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She was funny and quick. She had a temper, but she was also cute, and she turned red when he called her carrot. And he really did care about the girl a whole hell of a lot.

But love...

Love wasn’t in the cards for him, simply because it couldn’t be.

Because love made him think of his father. Stumbling around for months, gray and lifeless, and nothing like he used to be. A man whose soul had gone out of him when his other half left the earth.

And then he could remember, clearly, the day his father had gone to the ground out in the field.

It made his own chest ache to even think about it.

He had often thought he had his father’s heart. He’d been to see several doctors, cardiologists, who’d said that what his father had was not hereditary. Not a genetic heart condition or anything like that. The widower phenomenon was real. The stress that grief put on your heart was something many people couldn’t get past. It was common, Levi had found out, for spouses to die the same year as each other.

But he had his dad’s heart. For the land, for his family.

He had his dad’s heart.

“She’s a great woman,” said Levi. “Let’s just leave it at that. I enjoy spending time with her, and I care about her and her store. So can you come?”

“Yes,” said Jessie. “We’ll be there.”

“Good.”

QUINN BROUGHT A big duffel bag full of clothes over to Levi’s the night before the grand opening of the farm store.

She planned on having him help her choose dresses, which was kind of a funny thing, because normally she would have done that with her sisters, but she wanted his opinion.

One of the most charming things about Levi was that he actually really liked to watch her try on clothes. She had a feeling it was because she got naked in between, but he seemed completely captivated by every new outfit she put on.

It made her smile a little bit just thinking about it. When she got there, she was shocked to come into the kitchen and find Levi there pulling a roast out of the oven.

“What are you doing?”

“Cooking. For you. You’ve been working so damned hard.”

“I have been. But this is like Sunday dinner.”

“Yeah. Well. I thought it might be good to have the leftovers. Jessie and Damien are going to stay the night down in the cabin tomorrow.”

“Really?” She felt instantly nervous at the idea of meeting his other sister.

“Yeah. They’re coming for the store opening.”

She just stopped and stared at him. Levi Granger.

Her...

She didn’t know what he was to her. Her lover. Undeniably.

But he felt like more than that. She crossed the space and put her hand on his face, stretched up on her toes and kissed him on the lips.

“You are wonderful,” she said.

“Thanks,” he said.

“Today we got all the artisan stuff into the store, and it looks amazing. Clay pots and handmade baskets, trivets made out of marble and wood. Glorious. Everything is all set up, and I am so excited. We’ve baked so many pies, and they’re gorgeous. I’m really sorry I didn’t bring you one. I should have. I’ll get one from the store tomorrow.”

He waved a hand as if he was chasing her apology out of the air. “You don’t need to be wasting your pies on me.”