“Ellie’s getting us all set up here. We’re going to hire an art teacher.”

“Really?” Caleb asked.

“Yeah. And Ellie is thinking she can maybe teach some general education classes once we get up and running and have people here residentially.”

“Great,” he said, though there was an underlying emotion in Caleb’s voice that Gabe couldn’t read.

“So why is it that I saw Jamie Dodge getting the hell off the property looking murderous earlier today?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “Because Jamie always looks murderous?” He gritted his teeth against a wave of pain.

“No, she doesn’t. What’s going on between the two of you?” Caleb asked.

“Nothing,” he said.

“Right. That’s why you look like you want to murder me right now.”

“We had a little fling. That’s it. She’s pissed off that it’s over. She’ll get over it. She’s young. She’ll bounce back.”

“Really?” Caleb shook his head. “That’s some denial.”

“What?”

“I haven’t seen you around her much, but I’d say what’s between you is more than a little fling.”

“It doesn’t matter. I like her. I do. But like I’m going to get married and have kids? Anyway, that’s not what she wants.”

“That’s not what she wants? Or it’s not what you want her to want?”

“Jamie is headed in for a big barrel racing career. She doesn’t want to settle down with me. Maybe if I were still going out and riding...”

“So you have an excuse for everything?”

“Caleb, don’t you dare come in here and lecture me on what you think well-adjusted looks like.”

Caleb’s face went hard. “You have something to say to me?”

“You’re an ass,” Gabe said. “You act like you have everything together, sitting back and judging Jacob for being up in the mountains and not dealing with his grief, and you’re...playing husband and daddy to Ellie and Amelia, except you have none of the physical perks of it.”

“Are you suggesting that I have sex with our dead best friend’s wife?” Caleb’s jaw was hard as granite.

“He’s dead.”

Caleb’s lip curled up into a sneer. “I’m taking care of her because it’s the right thing to do. Do you not understand that?”

“I’m just saying. You can stand there and call me out for having excuses... Doesn’t mean you don’t have the same.”

“I’m not the one letting a woman I obviously care about walk away. Hurting someone that I obviously care about.”

“I admit, that one is much more Dad’s MO than mine, usually,” Gabe said. “But then, that’s kind of the point.”

“Sorry, I missed the point. Can you elaborate?”

“Come on. The way that Mom and Dad have always been with each other, the way that Dad is... Can you even imagine getting involved in that willingly?”

Caleb barked out a laugh. “No. Not that. But you know, there’s plenty of marriages that aren’t bad.”

“Sure. But my concern is the likelihood of that being mine. Of me being Dad.”

“I don’t believe that,” Caleb said.