He was jealous.

That was all. He set down his coffee cup and turned on his heel, heading for the door that led toward the barn.

Uncle Ennis cleared his throat.

Hank turned. “What?”

“Do I need to look into hiring some new hands?” He lifted his coffee cup, gazing down at the crossword paper on the table. “I can check with Jason over at Sage’s ranch. Just give me the word and I’ll put out some feelers.”

Hank . . . didn’t have an answer. He stood, waiting, expecting the right answer to fall to his lips at some point. Yes, they’d be leaving soon, hire away. No, they were staying for at least another winter. He kept waiting . . .

And all he could see was Becca’s face. Her eyes flashing with welcome as he came through the door. Her soft arms as she reached for him and pulled him close. The way her hair fell over her face as she straddled him and rode him in bed. The way she curled up with his daughter to read a bedtime story.

He had no answer for his uncle.

That pissed him off. Now he was in as foul a mood as Jack. With a low snarl, he stormed out of the house without giving anyone an answer.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Even though he thought about the argument with Jack all throughout the day and into the night, Hank didn’t say anything to Becca. No sense in upsetting her. The next morning, Libby was as excited as could be. She wore a brand-new pink-and-white gingham dress with a matching white-and-pink T-shirt underneath the bib. She had cute little pink sparkly sandals, and Becca braided her hair into two pigtails and beamed at her.

“You are so adorable, Libby. Miss Mckinney is going to be so excited to see you!”

Libby squirmed with excitement all through breakfast, and that made Hank feel better about taking his daughter in to school. Perhaps Becca was right. Perhaps this was the right thing for her after all. Libby could stand to be around some other kids. Becca loved having her around, and Uncle Ennis adored her, but when she was cranky, it was hard to juggle both her and the day’s work. It’d give everyone a break to have the little girl in school, and she’d get a few new friends.

So once breakfast was over, they both kissed Becca goodbye, and Libby hugged Alaska. Then they got into Hank’s truck and he drove her over to the school. There were a few other parents heading in with their children, but the moment they pulled up to the school, instead of wiggling with excitement, Libby got quiet.

“You ready?” Hank asked as he turned the truck off. “Won’t this be fun?”

Libby popped her thumb in her mouth and started to suck it, her eyes wide.

“It’ll be fun,” he reassured her again.