“And mine,” Sadie said. “And they are perfect.”
He grinned with pleasure at their praise. “Yeah, they are pretty perfect.”
“But…?” Lem prodded him.
“Brett is just so determined to stay single,” he said.
“You’re sure about that?” Sadie asked.
He nodded. “He came to see me today to tell me to give his mother’s ring to Blake to give to Maci. And his mother wanted him to have it.”
“Oh…” Lem let out a sigh of disappointment.
But Sadie looked skeptical. “That doesn’t mean he’ll stay single,” she said. “In fact…”
“What?” both he and Lem asked when she trailed off.
She shrugged. “It’s almost like he wants to get rid of the ring to get rid of the temptation to use it.”
“For whom?” Bob asked. “He’s not even dating anyone.”
“Dating, no,” Sadie agreed. “But I think he’s interested in Trish Dempsey.”
“She’s pregnant with twins,” Bob said.
Sadie smiled. “Yes, and beautiful and sweet.”
“I’ve met her,” Bob said. “She’s not what I was expecting.” Not after everything she’d put his sons and her cousin and Maci through. “But really?”
Sadie shrugged. “I don’t know for sure.”
He narrowed his eyes and looked at his father. “Are you two scheming?”
“Your kids have made that unnecessary,” Sadie said. “They have a way of finding their soulmate on their own. Look at Liam and Elise and Blake and Maci…”
“But you helped set up Livvy and Colton,” he reminded them.
“Well, your daughter had just ended a horrible relationship, and Colton is stubborn like his father,” Sadie said.
“And his grandmother,” Lem added, but he winked at his wife.
“Trish Dempsey just ended a horrible marriage,” he said. At least that was what Maci had told him. “So she’s not looking for romance. And I don’t believe Brett is either.” He sighed. “I’m afraid I set a bad example. That because I haven’t started dating, they think their mother’s death destroyed me.”
“Did it?” his father asked.
He shook his head and admitted, “No. It just made me think…” About all the mistakes he’d made. But he was afraid that he was still making them. Maybe the only way to stop would be to go back and correct some of the mistakes he had made.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Once she’d calmed down, Brett had left Trish back at the cemetery alone. He felt like she might have needed a little more time with her father. And maybe with herself and her thoughts.
He’d needed some time and distance away from her, too. Seeing how upset she’d been, he’d gotten angry. Not with her but with Frank. His friend had definitely made mistakes with his daughter. He’d let his pride and stubbornness keep them apart.
That pride and stubbornness were two traits that Brett had in common with Frank, and which had helped them to understand each other so well. But what did that mean for Brett? Would he miss out on things because he was too stubborn to change his mind once he’d made it up?
He needed to think about that with a clear head. And he never had a clear head around Trish. He needed to get back to the Four Corners and on the back of his horse. A ride in the fresh air might clear his mind.
But when he arrived at the ranch, he found an unfamiliar vehicle parked in it. It wasn’t as big as the lawyer’s Hummer, but it was a long black town car. A limousine at the Four Corners? It looked even more out of place than the Hummer had.
