Dallas paced the small hotel lobby, stopping every minute to peer through the large windows out into the parking lot. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for. She didn’t know what Wyatt Caldwell drove. She didn’t even know what he looked like.

She wished she’d set the meeting up for morning instead of afternoon. Every minute that passed made her more nervous. And anxiety brought on the headaches. She pressed a finger tip to her temple. Nothing yet, thankfully.

Today’s desk clerk was a matronly woman with short curly hair and a chain on her glasses. She kept giving Dallas curious looks. Nosey. But the lobby contained several small seating areas, and Dallas had chosen the one farthest from the desk. The last thing she wanted was for some total stranger to eavesdrop on the coming conversation. Wyatt probably felt the same.

She wiped moist palms down the side of her dress. Wanting to make a good first impression, she’d dressed nicely, as she would for a job interview, though the thought of looking for another job pained her. Blue-green enhanced her eye color, or so she’d been told, so she’d chosen a fitted turquoise dress and added a black jacket and the same black, high-heeled boots she’d worn to dinner with Lawson.

The thought of the sheriff and his niece brought a calming smile. He’d made her promise to call him after her conversation with Wyatt. Truth was, she was thrilled for the excuse to talk to the sheriff again.

Last night, he’d almost kissed her. There in the Best Western hallway, she’d absolutely tingled with anticipation. Then, he’d changed his mind and stepped away. Probably for the best. Getting involved with another man, especially a cop, wasn’t on her agenda, but she’d been disappointed.

Now, here she was thinking about Lawson when her whole life, or the life she’d known, was about to change.

Smoothing her skirt one more unnecessary time, Dallas wondered if she should have opted for something more casual. Too late now to change, and she hadn’t brought an abundance of clothes on this impromptu trip to Calypso.

Her cell phone buzzed, and Dallas held her breath, hoping it wasn’t her mother. She wasn’t ready to tell Mom about this decision to meet the family she didn’t know. Fact was, Mom didn’t know about Wyatt’s call. Dallas wanted to make sure everything was on the up and up before she opened what might be a painful Pandora’s box to her mother.

One glance at the incoming text and her shoulders relaxed. It was Bethany, her best friend in Bayville.

Are you okay? Call me.

Bethany had no idea Dallas was in Calypso, but she knew about Aaron and understood how devastated Dallas was. First Aaron and then her job. Two losses back to back.

She moved her thumbs over the tiny keyboard. About to have a meeting. Will call tonight. I’m okay. Have some crazy news.

She hit send just as the outside door opened and a tall, sandy-haired man with impressive posture and an attractive, sculpted face strode in. He carried a laptop case.

Dallas’s heart tumbled in her chest like a lottery barrel. Was this her brother?

They made eye contact, and the man came toward her, expression curious. “Dallas?”

She’d know that voice anywhere. “Yes. Are you Wyatt?”

“I am. Thank you for meeting me.” He seemed intense, as if he was as anxious about this situation as she was. “Shall we sit?”

She motioned toward the farthest group of stuffed chairs. “More private back there.” While still being close enough that she could scream for help if necessary. Not that she’d need to. Lawson had assured her the Caldwells were solid citizens, Christians even, and she trusted Lawson. Which was weird in and of itself.

Once they were seated, Wyatt took out his laptop and booted it up. “Did you get the documents I emailed to you?”

“Yes, and I read through them. Everything appears legitimate.”

“It is, all of it carefully researched and vetted. You’re definitely our half-sister.” He angled his square-jaw toward her, hazel eyes sincere. “So how do you feel about having a family you never knew existed?”

Her belly fluttered. The jury was still out on that one. “I could ask you the same, but I’d rather know about my father.”

“Our father.” He looked a little uncomfortable saying the words. She got that.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “This is awkward for both of us.”

She, who was normally glib of tongue and could squeeze conversation from a house plant, struggled for words.

“I hope we can get past that,” he said.

“Do you?” Didn’t he resent her and what she stood for even a little?

“Yes. We all do. All, meaning the family.” He tapped a few keys on the screen and brought up a photo app. “I thought you might like to see some family pictures. Get acquainted.”

“That was thoughtful. Lawson said you were a nice guy.”

“You know Lawson Hawk?”

“We’ve met.” And had dinner and sat up half the night talking. And I have a skin-tingling crush on the man.

“I thought you’d never heard of Calypso.”

She gave a little shoulder shrug. “He’s the sheriff. I was speeding. We met.”

“Ouch.” Wyatt grimaced. “That’s Lawson. Law and order all the way, even if the perp is gorgeous and related to his best friends.”

She relaxed a little, glad for the lighter topic and the compliment, even if Wyatt was her brother. Brother. The term still made her head spin. She had brothers and a sister.

“To be completely honest, the sheriff rescued me. I was ill when I sped through Calypso. Lawson took me to the hospital.”

The intense gaze grew fierce and protective. “You okay now? Anything serious? Is this meeting too much for you?”

She waved off the suggestion, though she appreciated his concern. “I suffer debilitating migraines on occasion. Nothing to worry about. I’m well now.”

“Ace has those sometimes. My—our brother.” He pointed at the computer screen. “That’s him, the tallest one with the blackest hair. He and Emily—”he pointed to a pretty woman with a bright smile—“resemble our late mother. Black hair, green eyes, and stunning looks. The bulkier man in the cowboy hat is Nate, our other brother, the teddy-bear of the bunch. He looks more like Dad. This picture was taken at Christmas.”

Dallas stared at the big family. To an only child, the number was overwhelming. “Who are the others?”

He pointed out wives and kids, his own lovely, blonde fiancé, a man in wheelchair, and a pair of employees he called family of the heart. “You’ll meet them soon. I mean, if you’re willing. You’re invited to dinner any and every night you’re in town, starting tonight.”

“Oh, I can’t tonight.” The idea of meeting all those Caldwells at once scared her. Even if she hadn’t been thrilled about seeing Lawson again, which she was, she’d have been glad for the excuse. “I already have other plans.”

“Your decision. No pressure. But we want to know you, Dallas. Family is a big deal to the Caldwells. And you’re a Caldwell.”

“How can you consider me family? After all, my existence means…” She let the rest fade away, but the inference remained, and Wyatt was obviously a very intelligent man.

“None of us knows the circumstances of your birth,” he said, “but whatever it might be, we don’t blame you, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

Dallas gazed into his sincere eyes, puzzled that he could feel that way, but relieved as well. “It was. Thank you. This is difficult for me. I hope you understand. It’s not you. It’s the circumstances.”

“We do understand. At least, as much as we can, not being in your shoes.” He tapped the keyboard arrow, and another picture slid onto the screen. A photo of an attractive, mature man appeared. “That’s Dad.”

“My…father?” she whispered, mouth going drier than it had her first day on the radio.

The most ridiculous thing happened then. Tears pushed at the back of her eyelids. She blinked them away.

From beneath a gray cowboy hat, Clint Caldwell smiled into the camera, laugh lines around hazel eyes that matched Wyatt’s. Her father had been a big, handsome cowboy. Really handsome. It was easy to see what had attracted her mother, and if Clint was half as nice as his youngest son, Mom would have fallen hard and fast. Like she always did.

“We’d been cutting hay that day,” Wyatt said. “It was blazing hot, and Connie drove out to the field with a gallon of iced tea. Emily snapped this with her phone. We didn’t know then that it would be one of the last pictures before Dad died.”

“He looks so strong and healthy.”

“We thought he was.” His voice was hushed, sad. “He wasn’t perfect, but he was a good man, a great dad who taught us kids right from wrong and to follow Jesus. And of course, how to ride and work cows and run a ranch.”

“I wish I’d known him.” A good man, even though he’d made a mistake somewhere along the line. A big mistake. Her.

“Your mother never said a word about him? No photos or anything?”

“Nothing.” Which meant she was ashamed, of her relationship with Clint, of the daughter they’d had together. “I wonder if he knew about me.”

“Absolutely not.” Wyatt shook his head, adamant. “He didn’t.”

“How can you be sure?”

“If Dad had known, you would have been part of his life. Part of our lives.”

“Unless my mother refused.”

“I suppose that’s possible. But Dad wasn’t one to give up. He’d have demanded visitation and sent child support.”

Or maybe he wanted to keep his dirty little secret. She didn’t say that. No use hurting a family that was trying to reach out to her. Unlike Wyatt, she wasn’t convinced that Clint hadn’t known about her.

“Mom always had money for anything we needed or wanted, but her career pays well.” Had her job been that good? Or had she received a pay-off to keep quiet about the affair?

“Did you grow up in Bayville?” Wyatt asked.

She snapped her gaze to his. Did he know about Aaron? Or was he trying to figure out, as she was, how their father and her mother met? “Ft. Worth area.”

Not far from the stockyards, the rodeo arena, the livestock shows. A perfect place for a cowgirl to meet a successful rancher.

After Wyatt left, Dallas changed into jeans and sneakers, tossed on her coat, and went for a prayer walk, her way of releasing the anxiety built up by her meeting with Wyatt. An extrovert, she was rarely nervous with people, but this situation had her in knots.

Though the temperature was cold, there was no wind, and the bright sun felt good. As she walked, her prayers wandered from her own situation to Lawson and his niece, seeking some way to help them. Lawson tried hard with the girl, but Madison needed a woman’s example and counsel.

Dallas stopped, aware of the putter of traffic, the racket of a jackhammer somewhere, a distance siren. Was that Lawson’s police vehicle? Would he be offended if she offered friendship to the young teen? At least, during the time she was in town getting acquainted with her new family?

She turned around and started back to the hotel, walking faster now, as the idea took root. Was God speaking to her? Or was she looking for any excuse to avoid Bayville and spend more time with the sheriff?

Back inside the hotel room, Dallas called Bethany and filled her in on the last few, crazy days, including the meeting with her half-brother.

Bethany sounded shocked, to say the least. Behind her trendy glasses, Bethany’s brown eyes were probably as round as Oreos. “Does your mother know about this?”

“No, and please don’t say anything.” The thought of Mom’s reaction shook her very bones.

“I won’t, but discovering who your father is and meeting his family, is pretty significant. You can’t keep that a secret.”

Bethany was right. Dallas and Mom had always been close. They discussed most everything. Except her father.

Dallas raised a shaky hand to her forehead. “Right now, I need time to unscramble my brain and my emotions. Then, I’ll talk to her.”

She wasn’t looking forward to that moment, but she knew the conversation was necessary. Later.

They spoke a few more minutes, caught up on some other friends, fretted over the job loss and Aaron, and then hung up. Dallas had barely put her phone back on the charger when someone knocked at the door.

She went to the peephole and saw the top of a blond head. “Who is it?”

“Madison.”

Madison? What was she doing here?

Dallas opened the door. Without waiting to be invited, Madison schlepped inside and dumped a dirty gray-and-pink backpack on the desk.

“What’s going on?” Dallas asked. “Is something wrong? Why aren’t you in school?”

The girl gazed around the hotel room, one shoulder lower than the other. “This is a lot nicer than the dumps my dad picks.”

“Does your uncle know you’re here?”

Madison gave her the seriously look. “He’s at work. As always. He had some big meeting, so he couldn’t pick me up after school.”

“You need to let him know where you are.”

“I hate school. Did I tell you that?”

“You mentioned it. Did something happen at school today?”

“I hate riding the stinky bus. I’d rather walk. So I walked here.”

“Is there a reason you’re avoiding my questions?” Dallas asked gently, using her best on-air, coaxing voice.

“Maybe.” Madison prowled the small space, looked out the single window, and then collapsed on the bed with a put-upon sigh. “I don’t fit in this stupid town.”

“What happened?”

There was a long hesitation but Dallas waited her out. Finally, the words gushed forth like a broken fire hydrant.

“There’s this girl in my history class.” Madison grabbed one of the bed pillows and wadded it against her belly. “So, we’re all standing around talking, and she started saying a bunch of stuff about me and my mom.”

Oh, the cruelty of teenagers. “Such as?”

“My mom didn’t want me. She ran off because I was so stupid and ugly. Stuff like that. Then one of the others said my dad didn’t want me either, or he wouldn’t have dumped me on my uncle. Even if it’s true, it’s not their business.”

Small town gossip moved fast. “But it hurts anyway, doesn’t it?”

Madison got that belligerent expression again, but her eyes slide away. “Just makes me mad. I wanted to smack her in the face.”

“I’m glad you didn’t.”

“Couldn’t. Uncle Sheriff would throw me in the dungeon.”

“The dungeon?” Dallas said, mildly amused. “Rather draconian of him.”

“Yeah. Whatever that means.”

Dallas handed her the phone. “Shoot him a text, let him know you’re with me.”

Madison sat up, blinking. “I can stay?”

“For a while. I did promise to do your eyebrows, didn’t I? Then, I’ll drive you home. Your uncle promised to cook dinner for us tonight.”

“Seriously? For us? Or just for you?”

“Does he really strike you as the kind of man to leave you out?”

Madison swallowed and had the grace to look sheepish. She stared down at Dallas’s cell phone. “I guess not. But it’s weird. He’s weird.”

Dallas narrowed her eyes. If the sheriff was weird, she needed to know about it now. “In what way?”

“I mean, why’s he nice to me when he didn’t want me here in the first place?” Her fingers raced across the keypad and then returned the phone. “I don’t get it.”

Oh, that kind of weird. Good weird.

Dallas pointed toward the desk chair, the only straight back in the room. “Get over here in my beauty spa, and let’s talk about it while we tame those eyebrows.”

Madison moved at the speed of light. And she almost looked happy doing it.

Maybe the Lord had just opened a door for Dallas to help Lawson’s hurting niece.