The hot Texas summer turned into a warm Texas fall. Cedar worked like a dog to open the Doggie Café on time. She’d planned the schedule and should have known better than to create such a tight deadline for herself, but she was working to forget Teo and decided that the less downtime she had, the better.

He was into preseason workouts now. She wondered how he was holding up under the intensely physical sessions. How much did he see Akoni? Did either of them think of her, miss her? She missed them. Sometimes, before she fell asleep, she would remember the feel of Teo’s lips against her ear, and she’d giggle at the memory of the tickle when he hummed. Those moments didn’t last long. She wouldn’t let them, or she’d end up crying into her pillow.

Opening day arrived, bringing eager dog owners into the café. Cedar spent the morning educating customers on their specialty meals for puppies and active and older dogs. Each owner had concerns about their pet’s diet. One woman stopped in to demand she open a similar café for cats. Cedar smiled and told her it was a wonderful idea and that she would see what she could do about that.

Around three, Noah and Harley walked through the door. They’d been home for a week and a half. Seeing them brought back a host of memories Cedar wasn’t ready to face about the night she’d stood up Teo. She deserved to be dumped, but that didn’t make her miss him any less.

Harley told her labradoodle, Elvis, to sit, and he did. She smiled down at him as if he was the smartest animal on the planet. “Cedar, this place is wonderful. I love the colors and the clean lines.” She hugged Cedar. “You’re a miracle worker to get this up and running so fast.”

Cedar stepped back and dropped her gaze. There was that word: miracle. She couldn’t hear it without thinking of Teo. He saw miracles in everyday moments. Her heart gave a squeeze. “Hey, you two. How’s Elvis?” She reached her hand out for the dog to sniff before patting his head. With a dog around, there was always something to talk about. Elvis leaned into her, lapping up the attention.

Noah reached over the dog to give Cedar a hug. “You look like you could use a break.”

“Noah!” Harley shoved him aside. “Hush! You look beautiful, Cedar.” She threw an I-can’t-believe-you-said-that glare over her shoulder.

Cedar chuckled. “Noah has seen me after a muddy tug-of-war, covered in briars, covered in horse hair, and covered in pie after I lost a pie-eating contest to his little sister. If he says I look like I need a break, then I must look horrible, and he was being kind.” She brushed her fingers over her messy bun. “I haven’t been sleeping well since—” She cut off, not wanting to burst into tears in the middle of her business on opening day.

Harley gave her a sympathetic look. “Since you and Teo broke up?”

“Yeah,” she admitted, her throat scratchy. She worked to swallow down the emotions that swelled up inside.

Harley patted her arm. She was being so nice and so understanding that Cedar couldn’t keep the confession inside. “I should be thrilled today.” She waved her hand half-heartedly, indicating the stained concrete flooring, the counter where several dogs ate their specialty meals, and the wall of dog toys and accessories. One woman was putting headbands on her pug and taking selfies with her. She had several headbands in a basket by her feet and was adding to her pile of purchases. The Doggie Café was a success. “But all I can think about is that he’s not here.” She pressed her fingers over her lips to stop the quivering.

Noah nodded. “Do you want me to shoot you?”

Cedar dropped her hand and her jaw. “Excuse me?”

Harley puffed out air and rolled her eyes.

Noah lifted his chest. “It worked for me. I took a bullet to the shoulder and woke up with Harley in my bed.”

“Your hospital bed.” Harley punched his shoulder. “And you’re not allowed to do that ever again.”

Cedar widened her eyes. “That sounds like an interesting story.”

The bell above the door rang and four older men in golf pants and polo shirts filed in, leading four dogs of varying breeds. Cedar looked back and forth between Harley and Noah and her customers. She held up a finger. “Can I hit the pause button?”

Harley laughed easily. “We’ll look around for a while. I’ll call you so we can get together in a couple weeks.”

“Thanks. I’ll see you two later.” She went to talk to the men, who were clustered together and looking nervous.

Noah touched her elbow to hold her back. “Since I can’t shoot you …” His eyes danced with laughter. From what she remembered of him, Noah was rarely serious unless it came to protecting his family or police work. “I’ll just tell you that guys like women who go after what they want. Even if that means she has to apologize.”

Cedar scowled. “You’re assuming I did something wrong.” She had but he didn’t know that.

Noah lifted one side of his mouth in a lopsided smile. “If you didn’t, you’d be sleeping a lot better.” He held up both palms. “Don’t shoot the messenger.”

“I wouldn’t dare.” She moved out of his reach. “Not that I’m afraid of you. Your wife, on the other hand …”

Noah grinned. “I tell her all the time that she’s terrifyingly gorgeous.”

Cedar shook her head as she crossed the short distance to her newest customers. Noah and his siblings were the closest thing she had to cousins. Working for the Baker family at camp Buckeye was like being adopted. She hadn’t realized how much the camp had influenced her for the good in her formative teenage years. She glanced over her shoulder to see Harley and Noah discussing the display of organic dog-food samples. From where Cedar stood, Harley had it all. She had the money. She had the business. She had the man of her dreams. And she looked happy. Not fake-happy, but the real kind of happy that was in her eyes and her soul.

Noah was right: she needed to make things better between her and Teo. The opening of the Doggie Café should have been a triumph; instead, it was a revelation. There were times when she was dating Teo that she’d been alone, but she never felt lonely. Every day without him was empty and echoed with what could have been.

She’d been so worried about striking out on her own that she had isolated herself from the man she loved. All the success in the world couldn’t touch her heart the way Teo had, let alone fill it.

She needed to find him. She needed to find them.

A happy life wasn’t about balance. Balance was a cruel joke. There was no such thing as balance. There were priorities, and hers had gotten out of alignment. That’s why she couldn’t eat. That’s why she couldn’t sleep. That’s why her heart ached.

Cedar squared her shoulders and welcomed the four golfers to her store. Her smile wasn’t forced. Her conversation flowed easily. Funny, all this time she’d been trying to shove Teo out of her head when she should have been welcoming him into her heart. As she stood there, listening to the men brag about their breeds, her heart warmed.

That’s the miracle. She smiled. Love is the true miracle.

Teo had that figured out, and it was about time she caught up.

Hopefully, he’d give her a chance to prove that miracles happen—even to her.