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Would it be so terrible to have a friend? Not a girlfriend — he couldn’t see that much happiness in his life — but a friend would be okay. Would she be satisfied with that?

Her eyebrows quirked upward. “Like what you see, cowboy?”

A flush crept up Weston’s neck. Did she have to be so smug? Being Paisley, she probably did. “I’ve seen worse at the freak show.”

She burst out laughing. “They don’t even have those anymore. Go ahead, cowboy, just admit I’m pretty.” She lifted the end of one of her two blond braids and waggled it at him.

Weston shook his head and looked away. “I’m admitting no such thing.”

“It won’t kill you to be nice.”

It might. A guy could never be too careful cracking open doors. First pleasantness, then friendship, then what?

But Paisley Teele didn’t know why she should avoid him. All she saw was the surface, and he couldn’t completely hate that she liked what she saw there. She thought she saw beneath the surface a little, that there was a guy worth knowing beneath the gruff exterior.

She didn’t know that he was a lousy relationship risk. He wasn’t enough to hold someone as inherently filled with light and goodness as Paisley.

The horses rounded a bend in the trail, revealing a view down the length of a valley with a small lake nestled at the bottom. Weston jerked his chin toward it. “Our destination.”

“Excellent.” Paisley stretched in her saddle.

Weston averted his gaze, not that he’d been looking. “We’ll scout around and make sure that meadow is a good spot.”

“After a sandwich.”

He shrugged. “Sure.” He could eat. He could also wait. Didn’t much matter. “Then dig a couple of pit toilets.”

Paisley angled a look over her shoulder as Enchantment began to pick his way down the slope ahead of Ranger. “You brought shovels?”

“I brought one. I didn’t expect company.”

“Today turned out better than you expected.” She smirked.

He scowled, but it wasn’t as heartfelt as usual. “Only if the site is suitable. If not, I’ll have to do this again another day with my second choice.”

“You mean, we’ll need to.”

“That’s not what I said.”

“But it’s what you meant.” Paisley grinned and turned forward to focus on the trail.

Fine. Have it her way. She wasn’t completely wrong.

Ranger followed Enchantment down the steep slope. Could greenhorn kids manage this trail? Yeah, if they trusted their experienced horses. Their homeschool co-op leaders must realize this wasn’t a manicured ranch with paved paths, right?

This was backcountry. God’s country, with very little evidence of human tampering. Even the path they were on might be a game trail made by deer or moose heading toward water.

Twenty minutes later, they emerged onto the somewhat level area beside the lake. Weston’s heart quickened as he scanned for evidence of wildlife or previous humans.

There. A few weathered boards tied to two trees created a low screen on the far side. He nudged Ranger toward the manmade object.

In his peripheral vision, Paisley dismounted.

He wasn’t watching. He was too busy checking out — aha! Yes! The boards shielded a pit toilet, which was far from a full outhouse. Was there a second one for a mixed-gender group?

Weston slid off Ranger and scouted the perimeter, but there was no evidence of a second latrine. No matter. He’d fully expected to dig two. Now he only needed to dig one.

He led Ranger to the still, turquoise waters and lengthened the lead. The horse ambled in to drink alongside Enchantment.