Shane became aware of a disturbance earlier than some, but definitely after Dwayne. He leaned forward and hissed, “She’s lookin’ for you, cowboy.”

Shane frowned at his boss, unsure of what had happened. He only knew that something had. Dwayne nodded his head toward the far right side of the chapel, and Shane’s heart catapulted to the top of his skull and back.

Robin stood there, scanning the crowd and bending over to talk with the patrons sitting there. The man—Stockton Harrison—turned and pointed in Shane’s general direction. Robin smiled and nodded, but she still hadn’t located him.

Pastor Gifford had definitely noticed Robin, and his words slowed to a stop.

“Sorry,” she called, tacking on a short, nervous laugh. “I’m just looking for Shane Royal.”

Chuckling came down the row of cowboys where Shane sat, and Dylan elbowed him and grinned like it was his birthday and Shane had just given him a new horse. “Go on, then. Why you still sittin’ here?”

Shane wasn’t sure, only that he was frozen. He stared at Robin in that light blue dress that barely brushed her knees while Pastor Gifford said, “I think Shane’s here somewhere.” He peered into the crowd, and everyone in the two rows in front of him turned and looked at him.

He cleared his throat and stood. When Robin’s eyes caught his, relief stained her features. He hooked his thumb toward the lobby and said, “Sorry,” way too loudly for the small chapel before getting out of there as fast as he could. Problem was, he sat several places from the end of the row, and five cowboys—bulky cowboys—were in his way.

They all stood and he edged past them, and by the time he made it to the aisle, his whole face flamed with embarrassment. Kurt, who sat on the end of the back row, grinned at him and reached up to grab Shane’s arm before he could make his full escape.

“She’s got it bad for you.”

“No, she doesn’t,” Shane whispered back. At least Pastor Gifford had started talking again. “She’s probably here to say good-bye.” And with those final, dread-filled words, Shane went to see why Robin had interrupted church to find him.

She turned when he came through the doors and into the lobby. Her beauty made his chest ache and his feet stop short of reaching her. “What are you doin’?” He managed to take most of the incredulity from his voice before he spoke.

“I just wanted to talk to you.”

“You could’ve sent a text.”

She giggled and it contained a whole lot of nerves. “I was in such a hurry, I left my phone at home.”

He put all his weight on his left foot and folded his arms, unsure of why he was being so closed off. “Well, what’s goin’ on? I know it’s not Dylan or Austin, because they’re here with me.”

Robin’s hands twisted around and around each other. “I don’t want to make any mistakes.”

“Maybe come to church before the sermon starts, then,” he said, softening toward her. He couldn’t help it. She was adorable when she was nervous, and something about her made him want to protect her from feeling that way around him.

“Or just come in and sit in the back,” he suggested.

“I didn’t know what door I was walking through,” she said. “Why is there a door that’s right in the front?”

“Fire escape,” he said, totally making the explanation for the door up on the spot.

She cocked her head and said, “Ha ha. Very funny.”

He approached slowly, keeping his hands tucked into the pockets of his slacks. “What do you mean by you don’t want to make any mistakes?”

“With you,” she said, tilting her head back to maintain eye contact with him as he inched closer. “But I’m pretty freaked out by how strongly I feel about you, and I’ve only been here for a week.”

“Nine days,” Shane murmured, only realizing after he spoke that he’d just given a lot away.

“You’re counting?” she asked.

“Yes.” He lifted his chin in defiance. “I’m counting, Robin, because you’ll only be here for thirty-five days, and I need to know when to put my heart back inside my chest so it doesn’t break.”

She took a few seconds to riddle through what he’d said. He’d spent an unhealthy amount of time thinking about Robin this week. Even when he was standing right next to her in the arena, a horse’s hoof between them, he thought about her. When he held her hand, he wondered if he could ask her to stay in this part of Hill Country indefinitely. When he picked her up and drove her over to Levi’s stable, he fantasized about kissing her when he dropped her off.

He hadn’t. Hadn’t held her close to his heart again. Hadn’t brought up any more serious discussions. He had, however, joined an online counseling app, and he’d “met” with a counselor about his anger three times in the past week.

With the app, he could message his counselor and get a response within twelve hours. He could chat as much as he wanted, and he’d actually found the few sessions he’d had to be cleansing and worthwhile.

“That’s what I mean,” she said earnestly, putting both hands on his chest and sliding them up to his shoulders as if they were going to slow dance. “I don’t want to break your heart.”

“Then don’t.”

“I don’t know how to not be me,” she said. “I’ve never had a relationship that worked.” Her bottom lip trembled and she steadied it with a quick swipe of her tongue between her lips. “Either I’m not girly enough—I’ve heard that plenty of times, trust me—or I’m too needy. Or I have to give up everything that makes me me, and I don’t want to do that either.”

“I like you just the way you are.” Her soft curls brushed her slim shoulders, and Shane couldn’t imagine a man on earth who wouldn’t find her gorgeously feminine. Sure, she had muscles in her arms. She had to, to hold the horses in place. She had a strong personality. She had to, to keep her reputation as the best farrier in Hill Country.

“I have a bald eagle spirit,” she said. “I love to soar.”

“I know that, Robin.” He sighed and stepped back so her hands would leave his body. He could barely think with her touching him. “That’s why I’m counting the days. So you can soar when it’s time to soar.”

Shane desperately wanted her to say she wouldn’t soar away from him in only twenty-six days. Or maybe that she’d take him under her wing and teach him how to soar too.

“And you’re okay with that?” she asked.

He exhaled, wishing he was back inside the chapel, listening to Pastor Gifford talk about helping the less fortunate. “What do you want me to say, Robin?”

“What you’re thinking.”

“I’m thinking that no, I’m not okay with that.” He took a step toward her, the scent of her frilly perfume filling his nose. “I’ve had a crush on you for three years. I’ve watched you come and go for three years. But I guess this summer, I decided it would be better to have you be mine for thirty-five days instead of not at all.”

His chest felt like oxygen was the wrong thing to breathe. He moved forward again, and Robin backed up, her expression positively terrified.

“I know you like me too.” He brushed her hair off her shoulder in an excuse to touch the bare skin there. He was seriously considering kissing her right now, right here, in the lobby at the church. Something told him that if he did, he wouldn’t see Robin at the ranch again.

So he just trailed his fingers down her bare arm and let them fall back to his side. “Sorry if that scares you. I don’t know how to help you with that.”

Just like no one could really help him with his anger issues, he’d learned in the short week he’d been in therapy that he couldn’t solve Robin’s fears for her.

“You won’t wait forever,” she said.

“Probably not.” But he didn’t know how to let her go. Even after she left, Shane would hold onto her, waiting and counting down the days until she came back the following summer. Then, after this summer, after holding her hand and being this close to her, he’d probably have to go visit his mother during Robin’s time in the Grape Seed Falls area.

Robin stepped into him, and it was as natural as breathing to lift his arms and hold her tight. “I don’t want to be like Felicity.”

“I have no idea what that means,” he murmured, his mouth getting dangerously close to her ear lobe. “But this feels nice.”

“She said she waited too long to have kids. I don’t want to wait too long to…I don’t know. Have you in my life.”

“I am in your life, right now.”

“For longer than thirty-five days.”

Shane stepped back and everything happened so fast. She’d said so much with so few words, and he needed a minute to sort through it all. “You’re talking about something more permanent,” he said, shaking his head to get rid of the multitude of thoughts taking up space in his brain. “That doesn’t sound like you.”

“That’s just it. I want it to sound like me.”

Shane liked the sound of what she was saying, but a river of worry cascaded through him. He wanted her to be her too, and if that meant she could never stay in one place so they could be together, he’d have to deal with it. How, he wasn’t sure. But he didn’t want to be the one she resented when she realized she’d become someone she wasn’t.

“Look,” he said. “How about we take it one day at a time, okay?”

“One day at a time.”

“Yeah.” And today, he wanted to hold her hand. So he slipped his fingers between hers and squeezed. “Today’s Day Nine. What should we do?”

She looked up at him, the fog clearing from her eyes. “Don’t you have to work?”

“Yeah, but just this afternoon. We could go up to the river this evening, if you wanted to.”

“And do what?”

Shane had a lot of ideas, most of them ending in a sunset-lit kiss, but he just shrugged. “Take some food, listen to the river, talk, whatever.”

“I’ve never met a man who wants to talk.”

“I like talking to you, Robin.” He squeezed her hand again. “I want to know everything about you.” He leaned closer, and her eyes drifted halfway closed. His ideas about kissing her—and that she’d let him—roared forward.

“I’m especially interested in why you’ve never had a relationship that’s worked.”

She groaned. “I don’t want to tell you all the bad stuff about me.”

“Well, tough,” he said, bringing her knuckles to his lips and placing a kiss there. “If we want to figure out how to make our relationship work, we’ll have to examine the past.” He tugged her outside, where the sun threatened to melt the flesh right off his bones.

“Fine,” she said. “But you’ll have to start.”

“I’ve already finished, sweetheart. Or did you not hear me when I said my father left our family fifteen years ago, and I’m still furious about it? Or maybe you forgot the part where I said I’ve had a crush on you for three years.”

Shane forced a chuckle out of his mouth, a half-hearted attempt to lighten the mood. Because he had just as much work to do to make something viable between them as she did.

Maybe more.