No one answered her knock.

Dallas knocked again and listened for sound inside Lawson’s ranch house. Nothing.

She glanced around the empty yard, heard the rustle of the dead grass in the field across the road.

Somewhere a horse whinnied, and a woodpecker jack-hammered a tree.

She hadn’t expected Lawson to be home yet, but Madison should be.

A worry niggled at Dallas. Had the moody teen had another run-in with someone at school? Had she forgotten Dallas’s promise to drive out after she’d finished moving her things into the Royal Bed and Breakfast?

She pondered for a few moments, listening. The trees in Lawson’s yard were bare and lonely looking, but someone had planted a holly with bright red berries next to the porch. Nearby, a clump of green spears, probably daffodils, pushed out of the cold earth.

The fickle Oklahoma weather was sunny and warmer today, brightening the world, hinting at the spring to come.

Somewhere close, a horse whinnied again.

If she were a teenager with a pasture full of horses, Dallas knew exactly where she’d be.

Stepping off the porch, she walked around to the end of the long house and peered toward the outbuildings in back. Though Madison was not in sight, Dallas headed out there anyway. As she opened the gate leading into the paddock, she heard Madison’s voice, soft and low.

Dallas eased through the gate, closing it quietly behind her, and paused at the edge of the barn. A metal shed with an open front protruded from the back of the main barn, a loafing shed. Madison was there, brushing the mane of Lawson’s aging mare, Sadie. As she brushed, she talked, her voice gentle.

“He hasn’t even called to ask about me,” she was saying. “If I had a kid, I’d at least do that.”

Oh, that poor girl. Dallas’s heart twisted like a pretzel. She remained as still as possible, listening to the teen pour her troubles on the sweet old horse.

“Uncle Sheriff’s okay, I guess. He makes sure I have food and whatever. And he never has forgot about me. Not even once. Dad does all the time.”

As if she were having a conversation with a human, Madison paused to look into the mare’s liquid brown eyes. The horse calmly gazed back.

“Uncle Sheriff even gave me some money in case I need it. I mean, for what? Weird, huh? Giving out random money. Who does that?”

Madison brushed a long stroke down the mare’s shoulder, bending toward her hooves. The mare turned a graceful head and nuzzled the girl’s back.

Madison straightened, one palm resting on the animal’s side. “I wish Dad was like him.”

There was such a plaintive tone in the girl’s voice that Dallas ached for her. But if Madison knew she’d heard, she’d feel betrayed, and Dallas could lose their fragile connection. Madison didn’t need to lose anyone else.

Silently Dallas exited the barnyard. Then, to warn of her arrival, she clattered the metal gate as loudly as she could and called, “Madison, are you out here?”

“In the loafing shed,” came the reply.

Dallas joined her. “Nice of you to brush Sadie.”

“She’s a sweet girl. I think she likes me.”

“She does. See how she leans toward you with her head down, and her lower lip is loose and relaxed?”

“Yeah?”

“That means she’s comfortable with you. She trusts you.”

Madison considered that for a second. “Uncle Sheriff says she’s going blind.”

Dallas slid a hand along the mare’s neck and up to her ears for a gentle scratch. She’d missed this contact with the equine world. “Sad.”

“He puts medicine in her eyes, but the vet says it’s not working. Eventually, she’ll be in the dark.” Madison turned a worried gaze toward Dallas. “What if she can’t find the barn or her feed or water? What will happen to her?”

“Have you asked Lawson?”

“No. But Jenny, this girl in my class, said her dad sells the ones that get too old to be useful.” Her gray eyes were troubled. “And then they’re like, slaughtered and turned into dog food or something gross like that.”

“Do you actually think your uncle would do that?”

Madison shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s a cop.”

Dallas chuckled. Hadn’t she stereotyped him the same way? “Who happens to care about his animals.” And you, too, if you’d only realize it.

“I’d take care of Sadie forever if he’d let me.” The girl kicked at a dried cow chip. “I mean, if I’m still around.”

“Would you like that? To stay in Calypso with your uncle and take care of Sadie?”

Madison stared down at her feet. “My dad’s supposed to come get me soon.”

Then where was he? The irresponsible creep. “That’s not what I asked.”

“Doesn’t matter, does it? Kids don’t exactly get a say.” The angry tone was back. “And why should you care anyway? You won’t be around either.”

The accusation struck Dallas in the chest.

Madison spun and threw the brush at the barn. It bounced off, landing in the dirt. The mare skittered.

The girl softened, instantly contrite. With a kiss to the side of Sadie’s muzzle, she murmured, “Sorry, Sadie. I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m just stupid.”

“Madison.” Dallas touched the girl’s arm. “There’s nothing stupid about you. You may be confused about some things, and understandably so, but you’re smart, pretty, and most of all, caring. Not a bit stupid.” She winked. “Just ask Sadie.”

“I guess,” Madison said without much conviction. “But if I’m all that, why don’t my parents like me?”

“The problem isn’t with you. It’s with them.” Even to her, the words sounded like platitudes.

“Right. Like I believe that.”

Dallas lifted her face to the sun, pondering what to say. Her personal situation was still raw and unsettled, but if it would help Madison…

“Did I tell you that I grew up without a father?” she asked softly. “Never met him, didn’t know his name. All my life, I wondered why he didn’t love me, why he’d gone away and left me and my mother.”

“I didn’t know that.” Madison looked at her with interest.

“That’s why I’m here in Calypso. I found my dad, but it’s too late to know him. He died.”

“That stinks.”

“It does. But you know what? Not having a dad in my life may have affected me in some ways, but I had a great mom. She taught me to dream and to make goals and pursue them.”

“Is that how you got into radio?”

“It is. With Mom’s encouragement. She noticed my interest and talent before I did.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t have a mom or a dad.”

“But you have your uncle, and Lawson cares deeply about you and won’t let you down.”

“You don’t know that for sure. You’re just into him, so you think he’s all perfect and everything.”

Into him. What a clueless teenage way of putting the most glorious emotion into words.

The thought caught Dallas off guard. Where had that come from? She couldn’t, wouldn’t fall in love with a small-town sheriff. Like him, yes. Enjoy his company, absolutely. Love him, no way. She still had those goals she’d made and a career ladder to climb. Love would have to wait.

“I think you’re wrong. Lawson cares about you, or you wouldn’t be here.”

“Maybe. I don’t know. He’s all right, I guess.”

Madison quietly picked up the thrown brush and put it away. Dallas could tell she was considering their conversation and thinking about her uncle.

She led the mare through the gate into the open pasture. Lawson’s gelding, Tripp, ambled toward them, head up, and whinnied.

Sadie perked up, her ears forward.

“Go on, girl,” Madison turned loose of the mare’s halter and gave her neck a pat. “Your buddy’s here. I’ll bring apples after dinner.”

When the gelding whinnied again, Sadie bolted toward him, kicking out her hind legs like a young horse.

Madison laughed and leaned both forearms on top of the gate to watch the pair play. The wind tickled the ends of her long blond hair.

Suddenly Dallas saw more parallels between herself and Madison than blond hair and their lack of a parent. Her horse had been her best friend. Some days, when she hadn’t been confined to her room by macho cop, she’d ride for hours, pouring out her anger at her stepdad to the only creature that would listen without judgment. The way Madison had done today.

Tugging her jacket closed, Dallas joined the young girl in watching the animals romp. They stood silently, side by side, two blondes with a father wound and a love of horses.

Lawson saw them as he drove into the yard and parked the department’s SUV. The two females in his life, fair hair stirring in the light breeze as they peered out into the pasture.

He got a funny hitch beneath his ribcage, one of those feelings that somehow this was meant to be—Dallas and Madison, here on his ranch. As if their presence made his life complete.

Strange thoughts, out-of-character feelings. But good, too.

Was he mellowing in his not-so-old age?

He hopped out of the vehicle and followed his heart to the barnyard.

“Hey, girls.”

Both swung around to greet him. Both smiled.

He strode to the fence and squeezed between them, tossing an arm over each one. Madison stiffened for a moment, but then she relaxed, leaning into him. Dallas smiled up at him as if he’d done something to please her.

So he did. He kissed her. Quick and light, a sweet hello.

“If you kiss me,” Madison growled. “I’ll throat punch you.”

But when Lawson glanced down at her, she was grinning.

He gave her neck an affectionate squeeze.

“How was your day?” Dallas asked.

“Routine. How was yours? Did you get moved to the B & B?”

“I did.”

For some reason, this simple act of moving her belongings from a hotel to the bed and breakfast thrilled him. He didn’t know why. A B & B was just as temporary as a hotel. “Sorry I couldn’t get loose to help out.”

“I didn’t have that much to move, Lawson. It was no big deal.”

It was to him. “What did you think of the Countess?”

Dallas chuckled. “She’s lovely and fun.”

“What was she wearing?” His mouth lifted in a knowing grin.

Madison slid from beneath his arm and stared at him aghast. “That’s a weird question. Even for you.”

Lawson tugged on a lock of her hair. It was clean and silky against his fingers, a big change from when she’d arrived. “That’s because you haven’t met the Countess. But you will now that Dallas is staying at the Royal.”

“Can I?”

“May I.” Dallas corrected. “And yes, you may. Anytime your uncle says it’s all right.”

“Tomorrow?” Madison’s face was alight with eagerness. Dallas was her most admired person at the moment. Lawson certainly understood that. “I can walk down there from school. You won’t have to pick me up or send one of the officers or anything.”

He tried to be available whenever school dismissed, but sometimes a police call kept him away and someone else had to see her safely home. A few times he’d imposed upon Dallas, and twice Madison had had to ride the bus, which she hated and let him know in no uncertain terms. He’d told her to deal with it, but he understood. School buses weren’t the best place for a new kid with a chip on her shoulder. Once he got her attitude under control, she might actually enjoy the ride.

“If you’re busy,” Dallas said, turning toward him in a move that forced him to drop his arm from her shoulders. He wasn’t thrilled about that. “I can pick her up.”

“Thanks. I’ll text you tomorrow.”

“Awesome,” Madison said. “Oh, and can I go to Jenny’s house on Saturday? She invited me, and we can hang out and ride her horses and stuff if the weather’s good. Her mom said it was okay.”

Madison had made a friend? Now, that was progress! In fact, this evening, she behaved more like a normal teen than he’d ever seen. Was she settling in? Or was it Dallas’s influence?

“Who are her parents?”

His niece rolled her eyes. Just once, Lawson wished they’d get stuck that way. But only long enough for her to stop doing it.

“How would I know? You’re the law. Don’t you know everybody?”

“Does Jenny have a last name?”

“Patterson. Her dad works at the post office or something.”

“Don Patterson. I know him, see him practically every day. Let me talk to him tomorrow and make sure it’s okay.”

“Jenny said it was.” Madison’s hackles rose. ”Don’t you believe me?”

“Hey.” Dallas put a hand on Madison’s stiff shoulder. “Of course, he believes you. But talking to the parents is the polite and proper way of getting invited to someone’s house. Plus, he’s keeping you safe. It’s one of those things that make adults feel better.”

His niece’s expression slowly changed to compliance. “Oh. Okay. That’s cool, I guess. But can I tell Jenny that you said yes if her dad says yes?”

“Sure.”

“Can I borrow your cell? I want to call her.”

Lawson fished his phone from a pocket and handed it over.

“If I had my own phone,” she said, “I wouldn’t have to bother you.”

“I’ll think about it.” Was thirteen old enough to own an expensive phone?

Madison gave him a long, questioning look, then took his cell and walked toward the house.

“The keys to a young girl’s heart,” Dallas said softly.

“What’s that? A cell phone?”

“Letting her grow while also keeping a rein on her. She’s never had that.”

“She fights it.”

“But she also wants it. Your involvement says you care.”

“She’s never had that either. Not fully. Bryce probably loves her, but he loves himself the most. As far as I can tell, his daughter has only been an afterthought in his life.”

“I’m glad she has you.” Dallas slipped her hand in his. “She is too, even if she can’t say it yet.”

“I hope you’re right. I’m kind of getting attached to the little space alien.”

She smiled. “Me, too.”

“Kind of getting attached to someone else too.” He lifted her fingers and kissed them, hopeful of a like-minded reply.

“I know what you mean.” Dallas’s voice was low and pensive as she stared off toward the house and the girl now entering the back door, the cell phone against her ear.

Pondering the noncommittal comment, Lawson decided now was not the time to push. He steered to safer ground. “I ran into Wyatt and Nate in town. They mentioned you.”

“What did they say?”

“Their first impressions were really good. They whole family wants to get to know you better. You’re invited to dinner tomorrow night and to church on Sunday with dinner after.”

“Emily said the same this morning on the phone. She seems super nice.”

“She is. So…are we going?”

She bumped his side. “We? Is there a frog in your pocket?”

“Old joke. And yes, we. I’m invited too. Are you complaining?”

“Not at all.” She looped her arms over his shoulders. “Having a police escort keeps me from getting a ticket.”

“I still owe you one.” Expression teasing, he looped his arms loosely around her waist.

“Police brutality.”

He laughed and kissed her nose.

“Uh-uh.” she said, and lifted her lush, pink mouth to his.

Who was he to refuse? All day, he’d thought about her, about the way kissing her rocked his universe. Every single time.

So, he let her rock it again. And, if her bemused, well-kissed expression was an indicator, he did a little world-rocking himself.

After another kiss or three, they stood together in the barn lot, sun bright and horses grazing peacefully. It was a pleasant scene, a good feeling, and Lawson felt a contentment he hadn’t known was missing.

A few moments of quiet passed before Dallas said, “May I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

“Emily mentioned something called “The Sanctuary” where her parents are buried. Do you know the place?”

“I do. The Caldwell boys were my best friends growing up, especially Nate. I worked summers for the ranch, too. We rode all over the Triple C, including the Sanctuary. It’s kind of a sacred place to them.”

Dallas nodded. “Emily said her parents are buried there. She asked if I’d like to visit our father’s grave.”

“Would you?”

“I think so, but…” Two small furrows wrinkled the space between her eyebrows.

“But what?”

“Visiting a grave is such a personal thing. I’d rather go without them the first time, but I can’t tell them that. It would hurt their feelings.”

“They’ll understand. In fact, it might be easier for them, as well.”

“Will you go with me?”

He’d go to the moon and back for her. “If that’s what you want.”

“It is.”

Lawson loved that she wanted his company, and only his company, in such a hallowed place. “Does Saturday work for you? The weather is supposed to be decent, and I’m off duty.”

She nodded, her pale hair snatching diamonds from the sun. “We could go while Madison visits Jenny.”

“Sounds like a good plan.”

She looped her arm through his, face upturned so that Lawson’s breath was caught short in his throat.

“Thank you. There are a lot of things like this I need to do before I go back to Texas. You make everything so much easier.”

The sun went behind a cloud, the pleasure of the day darkened.

Go back to Texas. Lawson knew that was the plan. A woman like Dallas didn’t stick around small towns, even if she liked the sheriff. And she did. He knew she did. But not as much as he liked her.

Sooner or later, Dallas would leave, and he was very afraid she’d take his heart with her.