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  Amy’s eyes widened at the news, and Jack knew she understood how hard this was for him. His childhood home owned by some strangers, his rodeo school dream up in smoke.

  He shrugged, trying to seem lighthearted about the whole thing. “We just don’t have the funds to keep it going, and it’s not likely I’ll ever win big enough in competitions to get the money I’d need to renovate the place anyway, so really, this is for the best. I’ll land on my feet.”

  Jack knew by her expression that she saw right through his words, so he stopped talking and just hugged her close, gathering strength from her.

  “Are you going to be leaving Spring Valley for good after that?” she asked, and he thought her voice caught in her throat for a second.

  “I’m so sorry,” she said in a whisper. “If I hadn’t meddled—”

  “Then we would have lost even more money and would end up with the same outcome, only worse,” he told her.

  He saw that in her eyes she still felt guilt over her part in this decision, and he lifted her chin until she was looking him in the eye. “This is what needs to happen, Amy. You didn’t create our mess, and you shouldn’t feel bad for pointing out that we were hiding from it. Thank you for stopping us from keeping our heads in the sand until we went bankrupt.”

  Then he leaned down and kissed her, and neither of them said anything for a long time.

  “Any idea when all this will happen?” Amy asked eventually, her forehead pressed against his.

  “It’ll be at least a month,” he answered, “and probably longer if the ranch sits on the market a bit.”

  Finally, after another long silence, they broke apart. “I better get home,” Jack said. “But I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”

  Amy gave him a smile that looked slightly forced. “I’ll be there,” she said.

  Then, with a little wave, she turned toward her house and he climbed into his truck. Jack waited until she was inside and the light in the living room was turned off, then started the truck’s engine.

  In a month, Amy would leave once again for her adventures. In a month, maybe a little more, the ranch he’d always thought of as home would be gone.

  When the time came, there would be some very difficult decisions to make. But until then, he was going to enjoy this month for all it was worth.

  Chapter Seven

  Amy awoke the next morning feeling light-headed. For the second night in a row, she’d gotten very little sleep and it was starting to take its toll on her. She rolled out of bed, had a quick breakfast with her parents, Diego and Jose, and then asked to borrow Diego’s keys.

  “What, you aren’t going to stick around here and have quality time with your brothers?” Jose demanded.

  “I’m helping Jack practice roping to stay in shape until he finds a new partner,” she told him.

  Jose seemed about to say something, but Diego put a hand on his twin’s shoulder and Jose quieted down. Amy thought, not for the first time, that Jose really shouldn’t be allowed out in the world without Diego nearby to balance him out. “You never let me have any fun, you know,” she heard Jose whisper to Diego, who took no notice of his brother.

  “I’ll be back in a few hours, and we can do quality time then,” Amy said, ignoring their interaction. Jose shook his head dramatically. “Too little too late, sister. And I was going to tell you where Ma hides the soda pop.”

  Diego rolled his eyes. “It’s in the fridge. Have a good time, Ames.”

  Amy waved goodbye to him over her shoulder as she walked out.

  Her morning at the Stuarts was much the same as before, except for two things: one, she could hardly lift her right arm to shoulder height and had to practice without an actual rope in her hand, and two, the mood of each person in the Stuart household had changed, though they all seemed to be taking pains to hide it. Tom was certainly happier, more relaxed, and Jack couldn’t completely conceal how at a loss he felt.

  Amy’s heart ached for Jack. He’d always held tightly to his dream, had been so sure as a young man that he would be able to reach his goals. Now he was faced with giving them up completely, and Amy could tell it hurt him badly.

  Amy also had a selfish reason for not wanting Stuart Ranch to sell. If Jack left Spring Valley for good, would that destroy even the tiny chance that they might be able to make something work between them? As it was, his time on the rodeo circuit and her travels, let alone the baggage and other difficulties that lay between them, made a relationship seemed laughably impossible. Take away Spring Valley, the one connection they really had, and it seemed there was no hope at all.

  She tried hard not to think about it, but it was clear she and Jack were both preoccupied, and she almost felt relief when they finally called an end to the practice session.

  As Amy and Jack brushed down the horses, Jack brought up a topic she hadn’t even thought of since his news the previous night. “So, have you thought about how you’re going to get to Austin on Wednesday?”

  It took Amy a moment to remember why she was going to Austin, and then a burst of some combination of emotions too complex to name flowed through her. She was going to be meeting her half sister in just a few days. “I—I guess I’ll just borrow Pop’s truck for the day,” she said, not really liking the answer.

  If she borrowed the truck, she’d feel obligated to explain why, and Amy just didn’t know if she was ready to talk about it with her adopted family yet.

  “How about I drive you instead?” Jack asked.

  Amy looked up at him in surprise, but before she could protest, he added, “I should go in anyway to get the property listed with some Realtors. And you never know, you might need someone around.”

  She was still about to insist she could handle it on her own when he looked into her eyes and made her arguments for her. “I know you’ve thought a lot about this, and I know you can take care of yourself whatever happens, but you shouldn’t have to.”

  Amy closed her mouth, took a moment to let this thought settle in her mind. She was so used to relying on only herself in every situation that it seemed odd to need someone else, but it also gave her a sense of comfort. Finally, she agreed. “That would be nice. Thanks.”

  She grasped his hand and felt the familiar rush of electricity through her veins. She couldn’t know where this would go, but she knew that for the moment she was happy.

  When Amy arrived home a short while later, Jose and Diego were sitting in the living room arguing over something. They stopped when she arrived, but she could feel the tension between them. “What’s going on?” she asked as she sunk into the old couch.

  Jose rolled his eyes. “Diego has no vision and wants to keep us living at the poverty line instead of believing in me,” he said.

  Amy looked over to Diego, who seemed just as irritated, though without the sarcastic edge Jose employed. “Our business is just getting off the ground, and I’m sorry if I don’t think now’s the time to start putting what little money we’ve made into other ventures, even if some guy you know told you it was a ‘sure thing,’” Diego retorted.

  Amy felt a sort of guilty happiness that the twins were so caught up in their own lives that they would hopefully avoid asking about her own. Between her lunch with her half sister, guilt about Jack losing his ranch, and the confusing nature of her relationship with Jack, everything felt like a land mine she wasn’t prepared to discuss. Better to talk about the two of them and their issues rather than hers. And maybe she could even help them somehow.

  “What is this ‘sure thing’?” she asked Jose.

  “It shouldn’t really matter,” he answered, “at least not to a brother who’s supposed to trust me.”

  With that, Jose stood and walked out of the room. Diego sighed and dropped back against the couch. “Sometimes he can be such a pain in the ass,” he told Amy.

  Amy shrugged. “Yeah,
but I don’t think that’ll be changing anytime soon.”

  Diego nodded. “And, as usual, he’s going to get his way. He knows I’ll let him take the money if he pushes hard enough.”

  Amy agreed. They all knew Diego and Jose well enough by now to know how they worked. “How’s your rodeo stock business going?” she asked, trying to understand the situation a little better.

  He sighed again, making it clear that it wasn’t exactly pleasant territory, either. “We’re making enough to survive,” he said.

  That sounded like a big red flag to Amy. “Are you enjoying it?”

  Diego didn’t answer. Before Amy could ask another question, Jose was back with a cup of soda, his grin settled into its normal position on his face. “Sorry about that,” he told both of his siblings. “This is something we can figure out later, Diego. I’m only here through tonight, and I don’t want to spend it arguing when I can pry into my sister’s life instead.”

  Before Amy could process what he’d said, Jose set his glass down on the coffee table, flopped onto the couch and put an arm around her. “So, Ames, how are things with you and Jack? Starting up the old flame? Is it love?”

  Amy wasn’t sure if Jose was teasing her, genuinely curious, or just trying to irritate Diego, but now she was stuck, and she knew Jose would refuse to take “no comment” as an answer. She shuddered to think of the mayhem Jose might cause if she didn’t satisfy his curiosity at least a little bit.

  “Jack and I,” she began, choosing her words with care, “are trying to find out who we are after all these years.”

  Jose looked unimpressed. “That’s it? No declarations of love and lifelong happiness? At least tell me one of you has proposed a secret elopement in one of those weird foreign countries you love so much.”

  An image of her and Jack walking along a beach, her long white wedding dress trailing in the sand, made her heart jump before she quashed the thought.

  If she let herself dream like that and it didn’t come true, Amy wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to recover. After all, she knew better than anyone that a good start to a relationship didn’t mean things would end well at all. It was just best not to dream at all.

  “Nope,” Amy said, to both herself and Jose. “We’re just dating. Kind of. Casually,” she emphasized, even though she knew there was nothing casual about the way Jack looked at her.

  Or about the way she looked at Jack, for that matter.

  Amy wanted desperately to change the topic, but the only other thing in her mind was meeting her half sister, and—

  And why couldn’t she talk about that with Jose and Diego, her brothers who were also adopted?

  They always felt like such close siblings to her, she often forgot they were adopted, too, despite their differences. Brock was technically adopted as well, but Ma and Pop were his biological aunt and uncle. He’d lived with his real parents until they died when he was eight. If anyone in the family would understand her situation, it would be the twins.

  Suddenly, she was bursting to talk to them about what only minutes before she’d been carefully keeping to herself. She took a deep breath and went for it. “Hey, have you guys ever thought about your family?”

  “If you’re accusing us of not coming home enough,” Jose answered, crossing his arms, “that’s a lot of talk from a woman who only comes home—”

  “No, Jose,” Amy said, cutting him off. “Your family. Your biological family.”

  “Oh, that,” Jose said, settling back into the couch and putting his feet up. “Nope. Who needs ’em?”

  Amy felt a rush of disappointment. Was she the only one who was curious about her real parents, her other siblings?

  “Jose,” Diego said, his voice quietly disapproving, “This is Amy. We can tell her.”

  Jose waved a hand in the air, as if to say Diego could do whatever he liked, but he wasn’t going to participate. Amy turned to Diego and waited.

  “When we turned eighteen,” he told her, his voice hushed, as if he was afraid someone was going to overhear, “we dug into our adoption papers and found our parents’ names. We found them and tried to contact them.”

  Amy was nearly breathless, waiting to hear what they’d found. And amazed she didn’t know about this. Where had she been?

  But she knew the answer to that. She’d been away at college, hiding from Jack and dealing with the loss of her picture-perfect future. So focused on herself that she hadn’t been around as her brothers grappled with growing up and finding out who they were, where they were from.

  “Anyway, it didn’t go well,” Diego finished quickly, leaning back on the couch himself to show his story was complete.

  Amy waited another few seconds, sure he wouldn’t just leave it at that. “That’s all you’re going to tell me?” she asked.

  “What else is there to say?” Jose countered, standing up. “They didn’t want us when we were born and they didn’t want us as adults, except maybe as a way to get money, somehow.” With that, he stalked out of the room for the second time in ten minutes.

  Amy watched him go, not sure what to say. “He was the one who really wanted to find them,” Diego explained to her once Jose was gone. “It hit him hard that they weren’t interested in us.”

  Amy’s heart broke for her little brother who always seemed so happy and carefree. Diego had warned her that he had difficulties of his own, but this was her first real glimpse at one. What other burdens was he carrying under that smile?

  “Why did you want to know?” Diego asked, taking her attention from the empty doorway. “Have you been doing some searching of your own?”

  “A woman from California emailed me,” she confessed. “She’s my half sister, apparently. I’m meeting her Wednesday for lunch.”

  Diego nodded encouragingly. “That sounds like a better start than we had. I’m sure it’ll go well, and we’re here for you if you need us, you know.”

  Amy hugged her brother tight. Then he stood. “I better go find Jose and tell him he can have the money for his ‘sure thing’ scheme. That’ll put him in a better mood.”

  Before he made it to the door, though, Amy had one more question for him: “Did you talk to Ma and Pop about looking for your parents?”

  Diego shook his head. “I think they would’ve been supportive, but we didn’t want to do that to them, you know?”

  Amy nodded. She knew. Diego walked out of the room, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

  Amy spent the rest of the evening, and the better part of the following day, only able to half focus on the people and places around her. The only time she was able to truly be in the moment were the few hours she spent on a horse roping with Jack.

  Now that her meeting with her half sister felt real and was looming so near, it engulfed her. What if she had more family out there, a whole tribe of people she’d never met? What if she came away from all this as disappointed as Jose was? Or what if she found another family who was loving, who wanted her to be a part of their lives?

  And she also had so many questions about Maryanne and the information she held. How were they similar, and what traits did Amy have that she got from her mother, their common parent? Did Maryanne know their mother, or was she adopted, too?

  Amy suddenly wished she’d spent more time emailing this woman before agreeing to meet. She was going into this with so many questions.

  Wednesday morning, as she buckled herself into Jack’s truck, Amy had a quick moment of panic and started to think it might be best if she called the whole thing off. Before she could say anything to that effect, though, Jack leaned over and put his hand on her shoulder. “It’s going to all be fine, I know it,” he said, his voice quiet and soothing.

  She looked at him and her heart calmed a little. So long as he was nearby, it would be.

  * * *

  JACK DROVE THE two hours to Austi
n keeping up a continual stream of conversation, trying to keep Amy’s nerves from getting the better of her. As relaxed as he sounded, he had his own knot of anxiety in his stomach. He could hardly imagine what a big deal this was for her, and his sympathy made him feel itchy with the need to make it better. But for the moment, there was nothing he could do but be there in the truck with her.

  At last, they entered the city, and Jack thought with relief that it would all be over soon, for better or worse. He heard Amy’s phone ding and watched her out of the corner of his eye. She stared at her phone for a long while, and it didn’t take long for him to see that something was wrong. Jack pulled into a parking lot, cut the engine, and turned to Amy.

  “She can’t make our lunch,” Amy said, still not taking her eyes from her phone. “Work stuff came up at the conference and she won’t be able to get away. And she’s leaving for California this afternoon, so we can’t reschedule.”

  Amy looked up then, and the disappointment in her eyes cut him to the quick. “She says she’s really, really sorry,” Amy finished quietly.

  Jack unbuckled his seat belt and pulled Amy tight against him. “She should be sorry,” he said, angry on her behalf.

  After a minute of silence, Amy pulled away and sat back in her seat. She wasn’t crying, but she still seemed upset. “Things happen, I guess. I hope you don’t mind me hanging around while you meet with Realtors,” she said.

  Jack shook his head as he started the truck’s engine. “No, we’re heading back to Spring Valley. I can do all that online.”

  For a second, he thought she would argue, or maybe if he was lucky she would say something sarcastic. Instead she just agreed, lay back against the headrest and closed her eyes.

  The ride home was quiet, and even when Jack asked Amy if she’d like to stop for lunch, she did no more than shake her head.

  As they got close to Spring Valley, Amy became more animated. “I’m feeling much better. Sorry about that back there. I was just startled and needed a little while to process the change. But really, I’m fine now.”