Juliana looked up, her eyes wide, her lips parted. âShe moved.â
âThe baby?â Jason eased closer.
âYes, Iâm sure thatâs what it was. The doctor said I might feel something soonâlike the flutter of a butterflyâs wing. And I just did.â
His hand lifted. âCan Iâ¦?â
âYes, of course. But Iâm not sure if itâs strong enough for you to feel anything yet.â
He placed his hand on her tummy, felt the swell of her womb, the warmth of her body, the softness of her breath. And although he couldnât feel any movement whatsoever, he didnât draw away. He just stood there, caught up in her floral scent and in the intimacy of the moment.
* * *
Brighton Valley Cowboys This Texas family is looking for love in all the right places!
Chapter One
Jason Rayburn had never considered himself an early bird, but as the morning sun began to rise over the Leaning R Ranch, he found himself pouring his second cup of coffee.
If his father hadnât died, heâd be in Houston todayâstill in bed, most likely, but with thoughts of hitting the gym instead of repairing the barn door. After a good workout, heâd take a shower, then head to the downtown high-rise he owned and take the elevator to the top-floor office of Rayburn Energy Transport, where he was the founder and CEO.
With the recent death of his father, he now controlled Rayburn Enterprises as well, not to mention his new role as the sole trustee of the Charles Darren Rayburn Family Trust.
What a mess dividing that was going to be. And thatâs what had led him back to Brighton Valley.
The Leaning R had been part of his great-grandmotherâs estate, rest her soul. And Rosabelle Rayburn had left it to Charles with a stipulationâthat it be divided equally to his issue upon his death. Sheâd wanted his children to be in complete and wholehearted agreement about its daily operation and/or division.
Yeah. Right. Jason and his half siblings had never been in agreement on anything. Granny, of all people, knew that. And he suspected it was her last-ditch effort to draw them together in a way sheâd never been able to do while she was alive.
But thereâd been a reason for that. Jason, Braden and Carly had so very little in common they might as well be strangers.
So thatâs why he had to get the Leaning R up and running again and ready for sale. Because there was no way his brother and sister would make good business partners. He just hoped he could get them to agree on a real estate agent and a price.
When Jason was a kid, spending summers and the occasional holiday at the ranch, heâd dreamed of being a cattle rancher. But those days were long gone. He was a busy CEO now.
On rare occasions those old dreams might come back to haunt him, but there was a reason for that. Heâd spent enough time on the Leaning R with Granny Rayburn growing up that heâd actually felt more at home here than he had anywhere else. Of course, that wasnât the case anymore. He was a city boy nowâand eager to get back to his life in Houston.
He didnât have time for reminiscing, especially when some thoughts were so bittersweet they could make a grown man actually choke up like a little boy. Yet as he walked through the house, assessing the work that needed to be done, the still-lingering scents of lemon oil and Grannyâs trademark lavender hand lotion assailed him in every room. So it was nearly impossible to escape the memories.
But he wouldnât allow himself to lollygag in the past. He had too much to do, and he was determined to get the hell out of Dodge, so to speak, as quickly as he could. In the meantime, heâd set up a home office to work remotely. The corporate world didnât stop spinning just because he had to handle some family business.
He would have to hire a couple of extra ranch hands to help Ian, the foreman, get things done. But that didnât mean he wouldnât have to work along with them. He didnât mind the physical labor. It actually drew him back to the time when his great-grandma was still alive, when he was a boy who loved to ride the fence line with the cowboys whoâd worked on the Leaning R.
Too bad Granny wasnât here to fix him silver-dollar pancakes for breakfast or to tell him about more of Grandpa Daveâs escapades.