Boone watched the sun rise as Lord Vader and Princess Leia ran with the other ranch dogs. He spent his Mondays and Wednesdays out at Three Rivers with the dogs, cats, chickens, calves, horses, bulls, and cattle on the ranch, and they were two of the best days of his week.

Impatience seethed just beneath his skin this morning, though. Because one of the main reasons he’d enjoyed his time out at the ranch was because it meant he wasn’t stuck at the animal hospital with a dictator of an office administrator.

But now that Nicole was acting nicer…. Boone found himself wanting to leave the ranch and get into town as soon as possible.

“Mornin’,” Garth Ahlstrom, the foreman of the ranch, said as he passed. A young boy followed behind him, and he glanced up at Boone from under his hat too.

“Mornin’, Boone,” the boy said in much the same tone as his father.

“Hey, Jake. Where you guys off to this morning?”

“I don’t know.”

“Bullpen,” Garth called over his shoulder. “Re-runging.”

That didn’t sound like a job Boone would want to do—and exactly the reason he’d left his family’s ranch in Grape Seed Falls—and the boy’s non-enthusiasm for his morning task made a lot of sense to Boone.

He still couldn’t help a chuckle as the boy continued to trudge after his father. At least he was obedient and learning to work.

He did love the country stillness. The way the sun took it’s time giving light to Texas, as if He wanted to breathe life into the best state in the Union one slow moment at a time.

Boone did enjoy the way he could feel peace when on a ranch. They really were special places, and Three Rivers Ranch functioned as a community almost by itself. Dozens of people lived and worked out here, a good forty minutes from town and the nearest grocery store.

“You ready?” Cal stepped up beside Boone and put his boot on the bottom rung of the fence where Boone was watching the dogs still running through the fields.

“Yes, sir,” Boone said, the way he would’ve to his father. “I’m headed into town for a breakfast,” he added. “Just for a couple of hours. I’ll be back by ten, and I won’t fall behind in the work.”

Cal laughed, as if Boone had said something funny. “I don’t care what you do,” he said. “Squire doesn’t either. Brynn might, as you’re supposed to be in her barns today, but whatever.” He shrugged and lifted a coffee mug to his lips.

He glanced toward the homestead, but neither of them saw Squire. The three of them always met on Monday mornings, at least for a few minutes, just to get caught up on any pressing animal care needs the ranch had.

Squire and Cal both had their veterinary licenses too, and they both lived on-site. Squire split the full-time care with Cal, and did administrative work during the rest of the day. Cal split his time at Courage Reins, Bowman’s Breeds, and the main ranch, making sure every horse on the property was as healthy as possible.

“How’s Trina?” Boone asked at the same time Cal asked, “Who are you meeting for breakfast?”

Boone waited for Cal to answer, because he wasn’t sure he wanted to talk about Nicole just yet. Which was pretty ridiculous, because he’d held her hand in public yesterday, and the only reason everyone at the ranch didn’t know about it was because they lived on the ranch.

Another thing to admire, he thought while Cal detailed how Trina was doing now that the morning sickness had subsided and she’d moved into the second trimester of her pregnancy.

“And how’s Sabrina doing with the idea of having a new brother or sister?”

“She’s excited,” Cal said, finishing his coffee. “She wants it to be a girl, of course.” He flashed Boone a smile and said, “Here comes the boss.”

Sure enough, Squire was making his way toward them, whistling at his own dog to come to his side. Buddy did, and his step-son Finn treated the canine and gave him a healthy scrub as they continued toward them.

“Morning,” Squire said, glancing at both Boone and Cal. Boone imagined his older brother Dwayne to be as serious, nowhere near smiling until noon, at least, and the kind of man like Squire who slept in his cowboy hat.

“Honeybee’s finally been retired,” he said. “And Peony too, though she’s making a pretty remarkable recovery, thanks to you, Boone.”

“Glad to hear it,” Boone said, and he genuinely was. He did love animals, and he wondered why his father had thought that wasn’t noble enough.

But his dad had wanted a ranch his whole life, and he and his mother had sacrificed for years to build Grape Seed Falls Ranch into what it was today.

But Dwayne loved the ranch and wanted it and worked it. Boone wouldn’t even have a place there anyway, even if he had stayed in Texas Hill Country.

“Everything’s humming along real well here,” Squire said next. “So the usual rounds, and Cal’s with Courage Reins today, and Boone, you’re with Brynn.”

“Got it,” he said, preparing to give the speech about the breakfast to his cousin.

“He’s got a hot date for breakfast,” Cal said, elbowing Boone.

“I do not,” Boone said, every cell in his body recoiling with the lie. “It’s just my office administrator. I don’t normally work at the animal hospital on Mondays, but we need to meet. That’s all.”

Squire watched him for a moment past comfortable. “All right. Just check in with Brynn before you go.” He turned, the meeting clearly over.

Cal wandered away with Squire, the two men still talking. Boone let them go, because he needed another moment with just the ranch…and God.

He drew in a deep breath, trying to order the words in his mind to a prayer. It had been a long time since he’d put up a plea to the Lord, but he managed to cobble together a simple sentence.

Help me do what’s right.

Whether he meant with his ranch work, his veterinary hospital, or Nicole, he wasn’t sure. He needed help with all of it.

Boone arrived at the pancake house a few minutes before eight and pushed his way inside to find the pastor eating bacon and eggs with the Sheriff. Boone liked to drive really fast, and the cops back home had pulled him over several times. Every time he saw anyone wearing a law enforcement uniform, his stomach turned a bit.

He avoided eye contact with the Sheriff, though his wife had brought in a cat a few months ago and she’d been nice enough. Sandy, the actual owner of the pancake house, smiled at him and said, “Just you?”

He leaned against the counter, a grin flirting with his lips. “Two today.”

“Ooh, who are you meeting?” Sandy collected two menus and led him toward a private corner booth.

“You’ll see, Miss Nosy.” He took the menu and slid into the booth. Sandy laughed and walked away, and Boone caught sight of her husband, Tad, saying something to her as she approached the hostess station again.

Nicole arrived exactly at eight o’clock, and her eyes met his across the distance, but the pastor grabbed her before she could make her way toward him. They spoke for a few minutes, while Nicole tucked her hair and ducked her head and laughed nervously. Whatever the pastor was telling her made her uncomfortable, and Boone wondered what it was.

She wore a pair of jeans and a yellow blouse that made her hair seem whiter than usual. Or maybe that was the fluorescent lighting. She finally made her way to the corner booth and slid in. “Morning.”

“What was that about?” He nodded toward the pastor and the Sheriff.

Her defenses flew into place, and her eyes turned cold. “Just some church stuff.”

“What kind of church stuff?”

She rolled her eyes. “Pastor Scott wants me to sing in the church choir.”

“And you don’t want to? You’re always walking around the clinic singing or humming.”

Horror paraded across her face. “I am not.”

He chuckled. “You totally are. Every day.”

Her shoulders slumped and she lost the fight in her expression. “Fine. I have stage fright. Are you happy now?”

“No.” He reached across the table and took her hands in his. “Now I’m happy.”

She laughed, a happy little sound that made Boone’s pulse skip around inside his chest

“So,” he said, enjoying the buzz in his blood he knew belonged to the woman across from him. “Tell me something about you I don’t already know.”

“Well.” She took a deep breath. “I don’t think you really know much about me at all.”

“I know you’re detail-oriented,” he said. “And you never miss a deadline. You work hard, and you’ve never taken a sick day.”

She scoffed and picked up her glass of water, removing her fingers from him. They still tingled like he’d been connected to a live wire. “How would you know that? You’ve been here a year.”

“Not everyone in the office has ignored me.” Boone regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. “I mean—”

Sandy arrived at the table and said, “Morning y’all. Coffee?”

“Yes, please,” Nicole said, tucking her hair behind her ear, and Boone realized she hadn’t pulled it up into her customary bun yet that morning.

He wanted to reach across the table and do the same thing, feel her hair between his fingers.

Once Sandy left, he did reach over and claim her hand again. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Want me to tell you something you don’t know about me?”

Nicole smiled, though it didn’t pack quite the punch it had at the park yesterday. “Yes, let’s do that.”