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A couple of cowboys came out of a cabin a couple down, and she lifted her hand in greeting as they saw her.

“Howdy, Edith,” one said to her. “You comin’ down to the homestead for dinner?”

She shook her head. “Nope, I’ve got a ton going on tonight.” Plus, she had no idea why she’d ever go to the homestead here at Three Rivers Ranch for dinner. She hadn’t been invited tonight either, and she didn’t know what the occasion was. “But you guys enjoy.”

Manny and Falcon continued on, and Edith figured she better finish up her work here and get going on the rest of her to-do list. So she returned to the big, glass-front Courage Reins building and filled out her paperwork.

“There you go,” she said to Reese Sanders, who ran the office here at the facility.

“Thank you, Edith,” he said without looking at the paper. “She do okay today?’

“She’s amazing,” Edith said, her voice brightening as she spoke of Cocoa. She did love that horse, and she was going to miss her.

As she left the building, she took another moment to breathe in the mid-May air and look over to the homestead. It didn’t look any different than she’d seen it before. A couple of unfamiliar trucks sat in the driveway, but so many people came out here to the ranch, and Edith certainly wouldn’t know every vehicle that came here.

The grass shone green around the homestead, and she watched Beau Peterson, the current foreman at the ranch appear and climb the steps to the deep deck that spanned the width of the side of the house. He slid open the glass door and went right inside, and Edith wondered what that would be like. To have people coming and going from her private, personal residence all the time.

She’d asked Finn about it once, but he’d said he hadn’t thought about it. That such a thing was just part of his life. He’d grown up with it, so it felt normal to him.

Edith reached up and removed the ponytail holder from her hair, and she ran her hands through it to get it to lay right. Now she felt ready to re-enter the normal world, the town and atmosphere away from Three Rivers Ranch, and she turned toward her SUV.

This place did have a vibe Edith had only ever felt here. Troubles and worries couldn’t touch her here, but the moment she drove from dirt road to highway, the weight of her life would descend on her shoulders again.

“It’s okay,” she told herself as she started the car and adjusted the air conditioning. “It’s okay to have a real life and an escape. You can’t live in la-la land forever.”

A couple of hours helped her get through the week, and then she’d come back to Courage Reins and get away from everything all over again.

She pulled her phone from her pocket, where it didn’t quite fit now that she’d sat down, and she put it in the middle console with her soda pop. That would be warm and flat by now, so Edith didn’t reach for it. She liked her soda pop ice cold, fizzy, and flavored with grapefruit, lime, and orange.

Before she could twist to get her seatbelt on, someone knocked on the glass of her driver’s side window. Edith spun that way as she both yelped and leaned away from the would-be attacker.

Her pulse sped through her bloodstream, and her adrenaline told her to find something she could use to ward off whoever had dared get so close to her, with only a simple pane of glass separating them.

But Edith kept her car neat, and all she had at her disposal was her phone. She forgot all about trying to grab it as she took in the terribly familiar features of the man on the other side of the glass.

Understanding and recognition kicked in, and Edith sat up straight and reached to roll down the window.

True, Finn now wore a beard, which he hadn’t in high school or afterward. But his blue eyes sparkled with the smile on his face, and as the glass lowered, she heard his low chuckle.

That struck a familiar chord inside Edith too, and her own smile formed. She pressed one hand to her still-flailing heartbeat. “Finn Ackerman. You scared me.”

Chapter Two

Finley Ackerman couldn’t believe who he was looking at. The gorgeous Edith Baxter. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to. I just saw you, and I couldn’t believe it, and....” He trailed off. “It’s you.” His back pinched because he had to lean down only slightly to see inside the SUV, and it wasn’t a natural position. But he would not move. Oh, no, he would not.

Edith hadn’t buckled in yet, and she opened the door. Finn got out of the way to allow her to stand, the moment between them tense and awkward. What did he do here? The last time he and Edith had been together, he’d kissed her. He hadn’t known when he’d see her again, but he’d known he would.

The door closed, and Finn decided to do what was natural. He had no idea if she was married or seeing someone, but he moved into her personal space and took her into his arms. “Oh, wow. it’s so good to see you.”

She murmured, “It sure is,” as she wrapped him up in her arms too. “What are you doing here?”

“I just got home,” he said. “This morning. My momma is planning a big welcome home party tonight.” He stepped back, ideas firing through his mind like machine gun shots. “You should come.”

Edith’s blue eyes widened, and she shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“I—” She looked over to the homestead, but Finn only had eyes for her. He couldn’t look away, because he couldn’t quite believe Edith Baxter stood in front of him. He’d seen her from the window that overlooked the ranch, and he’d left the cowboys his daddy had bribed into coming to help set up for the party mid-conversation. He’d have to answer for that, but for now, he simply basked in Edith’s presence. Her beauty.