“Good morning,” Burton said, stepping into the kitchen.

“Hey Burton,” Arden said with a smile so wide he knew she was wondering if he had heard their conversation.

“Good morning,” Sage said.

“Drago and Riggs are feeding the horses,” Arden said.

“I will join them,” Burton volunteered, feeling a bit guilty. “I woke up early and went for a swim.”

It wasn’t a lie but it wasn’t the whole truth. The deception did not sit well with him and he headed for the door quickly to rid himself of the sense of imbalance.

“Tell them breakfast will be ready in ten minutes,” Sage called after him.

“Yes, Sage, I will,” he called back to her.

He jogged through the sunshine to the field where he knew his brothers would be feeding Peanut Butter and Pickles, the two ponies.

“Hello, brother,” Drago called to him happily.

“Hi,” Burton called back.

Riggs lifted his hand in greeting, then went back to stroking Pickles’s mane. The little black horse shook herself slightly as if to complain that he had stopped.

“Where were you last night?” Drago asked, waggling his eyebrows.

Burton laughed.

Riggs rolled his eyes.

“You were with Tansy, weren’t you?” Drago asked, earnestly now.

“Yes,” Burton said, unable to keep from smiling.

“That’s wonderful, brother,” Drago said.

“Are you mated?” Riggs asked.

“I chose her, but she has not accepted me yet,” Burton said.

“She will,” Drago said with a happy confidence Burton wished he shared.

Burton nodded, unsure how to bring up what he had just overheard.

“Are you okay, brother?” Riggs asked.

“I was just in the house, and… I heard something I shouldn’t have,” Burton told them. “But it’s important.”

Riggs stepped away from Pickles to face him.

“What is it?” Drago asked.

“It sounds like the Martin sisters can’t afford to hang onto the farm,” Burton said.

“Didn’t we know that already?” Drago asked.

“I thought there was something we could do to help,” Burton said. “But it’s worse than I thought. Tansy has been spending money meant for her schooling to keep the farm running.”

“They’re keeping it running for us,” Riggs said, his deep voice dead serious. “To hide us.”

“What are you talking about?” Drago asked.

“Sage said so,” Riggs said. “She didn’t say it outright, but she was talking about the farm with Tansy and I heard them. Sage said Tansy only wanted to keep the farm so she would have an excuse to keep hiding Burton.”

Burton’s stomach twisted.

He hoped it wasn’t true. As much as it touched him to think that Tansy cared for him, he hoped she would not risk her future just to conceal him.

“That sounds like Tansy,” Drago said after a moment. “She likes you, Burton. A lot. But it’s easier for her to say she loves the farm than to admit that she loves you.”

“That doesn’t sound right,” Burton said, thinking about how happy Tansy was at the pond, and in the fields. She was a proud woman and not particularly demonstrative, but could she pretend to love the farm so perfectly?

“You know what you have to do, right?” Drago asked.

Burton shrugged, unable to imagine what he was supposed to do in the face of so much unhappy information.

“You need to show her that you can live off the farm,” Drago said. “Let her see that you aren’t shying away from the world, that you could follow her anywhere and not draw too much attention to yourself.”

“Make her think you hate it here,” Riggs offered. “Then it will be easy for her to leave.”

“I don’t know,” Burton said.

“Think about it,” Drago suggested, throwing an arm around Burton’s shoulder. “If you can convince her that you don’t want to be here, you’ll be saving her money and her education.”

“Besides, it’s what she wants,” Riggs said.

“You think this will help her and make her happy?” Burton asked.

“I do,” Drago said.

Riggs nodded.

Burton nodded too.

He looked at the ponies in the paddock.

Pickles was grazing. Peanut Butter looked back at Burton and snorted, tossing his chestnut mane.

For an instant Burton saw himself through the animal’s eyes.

The man looking back at him seemed strong and capable. The two men beside him were confident and a haze of good feeling encircled them all.

They looked like men who knew the right thing to do.

He blinked back into his own head.

“I’m not thinking straight because I’m in love,” he admitted. “I’ll tell her I don’t like it here.”

“No, no,” Drago said immediately. “Don’t just tell her, show her.”

“How do I show her?” Burton asked.

“Breakfast time,” Riggs reminded them.

“Walk with me,” Drago said, heading back toward the farmhouse. “I’ll explain on the way.”