Nicole’s eyes rounded and her breath caught in her chest. No matter how hard she tried to breathe in or out, it wasn’t happening.

“I mean, not right away or anything,” Boone added hastily. “I just thought maybe we’d start talking about it.”

Marriage.

“You want to get married?” she asked, her voice more of a squeak than anything else.

Boone’s eyes searched hers, and with only the multi-colored light from the house in front of them, she couldn’t quite decipher what emotions he was feeling.

“If you’re not ready to talk about this, it’s fine.” He looked away, the air between them charged now when it had been fun and light and playful for the last several hours.

“I don’t know what I’m ready to talk about.” Nicole felt like someone had put her on a pottery wheel and had just started spinning, and spinning, and spinning.

Shaping, and pressing, and twisting.

Was Boone in love with her? Did she love him?

Would her parents be okay while she was gone?

Would his parents like her?

“I’m experiencing a lot of new things right now,” she continued, a prayer starting in her heart that he would understand, that she wouldn’t hurt his feelings.

“Yeah, I know.”

“So let’s go inside,” she said. “And maybe we can talk about this in the morning?”

“Sure.” Boone didn’t look at her as he got out and helped her down. He collected all their luggage from the back of his truck and he led the way inside to check in. He’d taken care of everything—including her—and a rush of affection hit her hard.

And dang, if breathing wasn’t hard again. Because she really liked Boone—did she love him?—and found him strong and rugged and sexier than any man she’d ever known.

Not that there were a lot of those, but still. She’d had no idea she could have a man like him in her life, and part of her still wondered what in the world he was doing with her.

Plain old Nicole. Overlooked and thought about last. But with Boone, he seemed to think about her before himself, and she had no idea what to do with that.

“You’re in the Little Acorn room,” he said, handing her a key. “It’s on the second floor in the corner.” He started for the stairs, all the luggage in tow.

“Where are you?” she asked.

“Um, Timber Rose? It’s in the opposite corner.” He left his luggage at the top of the stairs and continued down the hall to her room. He waited while she fitted her key in the lock and went inside.

After he’d pushed her suitcases in, he lingered in the doorway while she admired the huge king bed and the fireplace across from it.

“All right,” he finally said, and Nicole turned to face him. “We can get up whenever. It’s been a long day, so if you want to sleep in, go ahead.” He ran his fingers through his hair, almost a nervous gesture, and took a step backward.

Nicole took a step into him, wrapping her arms around him and leaning her cheek against his pulse. “Thank you, Boone,” she said, her voice barley loud enough to reach her own ears. “This is wonderful.” She looked up at him. “You’re wonderful.”

He gazed down on her and with these brighter lights, she could definitely see some hints of love in his eyes. “See you in the morning.” He bent down and kissed her, a magical kiss that was filled with tender emotion. She wanted it to last forever, but he broke their connection and left her room.

She leaned in the doorway and watched him collect his bag and continue to the room at the far end of the hall, same side as hers. A sigh passed through her body, and Nicole knew in that moment that she absolutely was ready to discuss marriage with Boone Carver.

Nicole woke with the sun the next morning, and while it was a bit later now that it was later in the year, it certainly couldn’t be counted as sleeping in.

She showered with soap scented with lavender and admired the view out the front of the house. She imagined what the fields of flowers would look like in the spring when the bluebonnets bloomed, and she hugged herself as a smile touched her mouth.

A man came jogging down the road, and she recognized the strong gait as Boone’s instantly. A giggle left her mouth, because only Boone would get up early and get his running in.

Of course, the marathon was only a couple of months away now, and he couldn’t let up on his training regimen just because it was the holidays.

She watched him slow to a walk and go through his cool down routine, rather enjoying the show. He didn’t seem troubled, and that helped her feel better about their non-conversation about marriage last night.

When he started toward the front door, she left her room so she’d “accidentally” bump into him on the stairs.

“Oh, hey,” she said as if she hadn’t expected to see him coming up while she went down. She beamed up at him and let him take her into his arms.

“I’m sweaty,” he said, just the slightest puff still in his breathing.

“How many miles this morning?” she asked.

“Just eleven.”

“Oh, only eleven. What a ridiculously low amount.” She felt like her grin would crack her face.

He laughed and said, “Give me twenty minutes to shower. Then we can eat and go.”

“All right.”

He released her and continued upstairs, those shorts absolutely criminal. Nicole fanned herself as she finished descending the steps, though it was nowhere near hot enough to be as flushed as she was.

Once they’d eaten, loaded up their bags, and set the truck more east than south, Nicole said, “I think it’s probably a good time for us to talk about marriage.”

Boone jerked the wheel as he looked at her. “Yeah?” He steadied the truck back into his own lane.

“Yeah,” she said. “I mean, what does that look like for you?”

“Well, I—” He blew out his breath. “I don’t know. I think the bride plans most of it.”

“I’d like it to be in my backyard,” Nicole said. “Friends and family. A full dinner.”

“So you’ve thought about getting married,” he said, slipping his hand into hers.

“Not a lot,” she admitted. “Remember how I didn’t date before you?”

“I remember.” He lifted her wrist to his lips. “And it sounds great to get married in your backyard. I’m assuming summertime?”

“This summer?”

“I don’t know, Nicole.” He spoke with a measure of reverence in his voice, and she liked it when he said her name with such softness and seriousness.

“Okay, but yes,” she said. “The yard is definitely at it’s best in the summer. Early fall, actually.”

“Early fall,” he echoed, his attention out the windshield absolute. Only minutes later, they turned off the highway toward Buchanan Dam.

“All right,” he said. “Now this is one of my favorite places. My dad used to bring us up here to fish and swim.”

The rest of the day was spent with him introducing her to his Memory Lane and her experiencing the beauty of Texas Hill Country.

They ate lunch at a quaint shop that only sold barbecue, and while Nicole was a native Texan, she had never had ribs that flavorful before.

“All right,” Boone drawled, somehow making his accent twice as strong as she’d ever heard it. “Next stop: Grape Seed Falls Ranch.”

He put the truck in gear and they left behind Lake Marble Falls and headed toward Johnson City and Grape Seed Falls according to the sign.

“Are you nervous?” she asked, her own stomach already rioting quite fiercely.

“Yes,” he admitted. “I’ve never brought anyone home before, and yeah.” He shrugged. “I’m nervous.”

“Tell me their names again.” He’d been telling her for weeks, and Nicole already knew, but she liked listening to him—plus, she’d learned that if she could keep him talking, he became less anxious.

“Dwayne is married to Felicity,” he said. “And Heather and Levi are engaged and getting married just after Christmas. I suppose I’ll have to come back for that.”

“And you’re just now thinking of that?” she asked.

“I didn’t want to commit, in case this…you know. Goes badly.”

“She’s your sister.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“You talk to her,” Nicole said. “You’re definitely going to her wedding.”

He made a turn and didn’t answer. In fact, anything else she tried to say to him, he just nodded or shook his head until he said, “There it is.”

He turned again and went under an arch that had peaches carved into it. “Here we go.” His phone buzzed, and he slowed the truck to a crawl to check it.

“My brother just texted to say they’re down in the Cabin Community,” he said, his own nerves a palpable scent on the air. “They’ve invited the whole crew to meet us.” He glanced at her. “All the cowboys, Nicole.”

“It’s going to be great,” Nicole said with a forced amount of enthusiasm in her voice.

“I haven’t seen them in a while,” he said, almost like a confession. He eased the truck past the homestead and on down a different road, toward another stand of buildings and big, tall flagpole.

Smoke lifted from somewhere nearby that pole, and it wasn’t until he rounded the corner where the barn stood that she saw all the people. Every man wore a cowboy hat, and there were a lot of them. Easily twenty people sat at long tables covered in white paper, and her own nerves urged her to stay in the truck.

“It’s going to be fine,” she repeated as he parked down the road a bit as there wasn’t much space by the grassy area where everyone had congregated.

She peered out the windshield, same as him, wondering what was so awful about his family that he didn’t go visit them. “Let’s go, Boone. It’ll be fine.” She unbuckled her seatbelt but didn’t get out of the vehicle. “Brother’s name is Dwayne. He’s two years older than you and runs your family’s ranch. Wife is Felicity. Your sister is Heather, and she’s two years younger than you and teaches third grade. Levi is her fiancé. Your parents are Maggie and Chase Carver.”

She smiled at her own memory and glanced at him. His face was a mask. “Right? Boone? Did I get it right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.” He opened the door and the scent of roasted and smoked meats increased, along with the tangy quality of barbecue sauce. Nicole’s mouth watered, and she realized she hadn’t really enjoyed Texas barbecue until this road trip.

As they approached hand-in-hand, a woman with beautiful light brown—almost blonde—hair stood. She was clearly Boone’s mother, what with those high cheekbones and fiery eyes. She didn’t look at her son for very long, but kept her blue-gray eyes on Nicole. She stumbled around the chairs in her way and flew toward them.

“Boone.” Her voice caught. “Look at you.” She stretched up to hug him and he easily embraced her, his eyes pressing closed for several long heartbeats.

“Hey, Ma.” He cleared his throat of the obvious emotion there and stepped back. “This is Nicole Hymas.”

His mother couldn’t speak as the tears fell down her face. She grabbed onto Nicole and held her close too, whispering, “It’s so great to meet you.”

Warmth and acceptance filled Nicole, and she smiled at Boone’s mom. “Nice to meet you too, ma’am.”

Boone moved through the crowd, hugging a man that looked remarkably like him, and laughing and talking with another woman and the man who had his arm around her. He didn’t cry, but whatever he’d been worried about didn’t seem to exist. His father looked proud and happy; his brother could only smile; his sister held his hand while they went through the line to get introductions.

Nicole didn’t quite know where she fit in this Carver family reunion, but she was happy to stand to the side and smile, like she’d done for so many years of her life. He clearly belonged to them, and they’d clearly let him go but not cut him off.

He’d told her that his father disapproved of his choice to leave the ranch and that they argued a lot, but Nicole couldn’t detect any ill will in the man at all.

Maybe it was all the people around them. She met a dozen cowboys whose names she’d never remember and then Dwayne swept her into a hug with the words, “I never thought Boone could get someone to marry him.”

“Hey,” Boone said. “Look who’s talking.”

Nicole smiled, unsure of what to say. Dwayne acted like Boone was the lucky one. Everyone was looking at her like that, and she really didn’t know what to do with this type of spotlight.

“Let’s eat,” his father said. “I’m starving.” He swept the crowd and his eyes landed on Boone, who stood several paces away from Nicole. “Boone, will you say grace?”

It was if the group sucked in a collective breath, and Heather stepped forward and said, “Dad, I can—”

“Sure,” Boone said over her. “I’d love to.”

Nicole’s eyes flew back to his dad, and he clearly looked like someone had tossed ice water in his face. But he folded his arms as his eyes narrowed, and Nicole suddenly understood the passive, quiet animosity Boone had tried to describe to her.

She barely heard Boone’s prayer over the food, as she was busy pleading with the Lord to make this visit pleasant for Boone in every way possible.