It took a while for people to figure out they were a couple. Brock and Payton walked in hand in hand, but even that wasn’t much of an indicator. Payton had always hung around the Lowells. It wasn’t until they were seen kissing next to the drink station that people began to catch on, then excitement rippled through the crowd. Brock looked up at one point to see Cheyenne snapping a candid shot of them on her phone.

Marlene, the sheriff’s busybody receptionist, just happened to be refilling her punch beside them. She gave them a smile. “I knew when I saw you on the square that there was something brewing. Congratulations, kids.”

Payton’s cheeks grew pink, but as more people began congratulating them her color eased. Brock watched her react to their friends and family and again wondered why he hadn’t done this sooner. He and Payton were perfect together, and more than one person mentioned that they’d always thought they would eventually fall in love and be together.

Fall in love. Yup, that’s exactly what he’d done.

Cheyenne wrapped her into a huge hug, whispered something in her ear that made her giggle. Then she turned to give him a hug. Brock squeezed her hard, because her support had been the first sign of approval he’d received from the family, through Payton. He would always remember that.

“You did good, big brother. Look at that smile.”

Brock looked at the grin on Payton’s lips as she talked to a neighbor and nodded. “Isn’t she beautiful?”

Cheyenne smacked him on the arm. “I meant you, you big stupid. You’re strutting like a peacock with her on your arm, and you haven’t stopped grinning since you came in.”

Brock frowned. “Really?”

His sister nodded. “Totally.”

Shrugging, he let his hands fall away. “I’m beginning to realize how blind I’ve been. If you’d told me she was the one for me five years ago, I’m not sure that I would have listened to you.”

Cheyenne’s eyes widened. “Wow. That’s a pretty big admission. You know,” she said thoughtfully, “the family has had a running bet on when you’d see it. I sent Daddy the pic of you two together.”

She showed him her phone, and a text message from their father. ‘About time! with a kissing smiley emoji.

For a long moment, Brock wasn’t sure if he should be pissed or laugh. Rather than destroy the mood he laughed. “Who won the bet?”

She scrunched up her face. “Not sure. We’ll have to look at the notes.”

Sheriff Lane had wandered over to talk to Payton, and he gave her a bear hug. The man was huge, so his arms wrapped around her with room to spare. Brock tried not to stiffen. The sheriff was a good-looking man. And Payton looked spectacular tonight in a tight-bodiced dress in shades of red, her hair curled again. Make-up enhanced her eyes, making her look more sultry than she already was. The two of them made a striking couple.

Even as he thought it though, the man looked up, his gaze locking on Cheyenne. Cheyenne had caught the look too. She turned toward Brock, panic in her big blue eyes. “Talk to me about something, Brock. Hurry!”

“I think you’re going to have to straighten this mess out one of these days, Cheyenne,” he told her softly. “You can’t keep carrying this. There’s too much good going on right now for you to be haunted by the past.”

Sheriff Lane moved closer. Not giving his sister a chance to leave, Brock wrapped his arm around her narrow shoulders. Tremors shook her bones, but he kept her tight against his side as he held his other hand out to Sheridan. “Sheriff.”

“Brock.” His voice lowered and he took off his Stetson, revealing walnut colored hair. “Cheyenne.”

“Sheriff.”

Sheridan looked back at Brock and seemed to force a smile. “Seems you’ve had a change of circumstance, Mr. Lowell.”

Brock grinned as his gaze lifted beyond Sheridan’s shoulder. “I have indeed.”

Payton had moved across the room to hand old man Johnson the gift she’d brought him. The old man kissed her on the cheek and waved her toward the food line, but she looked around instead, her gaze latching onto his. Smiling, she started winding in their direction, but was quickly sidetracked by her mother. Payton looked surprised, then happy to see her, wrapping her in a huge hug. It was obvious her mother cut right to the chase, because Payton glanced at him and nodded. With every answer she gave June Hanniford, her smile seemed to grow. When Rex, her father, joined them it was obvious Payton had to repeat all her answers, but by the end of the conversation Brock could see tears in her eyes as she nodded several times. The three of them hugged for a long moment, then let her go. Rex Hanniford looked up and caught his eye. Brock touched the brim of his hat for a second in respect, and received a similar response. If this relationship developed into more, and he couldn’t imagine that it wasn’t going to, Brock would have to go talk to the man.

The entire incident had only taken a few long seconds, but when Payton’s gaze connected with his own, there was serenity in her beautiful eyes.

“I booked those two yahoos,” the sheriff continued, “and it seems our Mr. Green has a lot of dirt on Ronnie, besides what they were already caught doing. I have a special investigator from the state police coming in tomorrow to interview them.”

“That’s great news. After talking to my father about some of the things they’ve done and he hasn’t reported, I’m not surprised.”

“Yes. We’ll be looking into Ezekiel Critman’s ranch practices as well, since he’s given part of it to Ronnie to run.”

Brock’s brows popped up. “Oh, damn, I didn’t know he’d taken over any part of it.”

Sheridan nodded. “Mr. Critman has been having back problems the past several years, and they’re getting worse, so Ronnie’s been covering.”

Silence settled between them and Sheridan looked at Cheyenne again. She had turned her pale face away to watch the band set up. His gaze connected with Brock’s again, and Brock could sympathize with the man.

“I’ll leave you to it,” he said finally. “Congratulations, Brock. Nice seeing you again, Cheyenne.”

His sister didn’t say anything, but he felt her relax as soon as the sheriff left. He let go of her shoulders and she stepped away. “Not sure what you have against the man, Cheyenne, but you should take a minute and think about everything he’s done for you. No matter how well liked a person is in the community, if people found out what he’d done for you they’d probably kick him out of his job.”

Big blue eyes flashed to his in hurt, but he stared at her hard until she looked away. “I know,” she whispered.

Payton joined them, her arm slipping naturally around Brock’s waist, and she smiled up at him. “Want to take a bet on her falling for Sheridan?”

Brock narrowed his eyes at her as if in thought. “I’d be willing to take that bet. What are the stakes?”

“Case of root beer?”

They shook hands and Cheyenne glared at them, before turning away in a huff.

“It was all well and good when she was betting on me,” Brock laughed.

“I know. She’ll be fine. I’ll ride over there tomorrow and harass her.”

Brock looked at her out of the corner of his eye. “Maybe. I have a feeling you’ll be busy for a large part of the day. You know, recovering from the hard night of sex you’re about to have.” He leaned over, staring down her cleavage.

Payton giggled and glanced around, trying to see if anyone had overheard them. If they had they gave no indication. “You’re bad,” she hissed. “But oh, so good. When can we cut out of here?”

Brock glanced around. They’d only been here a few minutes, but maybe that had been enough.

“Let’s go, sweetness.”