Emily refused to think about all the reasons kissing Levi was not a good idea. She simply enjoyed the moment.

Light and soft, velvety too, like rose petals, his lips joined hers. She tasted vanilla ice cream, but where the dessert had been cold, the kiss was warm, tender, questioning, and maybe a little surprised.

She was surprised too. She’d not expected this. Certainly hadn’t expected to want anything remotely akin to a romantic gesture from Levi Donley.

Or had she?

Over the quiet hum in her blood, Mason started to cry.

Cheeks warm, she stepped away from Levi’s embrace. Reluctantly. Regretfully.

She was an adult. A grown woman. A widow who’d known the love of a fine man. But she felt as giddy as a teenager.

Levi scooped Mason from his carrier, face twisted wryly. “I guess that’s what happens when you have a baby.”

When you have a baby. The words pinched, a reminder of what she didn’t have and what she would lose when Levi and Mason moved to Texas. Texas. A state away. A world away.

What if he stayed in Calypso too long and lost the job? What if he didn’t leave?

But what if he did?

“We should get him bathed and ready for bed,” she said, face still warm and blood still humming. If she didn’t move away, she’d walk back into his embrace and kiss him again. “It’s almost eight.”

“He goes to bed that early?” He frowned. “I’m still outside working at that time, especially in the long days of summer.”

“Raising a baby requires adjustments. I wrote out his schedule for you.”

He didn’t say anything else as he carried the baby upstairs. Was he having second thoughts? Or simply mulling the other unknown obstacles in his future?

Emily followed a few stair steps behind. With Daisy’s help, they’d brought all of Mason’s belongings up to the nursery before dinner and sorted through the chest of drawers Jessica had packed full of tiny garments. The heartrending, sobering task reminded them of the couple who had lovingly placed each item in this room but would never see them used.

Many of the clothes were too small already, and Emily had bagged them to donate to foster families. Jessica, a former foster child herself, would have approved.

Now, as they bathed the baby and readied him for his first night at home in weeks, Levi cleared his throat.

“Em.” With both hands holding Mason while she washed the wiggling infant, he captured her gaze over the white baby tub. “About that kiss.”

If he apologized, she’d dump this tub of water on his thick head.

Before he could say more, she waved him off. “A kiss, Levi. No big deal.”

A furrow appeared in his forehead. He blinked but held her gaze another minute before refocusing on the slippery boy. For a while, he said nothing else, and the atmosphere grew tense.

What was that about?

She didn’t know and couldn’t let herself think beyond the here and now. With practiced ease, she fell into social worker mode and began to recite instructions about Mason’s routine.

“If you have any problems, or even if you aren’t sure about something, text me, call me. Day or night.” She put a wet hand on Levi’s forearm to get his attention. “Promise you will, or I’ll worry.”

“Wouldn’t want that.”

His skin was warm and smooth, the muscles hard and strong. Arms that had held her close downstairs. Arms strong enough to tame a horse or toss a calf but tender enough to bathe an infant.

Arms she wanted around her again.

She had to stop thinking like this!

Mason churned his chubby legs. Water splashed her face. She jerked to one side. Grateful for the break from her bizarre thoughts, she laughed. Levi snorted, so Emily splashed him in teasing revenge.

With a low growl, eyes narrowed in amused threat, he returned the favor. By the time Mason’s bath ended, they were both damp and laughing, water droplets shining on their faces. Feeling good. Working together like a couple. And if in those few moments Emily felt like a mother and a wife, she wasn’t sorry.

“We’ll both need a change of shirts after this.” Levi grimaced at his very wet western shirt and then at her soaked blouse. Fortunately, the dark color wasn’t see-through, but she shivered a little from the chill.

Levi hitched an eyebrow. “Cold?”

“A little water never hurt anyone.”

“Not mad at me then?”

Not about the water fight. “It was fun.”

“Yeah, it was, wasn’t it?”

“Don’t look so pleased with yourself. There is still a lot of water in this tub.”

He laughed. A real, hearty, happy sound that filled her senses and brought laughter bubbling up in her own throat.

“Oh, Em. Em.”

He extended a towel, the big grin fading to a soft, appealing smile. He seemed so much more relaxed tonight than he had in previous weeks. Did she dare hope he was settling in? That he might put the past behind him and find contentment here?

Or was she being a foolish woman who could easily get her heart stomped again?

While she blotted the excess moisture from her shirt, Emily watched with an odd catch beneath her ribcage while strong but tender cowboy hands dried the sweet little baby and dressed him in one-piece footed pajamas. A cartoon horse decorated the blue front.

“Not bad for a novice, huh?” he asked proudly as he swaddled Mason in soft flannel and formed a snuggly bundle. “He looks like a burrito.”

As if insulted, Mason opened his mouth and howled.

Startled, the adults exchanged looks and snickered.

“He’s not happy with that remark, cowboy.”

“You think he’s hungry?”

“Not for burritos.” She stroked the side of her finger along the baby’s cheek. He eagerly turned in the direction of her touch. “Time for a bottle, a rocking chair, and a cozy bed.”

Mason’s cry grew louder.

Levi jerked a thumb toward the door. “I’ll run downstairs for his bottle.”

“Coward. You just want to escape the crying.”

He was already moving toward the hallway. “Busted!”

Feeling mellow, Emily snuggled the crying baby close and settled in the rocker, heart full. As she’d done every night for weeks, she began to rock and sing. Mason quieted in seconds, dark eyes glued to her face.

Tonight had been good. Too good.

She didn’t hear the footsteps on the stairs, but she felt a presence and glanced up. The tall cowboy leaned against the door frame, watching her. His expression stopped her breath. Was the tenderness for her? For Mason? Or for both of them?

“That was beautiful. And effective.” He pushed off and turned over the baby bottle. “I’d forgotten how well you sing.”

Her pulse fluttered. Silly, foolish pulse. “I love singing to him.”

She shouldn’t have said that. She had no right to pretend she was anything but the social worker.

But she couldn’t deny what was in her heart.

“That settles it then.” Levi crouched beside the rocker. A knee popped. He winced and braced the painful joint with one hand. “Since I have a voice like a frog, you have to come out every night and sing him to sleep.”

She’d love to do exactly that, but what about when he was no longer here? Who would sing to Mason then? And how would her grieving heart ever heal again?

Rather than dwell on questions she couldn’t answer, Emily dipped her chin toward the infant. “You and this bottle of formula have made him very happy.”

Mason’s eyelids dropped shut while he suckled the bottle. By the time the formula disappeared, his mouth lolled open, and he was ready to settle for the night.

Levi lifted the infant from her arms and carefully positioned him in the crib on his back.

Emily reached for the night light, clicked it on, and shut off the rocking horse lamp. The room faded to semi-darkness.

Her lips curved. “You remembered the correct positioning.”

“I have a great teacher.” Their voices were quiet murmurs. “Baby on his back close toward the end of the crib for safety. No pillow or toys or piles of blankets that might smother him.”

She shuddered. “What an awful thought.”

“Yeah.” The word was barely a whisper, and she knew that he, like she, was thinking of Scott and Jessica.

“I miss her tremendously, Levi. I cannot imagine how much you must ache for your brother.”

He turned his head so that he was cast in shadowy relief. “Does it ever get easier? Losing someone you love?”

Emily swallowed. She understood the question. He asked about Dennis, about her husband’s untimely death. “The awful, throat clutching, scream-in-the night grief eventually diminishes, but the ache of sorrow is always there.” She pressed two fingers to her chest. “You don’t forget or replace people you love.”

“Is it worth it, then?” His voice was quiet, pensive. “To love so deeply?”

She put a hand on his arm. “Yes. Oh yes. Love is worth the pain.”

She heard the echo of her words inside her head. Love was worth the loss. To give love, to be loved, to share God’s greatest, most powerful emotion with another human being. Even if that person eventually went away.

She knew then, there in that shadowy room with a baby sleeping nearby, that she was in love with Levi Donley. Maybe some part of her always had been.

He must have felt her mood shift. He shifted too, a quiet rustle in the dim room. His arm came around her shoulders, and he snugged her close to his sturdy, muscled side, holding her there, safe and secure. Until that last day fourteen years ago, she’d always been safe with Levi.

She turned into his chest and let him hold her. She shouldn’t. She was opening herself to heartbreak. But for the first time since Dennis’s death, she felt like more than a social worker and a dutiful sister. She felt like a woman who could love again.

Love. A dangerous, dangerous word. Hadn’t she vowed never to be that vulnerable again? Especially since Levi didn’t love her. Not enough to face his dragons on this ranch and make a life here. He had other plans for Mason and himself. Plans that didn’t include her.

Was being with him and Mason temporarily enough? Could she risk loving and losing them both?

Love is always worth the risk. Wasn’t that what she’d said? Was God tapping at her closed and fearful heart to open it up again?

Levi’s heart beat against hers, and she lifted her eyes, wanting more than she dared ask. There would always be the issue of his father between them. An issue he wouldn’t even discuss. And there was still the issue of Texas.

Was she being a fool?

Love is always worth the risk.

“About those sparks,” Levi said gently, dented chin tilted down to look into her eyes.

Her heartbeat answered his, thrumming faster and faster.

His lips curved as he leaned close until their breath mingled and his firm, manly mouth captured hers.

This kiss was different from the earlier one. It was more than a question. It was a wish fulfilled.

---

The next morning, Slim Donley’s yell didn’t jerk Levi from his slumber. Mason’s did.

With a surprising amount of sunlight streaming between the curtains, Levi shook out the cobwebs and stumbled across the hall into the nursery.

Yesterday’s perfectly adorable baby flailed his arms and legs in absolute fury. Exactly as he’d done twice in the night.

No wonder Levi hadn’t had the dream. He hadn’t been asleep long enough.

Screaming baby in tow, he bounded down the stairs and into the kitchen. With Mason under one arm like a really noisy football, Levi prepared the bottle. He’d barely popped the nipple into the toothless mouth and collapsed in the downstairs rocker when a knock sounded on the door.

The skinny dog gave a soft woof.

“Better check it out, Mason,” he grumbled. “We don’t need any dog bites.” Not that he expected the stray to bite. He was probably too weak. And yet, he’d been a bit of a tiger at Beech’s place.

Levi opened the door to find Daisy, dressed in jeans and a green T-shirt with a backpack over her shoulders, feeding bacon to the skinny stray.

She looked up at Levi with a bright smile. How did the kid always manage to look cheerful with Beech for a father?

Daisy didn’t wait to be invited. She stepped right in. “I like your dog.”

“He’s not mine.”

“He wants to be. You should keep him. I think his name should be Buttercup.”

Levi’s eyebrows shot up. “Buttercup?”

“Uh-huh. Buttercup. See? He agrees.” She rubbed the animal’s bony head. Adoring canine eyes the color of gold looked from child to man and back again. The whip-thin tail never stopped moving.

Levi was too exhausted this morning to think about dog names.

“Can I hold him?”

“The dog?”

Daisy giggled, as he’d intended. “Mason, silly. I thought you might need some help, this being your first day on the job and all.”

What was she, nine going on thirty? “Smart kid. But don’t you have school?”

“I’m ready. I got up extra early this morning to do chores so I could come over and help out.”

She plopped down on the couch and extended both arms. “I’ll bet he’s wet.”

“I’ll bet you’re right. I haven’t changed him yet. You feed him, and I’ll go upstairs for the diapers.”

“Might as well bring a bunch down here and save the trips. Your knees can’t take it.”

He looked at the third grader in wonder. How could she be that mature? “How old did you say you were again? Thirty-five?”

She giggled and hunched her shoulders. “Nine, silly cowboy.”

Levi returned with a full bag of disposable diapers. “I should probably put his playpen down here too.”

“Uh-huh. And his swing. You need one of those sling things too. I saw them on TV. You can carry Mason anywhere you go.”

That was actually a great idea. He could work and hang with his nephew at the same time.

“I think there’s one upstairs.” At least that’s what he thought the apparatus was. There were at least a dozen baby items he had no idea what to do with. “You want some coffee?”

She looked at him as if he’d grown another head and then giggled again. “I’m too little to drink coffee.”

“Oh, yeah. I keep forgetting you’re not forty yet.”

To her continued giggle, he staggered into the kitchen and set the coffee brewing, then returned with a glass of orange juice. “Here you go.”

Out on the porch, the skinny dog woofed again. A car door slammed.

This time when he opened the door, he set out a bowl of dog food.

Emily stepped up on the porch. “You’re getting attached to him.”

“I always wanted a dog.” He rubbed a hand over his uncombed hair. “What are you doing out here so early?”

“Checking.” Her gaze slid over his whiskery face, rumpled T-shirt, and sweats, then slid all the way down to his bare feet. “Looks like you had a rough night.”

“We’ll get the hang of things.”

Emily stopped in the doorway and peered at the couch where Daisy sat feeding Mason. “You have good help.”

“I do. Want some coffee? Or juice?”

“I’ll get it.”

“Get me some too.” He collapsed on the sofa next to the children.

Emily snorted but returned with two mugs. “Black with two sugars, right?”

He took the cup gratefully. “I didn’t really expect—”

Emily patted him on the head like a child. “I know. Otherwise you wouldn’t have gotten it.”

He sipped the scalding brew and sighed. “This is nice. Two ladies to take care of Mason while I wake up with a hot cup.”

“Don’t get used to it.” Emily, bracketing her mug with both hands, settled across from him on an armchair.

He didn’t bother to ask for reasons. He knew. Once he departed Calypso, he and Mason were on their own. Scary. But not as scary as staying.

“I’ll come over every day if you want me to, Levi.” Daisy’s pert face was eager and intense. “I can babysit while you work the ranch.”

“Don’t you need to be in school?”

The child made a face.

Emily answered for her. “Yes, she does. Every day. Including today. What time does your bus run, Daisy?”

With a comical, put-upon sigh, Daisy returned the baby to Levi’s arms and got to her feet. “I gotta go.”

Emily’s coffee cup clicked against the table. “Want to ride with me this morning?”

Daisy perked up. “Could I?”

“Grab your bag, and I’ll drop you at the school. I have an early appointment with the principal anyway.”

Levi frowned and followed her into the kitchen. “You just got here.”

“I came by to be sure everything was going okay. You appear to have things under control.” She rinsed out her cup and set it in the sink.

Levi had a quick rewind to last night’s kitchen kisses. He wouldn’t mind repeating them right here and now. If Daisy wasn’t staring at them from the entryway.

“Nothing’s under control. I mean, it is. Sort of. Mason is fine. Daisy’s fine. The dog is fine. Me, I could use some bacon and eggs. If you’ll come back, I’ll cook for us.”

Expression amused, she patted his chest. “I can’t, but thanks for asking.”

“Lunch maybe?” he asked, desperate to keep her here.

She seemed to consider the idea. “I’ll text you. You text me if you have any issues.”

The issue was somewhere between his neck and his belly button. A little thing called his heart.

“Em.” The baby between them, he turned to face her, effectively blocking Daisy’s view. In a lowered voice, he said, “I enjoyed last night. With you.”

His gaze dropped to her mouth.

Emily’s cheeks tinged pink. “Me, too.”

“Maybe we could…do something together.”

“We’re together practically every day.”

“You know what I mean. Something special.” A memory to take with him. Something good to replace the last time they’d parted. “I want to say thanks for all you’ve done.”

She put her hand on Mason’s back and nodded, the action curt. “I’ll think about it.”

While he wondered if he’d said something wrong, she hustled Daisy to the SUV. He followed, opening and closing doors and wishing she would stay.

With the baby making soft noises against his neck, Levi watched the woman and the little girl drive way. He raised his free hand and was rewarded with Daisy’s vigorous wave and a quick honk of Emily’s horn.

Squinting until they disappeared, he heaved a happy sigh. The skinny dog bumped his leg, and he dropped the free hand to the bony head. What would he do with the dog when he moved to Texas? The shepherd-lab mix was quiet around the cows and horses, and friendly, though he never failed to give a warning yip when a car arrived. He was a good dog. He didn’t deserve to be abandoned again.

“What do you think, Butter?” Levi asked. “Ever been to Texas?”