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“Oh, I know.” She grinned at him as she plucked a piece of lettuce that dangled from her sandwich. “I’m well aware of your ego.”

He scoffed. “My ego?”

“Sure. You run the largest ranch in the area.”

“More like in the state.”

She gave him that look—the one that said this was what she meant—and he chuckled again.

“Okay, you got me. Continue.”

This time Agatha laughed. “And as such, you have the largest staff on hand to take care of it. You are in charge of so many lives and their family’s well-being.”

“Go on.”

She gave him a playful shove. “And yet you’re spending every day at my home rebuilding the life I lost.” Her voice got quieter, more serious. “Why is that?”

He hadn’t expected to feel so on the spot with this one.

“I’ve been over it in my head again and again,” she added.

Zeke cleared his throat, drawing her focus. “I would think it’s obvious. I like you.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Boy, that wasn’t the reason when you started.”

She was right. Agatha was the kind of person who came at him like a boomerang. But there was something he hadn’t expected even in the beginning.

“You didn’t strike me as the kind of woman who would have just given up.”

“Okay…” she drawled. “But that doesn’t explain why you would go out of your way to help me.”

Was she expecting him to say something that would put him in a bad light? It was the only thing that made sense to his muddled brain. He didn’t know what she was trying to get from him.

He shifted uncomfortably for a moment, then understanding flooded his mind. “Do you remember when we went back to the site to find your pictures?”

“Yes.”

“There was something about that day… I just knew I needed to be the one to help you over that hurdle. You would have figured it out, I’m sure of it. But… I just knew…” His voice trailed off. How could he tell her that he’d practically been pushed into helping, and he couldn’t quite remember what it was that had been the catalyst? He’d sound crazy.

Perhaps he already did.

“Maybe I knew that you were just stubborn enough that you’d get yourself into trouble if I wasn’t there to rope you in.”

Amusement flickered over her face. and the relief that consumed him over getting through this part of the conversation eased the ache in his chest. She shook her head. “I’m not the one who would get herself into trouble. I can handle myself.”

“You say that a lot,” he said.

“You don’t believe me?”

He snorted. “Besides some of my daughters, there aren’t many single women I’ve met who can truly take care of themselves—”

“Hey!” Agatha threw a grape at him.

“You didn’t let me finish!” He laughed as he retrieved the missile and popped it into his mouth. “But if anyone has come close, it’s you.”

She tilted her head—that look once again on her face that made him feel like he could do anything. “Thank you… I think.”

“No thanks needed. It’s the truth.”