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“Because I could watch him instead.” Kade figured he would have to get the hang of being alone with a kid at some point. Plus, he’d had his head up his butt before. Kids needed two parents. Being in Alaska would complicate visitation, but he could talk to Bree and figure out a way to make it work. As long as Chloe lived in Saddle Junction, he’d return.

Chloe reached over the table to touch his forehead with the back of her hand.

He pulled back. “What are you doing?”

“Checking to see if you have a fever,” she quipped.

Kade faked being offended. “What? I can’t spend quality time with my nephew without raising suspicion?”

His sister was perceptive. The way she studied him meant something was clicking in that brain of hers. Had she been talking to Bree? Because he wasn’t ready to share the news.

Chloe took a sip of coffee. “Can I ask a question?”

Shit. Here it comes.

4

“Are you dipping out of town soon?” Chloe asked, and relief washed over Kade.

“As a matter of fact, I’d planned to,” he said, figuring one lie of omission was enough deception for today.

“Can I ask where you’re headed to next and why you’re in such a hurry?”

“Alaska,” he said, “but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell any of the others just yet.” Kade stared at his blond-haired, blue-eyed baby sister from across the table. Everything about Chloe came from the light. No matter how difficult the circumstances were, she always managed to turn on a smile and brighten a room. He would never know how she pulled off bringing up a kid on her own with very little resources while staying so damn positive.

At twenty-four, she had no college degree, no partner, and no reason to believe life would get any easier as a single parent. She worked in a bar late at night, slept a handful of hours, and got up early in the morning to be with her kid and Miguel.

“Are you listening to me right now?” Chloe snapped her fingers as she tried to catch his attention. All he really wanted to do was forget this day had happened. Except the weird part was that he didn’t hate the idea of having a kid with Bree. Forcing her to be tied to someone she didn’t love was a whole different story. Had his mother ever loved Beaumont? Or had she been tricked by his charm when he’d turned it on? The “off” switch must have come early on during their marriage. All of Kade’s memories of his mother were of her being miserable.

He rubbed the two-day-old stubble on his chin and took another sip of coffee as his three-year-old nephew, Grayson, belted out a loud cry from his bedroom.

Chloe was up and making a beeline toward the hall in two shakes. Grayson had a set of lungs on him. The heartbreaking cries made Kade wish there was something he could do to help. He’d probably just make things worse, so he sat there feeling helpless.

A few minutes later, the cries hushed, and Chloe came walking back into the room, carrying a boy who’d sprouted since the last time Kade had been here. Guilt smacked into him for not doing more for his sister.

“Do you want me to hold him?” he asked, but Grayson was already shaking his head and clutching his mom tighter.

Kade’s nephew didn’t even want him. The kid’s instincts must have told him just how unfit Kade was. How was he supposed to know what to do with an infant?

Chloe mouthed,I’m sorry,while gently bouncing as she moved to the fridge and pulled out a juice box. She fumbled with the package, using the counter as leverage to hold Grayson in place on her hip.

“Here, let me,” Kade said, standing up and coming around the table. The least he could do was open a damn drink box.

Grayson’s cries intensified as he buried his face.

Kade backed away.

“He’s just being grumpy,” Chloe said with an apologetic look. “Let me get him settled. It’ll take two secs.”

His sister was right. Grayson calmed down after she turned on his favorite cartoon and then set him down on the couch with the juice and a threadbare blanket that looked like it had done a tour overseas.

“There,” she said, sitting down and picking up her coffee mug. One drink caused her face to wrinkle. “Cold.”

Kade was out of his seat faster than the cartoon settled Grayson. “Let me get you a refill. It’s the least I can do.”

“You’re fine,” Chloe said. She knew better than to argue, so she handed over her mug.

A few short minutes and a couple of pods later, they both had refills.