Trevor went to bed so early that he was awake at dawn. He was up and dressed in time to help with the chores down at the stable and grab a quick breakfast before heading off to Olivia’s. Because he’d helped feed and muck out stalls, Cody and Faith figured they’d be over a little sooner than they’d expected.

When he turned down Olivia’s road, a cloud of dust ahead of him meant Bryce had beat him there. He chuckled. Evidently his brother’s pride was on the line. Either that or a batch of chocolate chip cookies was calling his name.

Trevor loved cookies, too. But their importance was eclipsed by the woman who came down the porch steps as he pulled into the clearing. Damn, she was gorgeous.

All that silky dark hair drove him nuts. She’d tied it back with a red ribbon that matched the red shirt she wore. Had he ever seen her in that color? Maybe not. Looked nice on her.

She gave him a wave and walked over to greet Bryce, who’d just parked his truck. She seemed happy this morning and he’d take that as a good sign. He wouldn’t count his chickens, yet, but…what the hell? Bryce was wearing a hard hat?

Trevor pulled in next to him and climbed out. “What’s with the hard hat, bro?”

Bryce gave him a shit-eating grin. “I’ve always wanted to wear one of these and I’ll never have a better chance. Got me a tool belt, too.” He reached into the truck, grabbed it and put it on. “Whatcha think?”

Olivia stood behind him, hand over her mouth, shoulders shaking in silent laughter.

Somehow Trevor managed to keep a straight face. Bryce’s goofy streak had gone underground in high school when Charity had gotten ahold of him. If Nicole had restored it, good for her. “Aside from the fact you have no tools in that tool belt, you look awesome.”

“I figure you’ll supply me with the tools. There was a limit as to how much I’d invest for this caper. Then you like the outfit?”

“Love it. I’m waiting for you to start singing Wichita Lineman.”

“Bingo.” Bryce clicked his tongue and pointed a finger at him. “If I’m getting up at dawn, I’m sure as hell gonna have fun doing it. I have a complete working man’s playlist right up here.” He tapped his hard hat.

“Then you might break into song at any moment?”

“Count on it. This roof will go on ten times faster with me singing. See if it doesn’t.”

“Can’t wait.”

Olivia surveyed the two of them. “And I thought this day would be a grind.”

Bryce stuck his hands in the pockets of his tool belt. “Not if I can help it.”

“I can’t decide whether to offer you two coffee or not. You both seem wired already.”

“I’ll take coffee,” Bryce said, “with a side of chocolate chip cookies, please.”

“Make that two coffees with a side of cookies.” Trevor eyed his brother. “And don’t think Olivia will slip you more cookies because you’re funny and you can sing. She’s smarter than that.”

“No, I’m not.” She gave him a saucy look. “I’m a sucker for funny guys who can sing. Follow me, gentlemen.” She walked toward the porch.

Bryce lowered his voice. “She’s into you, bro. I can tell. Capitalize on it.”

“How can I when you’re strutting around in your tool belt claiming all the attention?”

“Strap on your own tool belt and she’ll forget all about me. You have one, right?”

“Of course I have one. And a spare I could have loaned you. I hope you didn’t pay a lot for yours because I hate to see you wasting your money on something you’ll use once.”

“Chill, Trev. I borrowed it off your boss Greg. Same with the hard hat.”

“Okay, that’s good. I thought they looked familiar. Hey, the joke was great. You don’t have to keep wearing the hard hat, though. The tool belt will come in handy, but the hat is overkill.”

“I like the hat. Nicole likes it a lot, too. I might have to buy one.”

“Oh, for God’s sake. I don’t want to know what sexual fantasies you and Nicole—”

“No, I mean for the act.”

“What act?”

“Mine and Nicole’s. She has some great ideas and Mandy can make any kind of costume we ask her to.”

“So you’d wear a hard hat and a tool belt to sing Wichita Lineman?”

“I might. It could be fun and Nicole is up for anything. I could write some working man’s songs to go with the hard hat. Now that I’m with her, ideas are coming so fast I can’t get them all down.”

“That’s great to hear. This is what you deserve, a support system for that creative brain of yours.” He opened the screen door and ushered Bryce through it.

“Fortunately I’m doing the same for her.” Bryce paused. “I’m glad I came today. We’ve both been so busy I haven’t had a chance to fill you in.”

“On what?”

“Our future plans. I thought maybe she wanted to write songs, too. She might, someday, but right now she’s into producing a quality show we’ll be proud of whether we perform at the GG or Madison Square Garden.”

“The Garden?” Trevor stared at him. “You’ve set your sights that high?”

“Sure. Why not?”

“I thought you didn’t want a career path that would take you out of Eagles Nest.”

“I don’t. We don’t. We know our priorities. This will always be home, but if we end up going on the road—”

“Really? What about the GG?”

“That’s where Mike comes in, but we won’t leave until he feels solid about handling everything. We’d never be gone too long, anyway. We’ll need to come back here to recharge.”

“And check on the cat.”

Bryce laughed. “Yeah, Jimi’s still going strong. But April’s made friends with him. When she found out he was crazy about catnip, she ordered the primo organic kind. She created homemade mice and that did the trick. We have the cat-sitting situation covered, too.”

“Wow. It’s all happening for you.”

“Looks like it.”

“That’s exciting.” Trevor gazed at his twin. “You’ve found the perfect match. Your…” Now he hesitated to say it because he got a twinge of jealousy whenever he did. He was working on eliminating that, but he wasn’t there yet.

“Soulmate? You know what, I’m questioning that concept.”

“How can you, when Mom and Dad—”

“Yeah, maybe they were, but since he died so young, where does that leave Mom?”

Trevor lowered his voice. “Which has been my point all along. If there’s only one person you can be totally bonded with and that person has a fatal accident or gets a dread disease early in your relationship, then are you SOL? That’s messed up.”

“I agree, bro. Maybe the idea is a load of BS.”

“Unless you can have more than one.”

“That’s not how the idea is sold, though.”

“I know. And if Olivia believes—”

The front door opened and she poked her head out. “Do you guys want coffee or not? It’s getting cold and your cookies are waiting.” She opened the door and stepped back. “First one in the kitchen gets the cookies I took out of the oven right before you guys drove up.”

Trevor almost wedged himself permanently in the doorway as he and Bryce charged through it. Shades of their childhood. In the end, he backed off and gave Bryce first dibs on the cookies.

Olivia had agreed to go out with him tonight. If that worked out well, he might soon have all the warm cookies and hot kisses he could handle. That made him a lucky guy. Maybe he should stop worrying about this soulmate stuff and enjoy the moment.

* * *

Once Trevor and Bryce had their coffee and cookies, they headed back outside and began hauling materials to the roof. Olivia volunteered to bring them any small thing, like the cell phone Bryce had left in his truck.

She wanted practice climbing the ladder and it got easier every time. They texted her if they needed something from the ground, but she also went up several times just to check on their progress. And to hear them sing.

Bryce started off but eventually Trevor joined in. He had a great voice, too, and they harmonized as if they’d been doing it forever. When Trevor texted that he’d ripped a glove and needed the new ones in his truck, she was happy to fetch them.

Tucking the gloves in the back pocket of her jeans, she started up the ladder as Bryce began the Brooks and Dunn classic Neon Moon. She paused just below the roofline and waited until Trevor chimed in. The song was punctuated with the soft buzz of a cordless screwdriver as they fastened the panels in place.

She’d never paused while going up or down for fear that would make her more nervous. But they were rocking that number and she didn’t want them to quit singing. They might if Trevor noticed her and came over to get the gloves.

Closing her eyes so she wouldn’t be so aware of the distance to the ground, she listened. That sexy cowboy harmonizing so beautifully with Bryce was taking her out tonight. Excitement made her tingle.

Any woman who’d managed to snag Trevor’s attention should have the mojo to stand poised on a ladder ten feet in the air and enjoy the view. Serenaded by the McGavin brothers, she took a breath, opened her eyes and looked around.

Her stomach didn’t pitch, so maybe she’d mostly conquered this. She’d also adjusted to the changed vista so the gaps in the trees didn’t bother her the way they used to, either. Something would grow there, something new.

When the song ended, she climbed the last little bit and called out to them. “Great job on Neon Moon!”

Bryce swept her a bow and Trevor tipped his hat. Then he put down his screwdriver and started toward her.

“I’m guessing you used to perform together.”

“Years ago. We were just fooling around, though. We—”

“Hey! It was more than fooling around. We were a smash hit in elementary school and junior high. Then bozo, here, went out for baseball and broke up the act.”

Trevor sighed. “You need to tell her what happened after that.”

“Your pitching arm won Eagles Nest the state—”

“With your musical career.”

“I landed a bunch of gigs.”

“More than we ever did as a team, right?”

“Right, but—”

“Admit it. I did you a huge favor.”

“Olivia, he accidentally did me a huge favor. It wasn’t like he did me a favor on purpose. So how’s the cookie supply holding up?”

“I still have more.” She handed Trevor his gloves. “Want me to bring you both some?”

“That’s okay.” He gave her the ripped pair. “I can come down for them.”

“Except I like climbing the ladder now. And I like hearing you sing. How about Boot Scootin’ Boogie?”

He grinned. “It so happens we know that one.”

“Don’t start until I call out. See you in a minute.”

After that she spent more time on the ladder than she did on the ground. Even if she had no reason to climb up, she did anyway.

When Faith and Cody arrived, she had the bright idea to grab her cell phone and take pictures of the four of them before Bryce had to leave. But when she climbed to the top of the ladder with her phone in hand, the guys had all stripped off their shirts. She hesitated.

Faith spotted her and walked over to the edge of the roof. “What’s up?”

She leaned closer to Faith and kept her voice down. “I wanted to take pictures of everybody working, but would that be creepy?”

“Why would it be creepy?” Faith tossed her braid over her shoulder and crouched down. “Pictures would be great.”

“But all three of them have their shirts off.”

“And that’s a problem because?”

“I don’t want them to think that’s why I’m doing it.”

Faith’s smiled. “Are you saying it isn’t?”

“No. I mean, yes, they look really good, but—”

“And that should be recorded for posterity. It’s not often you get three McGavins shirtless. I’m glad you thought of it.” Faith turned. “Hey guys! Olivia wants to take pictures. Strike a pose.”

Trevor paused, his screwdriver in one hand. “What kind of pose?”

“That’s good right there.” Faith turned to Olivia. “Start shooting, girlfriend.”

Cody lowered a metal panel. “What do you want me to do?”

“Pick that up again and turn this way. Excellent. Bryce, grab that roll of roofing felt and look over here. Perfect. You getting all this, Olivia?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Her cheeks were warm but she snapped away. “Now you get in the picture, Faith.”

“Okay.” She walked carefully around the panels that had been laid. “Where should I stand?”

“Let’s pick her up,” Cody said. “I’ll take her waist and you each grab a leg.”

“Hey!” She propped her hands on her hips. “Did I say you could do that?”

Cody paused. “You don’t want us to?”

“Of course I do. It’ll be fun. But you’re supposed to ask.”

“Okay. Do you want us to pick you up so it’ll be a way cooler picture?”

“Yes, please!” She started laughing as they hoisted her in the air and she spread her arms wide. “Wheee! I’m a cheerleader!”

What a shot. Olivia couldn’t stop smiling. “That’s a keeper! Thanks!” She was also a tiny bit jealous of Faith, who had such a great relationship with those guys. With the entire McGavin family, in fact.

Later that day, when Faith came down to use the bathroom, she asked to see the pictures on Olivia’s phone. “I love them!” She scrolled through them once and then went back through a second time.

“You’re all so photogenic.”

“Those McGavins sure are. Not an ugly one in the bunch.”

“But you look great, too. Happy.”

“I am happy, happier than I’ve ever been. I’m so glad you took pictures. The guys wouldn’t think of it and I left my cell in the truck. I was afraid I’d drop it off the edge of the roof or something.” She handed over the phone. “Oh, wait. Can I send them to mine?”

“Absolutely.” She gave it back. “You sure are relaxed with those guys.”

“I’ve been around men all my life so that’s easy. It’s women I had to learn how to deal with. But I’m getting better at it. Anyway, I should get back up there. We’re almost done, which is fortunate because those clouds are moving in.”

“I’m coming to watch the final stage.” She followed Faith outside.

“It looks nice, if I do say so. Trev knows his stuff.”

“Yes.” She gazed up at the beautiful man on her new forest green roof. “Yes, he does.”

“He said you’re coming to the GG to party with us tonight.”

“I sure am. Wouldn’t miss it.”

Faith gave her a warm glance. “Good.”