Pete had barely made it inside his house before Bonnie began grilling him. “How did it go? Did she still want the job? Do you feel comfortable about her being here? Did you hire her?”

      He placed his Stetson on the rack before turning with Ciara in his arms. Bonnie didn’t waste any time taking his niece from him.

      “Things went well, and yes, yes and yes to your other questions.”

      Bonnie smiled. “I knew things would be all right once you talked to her yourself.”

      Pete wasn’t sure things would be all right, but he’d gotten tired of unintentionally offending Myra and figured he needed to stop while he was ahead. Bottom line, she was qualified to take care of Ciara and anything else would be up to him to keep in check. He knew now more than ever that doing such a thing wouldn’t be easy. Sharing space with her even with Ciara with them had been hard. He’d been aware of every breath and every move. How would he handle her being here with him in this house alone?

      If anything, what she’d told him should help. He wasn’t her type and was too old for her liking. He shouldn’t be offended by her comment since he was the one who’d made such a big deal of the age thing. But he had news for her; the twelve-year difference in their ages didn’t mean a damn thing. Bonnie had reminded him that his own father had been ten years older than his mom, and old man Arnold was fifteen years older than Ms. Viola and they’d been married for close to seventy years.

      Pete wondered why he was wasting so much thought on this issue. The important thing was that he and Myra had an understanding. Well, sort of. Deep down he believed she felt the entire subject had been ridiculous since she wasn’t the least bit interested in him, and he shouldn’t be the least bit interested in her.

      But he was, though. The best thing to do when she moved in was to stay out of her way and make sure she stayed out of his. His home didn’t have split levels. His master suite was at the end of a long hall and Myra should have no reason to venture that far down the hall since the bedroom she would be using had its own private bath and Ciara’s room was next door to hers. There was another guest room and his office next to Ciara’s room.

      On the other hand, he would have to walk down the hall and pass by both bedrooms to get to the living room and other parts of the house.

      “When will Myra be moving in?”

      “We agreed on Friday. That will give you time to pack and take care of things you need to handle at your place since you’ll be gone for a while. If you need me to do anything while you’re gone, let me know.”

      “I will and I appreciate it.” Bonnie glanced down at Ciara who’d fallen asleep in her arms. “Let me lay her down. It’s not even her nap time yet. What did you do to her to tire her out?”

      “I didn’t do anything. In fact, once she saw Myra Hollister, Ciara forgot I was alive.”

      Bonnie chuckled. “You sound jealous.”

      Did he? Was he? Possibly. He wasn’t used to Ciara being so taken with anyone she wasn’t accustomed to seeing on a regular basis. “I have no reason to be jealous, Bonnie.”

      “Oh, by the way,” Bonnie said as she headed down the hall, “Zane’s here checking on the horses. Told me to tell you he would stop by before leaving.”

      “Fine.” Zane was one of Derringer’s older brothers. Although he was a married man now, Zane once had a reputation as one of Denver’s most notorious womanizers. But then so had Derringer and Riley. Only difference was that Zane’s reputation had been a lot worse. He’d also been dubbed an expert when it came to women and was known to give out advice on the topic.

      Pete removed his jacket before walking over to the window. Snowfall was predicted tonight. He couldn’t wait until Ciara got older and he could build a snowman with her like he’d done with Matt while growing up. Those had been fun times when both of their parents had been alive and their only worry was making sure their homework was done before going to bed.

      He saw a movement out the window and recognized Zane walking toward the house. Zane, Derringer and their cousin Jason were partners in a lucrative horse breeding and training business, along with several of their Westmoreland cousins living in Montana and Texas. The partnership was doing extremely well financially, with horse buyers extending all the way to the Middle East. One of their horses, Prince Charming, had placed in the Kentucky Derby a few years ago. Since then, potential clients had been coming out of the woodwork in droves. As a result, they’d needed more land to hold the horses. Since Pete had more property than he knew what to do with, he’d leased a portion of it to the Westmorelands.

      Pete had never sought out Zane for advice on the topic of women before, but maybe he should run this situation regarding Myra by Zane. Hell, doing so couldn’t hurt.