Ed Moon glanced at the clock, trying to stuff his annoyance back inside a box inside himself. Max wasn’t even late yet. Just because Ed had arrived forty minutes early—with doughnuts and coffee—didn’t mean his partner had gotten the memo.

When Max finally entered the office, Ed took an extra second to glance up from his laptop, where he’d been surfing his social media accounts. He indicated the box of doughnuts, along with the to-go cup of coffee. “How was your date last night?”

“Amazing.” Max sighed as he sat down, and Ed tried not to be jealous.

“I knew I should’ve taken that adopt-a-dog job.” Ed grinned.

“Oh, come on.” Max picked up the coffee cup and took a long draw.

“I knew I should’ve said yes to that instead of the first aid station,” Ed said.

“You need a haircut.” Max plucked an apple fritter from the box and bit into it, a playful look in his eyes.

Ed stroked his hand down the back of his head, realizing his hair was indeed so long it curled. He ran his fingers along his beard next. “Maybe I could get one of the Fuller twins to do it.” He watched Max for a reaction, but his friend didn’t give him one.

“I don’t think they know how to cut hair,” he said instead. “But hey, if you want, you could hire them to come clean your house.”

“I thought you were going to ask Fabi about doubling.”

“I did.”

“And?” Ed looked back at his computer like he cared about the paperwork that needed filing. “The printer’s on the fritz again.”

Max grunted and took his time finishing his pastry. “I asked at the wrong time.”

Ed speared Max with a look, not comforted when his friend wouldn’t meet his gaze. “What does that mean?”

“It means I should’ve waited until I knew I’d have a second date before suggesting doubling.”

Ed rolled his eyes. “You really are bad at this kind of stuff.”

“Hey, I warned you.” He pulled a folder closer to him and opened it, sipping his coffee as he scanned the document inside.

“So, will there be a second date?”

Max grinned like a wolf. “Tomorrow night.”

“Why not tonight?” It was Friday—prime date night. If Max and Fabi had hit it off so well already, there had to be a reason for waiting an extra day.

“She said she couldn’t.” Max flipped the page in an annoyingly calm way. “I didn’t ask for detailed specifics.” He flicked Ed a look that said, See? I’m not terrible at this kind of stuff.

The conversation lulled between them, but Ed’s mind didn’t settle on the work he needed to do. Max seemed utterly nonplussed, and why shouldn’t he be? He’d gone out with a beautiful woman, gotten a second date, and why wouldn’t he? Just because he hadn’t dated in a while didn’t mean he was as rusty as he’d led Ed to believe.

Ed himself felt like the Tin Man, frozen in place, because he hadn’t been out with someone remotely interesting in over a year. He’d been in Brush Creek for five, but it had taken him a while to get on the bus with Max. In small towns like this, the number of available spots were low, and people held onto them until retirement.

He knew it was a combination of luck and experience that had gotten him this job, and he was grateful for it.

“How’s Maggie?” Max asked, breaking into Ed’s thoughts. “Didn’t she just start at the strawberry fields?”

“Yes, last week.” Ed’s jaw hardened. He hated that his sister had to work, but sometimes life dealt out impossible hands. “She says she likes it.”

“Are you taking the girls to St. George this weekend?” Max flipped his phone over and around, something glinting in his eyes that annoyed Ed.

“I was going to, but I don’t know if I’m up for the drive.”

“Is Tad okay?”

“He’s in one of his valleys.” Ed didn’t have to explain much more. He’d moved to Brush Creek five years ago when his sister’s husband had been severely injured on the farm where he’d worked. He was disabled now, and that brought in a little bit of income. Maggie was a miracle-worker with money, and somehow she’d managed to stay home with their two girls until Charlene and Helen were in school full-time.

Tad was a good man who’d been given a bad situation, and honestly Ed felt like they were all doing the best they could. Ed took care of his sister’s yard. He’d bought a house two doors down from hers. He took the girls in the evenings, on his days off, whenever he could. He took them to visit their grandparents in St. George, where he’d been born and raised. In short, he’d done everything he could to make life easier for his sister.

And he would continue to do so.

Max waved his phone. “I just got a text from Fabi. She says Jazzy’s in for the movies tomorrow night if we want to double.”

Ed’s mind started whirring. He could take the girls all day, and see if Tad could handle them in the evening. Maggie spent weekends in Vernal, trying to get in enough hours in the salon to get her beautician license. She should be done by the end of the summer, and then she wouldn’t have to be in the strawberry fields at four AM, but could open a salon in her house, where the girls could play in the room next door or the backyard while she worked.

“Give me ten minutes,” Ed said, the hope of going out with someone ballooning in his chest in an relentless and totally unrealistic way.

Fabi added more blush to her cheeks. “He wants me to go out with Ed Moon?”

“Well, not you.” Jazzy stood beside her at the double sink. “Technically, me. He wants me to go out with Ed and you to go out with him. Again.” She threw Fabi a meaningful look. Maybe pointed, but everything Jazzy did was sharper than Fabi appreciated.

“When?”

“Tonight.”

Fabi dropped her blush brush. “Tonight? Like…tonight?”

“That’s why you’re getting all dolled up.” Jazzy flashed her a smile that whispered of revenge.

“You said we were going to the movies.”

“We are.”

“With Ed Moon and Max Robinson.”

Jazzy pinned her bra strap to the inside of the shoulder strap of her dress. “That’s right.”

“So are we switching?”

Something akin to panic raced through Jazzy’s expression. Fabi burst out laughing. “Oh my heck. You want to keep up the charade. You like Max Robinson.”

Jazzy kept primping for a couple of seconds, then she turned to face her sister. “Yes, okay? I like him.”

Fabi didn’t know what to say. What to do. Her heart ping-ponged around in her chest. She’d been attracted to Max Robinson and the playful way he threw the ball to those dogs, yet had complete control over them.

“You were only supposed to hold my place for one date,” she said, her voice on the outer edge of accusation.

Jazzy slumped against the counter. “I know.” She threw her hands up in exasperation. “He’s…charming. Sweet. Good-looking.” Her features turned hard, covering her helplessness and reminding Fabi that Jazzy had always been the one to make the important decisions between them. Fabi liked to live by the seat of her pants, fly free, and let things go how they may. It was why she kissed too many men on the first date. Probably why she couldn’t get a second one.

“He’s interesting,” Jazzy said. “And I haven’t been out with anyone interesting in a long time.”

Fabi’s chest pinched again. Her sister didn’t date even one-tenth as much as Fabi did, so not only had Jazzy not been out with anyone interesting in a while, she hadn’t been on a date, period, in months.

Fabi should’ve never asked her to go out with Max in her place. It had been selfish and insensitive. And now Jazzy had made a connection with Max—and seemingly he had liked her too.

“Maybe this is how things were supposed to go,” she said, defeat settling beneath her ribs. She hadn’t even been out with Max. It was no real loss, though they had texted several times over the course of the past two weeks. He did seem charming and sweet. And he was good-looking.

“Did you act like me or you?”

“Just me,” Jazzy said. “The only problem was I looked like you and answered to Fabi.”

Fabi stepped next to Jazzy, and it really was remarkable how identical they looked. On the outside, Fabi reminded herself. But she and Jazzy really were their own people, and while she loved living with her sister, and spending time with her, and working together, sometimes she felt like half of a package. Like her by herself, she simply wasn’t enough.

She stared into her own eyes, a brighter blue than Jazzy’s, usually only noticeable if the two stood side-by-side, as they were now. Options ran through her mind, and she couldn’t settle on one.

“Maybe we just try it,” Jazzy suggested, her voice little more than a whisper. “Ed is very good-looking too.”

Fabi cared less about looks and more about the charge between her and her date. And she’d felt something between her and Max—maybe just a small zing—at the park. Hadn’t she? It had been so long ago, she wasn’t sure.

“I haven’t heard from Max at all,” Fabi said. “How did you arrange all of this?”

“I told him I got a new phone that very afternoon.”

“Jazzy.” Fabi didn’t mean for her voice to come out as a whine.

“I can name the last ten men you’ve been out with,” Jazzy said. “In fact, I had to put Max off until tonight because you went out with Ronald Anniston last night. Last night, Fabi, you had yet another date with another man.” Jazzy’s whole body was animated now, and Fabi squirmed under the weight of her sky-blue gaze.

“Good thing that flu was only a twenty-four-hour thing,” Fabi offered feebly.

Jazzy didn’t flinch, but gazed unwaveringly at her sister. “Can you even name one man I’ve been out with in the past—let’s say a year. I’ll give you a year to name someone I’ve been out with.”

Fabi met her sister’s eyes, so full of challenge and fire, already wilted. “Do you have a picture of Ed?”