I slumped down in a kitchen chair. “I don’t know how to get over her. I thought time would do it, but it hasn’t.”
“It’s only been a few weeks,” Brian said as both my brothers joined me at the table.
“Yeah, and I thought I was doing okay, but as soon as I laid eyes on her today…” I shook my head. “This falling in love stuff sucks.”
“Or it can be wonderful,” Cal pointed out. “Like all your Christmases combined into one.”
“Yeah, not helping, bro,” I told Cal. I needed a way to getoverher, not continue to pine for something that could never be.
“You sure it’s too late to get her back? I heard the start of the argument, but I don’t know where it went from there. What if?—”
“No, it’s too late,” I said, interrupting Brian. Since I knew I could admit anything to my twin, I went on, hoping it’d be the same with Cal. “She wanted me to say I was sorry about the mistakes I’d made, and I didn’t.”
“You weren’t sorry?” Brian asked.
“I am now.” A hundred times I’d wondered why I hadn’t swallowed my hurt and my pride and said the words she needed to hear. She’d given me a chance, and I’d blown it. “It’s over. All I can do now is support her through the pregnancy and do whatever I can to help raise the baby.”
“So you’re looking to be her friend?” Brian clarified, and I saw Cal wince.
I heard Julia’s voice in my head again, telling the doctor that we were just friends, and then asking me to lunch like we were old acquaintances who bumped into each other on the street. “I’ll do anything for her, but I can’t see her a lot. That’s too hard.”I hated admitting weakness to anyone, but I could with my brothers.
“Maybe you should make a list of things you could do for her from a distance,” Cal said. Brian grabbed for a pad of paper as Caitlin came into the kitchen.
“Hi, Jake,” she said.
“Caitlin, how are you doing?” I asked. Her stomach was rounded, and she bumped it into the table as she took a seat.
“I’m well, but you look like crap.” Caitlin scrutinized me.
“Maybe you can help us,” I suggested. Getting a woman’s point of view could be what I needed. “We’re trying to brainstorm ways for me to support Julia without actually seeing her.”
Caitlin gave me a doubtful look. “Okay, what do you have so far?” she asked. Brian held up the blank paper.
“I need something big, I think,” I said. “What if I hire someone to care for her animals during the rest of the pregnancy? She’s going to get to the point where she can’t muck out horse stalls.”
“I’ll put it on the list,” Brian said, writing. “You could help build her business. She told Sofia that she’s worried about that chain vet clinic taking clients from her. You could advertise on her behalf or talk up her clinic at the Cattlemen’s meeting like the Caffertys did with Declan.”
Declan almost lost everything when he accidentally opened his mouth around the wrong person. Folks around here had long memories and some people still held a grudge long after Shannon—the person who’d been directly affected—had forgiven Declan. It wouldn’t be like that with Julia. She didn’tneed to prove her trustworthiness to anyone. But still, everyone could use a boost sometimes, right?
“Yeah, that could work.” I liked that idea, since I so clearly remembered her saying that she needed the stud fees from Twister. Despite that, she’d returned the check I’d written to her, uncashed. I’d received it in the mail a few days ago.
“She mentioned she was worried about having a replacement vet while she was on maternity leave. I could check to see if she’d spoken to Declan about it yet and if he said no, then start the search for someone and pay their salary.”
“Guys?” Caitlin cut in and took the pen from Brian’s hand before he could write more. “Those are all very, um, thoughtful ideas. They really are. It’s good that you’re looking for ways to help her. But if you do any of those things, you’ll piss her off. Don’t interfere with her business or her ranch. Those are hers, and it’s not your place to go behind her back and make decisions for her. If she asks for help, give it. Other than that, let her manage those.”
I sat back in my seat. At first I was annoyed, but it didn’t take me long to realize that Caitlin was right. I’d see the gestures as helpful, but Julia would perceive them as interfering. “I don’t suppose you’ve got any ideas.”
“As a matter of fact, I do.” Caitlin was smiling. “Julia registered for baby items. Buy them for her. We know she wants those things, and she’s willing to let others purchase them, which is why she put them on the registry.”
“That seems too simple, like it’s the easy way out,” I said.
“It’s what she would want,” Caitlin insisted, leveling a look at me. “Isn’t that one of the issues the two of you had—thatyou didn’t listen when she told you how she felt or what she wanted?”
I nodded, realizing she was right. This was the same thing that Julia had brought up in our fight. I pulled out my phone. “She gave me access to the registry and her wish list. Should I just have the stuff shipped to her house?”
“No,” Caitlin said. “You want this to be personal. You deliver the items, even if that means just leaving them on her front porch.”
“She’s clever,” I said to my twin.
