To my surprise, the kitchen floor was spotless. Felicia hadn’t come in yet, so either Jade or Marjorie had cleaned it up. My sister wasn’t known as an early riser, but she was used to my outbursts every now and then. I hoped it had been her. Otherwise Jade would come to me, asking a bunch of questions I didn’t want to answer. That I couldn’t answer.

It was a quarter to six, and I wanted to head out to the orchards early since I’d spent all yesterday morning shirking my duties. I had been pretty lax about the orchard lately, and I figured Jonah was due to stop by anytime to give me one of his big brother lectures on pulling my weight. I sure as hell wasn’t in the mood to listen to him, especially since he would be right.

I was rinsing out the coffee carafe when Marjorie loped up behind me.

“I cleaned up your mess earlier.”

Thank God. I didn’t turn around. I measured coffee out of the grinder.

“You might’ve left a note or something. I could’ve cut the hell out of my foot, you know.”

I couldn’t argue. She was right. I shouldn’t have left that mass. What if she—or Jade?—had slipped and fallen on the broken glass? It could’ve been pretty nasty.

I turned. “You’re right. I’m really”—I hacked the dreaded word from my lips as it kicked and screamed to stay put—“sorry.”

“I’m just glad I found it this morning instead of Jade. It would have freaked her out. She should be up pretty soon. I think she meets Ryan over at the winery at nine.”

I poured water into the coffee maker and pressed start. “Today’s Saturday.”

“True. I don’t know if she’s working over there on Saturdays.”

“What are you doing up, Sis? You’re not usually an early riser, especially not on the weekend.”

“Hey, there’s a first time for everything. I thought I’d head over to the orchards with you. I guess it’s about time I started earning my keep around here.”

I let out a chuckle. “Suit yourself. It’s pretty boring right now. Lots of busy work.”

“I don’t mind busy work.”

“Good thing.”

I wanted to ask her about Jade. Had she confided in Marjorie about what had happened between us? My guess was no, or Marj would’ve come to me by now. “Marj?”

“What?”

“Your friend… Jade…”

“What about her?”

“I…was wondering about her ex-boyfriend.” I wasn’t, but it was a good way to find stuff out about Jade without asking more personal questions.

“Colin? He’s an ass.”

“Well, yeah, sure. He left her at the altar. But what kind of relationship did they have?”

“They were together all the time during college. He’s a trust fund kid. His dad’s a financial guy in New York, but they come from old money. Not that they have Steel money.” She smiled. “Anyway, after graduation she stayed in Denver and went to law school, and he went to New York to intern at his dad’s office, so it was long-distance. But they kept it going, determined to make the wedding date they had actually set three years before at college graduation. Obviously, it didn’t quite work out that way.”

“Do you think this Colin messed with her head?”

“Maybe a little. I mean, she was totally humiliated. But she seems okay. I think the relationship just ran out of steam, and neither of them wanted to admit it. I think, in the long run, she’s just as happy that they didn’t get married. She was just really embarrassed that day. I felt so bad for her. I was standing next to her as the maid of honor, waiting to walk down the aisle, and we were waiting…waiting…waiting… The best man, the groomsmen, and the ushers were all there, but no one seemed to know where Colin was. We tried to keep it from Jade for as long as possible, but finally we couldn’t put it off any longer. She was a trouper. She went up and told the congregation that there wouldn’t be a wedding. That Colin hadn’t shown up.”

My heart nearly broke for her right there in the kitchen. If I ever saw that Colin…

“Like you said, she seems okay now.” I poured two cups of coffee and handed one to Marjorie.

“I think she is. She’s little tense right now, waiting for her bar results. They should be here pretty soon. Of course, she’s brilliant, so I know she passed. But it will be a load off her mind when she knows for sure.”

“Yeah…” I wanted to know so much more about Jade, but I didn’t know how to ask Marjorie. “You think she’s happy out here?”

“She’s only been here for a couple weeks, Tal. But she likes working with Ryan at the winery. And I know she’ll be happy once those bar results arrive. She’ll be able to find a job here or in Grand Junction.”

I nodded. “She told me about her mom. That she’s that supermodel.”

“Brooke Bailey? Yeah. What a shallow bitch.”

I nodded. That was for sure. People who didn’t want to stay and raise their kids shouldn’t have kids. Which was exactly why I would never have kids. I’d be a terrible father.

“All in all, she seems pretty well-adjusted.”

Marjorie nodded. “Jade’s the best. Best friend a girl could have. She has certainly helped me through some hard times. Like any BFF would.”

I took a few more sips of my coffee. “I’m going to shower. Meet me in about half an hour, and we’ll drive over to the orchards.”

Marj smiled. She looked so much like my mama—a woman she didn’t even remember. She had the same nearly black hair and dark-brown eyes of all the Steels, but her face was shaped a little differently from ours. She had the soft lines and tiny little bow mouth that Mama’d had.

I missed my mother sometimes. But things had never been the same between us after…

Things were never the same, period.

Chapter Thirteen

Jade

I slept late. It was Saturday, and I didn’t have to go to work. I wanted to make sure I got up well after Talon had risen and headed out. At ten a.m., I finally rose. I knocked on Marjorie’s door, but she wasn’t there. Maybe she was in the kitchen or in the family room watching TV, maybe outside. Nope. After taking a walk around the entire house and the patio, I could not find her. Just as well. I needed some alone time to think.