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СКАЧАТЬ to the back of his head and studied Mitch for a moment. “You like her too.”

      “Don’t start.” He held up a palm. “The woman is thirty-two years old.”

      “Age is only a number.”

      “My number is nine years older than hers, and my number is old.” Never in his wildest dreams would someone young and full of so much potential, like Daisy, be interested in someone like him.

      “Mitch, according to you, you were born old.” Reece laughed. “I don’t believe that for a minute.”

      “She has five children.”

      “Whoa.” His brother’s head snapped back. “What? Started early, huh?”

      “Adopted her nieces and nephews.”

      “Ah.” Reece cocked his head. “What’s the problem? You like kids.”

      “I like Tucker’s kids because they sleep at Tucker’s house.” Mitch shook his head. “We’ve discussed this before. I’ve already raised a family.” And he’d lost one of his siblings along the way. Some parent he’d turned out to be.

      “That doesn’t count. You raised your brothers and sister.”

      “Yep. That’s right and I’m not doing it again.” He eyed the shoe in his hand and began to polish the leather. “Why was it you called me out here?”

      “I’m short-handed for Friday night.”

      “How come you only call me when you need a favor?”

      “Easy there, pal.” Reece took the shoe from him. “You’re going to rub the leather clean off.”

      “I told you last year,” Mitch continued. “I’ll help with the cattle and the horses, but I draw the line at people.”

      “You’re the police chief. You deal with people all the time.”

      “Exactly.” Mitch shook his head once again. “I thought Kate was coming home for the summer.”

      “She called me last night. Another opportunity opened up. She’s headed to Oregon. Can’t help it if our little sister is good at what she does.”

      “Good at what she does is fine, but it would be nice if she’d find a less dangerous calling.”

      “Don’t start that again. You’re proud enough of her when you see her on the television.”

      “This isn’t about being proud of her,” Mitch said.

      Reece met Mitch’s gaze. His brother’s blue eyes bore into his soul. “It’s been five years, Mitch. You can’t bring Levi back by blaming yourself. You’re not in charge of everyone’s well-being. It’s time to turn it over to God.”

      Yeah, right. They were the same words he’d been telling himself since his little brother died. It wasn’t his fault. Except it was.

      “Are you even listening to me?” Reece asked.

      “Yeah. I heard you.” Mitch rubbed a hand over his face. “So hire someone to cover for Kate. I can’t work two jobs.”

      “I’ve got a guy coming down from Montana. Won’t be here until Monday. I need help with the hoedown.”

      “Okay, fine. But this is the last time. I can’t be a part-time cowboy when I’m a full-time police chief.”

      “This is the last time.”

      Mitch grumbled under his breath. “How many guests are we talking?”

      “I’m booked solid.” Reece dusted off his hands. “Thinking about expanding. Guess we can talk about it at the next family meeting.”

      “Sometimes it’s better to stay small and in high demand than expand and dilute the quality,” Mitch said.

      “That so?”

      “I’m just saying.”

      “I’ll take that under consideration.” Reece headed out of the barn. “By the way, Mr. Temporary Cowboy, the door is always open for you to work full time at the ranch. I’d like nothing more than a little help with the decision making around here on a daily basis.”

      “Not going to happen. I like my job.”

      “Do you? ’Cause the way I see it, being police chief isn’t much different from raising children.”

      “The way you see it?” Mitch scoffed, annoyed that his brother was spot-on in his observation. “You don’t have any kids.”

      The sunlight greeted them as they walked out of the barn. “All the same,” Reece continued, “if you worked at the ranch, you could toss those saddles of responsibility off your shoulders. Start enjoying life.”

      “You’d hate having me around all the time.”

      “Not true.”

      For a moment, Mitch considered his brother’s words. He’d never imagined Reece would turn the ranch around as he had. The place was a success. There was plenty of work at Rebel Ranch, but could he be happy as a full-time cowboy? He’d always been in charge. Didn’t know anything else.

      “Can you at least pray about it?” Reece asked as though reading his mind.

      “I can do that,” Mitch said. He nodded as he spoke, and when he raised his head, his gaze landed on Daisy, who stood on the front steps of the guesthouse waiting. When her eyes met his, they widened a fraction, and a smile touched her lips.

      Mitch could only stare, fascinated, as the breeze pulled a ribbon of curly gold-red hair loose from her tight knot and caressed her face with the strand.

      At the same time, an elbow jabbed his side, pulling him out of his daze. Reece chuckled. “You’re in trouble, and you don’t even know it, big brother.”

      Mitch swallowed. It occurred to him that Reece had just said the exact words the voice in his head had been spouting all morning. He took a deep breath as he realized that there wasn’t a single thing he could do about the situation except stay focused and keep his distance.

      A drop of sweat trickled down Daisy’s face. She swiped at her forehead with the back of her hand before rolling down the window of the patrol vehicle and waiting for the spring breeze to pass through the car.

      The air was still.

      “Mind if I turn on the air conditioner?” she asked Roscoe. “Seems a bit humid today.”

      The senior officer chuckled from the driver’s seat of the Crown Victoria. “Help yourself.”

      Daisy rolled up the window again. She fiddled with the buttons, then leaned back in the cloth seats and sighed as the СКАЧАТЬ