Heather finished her third class of the day and quickly mopped her face with a towel. The little ones were keeping her jumping.

Mrs. Jackson walked over, and Heather wished there was a place to hide. “I think that little Susie should be playing the part of the sugar plum fairy. She’s the best dancer in the class, and you know it as well as I do.”

Heather bit back a groan. “I’ve assigned the parts as I felt they needed to be assigned. I’m sorry if you’re not pleased.” The truth was, little Susie Jackson was the worst dancer in her four-year-old class. She danced into walls and fell on her butt more often than all the other girls in the class put together. And with a class of four- year-olds, that was truly saying something.

“There’s a dance studio opening up in Nowhere. I’m sure the teacher there would recognize my daughter’s talent for exactly what it is.”

“I’m sure she would. If you feel led to take Susie there, I will understand. Maybe I’m just not the right teacher for her.” Heather did her best to keep her face even. She knew that the true problem was that Susie had absolutely no natural talent and would be better off swinging a softball bat, but she couldn’t say that to Mrs. Jackson.

Mrs. Jackson looked shocked. She was from one of the wealthiest families in Bagley. Of course, Heather was from the wealthiest family in Bagley. Her uncle ran a boys’ ranch outside town, and they had always funded the place with their own money, though people in town rarely realized that. She’d be attending the annual fundraiser on Saturday afternoon. She’d cancelled all her classes and everything.

“If you don’t want my business, then that’s just what I’ll do!”

Heather refused to back down. She’d known Angela Jackson since she was Angela Simpson and eating her boogers in kindergarten. “I’ll miss you, Susie. Maybe we’ll see each other around town though.” She leaned down and hugged the little girl, who clung to her. “I hope you like your new teacher.”

Susie’s eyes filled with tears. “I like your class, Miss Heather.”

“I like having you in my class, but if your mama wants you to go to the new school in Nowhere, I can’t stop that from happening.” Heather glanced at the clock on her wall. “I have exactly forty-five minutes to eat lunch before my next class is due.” She turned and walked toward her kitchen, knowing it would infuriate Angela but not really caring. She’d never been the other woman’s fan anyway.

“Come along, Susie!” The door of the dance studio opened and slammed shut.

Heather sighed. She walked into the kitchen and looked in the fridge. There was her grilled chicken salad she’d made for lunch. It had sounded great that morning, but now all she wanted was a taco. Tacos were her comfort food, and she was going to have one!

There was a small mom and pop place around the corner with the best tacos in Bagley. Maybe the best tacos in all of Texas. She shrugged her coat on over her leotard and hurried out the door. She didn’t usually run around in just her leotard and tights, but she had no time to change if she wanted her tacos, and man did she want her tacos.

As she hurried, she watched people’s hues. For the past seven months, every time she went out in public, she saw the hues of people. She could tell the people who were meant to be together by how their hues blended as they walked toward one another.

In front of her, for instance, were two perfectly good people, but when they were together, their hues turned black. It was all Heather could do not to tell them to stay far away from each other. She could see that the woman was pregnant, and she knew the fates would not be good to them. Black was always bad when it came to hues blending.

In front of the taco stand was a man with a hue like no other. The color hovering over him was a pure sky blue. She was drawn to it in a way she’d never been drawn to another. She didn’t talk to him, though, because she had no time. As much as she wanted to get to know him, she knew he wasn’t a local. She knew everyone who lived there in Bagley. Why would she want to start a relationship with a man who wasn’t a local?

She stood behind him in line, and when he moved out of the way, she placed her order. Two tacos and a bean and meat burrito. And a Dr. Pepper. She knew she shouldn’t have the sugar because she had to teach another three classes that afternoon and two that evening, but it couldn’t matter to her. She needed that Dr. Pepper after her run-in with Angela. The woman had been a thorn in her side ever since kindergarten.

When she was handed her food, she turned around to see the man staring at her. He looked as flummoxed by her as she felt by him. “I’m Michael Muir,” he said quietly, taking off his cowboy hat and tipping it to her.

“Heather McClain, but more importantly, I’m late!” Gripping her bag of Tex-Mex fabulousness in one hand and her Dr. Pepper in the other, she hurried toward the dance studio.

“What are you doing tonight?” Michael asked, obviously hurrying to keep up with her.

“Teaching dance. It’s what I do every night.”

“What about Saturday? Do you teach dance on Saturdays?” The man sounded slightly panicked as he tried to pin down a time he could see her again.

“Usually, but this Saturday, I’ll be at the McClain Boys’ Ranch. There’s a huge fundraiser.”

“May I escort you?” He stood outside the dance studio, obviously not wanting to go inside.

Her eyes met his, and she looked away for a moment, catching their reflections together in the plate glass window of her dance studio. His sky blue blended beautifully with her pink. The color was a shade of lavender that had always been a favorite of hers. It was even the color of the leg warmers she was wearing. “Meet me here at noon. You can drive me out there, and we’ll spend the day together.”

He grinned, tipping his hat. “I’ll see you then, Heather McClain.”

“And I’ll see you, Michael Muir.” She hurried inside and shut the door in his face. Five minutes to eat. She was going to be miserable all day, either from eating too fast, or not eating. She chose tacos over starvation and shoveled the food in quickly.

She had just finished the last bite of her burrito when the bell over the door tinkled, letting her know that the first of her afternoon students had arrived. She turned with a smile on her face and shrugged out of her coat. It was time for tap. She preferred ballet, but tap was fun as well.

Her mind was not on the children that afternoon, though. How could it be? Her brain was full of Michael Muir and only Michael Muir.

Michael met with Jonathan McClain, following the man into the fields. “Are you any relation to Heather?” he asked, knowing it was probably a mistake. He was there to buy cattle from Jonathan, not to pick up women.

“She’s my niece. Best dancer in the area. She was a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader for a few years, but she didn’t like how the women were treated as sex symbols. Said she was above that. Why?”

Michael smiled. He could just picture Heather in a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader uniform, and he liked that picture. A lot. Maybe he could get ahold of one of the old posters she would have been on. “I met her in line for tacos a little while ago.”

“Ahh. She must have taken a quick lunch. She usually eats in the studio.”

“She said she was in a hurry.” Michael tried to concentrate on the cattle he was there to buy, but he could only think of the beautiful niece of the man he was talking to.

Jonathan pointed out the bull he thought the other man would be interested in. “This guy is pure angus. He’d be perfect for the cross-breeding program you told me about.”

Michael looked at the bull, which had been taken to a small corral on his own. There were two other bulls trapped similarly for his inspection. “Clean bills of health on all three of them?”

“Yup. These are the best I have. There are a couple of younger ones I’ll use for my herd, but these are ready to go out and multiply other people’s herds.”

Michael looked around him. “You sure do have a whole lot of houses on your ranch.” He wondered if this was the place Heather had told him about. The McClain Boys’ Ranch. He knew he was dealing with a McClain, but how many McClains were there in the area?

“Yeah, those are the houses for the boys. I have seven sons, and those houses are for the foster sons on the ranch here. We keep about thirty at all times.”

“That’s really cool. I’ve never heard of a boys’ ranch.”

“We were certainly the first in the area. My grandfather started the boys’ ranch part of the operation with his wife back in the early part of the twentieth century. Before World War I. There was a boys’ orphanage in town, and when it burned down, my grandmother said she was taking all the boys in. So they set themselves up to raise them. Here we are seventy some years later, and the ranch is still raising boys at the same rate it raises cattle.” Jonathan sounded blasé about the whole situation, but it was obvious he was proud of his heritage.

“That’s interesting.” And it made Michael certain he was buying his cattle from the right place. He wanted to help these people with their boys’ ranch if it was at all possible. “Do the boys help with the cattle?”

“The boys help with everything. They have the same types of chores my own boys did as they were growing up. I have seven boys.”

“Seven? That’s a lot of boys.”

“The seventh son in my family always has seven sons. Not a girl in sight. My brothers had lots of girls, but not me. Just boys. My brother Bob tried to one up me by having seven girls, but I had my seven boys, so it didn’t work.”

“I see.” Michael found himself fascinated by the family. “I’m looking forward to getting to know you all better this weekend at the fundraiser.”

“Are you coming?” Jonathan asked, seeming surprised.

“I’m going to escort Heather.”

Jonathan raised an eyebrow before nodding. “Just know she has a lot of people who love her around here. Don’t hurt her.”