The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and there’s a dull ache between my thighs. I’m not sure this day could get much better. After Trevor left this morning, I took a self-guided tour of his house. I’d seen it before, but always from the outside. I knew he’d remodeled the old farm house a few years back, but Rhett and Coop’s descriptions didn’t do it justice.

Trevor put a tremendous amount of time and probably money into the remodel. Granite countertops, state-of-the-art kitchen appliances, hardwood throughout, and a floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace are just a few of my favorite things. Oh, and the claw-foot tub in the master bath, which I may or may not have soaked in before I left earlier. I could’ve stayed longer, explored more, but Mo called, wondering when I was going to make it to the shelter.

An hour later, I pull into Animal Haven with a giant smile on my face. Mo is nowhere to be seen, although I know she’s here because her truck is parked next to the barn.

I open the door, and Milo flies out of the car. It’s not as fluid as most dogs make it look because she can’t see shit, has no idea where the drop-off is, and plows face first in the ground. But that doesn’t stop her. She picks herself up, shakes herself off, and starts wandering around.

My phone rings, and I fish it out of my purse and slide my finger across the screen when I see it’s my mother calling.

“Hey, Ma,” I answer.

“Claire Daniels, is there something you want to tell me?”

“Uh…” Shit. It’s not her birthday. And I don’t remember her asking me to do anything for her the last time I was over there. “I don’t know…is there?”

“Trevor!” she shouts. “When were you going to tell me about Trevor?”

I get out of my car and shut the door. “How did you find out?”

“Mo,” she says.

“Of course.” I should’ve known.

“She mentioned it to her dad this morning on the phone, who mentioned it to me. Imagine my shock when Phil rolled into the room and told me my little girl, my only daughter, was dating Trevor Allen.”

“Wow, Mom, you just had to stress the only daughter part, huh?”

“Well…”

“I’m sorry, okay. You’re right. You should’ve heard it from me, but I wasn’t trying to keep it from you, I just haven’t had a chance to tell you.”

“Or you knew what I’d say,” she gently offers.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I just want to make sure you’re, you know, walking into this with your eyes wide open.”

I frown. “You don’t think dating Trevor is a good idea?”

“No, that’s not it at all. I think Trevor is a fine young man. It’s just…sweetie, he’s a firefighter, and you’ve always had your ru—”

“My rules. Yes, Mother, I know I’ve had my rules.”

“I’m not trying to upset you, Claire. I just want to make sure you’ve thought about this. The last thing you want to do is rush into something you’re not ready for.”

My step falters. “Not ready for? You don’t think I’m ready for a relationship?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“That’s what it sounded like.”

“Claire—”

“I’m not rushing, okay? I know what you’re thinking. You’re worried because of what Trevor does for a living, but you shouldn’t be, because I’m dealing with it. I’m dealing the only way I know how.”

There’s a silence that says I’m going to need more than that.

“Okay, yes, it’s hard,” I continue. “Some days are easier than others, but I’m working through the bad days—we’re working through the bad days,” I reassure her.

“Claire…” Her words trail off. I stop with a hand on my hip, watching Milo root around in the grass. She finds a spot she likes and lies down.

“What, Mom? Just say it.”

“I love you, Claire, more than anything, and there is nothing I want more in this life than to see you happy. If Trevor makes you happy, I’m on board one hundred percent.”

“Good.”

“But—”

“I knew there was a but.”

“—you’ve only been together a short time. There hasn’t been a major catastrophe or something that’s threatened his life. How are you going to handle it when that happens? Because it will happen. Maybe not today or tomorrow or next year, but at some point—being a full-time firefighter—he’s going to face some serious challenges.”

“If I can get past the fire at Bright Start, I think I can handle something else.”

“Except you weren’t invested in him when that fire took place. Things are different now. You’re invested. Your emotions are involved on a different level.”

I hate her words because this is something I don’t want to think about, let alone talk about. “Look, Mom, I appreciate the concern, but I’m fine, and I really can’t talk about this right now. Mo is probably wondering where I’m at.”

“Okay. I’m sorry if I upset you. That wasn’t my intention.”

I blow out a breath and look up at the fluffy clouds floating across the sky. “It’s okay, Mom. I’m not upset.”

“Bring Trevor by. I’d like to get to know him.”

“I will.”

“Okay, sweetie. I love you.”

“Love you too, Mom.”

She hangs up, and I stuff my phone in my back pocket. Well, that put a damper on my day.

“Milo. Come on, girl.” She leaps to her feet and runs across the yard. “Over here,” I say, guiding her with my voice.

I clip the leash on her, and together we walk through Animal Haven in search of Mo. We find her in the back, on her hands and knees scrubbing out the kennels. I put Milo in an empty cage so she can’t get into anything she’s not supposed to.

“Hey,” Mo says, wiping an arm over her sweaty forehead. “It took you long enough to get here. Grab a hose.”

Don’t mind if do. “I’ve actually been here a little while, but I was stuck on the phone.” I pick up the hose and turn the dial to full blast. “With my mother,” I add.

Mo swallows, her eyes darting to the scrub brush in her hand. “Oh yeah?” she says, running it across the floor. “What did she want?”

I tap the spray nozzle against my palm and take a step toward her. “Oh, you know, just to talk.”

“Good. That’s good,” she says, concentrating on the floor of the kennel as though she’s performing brain surgery.

“Did you talk to your dad today?”

“Uh…yeah, actually, I did. But only for a minute this morning.”

“And what did you two talk about?”

“Just the normal stuff. He asked about Animal Haven. That’s really about it.”

“Liar,” I shout, squeezing the trigger. A heavy stream of water blasts Mo in the chest.

She falls backward, eyes wide. “What was that for?”

“You told your dad about Trevor and I.”

“Trevor and me.”

“Huh?”

“You said Trevor and I, it should’ve been Trevor and me.”

I growl, and Mo throws her hands up.

“I don’t need a grammar lesson from you right now.”

“Okay. Sorry,” she says.

“For correcting my English or blabbing to your dad?”

“Both?”

I blast her with another shot of water. Mo sputters, throwing her hands in front of her face.

Milo is going crazy in her cage, running in circles and barking incessantly, trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

“You deserve that,” I say, lowering the hose. “You knew your dad would tell my mom. Did it occur to you that I hadn’t told her?”

“I’m sorry, okay? I was just excited, and I tell my dad everything, and when he asked what I did last night, it just sort of came out. Then Rhett walked into the room and put his hands on me while I was talking, and I ended up rushing off the phone without telling my dad not to say anything.”

“Let me get this straight. I had to endure a lecture from my mom about Trevor because you and your horny boyfriend couldn’t keep your hands off each other?”

At least she has the decency to cringe. “Yes?”

I raise my nozzle, blasting her again, but this time Mo is ready for me. She lunges to the side, grabbing a second hose, and drenches me. We’re both sputtering, trying to drown the other, and I’m sure from the outside we look like lunatics. But we’re in the moment, and the only one here to judge us is Milo—and she’s blind.

Mo tries to stand up but falls on her ass. The joke’s on me, though, because her nozzle shoots upward, hitting me in the face, and I choke on my own laugh. She tries again to get up, but her rubber boots are no match for the slick concrete, and she falls again—only this time she lands in a pile of dog poo.

I gasp, releasing the trigger at the same time she does. Mo slowly lifts her free hand, which is now a disgusting shade of brown.

“Arf.”

“Quiet, Milo.” The yapping stops, and I scrunch up my nose and look at Mo. “That’s a good color on you, matches your hair.”

Her eyes narrow. “This is your fault, and now I’m going to have to work the rest of the day sopping wet and smelling like dog shit.”

“Here, let me fix it.” I flick the nozzle from stream to spray and aim it at her hand. “There, problem solved.”

Mo shakes her head, flinging water from her face. She drops the hose and very carefully climbs to her feet.

“Truce?” I offer.

“Sure.” The soles of her rubber boots squeak against the floor as she takes a step toward me. “We can call a truce.”

“Good, because I really didn’t mean to cause this big of a mess,” I tell her. “I was just mad that your big mouth blabbed my life to your dad before I had a chance to tell Mom.”

“Do you feel better?”

“I do, actually.”

She takes another step forward, and that’s when I notice her holding her other hand out to the side—the hand that had been gripping the hose. There’s a streak of brown running down her arm. It must’ve gotten there when she fell.

“What are you doing, Mo?”

I take a step back as she closes in on me, and when she’s about a foot away, she lunges, tackling me to the ground.

“Payback!” she yells, trying to rub her arm in my face.

I try to douse her with the hose, but we’re too close together, and I end up drowning the both of us. Mo wrestles the hose from my hand, blasting me in the face. We’re rolling around on the floor, both of us struggling for dominance, when a loud whistle pierces the air.

Mo and I freeze. She’s on top of me, her hips pinning me to the floor. She looks up, and I tilt my head back. Trevor and Rhett are standing in the doorway, both of them grinning from ear to ear.

“What are you two doing?” Rhett asks.

Trevor walks the short distance to us and crouches down. He swipes a finger across my cheek, brings it to his nose, and recoils.

“Why do you have shit on your face?” he says, wiping his finger on his work pants.

“Mo told her dad about us, and he told my mom, and then she called and gave me the third degree.”

“And that’s a problem?” he asks, looking at me tenderly.

“No, it’s not a problem. I just wanted to be the one to tell her.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Yeah, Claire, why didn’t you?” Mo says, crossing her arms over her chest.

“You stay out of it,” I say, pointing a finger at her before I look back up at Trevor. “Her grandclock is ticking, and I wanted to be sure you and I were, in fact, a we before I told her.”

Trevor furrows his brow. “Grandclock?”

“Yeah, you know, when a mom wants to turn into a grandmother but her child isn’t popping out kids so she hounds them every chance she gets,” I explain.

“Oh. Oh, damn. Vivian does that with Rhett and me,” Mo says.

“All the damn time,” Rhett adds, grabbing two towels off the shelf.

He hands one to me and the other to Mo. She crawls off of me, and Trevor pulls me up to a sitting position.

“Speaking of my mother, she wanted to invite the two of you over for family dinner tonight,” Rhett says. “Coop and Adley will be there.”

“That’s why we came by,” Trevor says. “And to bring you lunch, which is in the refrigerator.”

“Thank you. That was very thoughtful, and I would love to have dinner with your family. Tell Vivian I’ll be there.”

“Tell her we’ll both be there,” Mo adds.

Taking the towel from my hand, Trevor wipes the smudges off my face. “I would kiss you, but you stink.”

I rip the towel from his hand, and Mo laughs.

“Why are you laughing?” Rhett goads. “You look worse than she does.”

Mo gives Rhett a sugary sweet smile. “Are you going to be a nice boyfriend like your brother and come wipe me down?”

“Hell no. I know that look, and you’re evil. If I get within reaching distance, I’ll be in just as bad a shape as the two of you,” he says, taking a step back. “And Trevor’s right; shower before you come.”

Trevor stands up. “Maybe twice.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I wave them away. “I’ll ride out later with Mo and go home with you.”

“Sounds good. Dinner is at five,” Rhett says, dipping his hand in his pocket.

Trevor’s gaze bounces between Mo and me. “You two okay here?”

I look at Mo slumped against the wall. She smiles, and I nod.

“Yeah, we’re good.”

With a smile on their faces, Rhett and Trevor walk out. A second later Trevor walks back in. “Where’s Milo?”

I point to her old kennel. “Down there.”

Trevor opens the gate and reaches for her. As soon as she catches a whiff of his scent, her little tush is wiggling like crazy. He scoops her up and heads for the door.

“Where are you taking her?”

“With us. You two have a mess to clean up here, and she can run around with Duke and Diesel at the ranch,” he says, referring to Rhett’s dogs.

“Don’t let her get trampled by a horse.”

Trevor stops and looks at the mess around us. “Trust me, she’s safer at the ranch than she is here.”