He snorted. “She is certainly that.”
“That’s what I want to be, too,” she said. “I don’t want to have to depend on anyone else. I want to be capable of taking care of myself and my children.”
“You should talk to my dad, Trish,” he said. “He was determined to take care of my mom all by himself when she got sick. He pushed everyone away who cared about both of them. Me, my brothers and sister and my grandpa, too. And I know he regrets that now.”
She released a shaky breath. “You don’t understand, Brett. This isn’t about not wanting people to help me. It’s about knowing if I can do it without help, if I can handle all this on my own, and I’ll never know that if I don’t try to do it without help.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to take over. I was just trying to help because Livvy and the other doctor said that you shouldn’t be under stress right now, that it could raise your blood pressure too much.”
She reached across the console and squeezed his arm. “And I appreciate that so much,” she said. “I can’t believe, after everything that’s happened, that you would help me like you have. I thought you would hate me.”
He chuckled and admitted, “I thought I would, too.” And maybe it would have been easier if he had. But he liked her too much and that was why he wanted to help her.
“I’m glad you don’t,” she said, “though I would understand if you did.”
He shook his head. “No. You have your reasons for everything that you did, Trish.”
“And I have my reasons for wanting to take care of myself and these babies,” she said. “I don’t want to put them through the childhood I had, split between two parents, missing one, getting manipulated by the other. I want to be the only person they need, so that they don’t wind up losing and missing someone so much.”
“So you’re never going to get married again?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No. I can’t.”
“Not that I’m proposing,” he assured her and tried to laugh it off as a joke. “I swore to myself long ago that I’d stay single.”
“Why?” she asked. “What’s your reason? Your parents sound like they had a great marriage.”
“They did,” he said. “And my dad is devastated without her. I wouldn’t want to go through that kind of pain and loss. Or what your dad went through. Not wanting to risk that, I decided long ago that it’s better to stay single.”
She drew in a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, it is.”
“I decided to put all my focus on the ranch, to make sure that the Four Corners prospers and that it takes care of the people who rely on it, like Liam and his family and Blake. I don’t want them to risk their relationships because the ranch takes so much of their time,” he explained. “Like it did your father.”
“My mother hates it still,” she murmured.
“Your father loved it,” Brett said. “And I love it.”
“I do, too,” she murmured.
And he believed her. “You have this…” He gestured toward her stomach. “The babies. Parenting. You’ll figure it all out on your own. But as for stuff on the ranch, you have four partners in it, five really, since Liam and Elise are partners in his share. So we’re all partners in the work, too.”
“But you’re all doing more work than I am,” she said.
He shook his head. “No, Trish. This is all you. You picked out the animals. You designed the bunkhouse remodel. That’s all been a lot of work, and I’m sure you’ll probably wind up doing the bulk of the work for it once it’s up and running.”
She sighed.
He was worried that he’d made matters worse instead of better. “Or you can hire someone to help you with the camps and with the babies. You don’t need to worry about all of this.”
She nodded. “You’re right. I will have to hire counselors for the camp. And I have time—more than a month yet—to learn more about kids.”
“Trust me, you learn quick when they get here,” he said. “None of us knew anything about babies when Lucy showed up in the barn. But we know what we’re doing now.”
“Yes, you do. She’s a very happy baby.”
* * *
Famous last words. A short time later, while Trish walked the floor with a screaming Lucy in her arms, she wondered if she’d jinxed herself. When she and Brett showed up at the ranch, Liam and Elise had rushed out to them in the driveway.
