He probably would have been a little baffled by the choice of suit and tie, of paper drafted and filed, of appearances and appointments. But Jared hoped he would have been proud. He needed to believe his father would have been proud.
But this wasn't such a bad way to spend a Saturday, he mused, after a week of courtrooms and paperwork.
Nearby, Shane whistled a mindless tune and herded the cows in to feed. And looked, Jared realized, very much as their father would have—dusty jeans, dusty shirt loose on a tough, disciplined body, worn cap over hair that needed a barber's touch.
"What do you think of the new neighbor?" Jared called out.
"Huh?"
"The new neighbor," Jared repeated, and jerked a thumb in the direction of Morningstar land.
"Oh, you mean the goddess." Shane stepped away from the trough, eyes dreamy. "I need a moment of silence," he murmured, and crossed his hands over his heart.
Amused, Jared swiped a hand through his hair. "She is impressive."
"She's built like... I don't have words." Shane gave one of the cows an affectionate slap on the rump. "I've only seen her once. Ran into her and her kid going into the market. Talked to her for about two minutes, drooled for the next hour."
"How did she strike you?"
"Like a bolt of lightning, bro."
"Think you can keep your head out of your shorts for a minute?"
"I can try." Shane bent to help break up bales. "Like a woman who can handle herself and isn't looking for company," he decided. "Good with the kid. You can tell just by the way they stand together."
"Yeah, I noticed that."
Shane's interest was piqued. "When?"
"I was over there a couple of days ago. Had a little legal business."
"Oh." Shane wiggled his eyebrows. "Privileged communication?''
"That's right." Jared hauled over another bale and nipped the twine. "What's the word on her?"
"There isn't much of anything. From what I get, she was in the Frederick area, saw the ad for the cabin in the paper down there. Then she blew into town, snapped up the property, put her kid in school and closed herself off on her little hill. It's driving Mrs. Metz crazy."
"I bet. If Mrs. Metz, queen of the grapevine, can't get any gossip on her, nobody can."
"If you're handling some legal deal for her, you ought to be able to shake something loose."
"She's not a client," Jared said, and left it at that. "The boy comes around here?"
"Now and again. He and Connor."
"An odd pairing."
"It's nice seeing them togetner. Bry's a pistol, let me tell you. He's got a million questions, opinions, arguments." Shane lifted a brow. "Reminds me of somebody."
"That so?"
"Dad always said if there were two opinions on one subject, you'd have both of them. The kid's like that. And he makes Connor laugh. It's good to hear."
"The boy hasn't had enough to laugh about, not with a father like Joe Dolin."
Shane grunted, gathering up discarded twine. "Well, Dolin's behind bars and out of the picture." Shane stepped back, checking over his herd and the land beyond. "He's not going to be beating up on Cassie anymore, or terrorizing those kids. The divorce going to be final soon?"