“I’m saying he knows you and he seems to like your boobs just fine. I get why you don’t want to have to monitor him. I think that’s wise. Couples who need that sort of time together to keep one of them out of trouble rarely last.”

“I miss him. But it’s a few days. I don’t think he’s pretending to be harvesting alfalfa as a cover for banging random chicks.”

“That’s not what you’re afraid of anyway,” Stacey said.

“No. It’s all of it. This life isn’t a thrill a minute. This life has dentist appointments and tantrums and teacher conferences. This life has laundry and toilets that need plunging.”

“Fuck that. It also has a supermodel as the mother of his children. You’re gorgeous and smart and you run your own business. You’ve raised two great kids. You’re worried that’s not as enticing as an easy lay with tits still up at twenties geography?” Stacey pointed at her chest at a spot a good bra could still get near.

“Your selfish, dumb-ass psycho of a mother didn’t know her own worth so she torpedoed yours, too, so she wouldn’t be alone. You’re not her. Not ever. Stop trying to argue your way out of your happy ending.”

* * *

VAUGHAN’S MUSCLES HADN’T been this tired in a long time. How Ezra managed to do this on a regular basis was always a source of amazement to him. He’d worked on the harvest, in and around showing the girls how things were done and when he dropped into bed every night he’d pretty much passed out.

Now that he’d taken a more active role in their day-to-day lives, they were bolder about coming to him for assistance.

That had been a painful realization. When they stayed at the ranch in the past they were just as likely to go to his mother for something as they were him.

But that had changed. As proud as it made him, it also was another thing he’d fucked up and couldn’t go back to fix.

And it underlined just how much Kelly did. Traveling with them in a nonvacation fashion had been far more exhausting than he’d imagined. They were already pros at what to do at the airport. But they needed constant surveillance and guidance. Kelly seemed to have inborn radar. If either child got a certain distance away, her attention snapped to and she wrangled her little ducklings back once more.

She made it look easy. Just two months ago he’d imagined he was just as involved and able to multitask when it came to his daughters and their care as Kelly was.

It was a wonder that Kelly hadn’t hit him with a shovel.

Vaughan smiled as he thought of her, missing her more than he could have imagined.

The girls had missed her, too, and the past four nights he’d ended up with two kids and a corgi in bed with him instead of his woman.

The night before he’d waited until the girls had conked out and he snuck out of bed to FaceTime with her.

“Did I wake you?” he asked when she answered. She was in bed, but clearly not sleeping.

“I was waiting for you to call.”

All that connection filled him when he saw that smile. “I want to share something. I got some more done on a song today. Wanna hear it?”

“Yes, very much so.” The happiness in her voice made him feel better and even more glad he’d called.

He set his tablet up so she could see him play and swung his guitar into his lap.

And then he sang her a song about a woman who did more than most people knew, a remarkable woman who filled his heart and his life. He wanted to sing that to her, not have Paddy sing it. That was another reason he was doing this on his own.

The look she always wore when he sang or played music settled back into his stomach. He realized that while it had only been a few days, he’d missed this.

He missed the way she listened to him. Missed her laugh. How he survived years without it was hard to imagine. It seemed to fuel him, fortify and anchor him.

She clapped when he’d finished. “I love it. This is so fantastic. You’re doing something wonderful and I’m so proud.”

Exactly what he’d needed to hear.

They’d talked for a few minutes more before he headed back to bed.

Vaughan wanted to talk to Ezra about it, but his brother had a whole lot of his own stuff going on just then. He worked himself to exhaustion. More even than his usual insane levels.

The oldest Hurley brother was in love with Tuesday. Anyone looking at Ezra could see the change in him. It was a good thing. Beautiful. But even after all these years of being there for his family, of turning his life around, Ezra wasn’t entirely sure he deserved to be happy. And until he figured that out, he’d never allow himself to believe he was worth it.

And, as Vaughan loaded Kensey and Maddie into his car to take them to Gresham so they could eat an early dinner and head off to dance and piano classes, he realized he didn’t want to be alone in the house at the ranch. He wanted to be with his family in his home.

But Jeremy was set to arrive within the next few hours and despite missing Kelly, it was always nice to see their friend and manager and it would really only be one more night until he got back home anyway.

So he headed out to Gresham, frowning when he saw Ross’s BMW in the driveway.

Since the girls were with him, he didn’t yank the other man out of his house and toss him into the street. But it was a close thing when, upon going inside, he noted Ross’s angry expression and Kelly’s body language. She’d put a table between herself and her ex-fiancé and that didn’t please Vaughan one bit.