Eight weeks later

Jase pulled up to the curb in front of Tyler’s house to find him out front shooting hoops with his girlfriend Lia’s younger brother, Caleb.

“Isn’t February a little cold for basketball, you fools?”

Tyler answered by snapping the ball in Jase’s direction. He instinctively dropped his overnight bag and caught it before it bounced away. “Dick.” He reached up, shot, and missed.

The other guys laughed.

“Screw you guys. It’s cold out here. Aiden have dinner ready?” Jase asked, walking toward the front door.

“Yep. He and Lia are making stuffed pork chops, mashed potatoes, and roasted brussels sprouts,” Caleb replied.

Jase grimaced. “I was all about that meal until you said brussels sprouts.”

“Don’t knock it,” Tyler said. “They’re coated in bacon fat.”

Jase shrugged. “Always up to try something new.”

He headed inside. This was their tradition: Once a month when they had their weekend Guard duty, he, Tyler, Aiden, and Reeve would meet up at someone’s house, Aiden would cook since he was amazing at it, and then the next morning they’d head to Fort Riley until Sunday. In January they hadn’t been able to meet up like this since Aiden’s grandmother had been sick and Jase had been busy keeping an eye on his cow that was about to calve. It had been a while since he’d seen all of his friends and he was excited to catch up with everybody.

These guys were a major reason he stayed in the Guard. Sure he enjoyed serving his country and community—and of course the benefits were nice—but he also loved maintaining this connection to his friends and the feeling of brotherhood that came with the military. For an only kid, it was especially nice.

They didn’t all come from the army like he did. Reeve had been a marine, something he didn’t let any of them forget. But they all respected the fact they’d served and knew the importance of that bond. The Guard gave them all a feeling of duty and service that they hadn’t been ready to let go of after leaving active duty.

Stashing his bag in a spare bedroom, Jase headed to the kitchen where he heard Aiden and Lia laughing. He smiled, realizing how infrequently he heard Aiden laugh. The guy was quiet. To a fault. But such a damn good guy. After hearing that his friend had been crushing on Hannah for a while, Jase hated that he was going to have to tell him she was engaged.

Not that it changed things for him—he still wasn’t ever going to get a chance with her. Still, considering he was pretty sure Aiden had kept his distance because of his loyalty to him, this might sting.

The kitchen was full of amazing scents. Jase gave Lia a sideways hug as she stood at the stove.

“How are you?” she asked, smiling. Tyler was lucky to have found such a sweet woman to love.

“I’m good. Excited to eat whatever that is you’re whipping up.”

“No-bake cookies. Caleb’s favorite.”

“The kind with the oatmeal?” he asked, pretty sure he recalled his own mother making them. She nodded, and Jase felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Pulling it out, he saw the name: HANNAH.

Strange. He hadn’t heard from her in a while. Several weeks, and even that had been brief. She was back to work at the elementary school so she was never up visiting her dad in Pierson. Not as often, anyway. And the truth was, he hadn’t wanted to see her. Just being at the Walters place every morning working was hard enough after what had gone down on Christmas. He’d replayed that morning—and that night before—over and over in his mind.

He answered the call, receiving a pat on the back from Aiden as he answered. “Hey, Hannah.”

As soon as he stopped talking he heard her crying.

“Han, what is it?” he said, his body freezing. Aiden jerked around, concern etched all over his face. Oh yeah, he had it bad.

“Where are you?” she said, sucking in a breath.

“I’m at Tyler’s. Hannah, what happened? Have you been in an accident?”

“No. No. I’m fine.” She shuddered, paused. “I just broke up with Jonas.”

Jase felt his stress evaporate, his body relax. He gave Aiden a quick everything’s-okay shake of his hand. “I’m sorry to hear that. What happened?”

“Is it stupid to say . . . I just felt like he wasn’t the right man?”

Jase chuckled. “No, that’s not stupid at all, hon. You definitely want to marry the right man.”

“Invite her over,” Lia whispered over his shoulder. “There’s plenty of food.”

“Hannah, Lia said you should just come over here. How about that?”

“Oh, okay. Tell her thank you. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Jase verified she knew where Tyler and Lia lived, and then ended the call.

“What the hell’s going on?” Aiden asked, hands on his hips. Aiden was a big guy. Goatee, shaved head, enough muscles for three men. He was a sniper in the military, a man of few words, and would find a way to move mountains for someone he cared about. Basically, the kind of guy you like having in your corner. It occurred to Jase right then and there: Hannah could use an Aiden in her life.

“Hannah just broke up with Jonas. And by broke up, I mean she broke an engagement.”

Aiden’s eyes turned to circles. “Engaged? What the hell? Were you okay with that?” the guy asked.

“Hannah didn’t belong to me, Aiden,” Jase said, looking straight at his buddy. “She’s heading over here. I’m betting she’ll need some cheering up. You’re good at that, aren’t you?”

When Aiden gave him a severe eyebrow raise, Jase gave him a slap on the arm, chuckled, and headed into the living room to wait for her. Now he just needed to be in a Walters woman’s presence without thinking about Becca.

* * *

Becca stuffed her planner into her bag, grabbed her purse, and turned out the light in her classroom before pulling the door closed. She’d just finished her final parent–teacher meeting, which could have gone a little better. But it was now Friday evening. She was off through Monday since it was President’s Day, and a snowstorm was headed their way so she planned to run by the store to grab all the battening-down-the-hatches essentials, which included junk food, several bottles of rosé, and the ingredients to make her mother’s famous mac and cheese. It would last her days, and the thought of pajamas, comfort food, and wine made her feel a little giddy.

She’d been doing a lot of chilling alone lately, now that she’d been single for a while. And surprisingly, she’d been enjoying herself. Reading self-help books about finding your inner strength, girl power, and connecting with the universe had her feeling a sense of peace. She felt strong, connected to her body in a new way, and although she’d been cherishing her newfound freedom, she’d made a few new friends at work. In fact, for Valentine’s Day, they’d all gone out and treated themselves to the most amazing steak dinner she’d ever had. After they’d all gotten their own chocolate dessert—no sharing allowed—they’d driven to a department store and all purchased themselves something nice just for fun. Becca had chosen a pair of jeans. An odd choice for her, but they’d made her feel hot, and made her butt look good. They’d better, she figured, considering they’d cost over a hundred bucks. A fortune on a teacher’s salary.

“Have a good weekend, Carrie,” Becca called into her friend’s classroom.

“You too,” she said. “Any plans?”

“With my sofa, my Kindle, and a bottle of wine.”

Carrie laughed. “We’re living parallel lives. Be safe this weekend.”

They waved to each other and Becca headed through the hall of Baldwin Private School toward the exit, with a smile on her face. Finally, she felt like her life was on the right path. Breaking things off with Brian—for good—had been the right thing to do. He’d come back to her on Christmas Day because he’d been lonely. Felt jealous. They were at that age where people started to feel like settling down was the thing to do, even if the person beside you probably wasn’t the right one.

It wasn’t that they hadn’t loved each other; they certainly had. But they’d had a long talk a few days after Christmas about how some types of love weren’t enough to build an entire life on. Theirs maybe wasn’t that type of love, and the fact that she’d felt at peace with their decision to break up for good supported that theory.

And if that one amazing night with Jase had taught her anything, it was that there were other options out there for her. She didn’t have to settle, and she didn’t want a man settling on her. She wanted passion. Fierce love. The kind that made you crazy. And while a part of her desperately wished she could have had that with Jase, she feared that with him she’d be reliving the past in some weird way.

As she walked through the parking lot toward her car, her phone rang. She awkwardly reached down into her bag and pulled it out. Hannah.

Immediately she considered not answering it. The two of them had barely spoken since Christmas Day, when she’d headed home early after a tense breakfast and gift-opening session. She’d only spoken to her father once, which made her feel kind of like a jerk, but she’d needed some distance. From her sister and her engagement, her dad and his new relationship, and obviously Jase.

With a sigh, she accepted the call. “Hey, sis,” she said, unlocking her car.

“Hi! How are you?” Hannah said, sounding a little overly cheery.

“Well, I just got off work, and I’m about to head to the grocery store to stock up for the weekend.”

“Oh yeah?” Hannah hesitated, and Becca could hear voices—male and female—in the background.

“Where are you, Hannah? Is everything okay?”

The voices became faint, as if her sister was moving to another room. Then Becca heard the sniffle.

“Hannah, what’s wrong? Talk to me.”

“I broke up with Jonas today,” she said through her tears.

It was selfish, but Becca’s first thought was, She still wants Jase. But she pushed that aside, knowing it wasn’t fair. Unlocking her car, she got inside. “I’m so sorry, Hannah. What happened?”

“I just finally realized he wasn’t the one. He’s a selfish dickhead. I knew it, I just . . .” Hannah sucked in a deep breath, blowing out into the phone. “I don’t know what I wanted. Something. But I couldn’t do it anymore. Couldn’t pretend.”

“I understand. Truly. I think I felt the same way about Brian. We haven’t talked since around New Year’s, when we exchanged things that had been at each other’s place.”

“Do you miss him?”

“Sometimes I miss having a man around. I mean . . . obviously they have their uses.” The two of them laughed. “But honestly? No. I don’t. It’s good for me to get to know myself on a deep level. That sounds a little corny I know.”

“No, actually it sounds really good. Like . . . I think that’s what I need to do.”

“Maybe so. I have some books I could recommend.”

There was a bit of silence before Hannah spoke again. “Do you still love Jase?”

Becca paused, staring out her windshield. The sky was a light gray, the wind whistling as a gust came through. “I think I’ll always love Jase. I have for so long.”

“He was just asking about you.”

A wash of regret and sadness came over Becca. “Like what?”

“He wanted to know if I’d spoken to you. If you and Brian were still together. He seemed . . . sad, Beck. I think he wishes he could talk to you.”

“Are you with him now?”

“Yeah, well, not this very second. I went into the bathroom. But I’m at Tyler’s. It’s their Guard weekend. I called him crying about Jonas and he told me to come over. But you know we’re just friends. So now I was thinking maybe you should come down, too.”

Becca’s eyes widened. “Come down? It’s nearly six. I live two hours away.”

“I know, but if you left now, you’d be here at a decent time. I miss you, too, Becca. We never get to just . . . hang out anymore. And I need girl talk. You could see us both. I know you’re off Monday since I am, too. Besides, I need to get busy reading those woowoo books you’re going to bring me.”

Becca laughed and then sighed, suddenly considering scrapping her mac and cheese and rosé plans. Did she want to see Jase? God, yes. Clearly those woowoo books had just barely scratched the surface. But should she? The jury was out on that one. Another howl of wind hit her car, making it wobble.

“Hannah, a storm is coming. I’d be driving right into it.”

“I don’t think it’s supposed to start getting bad until like ten.” Hannah moved on the other end. “Hold on, I’ll ask.”

Becca heard a door squeak, then voices again. “Hey, guys?” Hannah said, slightly muffled. “If my sister leaves Kansas City now, think she’ll beat the storm?”

There was a little commotion, then a deep voice spoke into the receiver, sending butterflies flying through Becca’s stomach. “Beck, you there?” Jase said.

“Yes. I’m sorry to bother you, I told her it was silly for me to drive there.”

“It’s not the best night, that’s for sure.” Obviously, he’d rather her not come. No surprise.

“I know, it’s fine. I’ll just come another weekend. This was her idea. You can put her back on if you want,” Becca said.

“I will in a minute. But . . . how are you?”

Her eyebrows rose. “I’m good. How are you?”

“I’m okay. Been busy. It’s breeding season.”

“Oh well, that sounds like fun.” She laughed and loved hearing the sound of his chuckle on the other line.

“Yeah Pitch has been a busy guy. But even better, one of my heifers calved a few weeks ago and I even got to help pull the baby out because it was presenting wrong. You should have seen it, Becca,” he said. “It was one of the most amazing things I’d ever seen in my life.”

She smiled. “I bet. Watching a cow give birth was never high on my bucket list, but the way you get excited talking about it makes me rethink it. Best part is that you should soon have several more knocked up cows.”

“If Pitch is the man I hope he is, yes ma’am.” They were both quiet for a moment, before he finally spoke again. “I’m sorry about Christmas,” he said quietly. “I was pissed at myself later on, for leaving like that.”

“I understand. It wasn’t a good day.”

“It had been a real good night, though.”

She sucked in a breath. “Yes. It had been a good night.” It had been more than a good night. It had been an amazing night.

“Could you leave now, Becca? If you did, I think you’d make it just fine.”

“I . . . I mean, maybe. I’d have to run home and grab a couple of things.”

“How long would that take?” he asked, sounding a little anxious. She could tell by the lack of noise he’d now gone into a separate room to speak with her.

“My apartment is five minutes from here. I could probably be on the road in twenty if I rushed.” Her heart began to hammer in her chest. He sounded as if he wanted her there. And oh how she wanted to be there with him. She started up her engine, realizing she should have done it five minutes ago. It was cold out.

“Make sure you’ve got a full tank of gas, and bring water and something to eat. And call me if anything happens. You understand?”

“You act like this is a bad idea.”

“I think it will be fine. I’m just being cautious.”

“Okay. Tell Hannah I’ll be there soon as I can.”

“Be safe, Beck.”

“Okay, see you soon.”

When she ended the call, she immediately backed out and headed to the main road. Her first stop was the gas station to fill up, then grab a bottle of water and a handful of energy bars. As she made her way through the QuikTrip, she found herself feeling like she was going on an adventure. She was excited. And she was going to see Jase.

She got back into her to hear her phone ping. It was a text from Jase. Just wanted to make sure you had my number. Stay to the right. Get here safe!