“Well, whatever it is,” he said, “I’m sorry for the part I played in it. I’m going to try to... I’m going to try to figure all this out.”

“You never had to be a parent to me, Wyatt.”

“Sometimes it felt like I did. Dad was pretty checked out for a lot of that time. And I have my own issues with him. God knows I love him, but you know we didn’t have an easy relationship and...”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Quinn Dodge is a man made out of granite. I think losing Mom cracked somewhere deep. And I think he felt like he had to be harder to keep himself together, to keep us together. But I’m learning that it doesn’t have to be that way. Lindy... Loving her has changed things for me. Dad raised us Dodges tough. But I’ve learned that being strong doesn’t mean not having feelings. Hell, I think it’s a strong damn thing to let yourself have those when you’ve been hurt so badly. Look at Grant. He’s not weaker now that he has McKenna, is he?”

“Yeah, I know.” She sighed. “Okay,” she began, her throat tightening up. What was it with her? Why was she being such a ridiculous...girl? “I was upset. I wanted to spend time with you, but it isn’t because you haven’t paid attention to me, or because you made it so I’m lonely. The problem is just that things are different. And I clung to making Get Out of Dodge my foundation for an awfully long time. I felt safe here. It’s my home. It built me. You built me, Wyatt. And all those changes you mentioned... It’s shifted the foundation. And I’m working at the Dalton ranch... And...” She gritted her teeth. “I’m gonna leave.”

Wyatt looked shocked. “You’re what?”

“I’m going to leave. I’ve taken steps outside here a few different times. When I worked in town. But not...not seriously. I need to do this, because you can’t be responsible for me for my whole life. You can’t drop everything and eat nachos with me because I’m feeling unsettled.”

“The hell I can’t,” Wyatt said. “I can do that if I damn well please. If you need me, Jamie, I’m going to drop everything to help you out.”

“That’s nice. But we both know it isn’t true. You’re going to have babies with her, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” Wyatt said, his voice rough. “Yeah.”

“And Grant and McKenna will. And I’m going to be so happy to be everybody’s favorite aunt. But things are just going to keep changing, and everyone is going to have their own life. And I can’t make myself your responsibility. It’s not fair.”

“Jamie, I don’t see you as a responsibility. You’re my sister. And I love you.”

But she was the reason that Wyatt had to be tough. She was the reason that her dad was cracked around the center. And no matter how much her rational mind told her that a woman dying in childbirth wasn’t the baby’s fault, she felt it.