support, wasn’t going to be hiding him out back or anything like that.”

“Then if Jack called it, and you’re happy with it, then just let me know if I need to do anything. I’ll be working at home for the rest of the week anyway.”

Robbie nodded. “Eli says it’s Max’s birthday soon.”

“Yeah, he’ll be five.”

“Thought me ’n Eli could get him something for Hatty’s stable, if that’s okay?”

Robbie looked embarrassed to ask. “Remember he’s into Thomas and horses and anything you do will be good,” Riley reassured.

Robbie inclined his head, and then the two of them walked back toward Liam. He smiled, and Riley sketched a wave before splitting away and heading back to the house. When he arrived everyone was still eating, and he took his place at the table and shoveled in the homemade macaroni cheese.

“So good,” he said between mouthfuls.

Max ate enough to warrant a well done, and Hayley polished off nearly as much as her dad. She shared his metabolism and was going through the first of what was probably many growth spurts before she stopped growing.

“Dad, will you help me with my chemistry homework?”

“Don’t know much about chemistry,” he deadpanned. Given his job had elements of chemistry mixed with geology, he knew enough chemistry to be dangerous when it came to helping Hayley with her homework. Still it meant quiet time with his daughter, and he craved time like that. As she grew she looked more and more like Lexie, all slim and willowy. Add in his height, and while he may be biased as her daddy, he thought she was beautiful. At twelve she was still his baby, but that wouldn’t last for long.

Connor squawked from his portable bassinet, and Riley scooped him up to cuddle him. He was actually more vocal than his sister right now.

“If you’re going to cook for us, I’m going to have to give you a raise,” Riley threatened. Again. He said the same thing every night, and her answer was the same each time.

“You already pay me enough, too much, and I might think you’re bribing me to overlook your cookie stealing.”

Hayley snorted a laugh, and Riley pushed her on the arm. She feigned pain and punched him in return. “Beating up your daughter,” she muttered. “So not cool.”

“Beating on your old dad,” Riley began thoughtfully. “Just uncool.”

“No one says uncool, Dad.”

“They don’t?”

“You’re so old.”

Riley considered the comment, but at thirty-one he didn’t feel old, he felt settled.

There was a difference.

Chapter 15

~November~

Riley saw how curious Max was about the extra door in his room. The craftsmen had finished the sensory addition with two days to spare and the guys with all the equipment had managed to get everything set up with hours until Max’s official birthday. Riley was desperate to make a fanfare of the whole thing, with a grand opening of sorts and everyone here, but when he’d broached the subject with Rebecca she had warned him off. Max didn’t like fuss or noise or days that were wildly different from the previous day.

She explained Max wasn’t as bad as some autistic children she had known, but that he still thrived on routine and calm. So instead of everyone here with balloons and a party, Riley and Jack simply sat on his bed and watched him explore the new space.

“It’s really good, Riley,” Jack offered. He sounded like shit, but he ignored Riley telling him he should go back to bed. Despite not feeling great, Jack wouldn’t miss the unveiling for anything.

“I’m pleased.”

The room was darkened and along one side there was a wall of solid immovable plastic tubes full of light arrays that were soft and gentle. A curtain of similar lights hung down from the ceiling, and in the middle of the ceiling was a rainbow-colored ceiling fan. Jack was the one who’d noticed that Max liked fans and other things that spun, like the washing machine in the utility room. Riley, Jack, and Hayley had painted the lines on the fan themselves, and as the fan spun lazily in the room it created a rainbow effect in the colors. That was what Max was doing now, lying on his back and staring up at the fan with a rapt expression on his face.