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“Why does it matter?” He glanced over to Janie, who gazed back at him. “The state should be happy they don’t have to pay for rent. Uncle Ward’s right. Have them save it for something else.”

“That’s not really how state budgets work,” Misty said.

Irritation lit through him like someone had ignited a trail of gunpowder leading to a stick of dynamite. “Okay,” he said. “Well, I have to get back to work. I’ll still see you later? My place, probably close to seven?”

She nodded, and Link turned and walked away from the pair of them. Before he’d even made it back to the shed, his phone chimed Misty’s notification tone at him. He automatically pulled his phone out, as his pulse had zipped through his body in a Pavlovian way.

It matters because money is really powerful, Link. Are you saying YOU have a lot of money, or the RANCH has a lot of money? They’re two different things.

Why is money powerful? he asked as he walked, praying he didn’t ram into anyone or trip over anything.

He made it back to the air conditioning of the shed before Misty messaged again. Because, with money, you don’t have to worry. You can go on vacation any time you want. Take a day off if you want. Pay for anything you need without many sleepless nights.

As Link read, he heard all the things she really meant. He could feel all the things she’d been through—not able to take time off. Not being able to pay for things without losing sleep. Available for a fun vacation.

He thought of that road trip they’d joked about. Maybe it wasn’t really a joke. He’d never thought to ask her if she’d ever been on vacation, but given what he knew about her past and her family, now he wondered if she ever had.

And if she hadn’t, where would she like to go? Link would take her there.

With money, you can relocate without worrying about finding another job. With money, you can literally do anything, Link. Money is important and powerful, even if we don’t like that concept as Christians.

He felt properly chastised, but he didn’t want to admit it. Where would you go on vacation if money wasn’t an issue? he asked instead.

I don’t know, Link. Her frustration came through loud and clear, and Link looked up from his phone.

Would you relocate to Three Rivers if money wasn’t an issue? he typed out. He didn’t send the text, because he didn’t have to. He knew the answer to that, and for the first time in the last month, Link’s heart lifted on a tiny balloon of hope.

He had money. If she fell in love with him and married him, she wouldn’t have to work ever again. He had plenty to take care of her. To relocate her. All of it.

So he erased that text and typed instead, Remember that time you found out I was really rich? Me, not the ranch. Like, millions-of-dollars-rich. And remember how, after you knew that, we started planning our future together? You wanted a bigger house than the Top Cottage—one where you could have a whole room just for painting—and I just wanted you to move to Three Rivers permanently so we could be together. Remember that?

With a booming heartbeat banging against the back of his tongue, Link read over the text, hesitating. “Should I send this, Lord?”

It sure would lay out a lot between them. He wasn’t sure who he was trying to hide from. He’d just kissed her—super chastely, sure—in front of his uncle. Everyone knew they were dating. He felt moony-eyed and soft in the bone whenever he got lucky enough to be with Misty. She had to know that. See it. Feel it.

So he made a bold decision and sent the text.

Chapter Nineteen

Misty waited until she and Janie returned to their cabin before she showed her best friend the text. “How do I respond to that?” She paced away from her phone, glad to be out of the heat. She’d been sick for about a week, and she sank onto the couch, feeling as weak now as she had been while in the throes of her sinus infection.

Being sick in the summer was the worst curse God could give her—oh, besides the mega-rich cowboy who’d just asked her to move to Three Rivers permanently to be with him.

“I told you already,” Janie said. “He’s in love with you.”

“He’s not,” Misty said with a sigh. “Link says stuff like that out loud, Janie. When he’s in love with me, he’ll tell me.”

“Are you sure he won’t just send a text that says, Remember that time I told you I loved you for the first time?”

Misty smiled through her irritation. She and Link did have some games they played with one another. He knew he was special to her; that game was designed to say so without saying so. And this one about how they said the things they wanted to happen like they’d already happened?

She loved it. She loved thinking about what she wanted with Link and trying to project or manifest those things into existence. She’d been praying too, specifically to know what to do about Link. What to do about her job. What to do with her life.

She was thirty years old, and she’d thought she had everything figured out already.

No dating.

An amazing job she loved.