“I was coming back from Denver and stopped for gas, and she was coming out of the station looking at a map. She had the whole thing unfolded, and she was turning it around like she didn’t know which way was up. She had a backpack and that guitar you’re carrying across her back. Her long brown hair was wild and tangled, and her eyes were full of joy. I’m telling you, it radiated off her like the sun.” He laughed softly. “I asked her where she was headed, and she said she’d heard of a place called Hope Valley, and she had a feeling if she could be happy anywhere, it would be there.”

Diesel nodded. “That sounds like her.”

“Ruthie was quite a woman. A talented artist, incredible with people, and just a pleasure to be around. She could brighten anyone’s day.” Manny lifted his chin toward Diesel. “Especially this one’s. When he’d get in a mood over homework or whatever kids get moody about, she’d play that guitar or tell him a story, and he’d light up like a Christmas tree.”

“She sure did.” Diesel lowered his voice. “Did my mother ever tell you that Axel Whiskey was my father?”

Manny cocked his head, dark brows knitting. “No. She never told us who your father was. When we got the text from Tiny calling us over to celebrate his nephew—you—we put two and two together.”

“I wondered, though,” Alice admitted. “I remember Axel coming in with another woman when Ruthie was a few months pregnant with you. Something about the look in her eyes that night had led me to ask if there was anything between them. But she’d said there wasn’t, and that was that.”

Diesel nodded. “Well, I appreciate all you did for her, and for me.”

“Sweetheart, you’re family. We’re always here for you.” Alice glanced over their shoulder. “Looks like Charlie’s Angels are on a mission.”

They followed her gaze to Simone, Sasha, and Birdie heading their way. Simone looked different than she had last December, when Diesel had first brought her to Redemption Ranch. Tracey had met her only once, but she remembered an excruciatingly nervous, painfully thin girl with gaunt cheeks that accentuated the scar running down the left side of her face. Her cheeks were fuller now, her auburn hair was longer, shinier, full of natural wave and curl. She looked healthy and happy.

Alice touched Diesel’s arm as the girls neared. “We’ll catch up with you later.”

As Alice walked away, Diesel gave Simone a quick once-over. “How’s it going, Simone? You look good.”

“I feel great. This place, Sasha, Birdie, and the rest of them, were exactly what I needed.” Simone even sounded healthier and stronger.