She squeezed her eyes shut and groaned, but she was smiling, too, because she was back in his arms again and everything felt better there. “So you’re a gold digger after all. I should have known. The prettiest ones always are.”

LJ didn’t laugh. He pulled back and ducked his head to catch her gaze. “If we leave now, it’ll fester. You’ll start to miss your dad, but when you call, it’ll be awkward. All this’ll be sitting under the table every Thanksgiving, every Christmas, and he’ll hate me a thousand times more than he did before.” The corner of his mouth kicked up. “But if we stay right now, when he’s feeling sorry and small, he’ll end up kissing my ass for the next decade to make up for it.”

She blinked as she tried to determine if he’d just said what she thought he had. He winked, and she burst out laughing. “LJ Delisle, you ought to be outlawed.”

He shrugged one thick shoulder. “Your daddy ain’t cruel. He’s just ignorant. One’s no better than the other, but the second can be fixed.”

“But what about New Orleans? I mean, not just your mom, but your home.” She caught his hand, her eyes dropping. “I wish we could have had more time there. Seemed like with the people who didn’t approve of me, I never made a dent in changing their minds, but when it was just me and you or Tash and Ty, I loved that place. As much as I love the ranch, though for different reasons.”

“Yeah,” he said slowly, “I been thinking about that.” He straightened to his full height. “My mama’s never going to kick lupus for good, Andra, and she won’t even talk about moving up here with me. Claims she doesn’t need any help.” He shook his head. “But it seems like neither me or you fits just right in one place, so maybe we ought to live in two.”

Her brow creased, even as hope fluttered in her throat. “How? We’re horse trainers, LJ. It’s not exactly a mobile profession.”

“Right. So when Mama needs us, maybe we trailer a big load of horses down to my uncle’s ranch outside New Orleans. Do our training there for part of the year and take turns looking out for Mama.” He tried out a smile. “Horses may be heavy, but they are portable.”

She hesitated. “I mean, of course we could work them just as well there, but that’s a lot of moving stock around.”