“Thanks so much for babysitting tonight, Betty.” Anna was looking forward to going to trivia and introducing Ben to her friends—other than Wade who he already knew.

“I’m happy to do it. Ben doesn’t take me up on it often enough. It’s good for him, for both of you, to get out and about.”

Anna was in the kitchen, sitting at the island and chatting with Betty while she chopped carrots and celery for a casserole she was making. Taylor was dozing and Anna figured she had time for a quick cup of Caramel Shortbread tea. She’d offered to make Betty a cup, too, but she declined, until she smelled it.

“What is that?” she’d asked.

“It’s one of the teas I ordered from David’s Teas. They have really fun flavors.”

“Alright, I’ll have a cup.”

“So, you seem as though you’re settling in nicely. Are you liking the job?” Betty asked as she took her first sip of the tea.

“Yes, it’s working out even better than I’d hoped. I’d never actually worked as a nanny before,” she admitted.

Betty looked surprised to hear it. “Well, you could have fooled me.”

“I was upfront with Ben. I didn’t think I had enough experience for him, but I have done my share of babysitting and have younger siblings. Plus, Taylor and I got along pretty well in the coffee shop and all the other nannies bombed. So I was his best, maybe his only option.”

Betty nodded. “You are good with Taylor. Everything happens for a reason,” she said as she looked toward the large window that looked out on the backyard. Anna followed her gaze. The deer were back, even more of them this time. Anna counted eleven.

“I never get tired of seeing them,” Betty said.

Anna nodded. “There’s something magical about them.” One of the deer looked up at that moment and cocked its head. The sweet, innocent look on its face was endearing. But then, suddenly they all turned and ran away. Something had spooked them. A moment later, they saw what it was. A giant moose casually strolled through the backyard. They watched as it looked around and then disappeared into the woods behind the house.

“And this is why I don’t want to move,” Betty said.

Anna agreed. She finished her tea and thought about how well her new job was working out so far. She and Taylor and Ben had fallen into a comfortable routine. After dinner, Anna visited Ben’s gym above the garage and then relaxed with Ben watching TV. They’d started working their way though all eight seasons of Seinfeld the night before, watching four episodes back to back and laughing and chatting for hours. He was easy to talk to, and they seemed to share the same taste in what they liked to watch. They were becoming good friends, and she was happy about that.

More than once she’d had to remind herself that anything more than friends was off-limits and that she should not be so attracted to her employer. It was hard not to be, though. Ben ticked all the boxes—fun, nice, and extremely good-looking. But she knew if they ever crossed the friendship line that her working relationship wouldn’t be nearly as comfortable and she didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that. Plus, she’d never even gotten the slightest hint that Ben saw her as anything other than the nanny, so she was being silly, anyway.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Anna jumped at the sound of Ben’s voice. He’d walked into the kitchen and she hadn’t even heard him coming. Out of the corner of her eye, she also saw Taylor stirring.

“Hey, there. Taylor’s awake. I was just going to feed her before we head out.”

A half-hour later, with Taylor fed and happily playing with Betty, Anna and Ben headed off to the restaurant at the ranch for trivia night.

Ben drove, and they chatted easily about their days as they rode along. Less than twenty minutes later, they arrived at River’s End Ranch and walked into the restaurant. Jaclyn and Simon were already there at their usual big, round table. Wade, his wife Maddie and their nine-year-old daughter Vivian were there, too.

“Vivian has been dying to come to trivia. But we’re not staying for the whole game, just the first half. Someone has school tomorrow.”

Vivian pouted. “I can totally stay up.”

“Oh, I have no doubt that you can. But I also know you’ll be too tired tomorrow morning. So, pizza and first half of trivia it is,” Maddie said firmly and then laughed. She patted her stomach. She wasn’t really showing yet as she wasn’t due until May. “Even if she’s not tired, I know I will be. I’m doing well enough to be off bedrest for now, so I don’t want to push my luck.”

Tammy arrived a few minutes later, along with Melissa and her husband Jack. Anna introduced everyone to Ben, except for Jack and Melissa, who he already knew. Melissa’s sister, Melanie, and her husband Bryan arrived at the same time as Clark, the doctor Anna had met at trivia the week before.

“Clark and Bryan are brothers, and Melissa and Melanie are twins,” she explained to Ben.

“Got it. I think.”

Anna laughed. “I know it’s a lot of names at once. I don’t think anyone else is coming tonight, though.”

“Good!”

“Melissa has some exciting news,” Jack said once everyone’s pizzas were served, and he had their full attention.

Melissa smiled. “It might not ever actually happen but The Final Letter has been optioned by a Hollywood production company.”

“Congratulation! What does that mean exactly?” Jaclyn asked

“It means that they will be shopping my story around to a few different studios and hope they get the green light to develop a pilot episode for a mystery series.”

“You mean like a True Detective kind of thing?” Simon asked.

“Yes, exactly.”

“Well, that is amazing news,” Wade asked.

“Which production company is it?” Ben asked.

“Ross Klein films,” Melissa answered.

Ben nodded. “I haven’t worked with them, but they have a great reputation. I’ll have to check out your book. I love a good mystery/thriller.”

“Melissa’s story is so good. I couldn’t even put it down,” Jack said proudly.

As soon as they finished eating, Arthur, the trivia host, came around with pencils and pads of paper to write down their answers and keep score. They did well in the first half and even Vivian contributed a winning answer when the question was about children’s literature. Anna was impressed that Ben contributed several winning answers, too, across varied categories—history, sports and even finance. As usual, Anna did best with the movie and entertainment questions. When Wade, Maddie and Vivian left, they were in first place.

Just as trivia was starting up again, Anna noticed a stunning tall woman with long, layered hair that was so light it was almost white. She looked vaguely familiar but Anna couldn’t place where she’d seen her before. As the woman walked toward their table, she also noticed heads turning and a curious buzz in the air. She stopped when they reached their table, and stood by Ben and the empty seat next to him where Wade had been sitting.

“Hey, stranger. Is this seat taken?” Her voice was low and breathy and, again, oddly familiar.

Ben turned and Anna saw a look of shock cross his face. He stood and gave the woman a hug. “Sierra, what are you doing here? It’s great to see you. Please, join us.”

Her smile was dazzling as she looked around the table as she sat next to Ben.

“Everyone, this is Sierra Barker.” He introduced everyone to her and Anna realized once he told them her full name, who she was. Sierra was a famous soap opera actress who was starting to branch out of the soaps. She was about Ben’s age and from what Anna could remember, she was divorced a year or so ago. She seemed to know Ben very well.

She was friendly and everyone peppered her with questions, which she answered graciously. Jaclyn, as it turned out, was a big fan.

“I’ve watched Canyon Falls since the show started. You really should kick that Victor to the curb.”

Sierra laughed. “I couldn’t agree more.”

“How long are you here?” Anna heard Ben ask. She leaned forward a little to better hear her answer.

“I’m not sure, exactly. A few days, a week maybe? It depends how my meetings with Steven go and the show runner. I’ll be seeing him Monday or Tuesday.”

Ben nodded and Anna noticed that he didn’t mention Adiel’s name, which she thought was interesting. She couldn’t help wondering how Ben and Sierra knew each other. If they were just friends or if there was some kind of romantic history.

“So, will you show me the town while I’m here? I don’t have any meetings until Monday.”

Ben hesitated before answering but finally said, “Of course, I’d be happy to. I’m still new here myself, but I know a few places we could go.”

“Great, here’s my number. I have to run. I just saw the people I was supposed to meet over at the bar.” She handed Ben a cocktail napkin with her phone number scrawled on it and then addressed the table. “So great to meet you all.” And then she was gone.

“Well, wasn’t that something,” Jaclyn said and then she asked the question Anna was dying to know the answer to. “Old girlfriend of yours?”

Ben looked uncomfortable with the question. “We dated, a long time ago. She’s a great girl.”

“Hm,” Jaclyn replied, before turning her attention back to the game at hand.

They were in first place going into the final question, but it was a hard one and they second-guessed themselves, changing their first answer—which turned out to be correct—and going with something else. And it was a close game, so they had bet it all and ended up in last place.

“Easy come, easy go,” Simon said as their waitress dropped off the check. They usually all threw money into the pot, but Ben grabbed the check and handed it to the waitress with his card.

“You don’t have to do that,” Jack protested and the others all nodded.

“I know. But I’m happy to. I appreciate being included. Next time we’ll win.”

Everyone thanked him and as they left the restaurant, Anna saw that Sierra was gone, too. She wondered if Ben was looking forward to seeing more of Sierra while she was here. For some reason, she found the thought of the two of them depressing, yet she had to admit they made a handsome couple. Ben was tall and Sierra was just a few inches shorter instead of nearly a foot shorter, like Anna was. She sighed. It was just another sign that they weren’t meant to be more than friends.

When they walked into the house, Ben put his arm on hers and she stopped to face him.

“I just wanted to thank you for bringing me along tonight. I had fun.”

She smiled. “I’m glad. You’re welcome to come anytime.”

“I know you’re off this weekend, but if you don’t have plans Sunday night, would you like to join Adiel and me for dinner and a play? We’re going to see Rachel, the waitress from Kelsey’s Kafe star in A Streetcar Named Desire.”

Anna hesitated. Who was Rachel? Was this another actress that Ben had dated or wanted to date?

“Is she a friend of yours?”

“No. I just met her today. She seems like a nice enough girl. She’s interested in auditioning for the TV show so I thought it might be a good way for Adiel to assess if she’s right for it.”

Anna relaxed. “That sounds fun. I’d love to go.”