Saturday morning, Marti woke with a pounding headache, throbbing to the beat of the country song blasting on her alarm. Groaning, she rolled to her side and put a pillow over her head. Right now, being a Monday through Friday office worker seemed like the ideal job, and she didn’t even know what an office worker did. It just had to be better than getting up at the crack of dawn on a weekend with a hangover.

Of course, the reality was that ranchers didn’t have weekends. They worked seven days a week.

When her second alarm went off at five a.m., time for lounging around in bed was done. Cattle liked breakfast as much as she did.

Later that morning, she saw her parents off on their summer trip, after swearing and crossing her heart that she would call if anything came up. While she was crossing her heart, she was also crossing her fingers. It would take a problem of massive magnitude before she interrupted their trip. They had worked hard their whole lives and deserved some fun.

Throughout the day, she kept her cell phone with her, expecting Eli Boone to call and reschedule, maybe even apologize for having to cancel their…what was it anyway? Date? Appointment? Whatever it was supposed to be, he didn’t call and reschedule—not for tonight, not for tomorrow, not for anytime.

Ranching meant early hours, with some late nights not unusual. Tonight was penciled in for early bed and a good book. So, she told herself, it was just as well he didn’t call for today.

As the next week rolled by, the call to apologize and reschedule never came. She did get calls from Zack Marshall, a local cowboy, and Chad Jamison, a cute firemen from the city. Both of them asking her out for Saturday night. She’d been out with them both in the past, and while they were drop-dead handsome, she didn’t feel like dressing up and heading out on a date with either of them.

She’d known Zack since first grade, so it was hard to not picture him without his front teeth. Besides, he had some on-and-off thing with her friend Delene.

Chad was a different story. He’d moved to Whispering Springs as an adult, so he’d always had his front teeth. But he had a complicated relationship with Tina, and Marti didn’t want to get sucked into their vortex of break-ups and make-ups. She figured the date invite was probably an effort on his part to make Tina jealous. She wasn’t interested in being a player in that play.

By the following Friday, she’d spoken with her parents every day. She told them that from now on, she would only accept their calls on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Her mother had laughed and apologized. But Marti understood. Letting go was hard for them, even if was for only three months.

Monday morning, as she studied the two hospital auxiliary fundraiser tickets stuck beneath a magnet on her refrigerator, she realized the dinner-slash-dance was the coming Saturday evening, as in only five days away. Even though she’d walked past those tickets for two months, she’d let the event slip up on her. She had no date, and to be honest, no one she wanted to ask. At two-hundred and fifty bucks a pop, she would go eat rubber chicken with or without an escort. Her grandmother had founded the auxiliary and the Jenkinses had always supported the auxiliary’s work. This year, she would be the family’s sole representative, so not attending wasn’t an option.

Of course, it wouldn’t be the first time she went solo. Last May, her fiancé had been too busy to attend, with what, she’d never found out. He’d only said he had “a thing” to do with his friend Scott. It was only later that she’d discovered their secret.

The event was black tie, and most of the guys in her dating pool would rather eat their cowboy hats than put on a tux for an evening of schmoozing and dancing. Too bad she had the perfect dress that would knock a date’s eyes out. Plus, she was out of that blasted air cast and ready to dance again.

She was sure the Montgomery family would be there. They always supported events such as this. The wives were happy to share their guys, but on the dance floor. She could snag a dance or two that way.

Tuesday evening, just as she was exiting the shower, her cell phone rang. With water trickling down her body onto the shower mat, she considered letting it go to voicemail. It’d been a rough day. She was tired and more than a little grumpy. Still…

“Hello?”

“Marti? It’s Eli Boone.”

Stunned, she almost dropped the phone. She pulled the phone away and looked at the caller id. Riverside Ortho. “Well, surprise. I thought you’d dropped off the face of the earth.”

“I know, I know. After eight hours of surgery and spending the night in the hospital, I had just barely enough time to get home, grab my suitcase, and make my plane.” He paused. “You did get the message about the emergency surgery?”

“I did, but that was ten days ago. Hard to believe that emergency surgery lasted that long. Must be a new surgical record.”

“Darn it. Debby was supposed to tell you I was leaving for Europe in the morning and wouldn’t be back until yesterday. I attended an international symposium on bone grafting in Copenhagen.”

“Can you hold on a minute?” Setting the phone on the lip of the sink, she whisked the towel over the water droplets, and then wrapped it around her and moved into her bedroom. “Sorry. I’m back. No, I didn’t get that message.”

He sighed. “I’m sorry. You must think I’m horrible. First, I ask for a favor and then never call.”

“I been pretty busy around here, so I honestly haven’t given it much thought,” she lied.

“Now I feel even worse because I need two favors.”

“Really?” She sat on the edge of her bed.

“I know it’s late notice, and you probably already have plans for Saturday, but I’ve got these two tickets for the hospital fundraiser on Saturday night. I was hoping you might go with me. It’s a worthy cause. The auxiliary is trying to raise funds for some badly needed equipment.”

She thought about the five-hundred-dollar tickets stuck onto her fridge. “I am aware of it, yes.”

“Would you be interested in going with me? To the fundraiser, I mean.”

Her breath caught as nerves quivered in her gut. As she was thinking, he added, as though it were an enticement—which it wasn’t—“It’ll give me a chance to talk about what I wanted last week. Plus, I’m new in town. It’d be nice to have someone everyone knows with me.”

He was asking her out because he could use her to introduce him around? Surprisingly, her house smoke alarms did not begin blaring from the smoke she was sure poured from her ears.

“I’m messing this all up, aren’t I?” he asked. “Let me be honest. I haven’t dated in years. I married the last girl I asked out, so…” His voice drifted off.

“You’re married?” she asked with a gasp.

“What? Oh no. I’m not any longer.” He blew out a breath. “It’s a long story. Say you’ll go with me. I promise to explain everything.”

Hadn’t she just been lamenting her lack of date just yesterday? And she really did hate to go alone.

“You realize it’s black tie, right?”

“Tux is cleaned, pressed, and ready to go.”

“And about this pesky issue of a doctor dating a patient?”

“Oh, you’re not my patient any longer. I’m discharging you from my care. Shoot, I didn’t even ask. How is your ankle? You said it was doing okay.”

“I’m fine. Ready to dance even,” she said. “I’d love to go with you.”

“Great. I haven’t been to your house yet, so I’m not sure how much time to allow for the drive.”

“Why don’t I just meet you there? It’d be easier.”

“Absolutely not.” He sounded aghast. “Will seven-fifteen work?”

“It’ll work fine. I’ll see you on Saturday.”

She hung up and flopped back on her bed with a giggle. She felt like a sixteen-year-old getting asked to prom instead of a thirty-year-old being asked to a stuffy dinner.

But she did have a great dress.

* * *

Eli hung up the phone with a grimace. He was out of practice when it came to asking a woman on a date. His late wife had been the last person he’d asked out, and they’d both been about seventeen at the time. Damn, he’d almost blown it with the most interesting woman he’d met in a long time, like maybe eighteen years.

He missed Gina, but she’d been gone for over seven years. After her death, he’d dove headfirst into his residency. He’d stayed at the hospital almost nonstop for the first three years. The long hours, the mental grind and sheer exhaustion made time pass by in a blur.

Then, later in his residency, he’d gone to the frontlines of the war to get surgical experience with traumatic injuries. Those days had been thrilling and mind-numbingly terrifying. Occasionally, it had flittered through his mind that if he died over there, it might be okay.

But he hadn’t, and he told himself it was time to move on with his life, a major factor in his decision to take this temporary position in Texas. Sure, he was helping out a classmate, but physically separating from New York City with all its memories to a house in a small town in Texas, did help with his mindset. Her parents and his in-laws had been wonderfully supportive in the years since her death, even going so far as to help him remove Gina’s clothing and shoes. But her touches in the apartment had remained.

The painting over the fireplace that she’d bought in Paris on their honeymoon.

The four million pillows she’d insisted their bed needed.

The grand piano she’d played.

Living in a place so imprinted with her memories had finally became too much for him to endure. Last year, he’d sold everything, including the apartment, and moved to his parents’ place in the Hamptons. The wind, the sand, the salt air had helped piece himself back together, not the way he’d been. That man was gone. Today, he was a different man, molded from life experiences and a lot of beach time. He was ready to start over.

Of course, starting over meant back in New York City, not Whispering Springs, Texas. He’d agreed to do these six months for Hank as a favor. As soon as the position at New York Midtown Orthopedic Practice was finalized, he’d be joining the largest and most prestigious orthopedic practice in New York. He’d be back in his element, back into the societal strata he’d grown up in.

Besides, who in their right mind would turn down a partnership in such a world-renowned practice?

The rest of the week flew. Joe gave him tons of grief about horseback riding, but that dare had gotten the teen out of his chair and onto prosthetics. He was making remarkable progress, which he never failed to point out to his doctor.

What Eli hadn’t said aloud was that he’d tried horseback riding at summer camp when he’d been about ten, once on his honeymoon and again a couple of years later on vacation. His late wife had ridden like she was one with the animal. Eli rode more like a melting scoop of ice cream on a hot day, slowly sliding off the side.

Eli was used to being the smartest guy in the group. As a kid, he’d been overweight and more interested in chess than athletic endeavors. His father had insisted Eli enroll in a summer camp that focused on outdoor activities like horseback riding. The camp had been the stuff of every kid’s nightmares. Using intellect and reason, he could usually work through any problem—until it came to horses. His horse anxiety and his lack of ability to overcome it had been a tough pill to swallow.

By the time he’d reached high school, he’d lost his baby fat, gotten contacts, and learned he was pretty good at running, earning a spot on the high school track team. But he’d never forgotten being the tormented as fat kid. Only the new girl in school saw him for how he was then. Gina had only known the tall, confident track star with brains. He’d liked that about her. Their history hadn’t encompassed those painful years.

He wished he hadn’t even raised the horse issue with Joe, who was like a dog with a bone on the topic. Still, he found ways to put off the teen each time he asked about Eli’s progress with riding. The time was quickly approaching when he’d be forced to admit he hadn’t done anything about the dare. That might be misconstrued by Joe that his doctor had been bullshitting him all along. That would certainly drive a serious wedge in the doctor-patient relationship.

Saturday came, and Eli found himself unexpectedly nervous about the date. Marti had been released as a patient, so it wasn’t as if he were breaking any medical tenet. Still, it’d been a while, and dating in high school had been easy compared to dating as an adult.

The drive to the Flying Pig Ranch took about five minutes longer than he’d planned. Since he’d left early, he arrived in plenty of time, but thank goodness for GPS. He might never have found his way along the unpaved back roads.

He turned and drove between the ranch’s gate posts. The drive was dirt and limestone gravel, and his car’s tires threw up both behind him. His first view of her house was exactly what his mind had envisioned: a two-story, white-stone, traditional ranch with a wraparound porch, complete with a couple of rockers and ferns hanging in pots.

Climbing from his SUV, he immediately noticed the aroma of sage and cedar that gave the air a freshly clean scent. He drew in a deep breath. His mother paid a fortune to housekeepers to get this fresh smell in the family home.

Horses in the corral nickered as they studied the new arrival, probably judging him inadequate. In the distance, a barn that appeared freshly painted stood with entrance doors securely closed, but a smaller one in the loft stood open.

On the other side of the house, a large pasture that looked to go on forever held various groupings of brown cows. Most of the cattle had settled down in the grass for the night. An owl hooted from somewhere. A light breeze made the leaves rustle. Peaceful, but not quiet.

Turning back to the horses, he studied them. They were beautiful creatures, no doubt about that. However, the thought of being on the back of one of them sent chills down his spine. The horrible memories of summer camp came rushing back. More than once, he found himself flat on his back after falling off. The counselors had assured him the horse had taken only a couple of steps, but Eli called bullshit. That horse had bucked him off. Of course, falling off a horse that basically wasn’t moving made Eli the target of lots of cruel jokes.

The next summer, he’d convinced his parents to send him to band camp, not that he was great with his saxophone. But at least he wasn’t the butt of all the jokes.

By high school, most of the geekiness stayed in his past.

Maybe he should just admit that he might be a great doctor, but would never be even an adequate rider.

He made his way up onto the front porch and rang the bell. After a few moments, he heard the slide of a window.

“Hey, I’m up here,” Marti called.

He backed off the porch and looked up. Marti looked down at him, a wide grin on her face. How could a simple smile transform her from pretty to total knockout? She appeared to be wearing a towel and not much else.

“Sorry, I’m running about ten minutes late. I had a stubborn bull who decided to jump a fence.”

Eli gestured to the towel and then to his tux. “I might be a little overdressed compared to you.”

She laughed, the sound ricocheting through him like a pinball.

“I’ll see if I can come up with something more appropriate to wear. Door’s open. Let yourself in. There’s beer and wine in the kitchen—if you can find it. Bourbon, scotch and whatever in the living room. Help yourself to a drink. I swear. I won’t be but just a minute.”

“Or ten,” he said.

She gave him a thumbs up and disappeared back into the house.

The door was unlocked, and he entered into a gleaming clean foyer. A flight of stairs leading to the second floor stood directly in front of him. He could probably march up those and find his semi-dressed date, not that he would, but the idea of Marti only partially dressed was enticing.

The wood of the floors and walls shined under the ceiling lights. The main living room was to his right, so he wandered in there. A large, now cold, fireplace dominated the room. A pair of chairs and a worn overstuffed sofa suggested the room got a lot of use. He had no trouble believing that. He could envision a roaring fire on a cold night and snuggling on the sofa.

Now, he was being ridiculous. He needed help from this woman, not snuggling on a cold night. Besides, he would be heading back to New York in only three short months, as soon as the partnership deal came through.

He sat on the sofa—comfortable as advertised—and studied the stack of magazines on the coffee table. He’d expected People, or Cosmopolitan, or some other rag directed at female readers. Instead, he leafed through Texas Cattlemen, Texas Women Ranchers, Whispering Springs’ local paper and today’s Wall Street Journal.

His brain chastised him. Sexist much, doctor?

He settled back to read the Wall Street Journal, but had gotten only a couple of pages in when he heard Marti’s footsteps on the stairs. Dropping the newspaper back onto the table, he rose. When she entered the room, his breath caught.

Holy shit. The cowgirl was gone. In her place stood an elegant, poised woman who might grace any social event his parents attended on a regular basis. And she’d achieved the look in under ten minutes.

“Wow,” he said with a gulp of air. He twirled a finger in the air. “Do a three-sixty.”

Her dark auburn hair was secured in a twist at the back of her head, but curly strands hung along her face. Her dress. Damn. What could he say? Thin, black straps held up a satiny-looking long straight dress that draped around her curves. It dipped modestly in the front, but when she turned away from him, his heart leapt at the sight she presented. The back dipped low to a vee just past her waist, leaving a luscious view of creamy, smooth skin. He gulped again.

“Wow. Just wow.”

Completing the turn, she grinned. “You clean up pretty good yourself, doctor.” She imitated his finger twirl. “Your turn.”

He turned in a circle then faced her again. “Sorry. Nothing tantalizing in my attire.”

She picked up a small black clutch from a side table and pointed it at him. “You are so wrong. Men underestimate the power of a suit, especially a well-fitting tux. I’ll be pushing my friends away from you all night.”

Chuckling, he walked to where she stood. “And here I was thinking the same about you, except I don’t know many people in Whispering Springs, so I’ll be dueling with strangers.”

A flush pinked her cheeks. “Nicest thing I’ve heard in a long time. Shall we go?”

Holding out a bent arm, he said, “Let’s go rock this shindig.”