He put the last of his boxes in the living room of the small furnished apartment. He and Lore had moved a few pieces from Jack’s, no, from her place. His dad’s desk and the bedroom set that had belonged to his mom and dad. They’d swapped those items, along with all the photographs that had hung in the apartment. It had taken all afternoon.

Now he stood in the apartment that existed over the Barn, it was an apartment for the Barn manager. He’d been surprised and gratified when Kivi had said he could stay. “To see if it works out and they can get past it all” was what she said. He’d been forgiven, now he needed to help make her forget what an ass he’d been. He wanted to make her forget his endless string of bad choices in women. He wanted to make her forget the few men she’d dated. He’d been a fool to let himself feel what he felt. She was supposed to be like a sister, and he had convinced himself of that right up until he caught that coffee mug two months ago in Cali.

Two months ago he let himself think with his heart. Gone was the idea of the perfect woman that he’d created in his head. His last shrink had said it was what he thought his mother would have been. Doc had said he needed to learn to follow his heart. Doc had been right but it’d taken over thirty years to get it.

He’d never been a touchy-feely guy. His dad had been a stoic “Man’s Man.” He’d never lacked care or affection, between his Dad and Kivi’s folks. He was the kind of guy to show you how he felt, and he intended to do just that. With Kivi gone, he had his chance. Lore and he had come up with an equitable split in working the horses. He was the one to get up and feed since he was closer. Lore was taking care of the evening feeding.

As he moved around his place, putting things away and getting acquainted with what was already there, he realized that he was home. He cracked a private smile. It had been his intention to never live here. He’d told his dad early on that he wanted to train horses at a big place on the west coast. He’d been that too, Rancho Santa Fe had been brown, but beautiful in its own way. The farm filled with amazing animals had been his home for nearly a decade and it had been hard to leave. Long talks and interviews to find a suitable replacement. In the end, his 2nd had taken the job of head trainer and he’d left on his quest. Now he was home, and if he had any say this ranch would be where he spend the rest of his life. In a perfect world, he’d spend it here, married to the Locke heir, if she’d have him.