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“That seems reasonable,” Camilla said, sounding slightly surprised.

“I know, right? I mean, I thought it was reasonable, but he’s still... I don’t know. But I’ll convince him.”

“Well, good luck. He is a hardheaded fool sometimes. But he had to be. That’s the thing. He had to be hard. And he had to make decisions. He had to be the adult when he wasn’t yet. I was just two when our parents died. Our mom died right after I was born. She had cancer. When she was pregnant with me.” That part came out hushed. “I don’t even remember them. I remember Levi. He’s basically... He’s basically my father. And I would do anything for him.”

“I think the thing that you can do best for him is going on living a life that pleases you. But maybe don’t join a sex cult?”

Camilla laughed. “Yeah. Maybe not. I appreciate it. Thanks.”

And then Quinn turned and left the younger woman standing there. She got into her car and headed back toward Sullivan’s Point. When she got to the farmhouse, she was delighted to find that all of her sisters were there, including Alaina and baby Cameron.

She smiled and stretched her hands out, taking hold of her nephew and holding him close, smelling his little baby head.

And just for a minute, she ached.

No.

That wasn’t what she wanted. She was so glad that Alaina was happy that way. So glad that she had found Gus. That Gus loved her, and loved the baby, and was raising him as his own. Gus was one of those good men. Rare in Quinn’s estimation and in her observation. It must be nice, to be taken care of like that. But Quinn had accepted that she didn’t want to take that risk. Not ever.

“Any more progress?” Fia asked.

Quinn kissed Cameron on the head. “No. Well. I agreed to work with him for the rest of the week. So we’ll see.”

“And after you work with him he’ll reconsider?”

Yeah. He’d said that. That was the agreement, she was pretty sure. Though, it was difficult to remember what he’d actually said.

Except when he’d called her a carrot.

“Yeah. I think he’s just... I talked to his sister a bit today. He just had a lot of responsibility put on his shoulders and I think he takes everything really seriously. He had those soybeans in the fields for ten years, and it occupied all of his ranch land, and the more I think about it, the more I think he probably feels reluctant to commit to anything because he’s done it before.”

“You’re psychoanalyzing him now?” Fia asked.

She didn’t know why that made her feel defensive. “I mean, you kind of have to, right? It’s a tactical move.”

“If you say so.”

“We have to make preserves on Friday,” said Rory, cutting another slice of bread off the thick boule at the center of the table.

“I’m going to be busy,” said Quinn. “Doing ranch work.”

“Well, Alaina?” Rory turned to look at their youngest sister. “You able to get on that and be of some help?”

“Yes,” Alaina said, sounding long-suffering. “I can help.”

“Thank you,” Quinn said. “It’s for the greater good. I’m going to make sure that I prove to Levi Granger that he needs me.”

Except when she thought of the strong, angry man that she’d dealt with for most of the day today, she couldn’t imagine him ever admitting he needed anybody. But she wasn’t going to admit defeat. Not now. Not ever.

She was going to be back tomorrow bright and early, and she was going to gain access to his house so that she could begin to look over his paperwork.

Because she had a feeling that as much as it might help for him to see that she could manage labor, what he really needed was for her to get in there and handle something he didn’t want to. She was certain that what he really didn’t want to handle involved sitting still.

And while Quinn herself didn’t love sitting still, she did love to solve the problem.

Levi, for all that he was a massive pain, was becoming the most interesting problem she’d had in a good long while.

CHAPTER TEN