On Saturday morning, Hope greeted Chance with a smile when he came into the kitchen, and handed him a mug of coffee. “There you go, sleepyhead.”

He took it and planted a peck on her lips. “Thanks, honey. You’re up early.”

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ve always loved to watch the sunrise. I think this is the most beautiful place in the world to watch it. I love it.” She shook her head. “Sorry, just listen to me. I think there is a mushy romantic hiding in my head somewhere and she comes out to play now and then.”

Chance smiled. “Don’t apologize; I like the way you describe it. I’ve never thought of the sunrise as a new beginning before, but it really is, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I don’t think I’d thought of it like that before, either. I was just rambling and it came out. My mind is all over the place because it’s been working overtime on everything Dad’s been teaching me this week. I want to get started, but he doesn’t want me to yet.  He wants me to practice for a while first.”

Chance raised an eyebrow. “How do you do that? I thought you either bought and sold shares or you didn’t. How do you practice?”

She smiled. “When you’re practicing, you just pretend. You don’t actually buy stocks, you just keep note of what you would have bought and sold each day and keep track of what your outcome would have been if you had.”

“That makes sense. You don’t risk anything till you know what you’re doing.”

“Exactly, but you don’t make anything, either. Yesterday, I had a really great day, on paper. If I’d bought instead of just pretending to, I would have made a very nice profit at the end of the day.”

“He just wants you to be careful, right? He wants you to get the hang of what you’re doing before you put any money on the line.”

“I know; I’m impatient, that’s all.”

He smiled. “You’ll get there.”

“I will, but in the meantime, my brain is constantly buzzing with it. I’ve spent an hour on my laptop already this morning, going through it all.”

“That’s good. You wanted to find something you could really get involved with. It sounds like this could be it.”

“I think it is. I’m loving everything about it, not just the working with my dad. And how about you? How did you sleep?”

“Very well. I was dead to the world until just now. I hate that I have to work most of the day, though. What are you going to do?”

“Don’t worry about me. I think I’m going to sit here and work.”

“You should go out and have some fun. See what the girls are up to or go see your dad or something.” He didn’t like the thought of her sitting here cooped up with her computer all day.

Her smile put his mind at ease. “That’s what I’m saying; this is fun. I’m going to go sit out back with my laptop and have the best of both worlds. I’ll have the fresh air and mountains all around me and the world of finance at my fingertips.”

Chance chuckled. “I reckon your dad is going to have to start calling you mini-me soon.”

She pushed his shoulder. “No, he won’t. I’m not aiming for world domination, just to carve out a nice little niche for myself. I need to feel useful.”

“You are useful. You’re amazing and I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“How about I take you out for dinner tonight?”

Her eyes widened; he knew she liked the idea. “You don’t have to do that.”

“I know, but I want to.” He couldn’t tell her that he was planning on asking her to marry him. He still hadn’t come up with any big ideas about how to ask her, so he’d finally accepted that he’d just have to be himself. They could go out for a nice dinner. He’d been thinking he’d ask her there; or maybe when they came home, he could ask her out on the back porch. It was a place she loved to be and it’d be underneath the big starry Montana sky she loved so much. That was about as special as he could think of. “We could go to the Yellowstone Valley Lodge.”

She made a face. “Or we could go to Chico. The restaurant is just as good, and I know you feel more at home there.”

He smiled. “I do, but stepping out of my comfort zone isn’t a bad thing.” He was finding that it was a very good thing. Asking her to marry him was stepping out of his comfort zone, but he knew if she said yes, it’d be the best move he’d ever made.

“It isn’t, but I like Chico, too. To tell you the truth, I feel more comfortable there.”

“Chico it is, then.” He wasn’t going to argue, if that was where she wanted to go.

“What time do you think you’ll be back?”

“Early. I’m hoping to be able to get back by four-thirty, five at the latest.”

“Okay. I’ll make sure I’m finished up by then.”

He chuckled. “I’ll see you later.”

He went to her and hugged her to him. She slid her arms around his waist and rested her head against his chest, making him smile. His heart raced in his chest at the thought that, hopefully, this time tomorrow, she’d be his fiancée—and soon, she’d be his wife.

~ ~ ~

Hope checked herself over in the mirror. She looked good, even if she did say so herself. She’d taken the first shower so she could finish getting ready while Chance took his. She was already used to sharing a bathroom with him. She smiled, remembering how she’d never allowed Drew into her dressing room or bathroom. He had his own. The master suite in her house had his and her closets and bathrooms. She couldn’t see Chance ever wanting to spend much time there, but she knew that when they did visit, she’d want them to share her bathroom, not be separate.

Chance poked his head around the bedroom door. “Are you nearly … wow!”

She turned around to face him with a smile.

“You look amazing.”

“Thank you.” It was hard to strike the right balance out here. Everyone wore jeans pretty much all the time. Getting dressed up meant nice jeans and a nicer top than usual. She’d managed to find the perfect combination when she was back in LA—a pair of butt-hugging skinny jeans and a silver gray top with flowing sleeves and cutout shoulders. “I’m glad you like it.”

“I love it. There’s only one problem with it.” His eyes narrowed and he rubbed his chin as if he were trying to come up with a solution to that problem.

“What’s that?”

“It makes me want to stay here instead of going out. It looks so good on you, that all I can think of is getting you out of it.” He came into the bedroom wearing just a towel around his waist. His muscular chest was still glistening from the shower.

She laughed. “It’d be easier for me to get you out of that.” She reached out and grabbed the edge of the towel and tugged.

Chance laughed and tugged back. “No!”

“Aww, but you look so good. I want to get you out of what you’re wearing, too.”

He clung to the towel and shook his head, backing away to the corner of the room as she followed him.

“Give me the towel.”

He shook his head. “No, seriously. If you take my towel, then we won’t be going anywhere other than bed this evening.”

She laughed. “And that’s a problem?”

It seemed it was. His expression clouded over and she could tell he was going through an internal struggle. It wasn’t like him to turn her down.

He shrugged. “You know I want to, but I want us to go out, too. I want to take you to a nice place for a nice dinner and feel like I’m giving you what you deserve.”

She waggled her eyebrows at him. “I think you could give me what I deserve right here in bed.”

He shook his head at her. “But if we go out now, then you can still have your way with me when we get home. If you have your way with me first, we won’t feel up to going out.”

“We might.” She knew he was right, but she didn’t want to wait.

He shook his head again with a wicked grin. “Nah. By the time I’m done with you, you’ll be too tired to go anywhere.”

“Ooh, I like the sound of that.”

“So do I; so, let’s hurry up and go out so that we can hurry up and get back.”

“Okay,” she said with a sigh. “But it’s you who needs to hurry up. I’m about ready. I’ll be out on the porch waiting for you.”

He kissed her as she made her way out of the bedroom and she made another grab for the towel. He dodged neatly out of the way with a smile. “Patience!”

She laughed. “Not one of my virtues, I’m afraid.”

“Yeah, mine either. I’ll be down in a few.”

When they got to Chico, the parking lot was crowded. They had to drive around for a while to find a space. Hope chuckled. “It amazes me that there’s nothing around here, just a couple of houses and nothing else for miles, but yet the parking lot is full.”

Chance nodded. “It’s like this all through the summer, and most weekends in the winter, too.”

“We could always go back home, or …” she raised an eyebrow at him. “I seem to remember you mentioning the back of your truck one time. We could go for a drive and …” she waggled her eyebrows at him, “get in the back of your truck and … stargaze.”

His eyes twinkled and she could tell he liked the idea, but he shook his head. “No, we came for dinner.”

She pouted. “We might not even get a table if it’s this busy.”

“We’ve got a table. I called ahead.”

“On this short notice? We only talked about it this morning.”

He shrugged. “I know people.”

She had to laugh at the way he said it.

“What?” he asked with a chuckle. “This might not be your fancy LA nightlife, but it still helps to know people around here.”

“I’m suitably impressed.”

“Yeah, right.”

“I am!” She laughed as he held the door open for her and bid her to enter with a bow and a flourish of his arm.

The dining room, as they called the restaurant here, hadn’t changed since she was a kid. She remembered coming here with her parents and her aunt and uncle and all her cousins. For a moment, she was swept back in time.

“Are you okay?” Chance put a hand on her shoulder.

“I’m fine, sorry. I just got hit with a whole load of memories. This place hasn’t changed a bit.” She felt as though she had some understanding of how difficult their visit to Summer Lake must have been for him.

“Do you want to leave?”

“No. It’s nothing bad, it just took me by surprise, took my breath away.” She smiled. “I miss my mom, but it’s kind of comforting to come back to places that I came to with her.”

Chance nodded and placed a hand in the small of her back to guide her through the crowd to the host station. The guy at the desk looked up and grinned when he saw Chance. “Hey! I thought it must be a joke when they told me to keep a table for you.” He looked at Hope and smiled. “Now, I get it.”

Chance smiled. “Hope, I’d like you to meet Steve. Steve, this is …”

“Hope Davenport,” Steve finished for him. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I met your cousins a couple of months ago, but I didn’t think you came up here anymore.” He smiled at Chance. “But I hope we’ll be seeing more of you now.”

Hope nodded, but was a little put out. “You saw my cousins?”

“Yes, TJ and Reid were in a couple of months back.”

“Wow. I didn’t know they’d been up here.” She smiled. “Sorry, you took me by surprise mentioning them. It’s lovely to meet you, Steve, and you’d better get used to me. I just moved back here.”

Steve’s eyes widened in surprise. “Wow. Then welcome home!” He smiled at Chance. “That’s wonderful news.”

Chance nodded, and Hope got the impression that he didn’t want the conversation to move on to why she’d come back or where she was living.

“It is,” she said. “And I’m looking forward to finding out if the food here is as good as I remember.”

“I think you’ll find it’s even better. Let me show you to your table.” He led them through the restaurant to a quieter area in the back. This was a smaller room with fewer tables and a more elegant feel than the main dining room. Steve took them to a table by the fireplace with a wonderful view of Emigrant Peak through the picture window. “Best table in the house,” he said. “Nothing but the best for my friend here.” He smiled at Chance, who punched his arm. “Thanks. I owe you one.”

“He seems nice,” said Hope when Steve had gone. “Is he a good friend of yours?”

“Yeah, I guess you could call him that. He helps with the herd when I need him. He works here and he’s with the Fire Department, too. He’s a good guy.”

“Do you have many friends?” It occurred to her that she didn’t know about his friends here. She’d met a whole gang of them in Summer Lake, but Steve was the first one she’d even heard mention of here in the valley.

He shrugged. “I have the guys. I have four honorary brothers who are also my best friends. And I know some people, too.” He smiled. “Guys aren’t like girls when it comes to friends. We see each other when we see each other. We don’t need to make time for each other in the way girls seem to.”

Hope shrugged. “I wouldn’t know about that. I don’t really have any friends at all. The only one I had in LA was Toby; the rest were just acquaintances, contacts.”

“Aww.” He reached across the table and patted her hand. “You do now. You have four friends here who’ll soon be your family.”

Hope’s heart jumped into her throat, then she took a deep calming breath. That was silly. He didn’t necessarily mean they’d be her sisters-in-law. He could just mean they would be her honorary family just as all the brothers were his.

He didn’t notice her reaction and continued, “And you’ve got Miss and Emma and all the others at the lake.”

She nodded. “I can see me and Renée becoming good friends if we do spend any time there.”

The waiter came with their menus and recited the specials to them. Chance ordered a bottle of wine, and Hope was glad they’d come here; she loved seeing him relaxed and at ease in his environment.

When the waiter had gone, he asked, “Wouldn’t that be weird for you?”

“Wouldn’t what be weird?”

“You were saying you could see you and becoming good friends …”

She smiled. “It wouldn’t be weird for me at all. I like her. I want to get to know her better.” Her smile faded. “Or would that be too weird for you?”

“No!” He reached across the table and took hold of her hand again. “That’d be awesome, not weird.”

“Good, because I like her a lot. I want to know more about her women’s center.”

Chance frowned. “Why?”

“Because, I make some pretty big charitable donations every year.” She frowned back at him. “I’m not talking charity, so don’t look at me like that.”

He raised an eyebrow at her and smirked.

“Oh, you! I am talking about her charity, but you know what I mean. The donations I make are tax write-offs for me. They help me. I try to make sure that I get involved with causes I believe in, that the money is going to people who really need it, people for whom it will make a difference. The women’s center seems like a great cause. I believe Renée would put the money to good use and she can certainly make a difference in people’s lives with what she’s doing there. Don’t you think?”

He shrugged.

“What, you disagree?”

“I don’t know. I don’t really even know what a women’s center does.”

She had to smile. “You’re such a guy.”

He laughed and looked down at his lap. “Yup, last time I checked, I still had a pair.”

She laughed and shook her head at him. “You’re so bad!”

He gave her a sexy smile. “Isn’t that what you love about me?”

She nodded. “It is. I love that you’re so bad and so good all at once.”

“Especially in bed?” He hooked his foot around her calf and rubbed it up and down.

She felt the heat in her cheeks as the waiter came back to take their order.

Once they’d ordered, and he’d gone, she narrowed her eyes at Chance. “You were the one who wouldn’t let me keep you home in bed, and now you’re tormenting me out in public.”

He smirked. “I’ve got to make sure you’ll still want me by the time we get home.”

“You’ve got no worries there.” She couldn’t wait!

The evening flew by as they talked and laughed. Hope loved every minute of it. Chance was quite the charmer when he was relaxed and enjoying himself, and he certainly seemed to be both of those tonight. He was flirting with her in a way he hadn’t before and she loved it. Part of her didn’t want the evening to end, but another part was still eager to get him home. She couldn’t wait to see what this new, playful side of him would want to get up to in bed.

After their plates were cleared and the wine was gone, the waiter returned to see if they wanted anything else.

Chance raised an eyebrow and she shook her head. She did want something, but she wasn’t going to get it here.

Chance asked for the bill and his mood seemed to change.

“Is everything all right?”

“Yeah. It’s all good, honey. I’ve had a great time. Have you?”

“Wonderful, and the evening isn’t over yet.”

He was fidgeting with something in his pocket and didn’t meet her gaze. “You’re right. It isn’t.” He looked up and smiled at her, then reached across the table and took hold of her hand. “There’s something I’d like to ask you before we go. I’ve been wanting to ask you all night. I didn’t want to mess it up and now I think I’ve left it too late.”

“What is it?”

He sucked in a deep breath and smiled.  “Honey, I want to ask you if—”

They both jumped as a flash of light illuminated their table. Chance jumped to his feet, but Hope sat tight and put her head down. She knew what it was.