Adam went quiet. “That’s different.”
“In what way?” Lizzie kept her voice low and pleasant.
“Because she’s got a lot on her plate right now. I don’t think she needs to hear—”
“Her son-in-law is seeing another woman?”
“Yeah. That. Exactly,” Adam said, fisting his hand at his side. “I will tell her. I just want to find the best time to do it.”
To his surprise, Lizzie just chuckled and shook her head. “Sometimes men are so dense.” She walked over and kissed his cheek. “Come over if you like. I’d love to see you.”
She disappeared out of the door, leaving him puzzling over her last comments. At least she hadn’t gotten mad at him. That was progress.
Ines came in and helped herself to more coffee. “Carlos has taken his pain pills. He’ll sleep for at least eight hours. Dr. Tio has arranged for someone to come and help me bathe him if I need it.”
“I could do that,” Adam offered.
She sat next to him and patted his hand. “I know you could, but you’ve already been through this once with Louisa. I don’t expect you to do it again.”
“At least I’d know what I was doing this time,” Adam murmured. “Just call me if you need me for anything, okay? Dad understands.”
“I will.” Her smile was sweet. “It was so kind of Rio to bring Carlos home. I will never forget it.”
“Are you still okay with Rio buying the ranch?” Adam asked.
“Yes.” She nodded decisively. “I think he will take great care of the place and love it as much as Carlos and I have.” She looked closely at him. “Are you okay with it? I know we talked about you buying us out early, but—”
“I’m good with whatever you want,” Adam said firmly. “I have no right to anything here.”
Ines cupped his cheek. “You are still our heir.”
“It’s all good.” Adam stirred uneasily in his seat. “We don’t need to talk about that right now.”
“As you wish.” Ines sat back and sipped her coffee. “We should talk about something more pleasant. Lizzie Taylor is such a lovely young woman, isn’t she?”
Adam nodded cautiously. “Yes.”
Ines smiled at him. “It’s all right, Adam. I’m not going to shout at you.”
“For what?”
“Falling in love with Lizzie.”
Adam opened and closed his mouth, and then just stared at her until she chuckled.
“Oh my goodness, do you think I’m blind? You can’t keep your eyes off her.” Her expression sobered, and she again reached for his hand. “It’s all right, Adam. Louisa would be the first person cheering you on. She loved Lizzie and she loved you. She’d never have wanted you to spend the rest of your life alone.”
Adam swallowed hard. “Thank you,” he said gruffly. “I wasn’t sure—”
“Whether I’d notice?” Ines rolled her eyes. “I’ve seen you in love before, Adam Miller. It’s hard to mistake the signs.”
“We’re definitely seeing each other,” Adam confirmed. “As to the rest of it . . .” His voice trailed off. Was he in love with Lizzie? “We’ll see how it goes.”
* * *
Lizzie checked her phone, and when she saw the text from Adam, she looked out of her window to discover his truck had pulled into the parking lot behind her apartment. She ran down the stairs to open the lower door and waited for him to emerge from the darkness.
“Hey.” She smiled at him as he approached. “Come on in.”
He followed her up the stairs and into the kitchen where she immediately put on a fresh pot of coffee.
“How was Carlos when you left?” Lizzie asked as she spooned in the coffee and turned the machine on.
Adam didn’t say anything. She turned to face him, one eyebrow raised, to find he was looking at her as if he’d never seen her before.
“Is everything okay?”
He blinked and slowly rubbed his hand over his stubbled chin and mouth. “Yeah.”
“You sure?”
He set his Stetson down on the countertop and took off his jacket. “Yeah.”