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The bathroom door opened, and Leni smiled at him as she walked into the bedroom, her hair still wet and dripping onto the shoulders of her robe. Then her smile faltered as she saw his expression…and the letter clutched in his hand.

“NASA?” he whispered, his throat aching as he said the word.

“I was going to tell you—”

“No. What you told me was that you were staying. Here. With me.”

“Let me explain—”

He cut her off again. “There’s nothing to explain. You got offered a job with NASA—your dream job. I’m not letting you give that up for me.”

Her expression changed as her eyes narrowed, and she planted a hand on her hip. “Excuse me? Did you just say you weren’t goingto let megive something up for you? In case you haven’t noticed, Chevy Lassiter, I’m not a teenager anymore. I’m a grown-ass woman who can make up her own damn mind. I help build spacecraft, for Pete’s sake. I can make my own decisions.”

He shook his head. “Not this time.”

She lifted her chin. “So, you’re pushing me away? Again?”

He stared at her, everything in him wanting to step forward and pull her into his arms, to beg her to stay. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t ask her to give up her dream. And he couldn’t live with himself if she threw her future away—for him.

“Yeah, I guess I am.” He dropped the letter on the bed and walked out.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chevy held his hand up to wave away the dust as his older brother galloped up to him. He’d come home from Leni’s and saddled Jolene, intent on losing himself on a trail ride through the mountains behind the ranch. The dark clouds forming in the sky mirrored his gray mood.

“You all right, brother?” Ford asked, pulling his horse up to a stop next to him.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Chevy told him, although he was anything but fine, and the curt tone of his voice wouldn’t deter his brother.

“I was running fence and saw you coming across the pasture. You looked so sad, that if you weren’t riding her, I’d think your horse must’ve died. What’s got you so down?”

The tightness in his back deflated as his shoulders slumped forward. “Leni got a job offer from NASA.”

“Wow. That’s amazing. Good for her.”

“Yeah, good for her. Bad for me.”

“How do you figure?”

“Last night, she told me she’d decided to stay. But I was just at her house and found a letter telling her congratulations on accepting the job. And I can’t let her give up a job with fucking NASA, for me.”

“Did you tell her that?”

“Damn right I did.”

Ford nodded. “Good. Women love it when you tell them what you’re gonnalet themdo, or in this case,notdo.”

His brother’s sarcasm was not lost on him, and his shoulders drooped lower. “Yeah, that’s about the same thing she said.”

“So, what happened when you apologized and told her you were wrong to say that?”

Chevy huffed out a dry laugh. “You mean what happened when I pushed her away again and stormed out of her bedroom?”

Ford shook his head. “Ya know, for such a smart guy, you sure can be a dumb ass.”

“I know. But seriously, I can’t let her give up her dream job, not for me.”

“Isn’t that for her to decide?”