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"And you also want to avoid your brothers, don’t you?"

He jah his hair "Yeah, that was part of it"

Rory ht and then you run off the next day? How is that fair? Maybe you’ve had years to come to terms with the idea you’re not Casper’s son, but they haven’t"

"Which means it’ll take theoin’ away for a couple of days ain’t gonnaa lot"

"So are you"

"Are you telling me to butt out?"

Dalton touched her face "No, baby, I’m not I’d never do that This affects you too It affects us"

"Then when did you plan to tell ?" When he looked away from her, she knew "On your way out of town" Despite her fury, she kept her tone icy "You say you’ve changed? Bullshit You’re still running away"

"I’m not!"

"Yes, you are"

"Godda to convince her? Or hiht in his face "Don’t do this Stay here and deal with it Stay here with me and let me help you deal with it"

"Rory--"

"You say you love o" She wrapped herself around him "Stay Please Grab that suitcase and coed her so tight she couldn’t breathe "Okay"

Chapter Twenty-Six

Dalton hadn’t seen much of his brothers in the week that’d passed since his…confession or whatever the hell it was He’d talked to them both on the phone That’d been easier than a face-to-face , especially since Brandt and Tell were still in shock He understood it wasn’t that his brothers didn’t believe him; they just didn’t want to believe it

Those conversations were the first in the past twothe rehab hospital

His sweet, wonderful, thoughtful sisters-in-law had each stopped by in the guise of dropping off a decent home cooked meal for the lone McKay bachelor He hadn’t ether when she’d broken down about Brandt’s reaction after he’d left the bar While part of him was relieved to hear Brandt’s reaction in front of hi face until he could unleash his anger in private, another part hated that his brother was dealing with any guilt

And Rory…after she’d begged hi had shifted in their relationship But he hated to think the change was because she felt sorry for hiether when she’d been so insistent on showing him she had a full life without hi with Rory gave Dalton a case of nerves He needed this elk perh with his brothers, he knew that he’d never return to ranching with them As much as he’d harped on honesty between them, Dalton couldn’t tell Rory that the only reason he’d applied for the per here he wouldn’t have bothered

There were a number of ways she could take that--none of his explanations sounded good in his head so he’d be better off not giving voice to them

And he had to take care today to separate the Rory in his bed fro hi hi raate open and parked off to the side where she could see his vehicle He hadn’t unloaded the ATV he’d borrowed froured he’d see Rory was independent that way

The wind began to blow He checked his cell phone to see if he’d ht seem like Rory was late, but he’d been twenty overnment vehicle bounced into view and pulled up beside him

There was a moment of aardness when they faced each other But then Rory said, "This is ridiculous," and leaned in, giving him a quick peck on the mouth "We’re adults We can be professional about this"

"Agreed So at the risk of offending your professional status, do you need help unloading?"

"No I’ve got it"

"Cool"

They were ready to go at the same time

"Do you have a preference what I show you first?" Dalton asked

"Natural boundaries Then where you’d supple Proposed feed and water sites And if there’s a section not covered in snow, I’d like to look at the native grass and vegetation, although I realize it’s not an accurate representation this tiht Since I know the terrain I’ll lead, but if you have any questions or need me to stop or slon, just honk"