Robin couldn’t find Shane in her rear-view mirror, and she couldn’t get the truck to go without pushing on the accelerator. So she put the vehicle in park, assuming the tires had met the cement, which should be far enough.

She leapt out of the truck, a maneuver she’d practiced dozens of times at home, parked in her backyard, before doing it in public. Before selling her house in Temple and buying the tiny house that she could take with her all over the state.

“Shane?”

A moan sounded from somewhere beyond the house, and her heart flipped over. “Shane?” She hurried now, her cowgirl boots slapping against the cement as she moved toward the sound of pain.

She found the handsome, blond cowboy on the ground, holding his nose. “Oh, holy brown cows,” she said. “Did I hit you?”

“I told you to stop,” he said. “Both hands. Stop.” He held them up, and she got sight of all the blood. Blood on his hands. Blood smeared all over his face. Blood everywhere. The vision of his ice-blue eyes and straight white teeth blurred.

Please don’t pass out, she thought. Do not pass out. She tried commanding herself, but she still swayed on her feet as her stomach swooped and everything turned white.

He wiped his face and said, “Did you not see me?” before she swiped for the side of the house to steady her. She missed, and her right knee cracked against the cement, shooting pain down to her foot and up into her ribs.

“Hey, you okay?” Shane’s voice existed, but Robin’s vertigo was too strong to see him properly. She really didn’t want him to know about her phobia of blood. She could handle animal injuries. Give her a horse, a dog, or a cow who needed help, and she’d help it. But she couldn’t handle her own injuries, or apparently, seeing Shane’s nosebleed.

One of his hands touched her back, providing an anchor point, and the other gripped the one she’d been trying to find the house with. “I’ve got you,” he said, and Robin drew in a breath filled with the Texas heat and Shane’s very masculine scent with hints of musk and cedar and all kinds of other manly things.

So he smelled good. Big deal. She liked pizza too.

Everything rushed back at her, and she shook away the spiraling vision. Finally, she could focus, and the contact points between her and Shane felt way too hot. He seemed to think so too, because he removed his hands from her body.

“I’m gonna—I’ve got—I’ll be right back to help you get the steps out.” He strode away, still swiping at his nosebleed. Robin saw little drops of blood on the edge of the cement, but they didn’t bother her the way seeing his nose gushing red did.

She couldn’t believe she’d hit him with her house. Who did that? Someone who had no idea what they were doing with a monster truck with a whole home attached to the back of it, that was who. And that person was Robin.

And now Shane knew.

She shook her head. It didn’t matter what he knew or didn’t know. She could get the steps out herself, as she’d practiced that too, this time in the front driveway. But she could do it with just the right leverage, and a special tool the salesman had included when she’d bought the house.

It had never been lived in, and the two-hundred-eighty square-foot house had charmed her from the first moment she’d stepped inside. She loved the way it had a full kitchen, with full-sized appliances, and still had room for a full-sized couch—complete with a queen bed under the cushions. There was storage in shelves and cupboards along the wall above the couch, and in the bathroom she could enter easily. It was a tight fit into the shower, but with her petite frame, she could do it. And the stairs up to her bedroom loft provided more storage, as well as a wood feature that made the home feel country-chic.

She couldn’t stand all the way up when she got to the loft, but she had several clothing rods for her clothes along the side wall, and she’d pushed her bed against the other wall so she had room to sit on the mattress and get dressed, read, check her phone, or use her laptop. There was even room for Misfit, the little Yorkie still sitting in the cab of the truck.

She really only used the loft for sleeping, and if she needed to use the computer, she sat on the couch, or one on of two barstools at the end of the kitchen counter. Without room for a dining room table, the bar was her only place to sit and eat besides the couch. She’d put a picnic table on the patio just outside the front door, and since this was summer in Texas, she didn’t need to worry about inclement weather all that much.

Robin loved everything about it, and once she got the steps in place, she collected Misfit and went inside to take the straps off the furniture and other items she’d tied down for the drive to Grape Seed Falls.

“See, we’ll be just fine right here,” she told the little dog, who ran in a circle and then jumped onto the first stair leading up to the loft. “Yes, I packed your bed. Don’t worry.”

Shane whistled as he entered, and Robin turned toward him, hoping he hadn’t heard her talking to her dog. “This is much bigger than it looks.” He looked from rafter to rafter. “I love the exposed wood.” He reached up like he’d be able to touch it, but the ceilings in the kitchen area were fifteen feet tall.

“Loft bedroom. Lots of sitting room.” He met her eye and smiled. “This is great. Do you like it?”

“I love it,” she said, some of her enthusiasm returning. “Did I break your nose? I’m so sorry. I’m still—” Robin clamped her lips closed before she admitted she hadn’t done a lot of practice backing up with the truck and the tiny house.

Shane waved away her apology. “It’s fine. I—tripped.” His neck and face turned red, and he spun away from her. “So I’ve been assigned to help you while you’re here with us at Grape Seed Ranch,” he said, his voice lower and rougher now. “So anything you need, you let me know.”

He was going to be her point of contact? She pressed her eyes closed and said a silent prayer. She liked Shane. That wasn’t the problem. Or maybe it was. She liked him too much, and he’d asked her out several times already, and she wasn’t sure she could ward off his advances for the next five weeks.

Because she’d always been attracted to Shane Royal, and she didn’t want to hurt him again.

“Here’s my number.” He handed her a slip of paper. “I’ll leave you to get settled. I’ll be in horse barn two when you’re ready, and we can go from there.” He flashed her one of his most attractive smiles, and Robin practically swooned against the gray-painted wall beside her.

Oh, coming here was such a bad idea.

But she needed the money—desperately—and Felicity had offered a permanent place to accommodate her tiny house while Robin did her work in Hill Country. For free. And having somewhere to put her house for free was something Robin really needed so she didn’t have to keep paying high fees for National Parks or campgrounds.

She’d always loved Grape Seed Ranch, and it had definitely gotten better a few years ago when Shane and his brothers had started working here.

So she sent up another prayer that she could weather this summer with Shane so close and set to work unpacking the things she’d reduced to represent her life, including the little bed for Misfit, who curled into it as if she hadn’t slept the whole way to Grape Seed Falls.

Twenty minutes later, Robin had the house ready for living. Almost. She went around the shed and across the expansive lawn. Felicity had been right when she’d said the cement pad would provide plenty of privacy. From this side of the shed, the ranch buildings, horse fields, and a grazing pasture spread before her. In the distance, down the road and around a bend or two, sat the eight cabins that formed the cabin community here on the ranch.

Robin instinctively knew which one was Shane’s, and her eyes went immediately to the sliver of rooftop she could see.

Ridiculous, she told herself. It wasn’t that he was off-limits. It was that Robin simply wasn’t interested in being tied down. And dating and relationships, well, she knew how they ended. In heartbreak or a serious attachment. She didn’t want either, thank you very much.

After all, she’d given up everything permanent in her life when she’d spent every last penny she had—and then some she didn’t have—to buy the house that would set her free.

She took a moment to draw in a deep breath and enjoy the stillness out here on the ranch. There was nothing like the scene of fresh air and straw, grass and blue sky.

“All right then.” She sighed and continued toward the back porch. Through the screen door, she heard women talking and she almost turned right back around and returned to her sanctuary.

“Oh, there she is,” Felicity said, and Robin had to go in now.

“Hey.” She wiped her hands down her jeans.

“You made it.” Felicity grinned at her, a wide, friendly smile. “Everything go okay?”

Besides mowing over one of the cowhands…. “Yeah, fine.”

“So Shane’s on your service,” Felicity said, moving around the kitchen and pulling open drawers until she found what she wanted. “He gave you his number?” She flicked her eyes toward her, her eyebrows raised.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Robin’s gaze wandered to the other brunette in the kitchen. She had high cheekbones and the longest, darkest brown hair Robin had ever seen. She sat on a barstool, plucking grapes from their vines and letting them drop into a big bowl.

“This is May Pemberton,” Felicity said. “She married Kurt last Christmas.”

Robin’s surprise surely showed on her face. “Oh, wow. Good for…I mean, congratulations.”

Kurt was usually assigned to Robin when she came out to Grape Seed Ranch, but of course, she’d never stayed on-site here before. Of course they’d need someone to make sure she had what she needed and that there weren’t any problems.

“Thank you,” May said, standing. The tiniest baby bump pushed against her shirt. “Grapes are done, Felicity. Strawberries next?”

“Yep. And I have the sandwiches bagged.”

“Having a party today?” Robin asked. Half of her hoped she’d be invited, and the other half just wanted to hook up her utilities and be done for the day. She hadn’t anticipated the high emotional toll leaving behind her life in Temple would take, and combined with seeing Shane again so soon after her arrival, and Robin felt spent.

“Just a quick picnic in the Cowboy Commons,” Felicity said. “You’re welcome to come.”

“Oh, I can’t.” The words were out before Robin could censor them. “I just came over to ask about the utilities?”

“Oh, right.” Felicity swiped a paper off the refrigerator. “Dwayne left this for you. He said you’d know what to do?” She scanned the paper, her eyebrows lifting. “I can get Shane to come help.”

“No,” Robin barked. Both women looked at her, the food prep stalling for several long seconds. She forced a laugh out of her throat. “No, I’ll be fine. Thank you though.” Robin took the paper, being careful not to crush it or even look at it, and lifted her free hand in a wave. “Thanks, Felicity.”

She made a hasty escape through the back door, not slowing to see if the two women would start talking about her. Of course they would.

Once around the corner of the shed, in a patch of shade and without fear of anyone observing her, Robin looked at the paper. Water was easy enough. Dwayne had connected a hose to the outside faucet, and all she had to do was screw it into her intake. She had a filtration system on her sink, and that went easily.

Electricity was also easy. The shed had power, and Dwayne had left an insulated, high-voltage cord for her to plug in. So she and Misfit would be cool enough, and she’d be able to brush her teeth, cook dinner, and flush the toilet.

But where would that waste go?

“Sewer, sewer,” she muttered, reading the instructions once and then again.

The ranch had a septic tank and she needed to connect to that. She had an output line, with a standard fitting. She’d never had any problem connecting to the RV waste lines in campgrounds.

But here? She wasn’t quite sure how to connect to Dwayne’s septic tank. She consulted the paper Felicity had given her, and she found the line they’d left for her.

She picked it up from the grass, but it looked different from the ones she’d used before. Twisting the two ends together seemed to work, but at the same time it didn’t feel quite right.

Robin followed the line toward where it disappeared into the ground, and she bent to examine the connection there. The three-pronged end of this line looked more like what she was used to.

So she undid the fitting in the green utility box, thinking perhaps Dwayne had simply put the wrong end here and it just needed to be switched.

The hose popped off with a ring of metal, and the horrible, putrid, gut-wrenching scent of the sewer came with it.

Robin fell back as if knocked over by the smell, desperation causing her pulse to race. The stench made her gag, and she staggered to her feet, determined to take care of this before Shane found out.

She did not want him associating her with the smell of the sewer only an hour into her stay at Grape Seed Ranch. So she grabbed the hose and started wrestling with it to reverse the two ends, the awful smell making her eyes water.