They both turned to look for her. She was still on her horse, leading Jacob’s, slowly making her way toward them.

“She’s still far enough away…” Jacob looked at him hopefully, making Cade laugh again.

“Not a chance. I’m not risking my stay here for another joy ride. Or my dinner. Maddie’s cooking her pot roast, and in case you’re wondering, it’s to die for.” Plus, he had no problem making out Delia’s anxious gaze as she came closer. “If I haven’t risked it already,” Cade muttered.

But as she came up to them, she smiled, mostly in response to Jacob’s grin, Cade thought. “Fun?”

“Yeah.” Jacob looked at Cade, and there was no mistaking the adoration there. “He’s going to teach me to ride like he does.”

“You’ll have to come back to do that,” Delia said, only her eyes betraying how important Jacob’s response was to her. “Think you’ll want to?”

Jacob reached down and stroked the horse’s neck. The animal gave a huff of pleasure. “Yeah. I want to come back.”

Delia slid off her horse, and from her natural grace and ease of movement, no one would have guessed how new to riding she was. Then her horse snorted and Delia leaped back, eyes wide.

No one but me, Cade silently corrected, biting back a smile.

She moved toward Cade’s horse and looked up into Jacob’s eyes. “I’m hoping someday you’ll want to come here and…well, maybe stay.”

“You mean, live here with you?”

Again, only her eyes gave away her emotion. “Yeah.”

Jacob scratched his head and looked puzzled. “I don’t know.”

Delia merely nodded. But Cade caught her hard swallow and the stricken flash in her eyes, and he nearly reached for her, but then Jacob spoke again.

“I used to not have anyone to live with,” he said, “you know, after my mom died. Now all of a sudden, everyone wants me to live with them.”

“Everyone? Like who?”

“Edna,” Jacob said. “You. And Scott.”

“Scott?” Delia repeated with more than a little surprise. “Scott wants you to live with him?”

“He said it was going to be up to the judge, but if I wanted, I could tell the judge who I wanted to live with most.” Confusion flickered in his eyes. “I thought living with Scott would be great. He’s got a puppy, and he said it could be mine.”

“But now…you’re mixed up?” Delia asked gently.

Jacob shrugged again. “A little.”

“I’d be confused, too,” Delia said. “So many choices. Why don’t you just think about it for a while, okay? No one is asking you to make any decision right now. Don’t feel rushed.”

“Okay.”

Delia smiled at Jacob, and Cade smiled at her, willing his support and affection into her hurting heart. She shocked him by returning that smile.

Jacob pointed to a large rock on the bluff overlooking the river. “Can we go fast again? Just to the rock?”

Delia nodded, and with her permission, Cade held Jacob tightly and let the wind take them.

Afterward, Maddie coaxed Jacob into the house with the promise of chocolate-chip cookies, and he didn’t hesitate.

Which left Cade and Delia alone, still on their horses, in front of the house.

“Scott wants him,” Delia repeated dully, staring off into space.

Cade knew it wasn’t all that uncommon for social workers to take in one or more foster kids themselves. He had a friend who ran the child-welfare service in Arizona, and she took in kids all the time.

“Why didn’t he tell me?” Delia asked.

“I don’t know, but it makes me wonder,” Cade said.

“Which brings me to something else I’ve been wondering about.” She turned and looked right at him. “Why did you come back?”

He sighed, wishing they didn’t have to do this. He didn’t want to hurt her any more than she’d already been hurt. “You were right about your father. He wasn’t a cop. There’s no record of him on the force.”

“You could have told me that on the telephone,” Delia responded.

Because he was well aware of that fact, and annoyed and confused about it, he ignored her words. “Also, Ethan Constance used different names. I’ve tracked down at least five of them so far.”

“But not Eddie Kitze?”

“Not yet, but that doesn’t mean anything. I’ll find him, Delia.”

Her eyes were still on his, cool and steady. “You could have told me that over the phone, too.”

“And could I have helped you with Jacob over the phone?”

At her desolate expression, he swore, shoved a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, but you’re driving me insane, you know that?”

“Exactly my point in asking why you came back.”

“I didn’t intend to. I went to New York, tracking down someone on another case, and every single woman I looked at, I…I saw you. You, dammit, and I’ve got to tell you, I didn’t like it.”

She had the nerve to look amused, if slightly unsettled.

“After New York I hit Florida, for what should have been a nice cozy little break. I was lying on the beach and listening to the surf, thinking life was pretty good. I’d just closed two big cases and was getting closer to tracking your father and solving Constance’s case. Should have been a real personal triumph for me, and all I could think about was the snow, these Idaho peaks, the Triple M…and you, dammit. You. Your cool smile and hot eyes. Your laugh. The way you make me want…” Want to live again.

The thought was beginning to haunt him.

Turning his horse away, he swore again and gazed into the distance, unable to come to terms with everything he was feeling.

“Want what?” she whispered.

“I doubt you really want to know.” He drew in a deep breath. “It’s fairly involved.”

“Oh, and I can’t handle ‘involved’?”

“Not this kind of involved.”

“Well, that’s interesting coming from a man who can’t stay in one spot long enough to grow roots.”

He looked at her. “Isn’t that like the pot calling the kettle black?”

“I have a home.”

“Yes, a home. But you won’t share feelings and emotions, not when they run deep enough to make you hurt.”

She stared at him, then slipped off Betsy and started to lead her toward the barn. At the last moment she turned back. “I owe you a thank-you. I’ll never forget how you helped me with Jacob. How you helped me gain access to his heart.”

“That was you, Delia, not me.”

“Maybe I could have done it without you, but it would have taken longer. You have a way with him, and I’m grateful.”

“I don’t want your gratitude.”

“I can see that. So go away, Cade. Go away and stay there this time.”

“You don’t know how much I want to do just that, but I can’t.” He dismounted, as well, and moved close to her, close enough to see her chest rise and fall with her uneven breathing, close enough to see the pain in her eyes, pain he’d put there. “You asked me about my past, and I didn’t answer you.”

She shrugged as if it didn’t matter, but he knew better. “I was married,” he said quietly, moderately satisfied to see her shock. “I had a son. They…both died.”

“Oh…oh, Cade.” Her eyes filled with sorrow.

“It was a long time ago,” he said quickly to smother her pity. “Eight years.”

“How?”

In her eyes was so much compassion and sympathy he nearly choked on it. “It was my fault.” He moistened suddenly dry lips, but there was nothing he could do about the lump in his throat. He never talked about this, never, but he would now. “I worked a lot, as an attorney. Lisa was always after me to take a vacation, but I was too busy becoming a somebody.” His mouth twisted bitterly. “God, I was so selfish back then it kills me even to think about it.” Wearily he rubbed his temples, and when he felt her hand on his back, offering a comfort he didn’t deserve, he went absolutely still.

Purposely he moved away from her hand and ignored the look of hurt on her face.

“What happened?” she asked.

“I finally agreed to get away. We went to Colorado, just the three of us, but I got called back to L.A. to testify on a case.”