“Some,” Jack said.

“I get that. So what do you want to do now?”

“I can’t stop thinking about them. About why, when they were thrown out of their own homes, did they end up at the Triple K? Why had they been drawn to a ranch, then put in such a vulnerable position with Hank Castille, when they were just kids?” He took off his Stetson and ran his hands through his hair. It needed a cut; it was long and ever so slightly irritating. “Clearly they wanted to work on a ranch, and okay, it may have been because ranches have casual help, I get that. But, those three men and Liam, they loved the ranch. So I’m not saying I can fix the whole damn world, but I thought we could offer them a place here.”

Actually that was what he’d been thinking for a long time. Sitting in that courtroom had scarred him. Hank’s abuse of those young men had left a legacy in each of them that had to be so hard. Thankfully Hank had been found guilty and was serving his time. Jack never once hoped that Hank had it easy in prison because he’d grown fond of Liam, the fourth boy he knew had been hurt by Hank. Liam was working on the ranch now, and surely the other three could have work here if they wanted.

“The three men from the trial? There’s always room for more at the D,” Riley said.

Jack nodded. Sometimes he felt like Riley could read his thoughts.

“Maybe those three,” Jack said. “Maybe others. I haven’t thought this through as much as I should have.”

“You mean you want somewhere for kids who have nowhere else to go. A place like the one Steve works at.”

Jack glanced at Riley, saw the thoughtful expression in his hazel eyes. He could do this without Riley because he felt that strongly, but having him backing this play would make Jack’s life a lot easier. No, that wasn’t right. Having Riley love him and support him was what Jack craved.

“I thought we could maybe work with Steve, offer places. I know we give money, but that’s easy for us. I want to do something more proactive and concrete.”

Jack stopped. He thought that maybe he sounded like a bit of an idiot, as if voicing the proactive stuff made it seem like what he could do would make a difference? Kinda arrogant, actually. Doubt crept into his thoughts, and Riley would pick up on that. So he forged ahead positively.

“I got the impression from their testimony that all three wanted to work on the ranch, that’s why it was so easy for Hank to take advantage. They thought they’d landed on their feet, and look at them all now, scarred by what happened to them.” Jack could remember the three witnesses. The oldest, with the ill-fitting clothes, who’d had to be helped from the stand; the middle guy in a designer suit; and the kid who left with Family Services, his expression bleak.

“I don’t know how they survived,” Riley began.

“I’m not sure any of them have. The oldest, Kyle, is working minimum wage, living in this tiny pay-for-the-night room. He won’t take any money, and he won’t talk to me. The other two have disappeared entirely. I only have an address for Kyle.” He shrugged. Gabriel was evading all searches, and Danny went off the grid as soon as he turned eighteen a couple of weeks back.

“Okay, I’m not going to pretend I don’t worry. Have you thought about talking to Steve at the shelter? Maybe get him to use his contacts?”

“Already done. I asked for his help tracing the three of them, and he gave me the name of a couple of PIs, and also put feelers out. They have so many resources already in place.”

“What did Steve think of your ideas?”

Riley still sounded wary. “He calmed me down a lot, talked me out of an all-singing, all-dancing place with answers for everyone. He said to start small and keep him in the loop.”

“So that takes some of the pressure off you?”

“Yes. Off me and off us as a family, but I can’t promise it won’t swallow some of my time.” Jack had to be brutally honest. Otherwise, he’d be trapping Riley into an agreement on something he didn’t really want.

“Okay,” Riley began, “we start by finding the first of your victims.” He frowned as he said that, clearly uncomfortable with the word. “Then we talk to planners and get this place sorted? Or maybe we should do that first?”

Relief filled Jack. Riley was using the we word, and that was good. In fact, Riley was making it sound easy.

“There is one thing, though,” Riley warned. “Not thing, exactly… more person, or people.”

“Liam and Darren,” Jack said.

“Yeah, you need to talk to them about this. They’re part of the ranch now. Liam was another victim, and this is connected to Darren’s fucker of a brother, and Darren’s the first person to want to take the blame on himself….”

Riley knew what it was like to have a bastard for a brother. Unspoken was that Liam was important to them, and Liam was happy with Marcus and would probably want the past left where it was.

“I’ll talk to Liam and Darren,” Jack said. “But just between us here, you’re okay with this?”

Riley looked at him, puzzled. “You sound like you’re asking my permission?” He sounded as confused as he looked.

Jack couldn’t look Riley in the eye. “We already have the kids, and the horses, and the riding school.”

Riley crossed to Jack and held him close.

“I don’t think this will be easy at all. But you have such a big heart, and there’s room for so much more. We’ll manage to juggle it all, somehow.”

Jack hugged him back. “Really?”

“Hell, yeah. So where do we start?”

With that, Riley made everything right.

CHAPTER THREE

“Dad?”

Riley saved the file he was working on and turned to face Hayley. He held out his arms and Hayley immediately came in for a hug. She was still in her school uniform and looked like the thirteen-year-old she was.

“Hey, baby.” Riley held her close. “How was school?”

“I need your help,” she said, her words muffled in his shoulder.

“Is it history again?” Riley was sympathetic. He and Hayley loved math but sometimes struggled with all the wordiness that studying history contained. He generally left history to Jack.

“No.” She pulled back and sat on the chair next to his at the desk. “Aunty Eden e-mailed to say that she and Uncle Sean will be away for another two weeks.”

“I know, something about Sean’s book. Did you need your aunt for something?” Eden was very much the go-to for Hayley’s girly dilemmas. “Is everything okay? Do you need me to call Aunty Anna?” Riley’s sister-in-law was first reserve for all things Hayley.

“No, she’s not who…. Willyouhelpmechooseadress?”

Riley blinked at the run-on words, which he hadn’t quite understood. “Sorry?”

Hayley pressed her lips together and looked a little anxious. “For the Valentine’s dance, will you help me choose a dress?”

“From your closet?” Riley stayed away from Hayley’s closet for the most part. She was thirteen now, and he was the dad here.

“No. From a shop.”

“Me?”

“You.”

“Oh.” Riley didn’t really have any more words. Then he leaned forward. Dress shopping with their daughter seemed like a two-man operation to him. “Can we take Pappa as well?”

Hayley’s eyes brightened. “You think he’ll go?”

Riley shook his head that she doubted it. Jack would do anything for Hayley. “Of course. When do you want to do this?”

“Friday? After school?”

“We’ll pick you up and go straight there.”

“And Dad?”

“Yeah?” Riley waited. Any sentence that started and Dad invariably was some other milestone in their daughter’s life that was going to add to his already-spotted single gray hair.

“I’m going with a boy. His name is Cory, and he’s a friend of Logan’s.” She looked directly at Riley with that stubbornly determined expression that he knew damn well she’d inherited from him. Words hovered in his head. You’re not dating until you’re thirty. What’s his last name so I can go have a quiet word with him? Where does he live? Worst-case scenarios flashed in his thoughts.