Page 10

But you are not Lilly.No oneis Lilly.

Cora pulled her car up to the Tyler house and looked at her face in the rearview mirror. Her mascara was smudged, and her lipstick had long been chewed off. She’d spent the morning forcing Micah to go to Dr. Grove’s office for a family therapy session since he didn’t want to go to basketball camp.

It hadn’t gone well. Micah had been stoic and unresponsive and a pain in her butt. She’d cried in front of him like she’d promised herself she wasn’t going to do anymore. She felt like such a failure.

“But you are not a failure,” she said to her own reflection. “You are a work in progress.” Her mantra, and it mostly made her feel a little better.

She wouldn’t have been late if she hadn’t spent too much time worrying over sticking Lilly with Micah when Lilly had both twins while her husband was leading an excursion.

Lilly had assured her it was fine, and that Skeet—Mile High’s old, grizzled receptionist—was great with the babies despite his rather gruff, scary outward appearance.

Cora hadn’t had a choice at that point. Leave or be super late. She’d left. Now, she was only two minutes late, which wasn’t too bad all things considered. She took approximately thirty seconds to fix up her makeup as best she could.

Once satisfied with her reflection, she slipped out of her car. She glanced around the expansive yard and the ranch. She didn’t see any sign of people, only cows and mountains and various machinery.

What must it be like to live somewhere so open and vast? She loved living in quaint little Gracely, and the view from the majestic mountains where Mile High was located was truly awe-inspiring. But something about the Tyler ranch touchedher. It wasn’t just beautiful. It created this odd little pang inside of her.

Which was silly. She was a city girl through and through. She’d grown up in Denver, adjusted to small town life over the past few years, but she’d never know what to do with cattle and all thisspace.

It was still a fun fantasy to have. Made a bit more fun with the image of a man on a horse, a cowboy hat pulled low, sun shining down on him like a spotlight.

Shane Tyler might be a pain in his mother’s butt, like Micah was a pain in hers, but he sure was pretty to look at.

She shook her head and headed for the front door. The last thing she wanted today was another run-in with a disapproving son. Besides, she didn’t want to be any later than she already was.

She knocked on the door, and Deb answered quickly. She greeted Cora with a broad grin. “Cora. Right on time, sweetheart. Come on in.”

Cora opened her mouth to say she wasnotright on time. She was nearly five minutes late, but then she remembered she didn’t always have to point out her flaws to everyone around her. A sad little coping mechanism she’d developed first under her mother, then under Stephen’s heavy hand. If she pointed out her flaws, she got to the punch first before anyone else could.

But she wasn’t that little girl anymore, and Deb was nice. So, Cora followed her into the living room. Much like the kitchen table they’d met at a few days ago, the living room was cozy and well kept. Everything looked polished and bright in the sun shining through big windows that looked out over the ranch and gorgeous mountains in the distance.

“I have a new challenge for you, Cora,” Deb said, taking a seat in a comfortable-looking chair.

Cora carefully sat herself on the edge of the couch, refusing to be intimidated by the word “challenge.”

“I know we were discussing Christmastime, or maybe even next spring, but I don’t want to wait that long. Ben and I were talking the other night about how short life is, and we’ve both lost a lot already. Why wait?”

“Well, all the things you wanted for the wedding, they take time and . . .”

“And money. Which I have plenty of. Our neighbor to the north, the Fairchilds, their granddaughters grew up with my kids. Lou has an adorable little flower farm and she has a florist business to go along with it. She’s recovering from a bit of an accident right now, but I talked to her about flowers, and she said she could do everything in a shorter time period.”

“Oh—okay, but—”

“And I don’t know if you know the owner of Piece of Cake?”

“Yes, Emily and I—”

“She’s Lou’s sister, used to date Gavin, in fact, and I’ve asked her if, for a fee, she’d be willing to move me up, and well, old family friends and all, she agreed.”

Cora felt her panic rising. What did Deb need her for if she’d already figured this all out? “That’s wonderful, but—”

“The dress might be the trickiest thing. My girls’ll be easy of course, but . . .” The spark in Deb’s eyes seemed to dim, the excitement disappearing from her face in the snap of a finger.

It was wrong to jump all over that hint at a problem, but Cora needed this job. “Deb, what’s wrong?”

The older woman swallowed. “Oh, the kids.” She waved a hand. “Might not have my girls as bridesmaids after all.”

“Of course you will.”