Robin drove down to Grape Seed Falls for the second time in as many weekends, the radio as loud as she could stand without doing permanent damage to her hearing.

Dwayne had agreed to hire her one day a week, as well as provide her a living pad and utilities. Patsy had signed on for a Tuesday class for all her camps, which meant Robin just needed Levi to agree to hire her for three days.

Sunnyside Farms had said no, as had three other places Robin had called or visited over the past week. Levi and Heather had been out of town, but he’d agreed to meet with her that afternoon. She hadn’t explained anything to him, but surely he knew why she wanted to talk. He was married to Heather after all, and Dwayne knew what she was trying to do. She’d asked him not to say anything to Shane—not yet—for various reasons.

Number one, she wanted to be the one to surprise him with a solution to their long-distance problem. Number two, she didn’t want to get his hopes up only to find out that she couldn’t get the employment she needed to make Grape Seed Falls her permanent home.

Just being back last weekend had been wonderful. It had taken every ounce of willpower in her whole body not to let Arthur run free on the ranch, and sheer determination to keep herself from tracking down Shane and kissing him senseless.

Her feelings had been confirmed though, and she was grateful for that. Grape Seed Falls was where she was supposed to be. She needed to be here; this was where her roots were supposed to be planted.

And so she’d do whatever she could to make that happen.

“Maybe part time work is enough,” she said to herself for probably the twentieth time that week. If she and Shane got married, they’d have his income to pay for the tiny house too. Maybe a few days a week would be enough. She could be a canine mom the other days of the week, or volunteer on the ranch, or finally learn how to cook more than the basics.

The two-hour trip went by in a blink, and she found herself pulling into Levi’s boarding stable before she knew it.

Her nerves felt like ping pong balls in her veins, zinging from top to bottom and back, and she wiped her hands down her shorts as she got out of the truck and said, “Come on, Arthur.”

The sheltie jumped out of her truck, his tongue already hanging out of his mouth. He looked around like she’d just brought him to the doggie version of Disneyland, and he trotted forward before turning and looking back at her.

“Yeah, I’m coming.” She forced herself to move forward and enter the stable where the office sat at the end of the long aisle. Horses hung their heads over the stall doors and she let her fingers drift across their manes as she walked.

Levi appeared as if he had spies waiting to report on her arrival. He leaned in the doorway and folded his arms, watching her from under the brim of his hat. He’d always been a tough card to read, but Robin had been hoping his recent marriage would’ve softened him up a little.

But he remained stoic and silent as she approached. Robin finally stopped several feet from him and said, “Hey, Levi. Thanks for meeting with me today.”

“C’mon in.” He went back in the office without a hello or anything.

Robin typically wasn’t really religious, but she took a page from Shane’s book and pressed her eyes closed so she could say a prayer. But no words came to her mind, so she went in Levi’s office without any help from above.

He sat behind the desk already, a bare surface in front of him. She sat in the only other chair available and took a deep breath. “Shane—” Just saying his name made her voice tighten. She cleared her throat and pressed on. “Shane said you had mentioned hiring a farrier full time. I want to be that farrier.”

Levi regarded her with emotionless eyes, and Robin wished Heather was in the office with him. “How many horses do I have here?”

Robin wasn’t aware this was going to be a trivia session. “I would guess over two hundred,” she said. “Only half of which are yours.”

Surprise flitted across his face. There one moment and gone the next, but Robin refused to look away from him so she saw it.

“What are you thinkin’?”

“Full time, sir. See, I want—well, I—I want to make my home here in Grape Seed Falls, and to do that, I need a permanent job.”

“How much does this have to do with Shane Royal?”

“Everything,” she said, the word more air than anything else.

Levi grinned, but Robin didn’t know what to make of the gesture. She wasn’t sure if this was an interrogation, an interview, or a friendly conversation with a man she’d known for the eight years she’d been coming here to work with his horses and form his horseshoes.

“Heather said if you admitted that, I could hire you.”

Relief sang through her, but she didn’t dare rejoice yet. He hadn’t actually hired her yet.

“You need somewhere to put your house?”

“Dwayne.” Her voice caught on itself as she thought about going out to Grape Seed Ranch. She’d be able to see Shane this time. Hold his hand. Breathe in the masculine scent of his skin. Kiss his lips.

“Sorry. Uh, Dwayne said I could park out there again.”

Levi frowned and put his phone on the desk. “Hmm, that doesn’t sound right.” He tapped out a message she couldn’t see and waited until an answer came back. Every breath Robin took felt like torture, but she waited.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” He looked up. “Dwayne’s building a shed on the cement pad where you lived last month. So that’s not gonna work out.”

“I just spoke to him last week, so—”

“Heather and I would like to offer you a spot on our property.” He leaned away from the desk and his phone. “I have room on my land, sort of nestled in the orchards.”

Robin nodded. She hadn’t been to see the entirety of the Rhodes orchards, but she’d heard of them and seen how they went right up to Levi’s homestead.

“There’s a third homesite that hasn’t been built on,” he said. “You could put your house there. It’s easy to get it plumbed and set up for water and electricity.”

Robin didn’t know what to say. Gratitude poured through her, and tears sprang to her eyes. “Really?”

“Really. But Robin, I can’t offer you full time.”

Her heart deflated all at once, and it left a horrible, empty feeling in her chest. “Oh.”

“I’ve spoken to Dwayne too, and he said he can give you two days a week if he’s not providing you with a living spot and utilities, and I can give you three days a week plus the homesite. You’d have to pay your own utilities.”

“I can do that,” Robin blurted. “But Tuesdays, I’ve already agreed to work at Sugar and Spice.”

“So you’re going to work six days a week?” He seemed incredulous.

“Sure,” she said. “That’s what I do now.”

His phone flashed and he glanced at it. “Heather wants to know if I’ve hired you yet.” He looked at Robin. “What should I tell her? Does what I’ve said sound good to you?”

It sounded like she’d died and gone to heaven. She nodded, her emotions growing and surging like a tsunami. “Yeah. Sounds good.”

“How long till you can move down here?” he asked. “I’ll need about a week to get utilities hooked up at the homesite.”

“A week would be great,” she said. “I’ve got Heather’s cousin calling me on the daily about coming up there. I figure I better take care of that job first, and then come back down here.”

Levi nodded and tapped with two forefingers to answer his wife. He smiled at her response and said, “All right, Robin. Looks like you got yourself a job with two hundred and seven horses.” He stood and beamed at her.

Robin got to her feet too. “Only seven off.” She smiled and forced herself not to skip out of his office and down the aisle. Instead, she shook his hand and headed out leisurely, like she wasn’t dying to make the fifteen-minute drive to Grape Seed Ranch and find Shane.

Once free of the stables, she burst into a run, a whoop escaping from her throat. “Come on, Arthur!” she called. “We have to go find Shane.” Her insides shook like gelatin, and her fingers trembled, and she could barely keep the truck on the highway as she drove toward the man she loved.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she muttered, her joy making her emotions so close to the surface. She pulled back a sob as she turned under the arch and kept on down the lane toward the Cowboy Commons.

She parked in front of Shane’s cabin and texted him. Can we talk?

It only took him thirty seconds to respond. I’m busy.

Her heart stuttered in her chest.

“Arthur wants to play with Cinna again,” she dictated as she typed. She smiled at the words, sure he’d come running when he read them.

You’re here?

Parked in front of your house, cowboy. I have something I want to tell you.

She got out of the truck when she caught sight of him walking—not running—toward her in her rear view mirror. He wore a look of distaste on his face, and Robin’s nerves rioted again.

He stopped farther away than she liked, and this reunion wasn’t going how she’d imagined at all. No, that was him jogging toward her while he laughed, and then sweeping her up off her feet and swinging her around before he kissed her.

This statuesque version of him was so wrong.

“How long have you been in town this time?” he asked.

Robin swallowed and said, “An hour or so. Long enough to meet with Levi and get a job at his stables.” And so much more. She wanted to tell him all about it, but she waited for his reaction.

His jaw twitched and he looked away. Cinna came to his side and sat, her head cocked at Arthur, who lay in the front yard. “Did you get the job?”

“Yes. And one here too. I’m moving back to Grape Seed Falls.” She hoped he’d rush her then, and she could hold onto those broad shoulders and laugh with him.

“I did it, Shane. I found a way for us to be together—if you still want to be with me. I still love you.” She took one step toward him and then fell back again when he remained unyielding. “So what do you think, Shane? Will you help me put down roots right here in Grape Seed Falls?”