Oh. That.

Ashley blinked. “Forever works for me.”

It was his turn to laugh now, and God, it was a great laugh. Deep, and real, and every ounce of her being woke up and took notice.

But for as good as it felt, it also scared the bejesus out of her. The man made her feel too much, too soon.

She fidgeted with the engraved bracelet Chloe gave as a bridesmaid gift, and glanced around, desperately looking for a reason to leave his presence. She couldn’t just walk away. It wasn’t in her to be rude.

“Ash.” His soft, but insistent tone held an underlying command.

Feeling compelled to obey, she met his gaze, surprised by the knowing and understanding she found in his mesmerizing gray-blue eyes.

“I’m sure today was hard. You don’t have to stay.”

Well, shoot.

All day…all dang day she’d kept her tears at bay, but one measly act of kindness from her childhood crush and the floodgates threatened to burst.

She was still in the cautious, baby-step stage. If she hadn’t been in the wedding party, Ashley wasn’t entirely sure she would’ve attended. But Chloe had become such a good friend over the past few months, there was no way Ashley would’ve refused to be a bridesmaid. Grateful to be paired with Logan’s cousin Cole, she’d been shocked to discover the happily married man was once a widower. He was sweet and understanding, and made her feel at-ease.

The last wedding she’d attended was her own, four years ago. And, although memories of that day had drifted through her mind during the ceremony, she’d suffered only a few gut-twinges. Not so much for the loss of Neil, but for the loss of the promise of the bright future they were supposed to share.

The huge, gaping hole his death had left behind was slowly closing. Heck, she hadn’t cried over her husband in months, and though guilt clawed at her gut for even thinking this, Ashley could actually picture her life moving forward without him.

That was sad and what she was currently dealing with as she stared into the compassionate gaze of her first love. It hadn’t escaped her notice, either, that he had somehow managed to turn them so the crowd was to her back and only he could see her face.

Still so considerate.

The burning in her eyes increased. Shoot. Now she wanted to cry about him.

“Life is messed up.” She sniffed and shook her head.

And confusing, very confusing.

Lately, the urge to laugh and sing again was strong. She wanted to have fun. To just let loose and not feel guilty. Same with the need for companionship. Ashley wanted to enjoy the company of someone in a non-sexual way.

As for sex? It hadn’t even been a thought…until meeting up with Linc again. Those same strong urges he’d evoked in her youth returned with a vengeance. Her gaze dropped to his oh-so-kissable mouth and her insides heated, while his jaw clenched on an inhale. But she’d resisted those urges back then, and would resist them now, too.

With thoughts of rudeness way down on her worry list, she ripped her gaze away, and stepped back. “Excuse me.” She turned and walked away with no real destination in mind other than distancing herself from Linc.

Her dealings with him would have to be in small doses. Full on conversations were above her ability to think rationally.

Finding herself in front of the bar, she ordered a glass of wine and exhaled her anxiety away while she waited. Acting foolish wasn’t a normal trait of hers. She usually followed an agenda, which was normally full of plans and facts, and facts about her plans. There was no room for straying.

Maybe there should be…

“Hey, Ashley. You got a minute?” Her uncle appeared at her side, along with Linc’s father.

“Sure. Is everything okay?” She divided her gaze between them.

Her uncle nodded. “Yes. I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you. I just got finished showing AJ how you fixed up my den, and Chloe raved about the work you’ve done on your cabin.”

She grabbed her glass of wine from the bartender and shrugged. “It was mostly cosmetic.” No big deal.

“You are too modest.” With silver peppering his brown hair at the temples, AJ McCall was a handsome, older version of Lincoln, complete with the same strong jaw and solid gray eyes that regarded her with admiration. “Your miter cuts were perfect on the casing and trim. The interior door you installed is level, as well as the shiplap you replaced on the wall. And there’s no overlap or drips on your paint job. Much better than some professionals I’ve seen. So, I’d love to hire you for similar work while you’re still in Texas.”

“I…you do?” If he had asked her to don a bear costume and ride a chicken—backwards, she wouldn’t have been more shocked.

Mr. McCall grinned. “Yes, I do. There are several structures on this property that need fixing up. As a wedding gift to my son and daughter-in-law, I’d like to help them out.”

Ashley’s heart leapt in her chest. Ever since she used to wander through all the houses and buildings on the property in her youth, she’d envisioned them in all their glory. Now, she was getting the chance to work on yet another.

It was like freakin’ Christmas.

“I’d love to help, but you should know that, although I can move walls and rebuild them, and handle any power tool you place in my palm, I’m not certified.”

Way before she was even married, she used to help Neil and his family with remodeling jobs on weekends. Her quick-study ability led to mastering many aspects of home improvement. It was a hobby she adored.

Working with her hands was a huge de-stressor, and she was forever grateful that her uncle and the McCalls let her tackle the cottages.

“Well, with the exception of electrical, I’d like to hire you for everything else.” Mr. McCall held out his hand and smiled. “Deal?”

Hire?

A smile twitched her lips. “I’ll do it as long as I don’t get paid.”

Between her successful practice and Neil’s benefit money, Ashley had been able to finish paying off her crazy student loan debt, and now found herself in a comfortable position. She couldn’t allow Mr. McCall to pay her. The job was more for her peace of mind, than her bank account. 

She sipped her wine and attempted to maintain a calm façade, while on the inside, she was doing cartwheels in her head.

Her uncle grinned. “Told you she’d want to do it for free.”

“Yes, you did.” AJ regarded her closely as he rubbed his jaw. The same strong jaw his son inherited. “I’m not sure I feel comfortable with you doing all that work without compensation.”

Setting her glass on the bar, she dredged up her courtroom persona, and turned to face him, determined to come to terms they would both agree on. “Maybe we can consider it my contribution to the newlyweds, too.”

Admiration filled his gaze, along with an unreadable gleam. “A negotiator. I like that. Okay, Ashley, you have yourself a deal.”

Once again, Mr. McCall held out his hand, and this time, she shook it. And when he glanced over her shoulder and grinned at someone, she was too busy thrilling over the prospect of fixing up yet another house on Amity Ranch to care.

Finally, fate was smiling down on her for a change.

***

As soon as Ashley walked away, after arranging for her to be at Logan’s the next morning, AJ McCall turned to his accomplice and grinned. “Did you see her face, Hick?”

In his sixties, the Amity caretaker had been as much a part of the ranch as the land, so when AJ’s wife had inherited the property, then signed it over to their boys, they never even considered replacing the man. Earl Hickman had become a great friend.

“Yeah, she looked so happy. It was almost like having my niece back.” Hick’s smile slowly disappeared. “I sure hope she’s just as thrilled when she learns it’s Linc’s house you hired her to work on and not Logan’s.”

Over the past few months, AJ had studied the woman closely, noting a resilience he recognized from her teens. “She’s made of stern stuff, that girl,” he replied, nodding to the rest of their accomplices heading over from the opposite side of the pavilion.

She’d had a tough life. Her dad ran off when she was a child, leaving her mom with debt and a seven-year-old to raise on her own. AJ did what he could to help the suddenly-single mother. He hired her to work in his Phoenix store, and now, she managed one of his California locations.

Hick blew out a breath. “I hope you’re right.”

“Well?” His wife Ellen approached, along with his brother Alex, and sister-in-law Leanne. “It looked like it went well. Did it?”

“Better than well, sweetheart.” He pulled her in for a hug, happy to see the anxiety release its hold on her pretty face, and the smile return to her beautiful blue eyes.

Since their twins returned from deployment last summer, Ellen was just starting to find her smile again. Matching one of their sons with a good woman definitely helped.

“Of course it went well.” Alex slipped his arm around his wife and nodded. “It was another good plan.”

The experts he’d recruited last year. 

His brother and sister-in-law drove in for the wedding from the old McCall homestead down near the Gulf in south Texas, along with their two boys and their wives—a result of his brother’s matchmaking efforts a few years back.

Because of those successes, he and his wife had asked Alex and Leanne to help match their twins last year, and now they were celebrating the marriage of one of them. Another great victory. Now, they get to tackle knucklehead number two.

Lincoln was thirty-three and liked to whoop it up like he was dying. Time he learned that all the excitement and adrenaline rush he craved could be found in the love of a good woman.

As for their youngest boy, Mac, he was in Delta Force, so matchmaking was on hold. Unease crept up AJ’s spine. That was a whole different kind of worry.

“I hope we’re doing the right thing.” His wife sighed, frown creasing her pretty face like it had last year when they started to work on Operation Logan. “You know I really don’t like to interfere in my kids’ lives.”

Leanne set a hand on his wife’s arm. “I know, but the little bit we did last year for Logan worked out just fine. Maybe it won’t take much to get Linc and Ashley together. They certainly had some good chemistry going on before.”

“True. He even managed to make her laugh.” Ellen’s face lit up again. “It was wonderful.”

“Sure was.” Hick folded his arms across his chest and rocked back on his heels. “Hadn’t heard the carefree sound in years. It was music to my ears. I just don’t want to see her get hurt…not that I think your boy would do it intentionally.”

AJ cut his gaze to the caretaker. “He wouldn’t.”

He’d raised his boys better than that. None of them would intentionally break a woman’s heart. They respected the opposite sex, and they sure as hell respected their mother. Even now, no matter where he was or what he was doing, Mac managed to call his mother on her birthday.

Hick nodded. “I should probably go mingle before Ashley gets suspicious or wanders over here.” Hick nodded, then disappeared into a throng of guests.

“How has Lincoln been lately?” Alex eyed him over the glass of bourbon he drank.

AJ glanced at his son dancing some kind of funky dance with Chloe and her sister Stefanie. Always the good time guy. “The same. Brilliant at work. He’s now vice president. But, there are shadows in his eyes at times. And as you can see, this is how he is in social settings.” He nodded toward the dance floor.

Leanne smiled. “The life of the party. You know, some fun might be just what Ashley needs.”

True.

His brother smiled. “Yep. Definitely a Kevin.”

Kevin Dalton used to be a Casanova extreme, and another of his brother and sister-in-law’s successful missions. The vice president of his nephew’s software company was now happily married with children.

“Did I hear someone say Kevin?” Speaking of his nephew, Cole appeared with an arm around his wife, Jordan.

At first glance, the woman appeared too beautiful to be a sheriff, but she carried herself with a lethal grace he wouldn’t want to provoke. She was formidable, too. His nephew had become a bitter bastard after the death of his first wife, but the way Jordan had fought to get through to Cole when he’d been too guilt-ridden to think straight proved her tenacity and her love for his nephew.

A few pushes in the right direction from some well-meaning matchmakers down south had helped. The happy couple was the first successful matching and still going strong.

Cole frowned. “Uh oh. I know this huddle.”

“Yeah, me too.” Jordan smirked. “Matchmaking mode again. Poor Linc doesn’t stand a chance.”

AJ laughed. “That’s the plan.”

Her shrewd brown gaze regarded them all closely. “Just be cautious. Ashley is in a tough stage right now.”

“How did you know it was Ashley?” his wife asked.

Jordan grinned. “Oh, it’s obvious by the way those two seem to come alive around each other. They definitely have chemistry, but whatever it is you have planned, I’d make a backup plan too. Ashley is in the guilt stage. She’s ready to move on, but feeling guilty about it.”

AJ was inclined to agree with the woman, who was also a widow. He expected she knew a lot about how Ashley felt.

A flicker of worry clouded the woman’s gaze. “It kind of puts Linc in a dangerous position.”

Ellen frowned. “How so?”

“He could end up being her rebound,” Jordan replied.

Well, hell.

He hadn’t thought of that. It made sense, though. The chances probably weren’t good for the first person that hooked up with a widow or widower.

“But that didn’t happen to you with Cole, though.” Ellen cocked her head and held the woman’s steady gaze.

Jordan grinned. “That’s because I made sure he got back into the dating pool before starting anything. I didn’t want to be a statistic. Although, that meant I had some tracking down to do later.”

His nephew stiffened. “Wait…what?” Cole loosened his hold on his wife and blinked at her. “Did you just say you tracked down the women I—”

“Now would I do that, McCall?” the smirking woman cut him off.

Alex and Leanne chuckled. “Yes,” they replied in unison.

Cole’s gaze widened. “Holy shit, you did.”

“Of course I did.” Jordan shrugged. “We have lunch once a month now.”

This time AJ laughed. Tenacious with a capital T.

His nephew’s gaze narrowed, apparently not convinced. “I’ll get the truth out of you later.”

“You can try.” A look of pure mischief lit the woman’s eyes. “In fact, I dare you.”

A reciprocating look crossed his nephew’s face. “I’ll go get the car.”

“I’ll go with you.”

AJ smiled as he watched the couple walking toward the front of the pavilion with their arms around each other.

“Are they always like that?” his wife asked. “So happy and loving?”

Leanne smiled. “Yes. It’s wonderful. Much different than when we first started our efforts.”

Ellen tightened her hold on his hip and glanced up at him, with a similar hope lighting her eyes like it had when they were making plans for Logan. “AJ, wouldn’t it be great if we could get Linc and Ashley to that stage?”

He nodded, wanting nothing more than to make her happy, and his son happy in the process. “That’s why we’re going to devise a plan B, in case Ashley changes her mind tomorrow morning when she finds out we hired her to work on Linc’s house. And even if she does, we’re going to take Jordan’s advice and come up with a backup plan, as well. These two are good for each other and deserve to be happy.”

Alex set his empty glass on the bar and cupped his shoulder. “All right. Let’s put our heads together. I’m sure we’ll come up with something.”

AJ was sure, too. McCalls never fail and he wasn’t about to start now.