After what felt like an interminable, hot summer, September finally arrived. And while the first few weeks were just as steamy as August, by the time Haskell’s baseball league started their post-season playoffs, cooler breezes prevailed, the sun turned down its intensity, and Sandy felt comfortable again.

Of course, that had just as much to do with how fabulously things were moving along with Jogi.

“Can you really get good pictures when all the players are way out there in the outfield?” Calliope asked as Jogi fired off a series of shots.

He waited until the play he’d been capturing was completed before answering, “I’m using a Nikon AF-S Nikkor 300mm 4D IF-ED lens.”

“Who with the what now?” Calliope blinked.

Sandy laughed. “It’s a really powerful, really expensive lens. He bought it with the dance competition winnings.”

“So how are you going to combine those images?” Quintus asked from where he hovered just behind Jogi.

“I was thinking of layering them with still footage to give the image a time-lapse feel,” Jogi answered.

The two of them launched into the kind of technical discussion that made Sandy’s brain go fuzzy. She turned to Calliope instead of trying to follow it. “That’s my man,” she said. “Sexy dancer by night, dorky camera nerd by day.”

“And I’ve never seen you happier,” Calliope teased her, nudging her arm. “Between you and Melody, I almost want to snag myself a nerdy guy of my own.”

“Almost?” Sandy leaned back and gave her friend a dubious look. “And who was it I saw nearly trip over themselves when Jonathan Cross stepped out of The Silver Dollar while she was walking up the street the other day?”

Calliope’s cheeks went red. “That was only because I didn’t expect someone to throw open the bar door as I was walking past.”

“Mmm hmm,” Sandy hummed.

“What?” Calliope defended herself. “He’s just getting ready for Howie’s next project. His plan is to get people to help with renovations of some of the older buildings in town for Founder’s Day this fall.”

“Founder’s Day.” Sandy rolled her eyes. For as long as she could remember, the annual Founder’s Day celebrations in October were more about giving people an excuse to dress up in historical costume. They were an excuse for the Bonnevilles and the Haskells to stare each other down in public in the name of a generations-old feud too. And frankly, the last thing Sandy wanted was to deal with any more Bonnevilles for the rest of her life.

At least the bank was safe.

“So did you hear about Natalie Warner?” Calliope went on.

Sandy was sure she was only changing the subject to steer it away from her and Jonathan, but she was willing to let it slide. “No, I haven’t heard anything or seen her much since the dance competition ended.”

“That’s because she had to make an emergency trip home to Texas the day after the finals,” Calliope said.

Sandy frowned. “Really? Is everything okay?”

Calliope shrugged. “I guess so. I’m not close friends with her. Will mentioned something to Melody, but that’s about as much as anyone knows.”

“Jogi,” Sandy called, interrupting Jogi and Quintus’s discussion. “Do you know anything about Natalie having a family emergency right after the dance competition?”

Jogi paused, eyes unfocused for a second, before answering, “I know she had to rush home. She was really quiet when she got back.”

“I hope everything’s okay,” Sandy said as the two guys went back to talking about cameras.

“I think she must be,” Calliope went on, “because just last week I saw her out with her friends, having lunch at the old station platform. She seemed perfectly happy then.” Calliope burst into a sudden, snorting giggle. “She was doing an impression of Ronny, actually.”

Sandy grinned. “I would have loved to see that.”

“Yeah.” Calliope shook her head. “Apparently, according to Melody, who was telling me some stuff that Will said, Ronny made her life miserable during the competition.”

“Really? I thought they paired people up because they thought they would get along.” She arched an eyebrow at Quintus as she spoke, but Quintus wasn’t paying attention.

“In the case of Natalie and Ronny, they got it wrong,” Calliope said. “He insulted her, forced her to practice all the time, and generally tried to bully her within an inch of her life.”

“Ugh.” Sandy made a face.

“By the end, she couldn’t stand him. Especially because he kept trying to hit on her too.”

“Of course he would. Ronny is such an ass.”

“Well, apparently, after they lost to you guys on Friday night, he really flew off the handle and blamed her for losing.”

Sandy could only shake her head, completely unsurprised.

“Will told Melody that he heard from Angelica Jones, who was right there when Ronny was yelling at her, that Natalie threatened him.”

“Good for her.” Sandy made a mental note to try to hang out with Natalie more often.

“Apparently she said that she had Ronny by the balls, and all she needed to do was twist and he was toast.”

“Yep, I definitely need to take that woman out for drinks.” Sandy paused. “I’d give anything to know what she has on him.”

“Who has what on what?” Quintus asked. Apparently, he was paying attention after all.

“Natalie Warner has something on Ronny Bonneville,” Calliope said.

The photography lesson seemed to be over. Jogi walked back to the bleachers and slid onto the bench by Sandy’s side. He kissed her quickly, smiling like he was having the best day ever.

“I don’t know what she has on Ronny,” Quintus said, sitting on the bench in front of Sandy and Jogi and Calliope, “but did you see the sick Ferrari she has?”

Sandy blinked. “The what?”

“Natalie Warner,” Quintus said as if Sandy hadn’t heard. “She drives a Ferrari.”

“Does she?” Jogi looked impressed. “I’ve never seen it in the PSF parking lot.”

“She walks to work,” Quintus said. “And she keeps the wheels in my dad’s garage on Prairie Ave.”

“That explains that,” Jogi said.

Sandy blinked, her breath catching in her throat. A grin spread across her face. “That might explain a lot of things.”

Natalie drove a Ferrari. She hated Ronny’s guts. She’d probably gotten an earful of everything Ronny was up to throughout the competition. She disappeared the next day, suddenly called home. Hadn’t Sandy heard something about her parents being involved in oil?

“What’s that look for?” Jogi asked and that giggle.

“Um….” The more she thought about it, the more the pieces fell into place. And the harder it was for Sandy to stop giggling. “I think I definitely need to take Natalie out for lunch sometime.”

Then again, maybe it would be better if the whole thing remained a mystery. The bank was safe, after all. The new shareholder still hadn’t come forward, but according to the bank’s bylaws, they didn’t have to. Still, Sandy would make a point to be extra nice to Natalie whenever she saw her.

She leaned closer to Jogi, hugging him from the side. “I think I just realized how lucky I am,” she said,

“What, just now?” Jogi teased her.

She turned to smile at him, darting in to kiss his cheek. “Maybe I’ve always been lucky, but I was too caught up in myself to realize it.”

“And do you realize it now?” he asked, looking at her as though she were the only person who existed in the world.

“You better believe I do.”

* * *

I hope you have enjoyed Sandy and Jogi’s love story! Man, I wish I could make a movie of all of those dance scenes for you. And there’s more to come in Haskell, later this summer. What kind of mayhem will Calliope Clutterbuck get up to when she finally gets to join forces with the hunky Jonathan Cross? And what will they find when they open a certain time capsule discovered at The Silver Dollar bar? (Hint: You can find out about that in , Book 11 of The Brides of Paradise Ranch historical western series) Stay tuned later this summer for Book 6 in the Nerds of Paradise series, Chemical Reaction.

And in case you were wondering, yes, Ward Templesmith will be back. And he might just find out about a certain reluctant dance partner who bought Guy Sedgewick’s shares in the bank. But will he be happy about it? Find out this winter in Merging Forces.