He also regretted the way things had ended with Bree. It had been important to him to be the one to tell her the story himself, and when she’d questioned his motives, he got angry.
The fact that she texted meant a lot to him. There had been several times he wanted to pick up the phone and call her. Or at the very least, text her back. But why? Her sister was married to his brother—the brother who never wanted to see him again. As much as he’d been drawn to Bree, leaving then had been best. She had plenty of her own shit to work through.
He never answered, because he wanted her to forget about him. He wanted to forget himself. How ironic was it that only a few months ago, Tucker had wanted the same thing? He ran after the accident, intending to leave his previous life behind. Now Jace was the one who’d left his life.
He pulled into a diner in Helena around dawn. He’d get something to eat here, find a place to stay, and then head out in search of the Beiman Rough Stock Company.
The Beimans were big in Alberta, Canada, and old man Beiman had been inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in the early nineties. Jace remembered hearing about the rough stock contractor’s death a few years ago. He’d died in a car accident along with another rancher known for breaking horses and raising cattle. The loss of both men had been a tragedy talked about often in the rodeo world.
Beiman’s sons had taken over the rough stock business, but it was becoming too much for the family. Jace heard that they were looking for help in the way of contractors, but he also heard they were looking for a partner, someone to take over the Montana operation.
If what he’d heard was true, he planned to make the ranch outside Helena, Montana, his new home—at least for the time being. He didn’t allow himself to think too far ahead. Whenever he did, he couldn’t stand the loneliness he predicted would define the rest of his life.
The meeting with the Beimans lasted a little over two hours. As it turned out, they weren’t looking for a partner as much as they were looking to sell. If he did this, it would mean tying up almost all of his money in the ranch. It wasn’t a decision he wanted to make without talking it over with his parents. He called his father, who agreed to fly up the next day.
Jace almost cried when he hung up. He missed his family; he hadn’t realized how much. He wished he could talk to Tuck about it, too. This was the kind of thing his brother would have loved to see Jace do. He would have helped Jace come up with a name for the ranch and would have wanted to design a new brand. Jace couldn’t imagine that he’d ever like anything anyone but his brother designed.
His mom came along, and his parents stayed in Helena for two weeks. When they left, his mom and dad were his partners in a 12,000-acre business venture they named Triple-Bar-R Rough Stock and Cattle Company.
It hadn’t worked out the way Jace had originally planned, but his father was unrelenting in his insistence that he wanted to be a partner in his son’s venture. Jace only had to liquidate half of his holdings to make the deal; both his parents put up the rest of the capital needed. They were headed back to Aspen now but intended to come back and settle in one of the two main houses already built on the ranch property.
For the second time in as many weeks, Jace found himself on the verge of tears. Having his parents close was something he hadn’t even considered. Maybe the on-going ache of loneliness would be somewhat diminished by knowing they were within arms’ reach.
The day Bree graduated with her master’s degree was bittersweet. Her whole family was there, even Brooke and her husband flew in from Germany. No matter how many people surrounded her, it didn’t make up for the two who didn’t. Everyone knew she’d be missing Zack today, but no one knew there was someone else she wished was there.
It had been almost a year, but she still thought about Jace almost every day, especially when she was with Cochran. When she wasn’t studying or working on her thesis, Bree spent as much time as she could with Blythe and the baby.
She helped them furnish and decorate the house in Black Forest, and offered to babysit at least once a week, so Blythe and Tucker could have some time alone. They usually went out for dinner, which meant they were gone less than two hours, but Bree lived for that time with her nephew.
He was growing up so fast, and Jace was missing it. She took pictures and wanted to text them to him, but since he never responded when she did, she wondered if maybe he didn’t want to see them. So she eventually stopped.
After the graduation ceremony, they went back to her parents’ house, where they were hosting a barbecue. She spent most of the afternoon waging a battle with threatening tears.
Blythe asked her if she wanted to go for a walk with her and Cochran.
“I could tell you were uncomfortable,” Blythe told her.
“Emotional more than uncomfortable.”
“You miss him.”
“Zack? Of course, I do. I miss him every day.” The tears she fought hard to keep control of began to fall. Thinking about Zack made her think of Jace. How crazy was that? But he would’ve understood how she was feeling today, if no one else did. God, she missed him.
“Not Zack, Bree. I know you miss Jace.”
That made her cry harder. “I do. I miss him so much. Is that horrible, Blythe? Am I a terrible person? I miss Jace
more than I miss Zack.”
“I don’t think that’s true. I think you miss both of them. They’re intertwined. Jace became someone you leaned on after Zack died.”
“Jace was…a friend, I suppose. I didn’t even know him very well. It’s silly that I miss him. Has Tucker talked to him?”
“No, but we talk to his parents. They moved to Montana. Jace bought a ranch and they’re going to help him run it.”
“Jace bought a ranch? Why?”
“I’m not sure, but Hank and Carol are partners with him in it.”