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“They were a favorite of Garrett’s, for starters.”

Mollie’s expression softens. Only it’s not sadness I see in her eyes. It’s more like interest. Curiosity.

She didn’t know her daddy all that well. It hits me that in a way, she’s learning him through me.

Considering Garrett was one of my favorite people, I’m more than happy to teach her.

“I’d love one,” she says. “Thank you.”

I nod at the table and chairs. “Sit. Prepare to be amazed.”

“Can I snoop around instead?” She glances across the cabin. “I’m not sure if I’ll ever be invited back.”

“Because you’re a terrible houseguest?” I open the fridge and pull out a bottle of Topo Chico—Mexican sparkling mineral water.

“Because I’m about to break some furniture with you,” she replies with a smirk.

Letting out a bark of laughter, I grab a jalapeño from a bowl on the counter and wash it at the sink. “You’re funny.”

“I know.” She’s in the living room now, looking at mybookshelves. “This is impressive, Cash. I didn’t know you were a reader.”

“Have been my whole life. Guess it’s my way of staying connected to that part of me—the part that likes ideas. Stories.”

She glances at me over her shoulder. “That’s hot.”

“I know.”

Rolling her eyes, she smiles as she moves to the silver picture frames on the mantel. “So you and Dad would drink these spicy ranch waters together?”

“When it was hot like it is now, yeah.” I slice up the jalapeño and put it in a glass, pouring several fingers of tequila over it. I give the slices a quick muddle with the back of a spoon. “At quittin’ time, Garrett would join us at the bunkhouse for beers. It was lonely at his place, you know?”

“I imagine it was, yeah.”

“So one day, we ran out of Shiner Bock. All we had was tequila and Topo Chico, which Patsy buys in bulk. I’d had a ranch water at the rodeo a few times, so I decided to look for some limes and make my own. Your daddy was the one who requested the spicy tequila.”

Mollie smiles, arms crossed over her chest. “He loved his spice. He’d beg me to try it when I was little, but I didn’t start to love it until I was a teenager. Now I can’t get enough of it.”

“So you’re the reason we’re going through hot sauce like there’s no tomorrow.” I fill a pair of glasses with ice.

“You and your brothers are the reason. How much y’all eat—I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Patsy’s cooking is hard to resist.”

“No kidding. Best food I’ve had in my life. It’s so satisfying, you know, eating real food like that after working your body as hard as we do? Well, as hard as y’all do, anyway.”

I look up from the lime I’m juicing. “That a request? To work your body hard?”

“Hell yeah, it’s a request.” Her eyes dance.

“Don’t have to ask me twice. But really, you work hard too, Mollie. Give yourself more credit.”

“I work hard watching y’all work hard.” She crosses into the kitchen. “I work especially hard watching you.”

I pour tequila over the lime juice. Then I top off each glass with a good pour of Topo Chico and a slice of lime. “Then why’re you messin’ around with that jackass from Dallas?”

“Because!” Mollie takes the glass I hold out to her, eyes wide. “I was…frustrated, okay? It’s like the world’s worst best tease, being around you and your chaps and your fucking mustache all day, every day.”

My dick twitches at the idea that I turn Mollie on so much—so often—she had to call a friend for relief.