As Katy sat and waited for Hannah at the restaurant along the beach, she examined her reflection in the mirror. Her puffy eyes had not, in fact, miraculously gone down to their normal size. She had hoped that all she’d needed was time. And maybe it still was, she told herself. After all, it had only been a few days. Maybe it would just take a few more.

Yeah right, and maybe a few days after that she’d sprout wings and learn to fly.

Luckily Hannah arrived before she could fall into another round of maudlin thoughts and self-recriminations. She didn’t actually see her friend at first, but she knew she’d entered by the way the tables near the door got all hushed and turned to stare. The phenomenon spread like dominos falling and soon enough Hannah turned the corner to the section where Katy sat near the windows.

Katy liked to think that even if Hannah wasn’t on a hit TV show, she would still have that kind of effect on people. She was that strikingly beautiful, first of all, but it was also her overall demeanor. Her aura, maybe. She had a charisma and energy about her that made people stop and stare.

Again, the beauty didn’t hurt either. With caramel brown hair that fell in perfect, glossy beach waves, she had a natural tan and bright green eyes. She had the perfect hourglass figure and the kind of exotic features that could only come from amazing genes.

No one could buy her kind of natural beauty. Not that it stopped people from trying.

“Hi gorgeous,” she said as she slipped into the booth across from her. “Did I keep you waiting long?”

“Not too long,” Katy said, trying to muster a smile.

The problem with working for herself was that she never really had to leave her house, not if she didn’t want to. And this week? She definitely had not wanted to.

A waiter hurried over and they placed their orders. Once they’d sought each other out in LA, this had become their place. Neither of them had to look at the menu before ordering. When he left, Hannah turned back to her with a smile.

“So, are you going to tell me all about it?”

“Of course,” she said quickly, pulling out her binder full of information. “You were right about the ranch, it’s gorgeous and—”

“Not the ranch,” Hannah interrupted.

When Katy looked over she saw the hint of amusement in her friend’s eyes as she took a sip of her water. “The cowboy.”

Katy’s stomach dropped. She didn’t want to think about Dax. She couldn’t, not if she was going to maintain any sort of composure.

And quite honestly, she was tired of crying. She was tired of hurting.

“Hey,” Hannah said, her tone filled with concern. Probably because Katy’s stupid tear ducts had gone into overdrive at the mere mention of Dax. And Hannah hadn’t even used his name!

“Hey,” she said again, leaning over to place a hand over Katy’s. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I talked to Claire and she said you and the ranch owner had hit it off but—”

“It’s okay,” Katy interrupted, swiping at her eyes. She felt the truth trying to get out. And while Hannah was a client, she was a friend, first and foremost. Maybe talking about it would help. Keeping quiet and focusing on work certainly hadn’t.

“Hit it off is putting it mildly,” she started with a weak smile.

Understanding dawned in Hannah’s pretty green eyes. “I take it things didn’t end well?”

You could say that… Katy bit her lip before blurting out the truth. “I ran away.”

Hannah widened her eyes. “You…what?”

Katy nodded. “I ran, like a complete and total coward.”

It was humiliating but it was a bit of a relief to state the truth.

Hannah blinked a few times as she clearly tried to comprehend this news. “But…I don’t understand. That doesn’t sound like you.”

It didn’t. Katy took a deep breath to quiet the unease and the shame.

Hannah’s expression softened with sympathy. “He must have really done a number on you.”

Katy nodded. “He was nice. Understanding and supportive and…perfect even.”

Hannah gave a mock grimace. “I can see why you ran then.”

A laugh bubbled up despite her misery as she went along with the joke. “I know, right? How dare he be so sweet to me?”

They shared a silly smile before Katy sniffled again, shaking her head. “I know it made no sense to run. I just panicked.” She looked up at Hannah. “I’ve never felt anything like this before.”

“What does it feel like?” Hannah asked with a small smile.

Now it was Katy’s turn to widen her eyes. How did it feel? Where to begin. “It was amazing when we were together,” she said, though that didn’t even begin to cover it. “We had this bond that I never knew I could have with another person, let alone so quickly. It was like it was there between us from the very beginning even when we were driving each other nuts.”

Hannah let out a little laugh at that and Katy found herself smiling despite herself at the memory of how they’d first met on the plane. “We weren’t an obvious match,” she said. “I’d thought he was a chauvinistic, backwards alpha male and he probably thought I was a snobby elitist.”

Hannah laughed again. “Sounds like a match made in heaven.”

Katy grinned, fully immersed in the memory now. Replaying the moments in the drive, they way he’d teased her, the simmering tension between them that had made her ice queen façade impossible to maintain. “It was, actually. Once I let him in…once he let me in…”

Hannah’s gaze grew soft with emotions. “Sounds like the real deal, Katy.”

Katy nodded. It had felt like the real deal. “But since I’ve been back, I’ve been miserable.”

“Does he know how you feel?”

Katy pursed her lips, hating to think about her silence after he’d told her he loved her. Every time she thought of it she kicked herself for being a coward. Now, she shook her head. “I don’t think so. I mean, not really. I didn’t say it and I should have.”

Hannah leaned forward, lowering her voice. “It’s never too late, you know.”

Katy’s inhale was swift as she tried to calm the answering nerves. “But what good will that do? It will only make this harder.”

“This…what, exactly?” Hannah looked genuinely confused.

Katy straightened, telling Hannah what she’d been telling herself this entire time. “Much as I might care about this man, I can’t be with him.”

“Okay,” Hannah drawled, clearly still confused. “And why not, exactly?” Her eyes widened. “He’s not married, is he?”

“What? No. I mean, he was, but he’s not now.”

Hannah fell back in her seat. “Great. So what’s the problem?”

What’s the problem? What’s the problem? Did she not see it? “He lives in Montana,” Katy said, stating the obvious. “He lives on a ranch.”

Hannah frowned. “Didn’t you like it there?”

“Yes, of course I did.” Once again, that was a massive understatement.

“But you wouldn’t want to live there,” Hannah finished for her.

Katy opened her mouth to agree and stopped. She had a vision of herself living at Twilight and it filled her with such joy it physically hurt to squash it. “I can’t live there.”

Hannah nodded. “I see. Because of your business?”

Katy started to say yes but stopped. A thought that had been nagging at her refused to let her agree outright. “I mean, I suppose I could work from home anywhere if I really wanted to. I’d have to hire someone to help me out here—meet with clients in person, if needed, and go to venues. But most of the work I do from home….”

She stared out at the ocean as she finally let herself contemplate what she’d been actively avoiding. It was possible. She could do it if she really wanted to. Wasn’t that one of the reasons she’d started up this company for herself in the first place? She’d wanted the freedom that came with working for herself. She’d wanted the ability to travel and craft her own life. She’d wanted independence. That word gave her pause. It reminded her of why she’d been fighting this idea from the moment she left the ranch.

Sitting up straighter, she faced Hannah and shook her head. “I can’t, Hannah. I can’t go and uproot my life for a man.”

Hannah scrunched up her nose in confusion. “But he’s not just any man.”

No, he wasn’t. He was the man. He was everything. She shook her head again, this time exasperated with herself. “It doesn’t matter. I promised myself that I would create a life on my terms. That I wouldn’t change anything about my life for any man, no matter what.”

“I see,” Hannah said slowly. She looked like she was turning this idea over in her mind. “So, you won’t make any changes in your life for a man…even if it’s what you want?”

Somehow when Hannah said it back to her like that, it just sounded silly. Stupid even.

She frowned. “I’ve given up everything before and—”

“You were young,” Hannah interrupted gently. “Maybe you made a mistake. But don’t—”

She stopped and bit her lip.

“What?” Katy prompted.

Hannah sighed. “I guess I’m just saying, don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. It’s great that you’ve learned from your mistakes and that you’re taking steps not to repeat them.” She stopped again and pursed her lips, clearly lost in thought. “I just wouldn’t want to see you miss out on something great because you’re too afraid of making another mistake.”

Katy battled another wave of tears, but this time out of frustration. The tears were coming way too easily these days. “So how do I know? How do I know if I’m making a mistake or not?”

Hannah’s smile was sweet and reassuring as she reached out and squeezed her hand. “I think sometimes you just need to have faith. In yourself and in the person you love.”

Faith. The word did something to her insides. It made everything shift and fall into place. For the first time in days, life didn’t seem so bleak. For the first time since she left Dax, she saw a light, a glimmer of hope.

She shifted physically as her thoughts jostled to make sense of what her heart already knew. Hannah was right.

Yes, she would be making a lot of changes and she would be doing it so she could be with a man. With Dax. But she wouldn’t be doing it for Dax, she would be doing it for herself, because it was what she wanted.

That was a huge difference. She wouldn’t be handing over control of her life, and Dax would never ask that of her. He wasn’t her ex and he was nothing like her father. She’d been so scared of falling into another controlling relationship that she hadn’t stopped to think about the type of man Dax was, let alone how much she’d changed since then.

If she did this—if she took the steps to make this work between them—she would be doing it on her terms. It would be her decision. She would be going after what she wanted.

And what she wanted was Dax.

She thought back to the ranch, the way she’d felt at home there.

What she wanted was that—the feeling of home and belonging that she’d had when she was in Lulu, with Dax. The feeling she had when she was with Dax, period.

Her heart rate picked up as what she was thinking started to become clear. She was going to do this. She was going to go after what she wanted.

She was going to get her man.

Hannah seemed to read it on her expression and her own lit up in return. “Does this mean you’ve come to your senses?”

Katy nodded. Now that she’d made the decision, she was too excited to sit still. There was so much she had to do. So many things to take care of, but first and foremost—she had to catch a flight.

She shoved the binder toward Hannah. “Um, I’m sorry to do this but—”

“Go, go!” Hannah was laughing as she shooed her from the table. “I’ll look it over and if I have any questions I’ll call you. Or better yet, I’ll call Claire’s new sister-in-law. She runs the events at the ranch, right?”

Katy nodded, too excited about her new idea to speak. It was perfect. The answer to her work dilemma staring her right in the face this whole time.

Alice. Alice was dying to get out of Lulu. She’d wanted nothing more than to do what Katy was doing, and Katy wanted nothing more than to be on the ranch. If they joined forces, maybe they could both get what they wanted.

She could hear Hannah’s laughter following her as she raced toward the door, but she didn’t care.

She had a new life to plan.