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I miss her.

I already have so many ideas for our first date. This Friday. My place because I want her all to myself. I also like that the commute between the dinner table and the bedroomis thirty seconds. Less if I throw Sally over my shoulder and take her there myself.

I don’t cook, and I don’t know wine, but luckily, I have friends who do. I’ve already drafted the texts I’ll send Mollie and Patsy.

Speaking of Mollie, I’m gonna need to talk to Cash after my chat with the Powells this morning. Hopefully, he’ll also see that I’m doing everything above board. I just need to convince him to trust me.

Sally does. And she’s the smartest out of all of us.

Surely, my brother will come around. If he doesn’t…well, he’ll just have to get over it because I’m done wasting my time by not spending it with Sally.

I look up at the sound of the back door opening. My heart thunders when I see John B step into the kitchen.

He is alone, and he has a grave look on his face.

Shit.

“Mornin’.” It takes effort to sound normal. “Coffee’s ready. Can I pour you a cup?”

John B takes off his Stetson and hangs it on the rack by the door. He runs a hand through his thick gray hair. “Already had some, thanks.”

“Patsy not with you?”

“She and Sally were a little ways behind me in Patsy’s truck. I got an early start.”

My heart is in my throat now. I take a long, slow sip of coffee and pray like hell John B isn’t about to punch me in the nose. Does he already know? How did he find out? Sally tell him? Or someone else run their fucking mouth?

He puts his hands on the edge of the nearby countertop. “Sally said y’all wanted to talk to Patsy and me. Wouldn’t say what it was about.”

So that’s why he’s early. He has his suspicions about what Sally and I are going to say, and he wants to talk about it, man-to-man, before the girls get here.

Don’t know if that’s a good sign or a bad one.

“Sir, I want to date your daughter.”

Just coming out with it is a gamble. But John B is a man of few words. He never beats around the bush. I’m hoping he’ll appreciate me getting right to the heart of what I’m here to say.

There’s an unpleasant tug in my chest when John B lets out a long, aggravated sigh.

“Look, Wyatt. I love you like a son. You’ve always been good to Sally and to Patsy and me. I know you mean well.”

I bring my mug to my lips, hoping the coffee will wash away the taste of bile in my mouth. “But?”

He meets my eyes. “Every father believes his daughter is special. But Sally—she’s got enormous talent and even more potential. I’ve been a veterinarian for over thirty years, and I’ve never seen someone even come close to what Sally can do. She’s smart. She’s intuitive. She has excellent bedside manner.”

Do not think about how hot Sally is when she forgets her manners.

Do. Not?—

Fuck, I’m already thinking about the way she spit on my dick and then licked it up like I was a lollipop.

“She’s the best in the business,” I manage, clearing my throat. “But we always knew she would be.”

John B eyes me. “Exactly my point. Sally is meant for greater things than Hartsville could ever give her. I have a lot of regrets about not being able to achieve more in my career, and I’ll be damned if Sally has those regrets too.”

The dagger plunges deep. John B would never intentionally hurt or offend me—I know he has an appreciation for how good I am at my job, for how hard I work—but his words are like a knife nonetheless.

He said that Hartsville’s not good enough for his daughter.But what I hear is thatI’mnot good enough for her. I’ll only be another choice she’ll regret.