Sage sat at the kitchen table with her laptop open and a fresh mug of tea. The house was quiet. Jake had disappeared into his bedroom to nap while Leah was down. The little girl remained sound asleep, her body worn out.

Deeply fatigued, but too wired to do anything about it, Sage pulled up a job search site and input Willow Gap as her sole criteria. The results were quick to load, unsurprising given that there were only twenty-two listings.

She scrolled through. The application deadline on one had expired three days earlier. Exceeding all the minimum qualifications with room to spare, she made a note to apply in person anyway. She skipped the next two listings because she didn’t have a mechanic’s skillset or a saddler’s, whatever that last one entailed. Saddles, obviously, but she doubted she could lift one let alone work on it.

Finding another office job listed, she clicked on it then immediately clicked away after reading the beginning of the first line.

Turk Industries seeks applicants…

With another click, she separated the jobs out by employer. Hope that she would be able to find local employment anytime soon shriveled inside her chest. Half the positions were decidedly best filled by a man. Turk Industries had posted the remaining listings.

For Jake and Leah’s sake, Sage would be as polite as possible to that family, but she wouldn’t work for them, wouldn’t make it easier for them to discover her and Jake’s past by handing over all the personal data that came with filling out an application.

Even so, curiosity teased her finger into clicking on the company’s website. After a painfully long wait, the page loaded.

Sage snickered.

“Whoa, Nelly. Nineteen Ninety called and wants its user interface back.”

Her mouse hovered over the links. She clicked on the “About” link then took her cup to the sink instead of suffering through the wait time. She returned to the table to find some marketing gloss about a long dead man named Corryn Turk settling in the Willow Gap area back when there was no state of Montana, just a territory.

Sage scrolled down until she found a link to the management bios. She clicked the link then cocked her head at the sound of the screen door being pulled open. Jumping up, she rushed to the front door as quietly as she could, nothing but nylons on her feet. Opening the door a crack, she peered through the gap to see a sixty-something woman holding a gallon-sized glass jar with bits of green floating around inside it.

The woman beamed a broad smile. “You must be Sage, Jake’s sister.”

Sage blinked. It was a quarter past ten in the morning. Adler Turk had left the house sometime between six and when Jake came into the guest room around seven. But somehow this stranger knew her name.

Was it Adler’s mother?

With a hint of clairvoyance, the woman took a big step back, slid the jug to one hip and extended her hand in introduction.

“I’m Betty Rae Mahan. I live next door.”

She finished, hand still extended, with a jaunty tilt of her head to the house on her right.

Back teeth locked together, Sage nodded and smiled blankly until the woman withdrew her hand. This was the busybody who had Adler Turk showing up and letting himself in with a key ring that looked like he owned half the town.

“I heard the little one has a nervous tummy.”

Sage nodded again, not sure whether she would call throwing up half a dozen times, including twice on Sage’s slacks and blouse, a “nervous tummy.”

“She’s sleeping right now,” Sage whispered. “So is Jake. It was a rough night. My plane was late getting in and everything got worse from there.”

“Oh, yes, I saw him leave at nine-thirty last night. Then I saw him come back with you. The hot flashes keep me up, you know.”

“I see.” Sage eyed the jug on the woman’s hip. “The fridge is full of things people have brought over.”

Her smile never faltering, Betty Rae looked Sage over, top to bottom much as Adler Turk had, her assessment of Sage equally unreadable.

“This can sit on the counter, dear. It’s a mint elixir. It will settle that little tummy right down and help Leah rehydrate.”

“Thank you.” Sage stepped onto the porch, her hands half out to accept the jug and get rid of the woman.

Betty Rae opened up more room between them.

She nodded at Jake’s truck. “First thing I thought of seeing him rush out with the baby after dark was how he had to do the same when the call came in about Dawn and Brody. No one had told him that, well, that it was over before the medics arrived. He thought Dawn was on her way to the hospital. He thought there was some chance to see her…to help her.”

Genuine sorrow filled the older woman’s gaze. Sage felt her own nose pinch with emotion. She sniffed it away then put one hand beneath the jug and the other over its top.

“That would certainly explain Leah getting sick last night,” she agreed, pulling the jug to her as Betty Rae’s grip relaxed. “I’ll let Jake know you brought this by. Is there a limit to how much she can have?”

“As much as she wants,” Betty Rae answered. “I’ve got another batch steeping, so you let me know when she’s ready for a refill.”

“Of course.” Sage cradled the jug against her chest, guilt chewing at her for ignoring Betty Rae’s outstretched hand earlier. “That’s very kind of you.”

Betty Rae smiled again, her gaze wandering down the street to where a black truck with a loud exhaust had just turned the corner.

“Adler back so soon,” she said. “Of course, he always was around a lot, what with dropping off work for Dawn the first year Leah was home. You would think those two were twins instead of being born five years apart. Both have their mama’s hair and their daddy’s eyes.”

Biting down on the urge to run inside and wake Jake to deal with his brother-in-law, Sage demonstrated she was listening with a noncommittal murmur.

Looking at the truck, she could only see the bottom third of the driver’s face, the rest shielded by the sun visor. Maybe Betty Rae was wrong about who owned the vehicle. There were more trucks in Montana than cars, many of them all but identical to the black behemoth rumbling down the road with its quad cab and big tires.

Seeing the truck slow down to make its turn into the driveway, Betty Rae exhaled a happy sigh.

“I do like looking at the Turk men, even if I’m almost twice the oldest’s age,” she said in a side whisper as Adler flipped the sun visor up and turned the engine off. “I imagine Lindy will be hell-bent to get those boys married now, too, what, with only one grand baby.”

She glanced at Sage, gaze dancing for a moment with pure mischief. “After a respectable time, of course.”

Sage’s lips parted, but she had nothing to add to the conversation. Stomach coiling into a knot, she watched Adler Turk open the truck door and unspool his long frame from the cab. Boots as black as the paint on his vehicle touched the ground. A side step brought most of his body into view. Dark denim jeans draped him from the hips down. A white t-shirt tucked at the waist and a light, long-sleeved chambray covered the top.

The outfit was a welcome change from the menacing all-black ensemble he had worn that morning, that earlier set of clothes rumpled enough that he must have grabbed whatever he had dumped on the floor before crawling into bed. The only thing missing had been a black ski mask, Sage thought. She had almost wet herself seeing his big frame blocking the kitchen entrance, his face centered around a cold, twisting smile, his body clad in clothes best suited to a burglar or serial killer.

Standing next to Betty Rae, Sage silently vowed that, of all the Turks, this was the one she would avoid the most, even if it meant being outrageously pleasant and helpful to the rest of them.

“I do hope he’s going to put that cowboy hat on,” Betty Rae tittered like a schoolgirl as Adler reached into the back seat. “I swear, the last time he did it at Marla’s cafe, so many women sighed at once you could feel the breeze from it.”

Turning her gaze on Sage, the woman winked.

Sage snapped her mouth shut. She really wasn’t prepared to meet Adler Turk again, especially with another woman offering a running commentary on how sexually attractive the man was. Sage didn’t need an opinion on his looks. She had already made her own assessment.

Even though the strong protective streak that ran through him had been misdirected, it was sexy as hell to see his muscles bunched tight and the dark gaze blazing—or at least it would have been sexy as hell if she hadn’t been terrified. She also liked that he was taller than her, something most men weren’t. And the broad, muscular shoulders gave an intimidating width to his body.

She didn’t even want to think about how the few day’s growth of stubbly beard cast a dangerous shadow on the long face with its strong jaw. If she thought about it again, she would imagine the coarse hairs tickling at her thighs.

Not gonna happen…

“Oh, looks like he has something for you,” Betty Rae whispered.

Sage followed the direction of Betty Rae’s tilted chin just in time to see Adler lifting a hunter green suitcase from the back seat of his truck. The bag had tan piping around the zipper and seams, making it an identical match to the luggage the airport had lost. He reached into the back seat a second time and pulled out the weekender she had also checked in Baltimore.

“Why, he must have left here and gone straight to the airport,” Betty Rae gushed. “Now that’s a man who was raised to take care of family.”

Sage wondered if the comment was a dig at Jake. She looked at the woman, gaze narrowing despite her best effort to keep a neutral expression.

Busy ogling Adler’s backside, Betty Rae didn’t notice.

Shouldering one bag and rolling the other behind him, Adler brought the luggage onto the porch. If he had his cowboy hat with him, he left it in the truck.

“Betty Rae,” he acknowledged, his smile tightening when he turned to Sage. “Miss Ballard.”

“Oh, you step inside dear,” Betty Rae casually ordered. “I’ll hold the screen open for this fine young man then be on my way.”

Mouth gaping anew, Sage narrowly shook her head. She needed both of these people off her porch. She certainly didn’t want Adler inside. No matter how long she remained in Willow Gap, this was one man she would never be comfortable around. All his sex appeal couldn’t erase the morning’s bad manners.

Adler propped the door open with the rolling suitcase then planted a kiss on the older woman’s cheek.

“No worries, Betty Rae. I’ve got this covered. Is that your famous mint elixir Miss Ballard is holding?”

Betty Rae blushed, her smile so big her lips trembled with the effort of keeping it pinned in place. “I’ve got another batch brewing. And I’ll be sure to bring extra to the Women’s Planning Committee meeting on Wednesday.”

“I’ll be sure to sneak in and steal some,” he said, his hand landing softly on her shoulder and steering her toward the steps.

Betty Rae giggled and batted her lashes in his direction, her plump cheeks coloring a pale rose.

Hoping the woman would keep Adler occupied a few seconds more, Sage put the jug of mint water on a bookshelf and pulled her rolling suitcase inside quiet as a mouse. Returning to the threshold, she saw that Betty Rae was gone and Adler stood on the opposite side of the screen door, her weekender still slung over his shoulder and a cocky grin bringing out the laugh lines around the dark blue eyes.

“I bet,” he said, his voice low, “you would just love for me to put this down on the dusty old porch and drive off.”

Her skills in silent communication well-honed over the last decade of her life, she cocked a brow in confirmation. He cocked a brow back, the gesture raising one side of the devilish smile just as the broad chest pushed in her direction.

Spine stiff, Sage scooped up Betty Rae’s mint elixir and carried it into the kitchen. Adler followed, closing the front door and placing Sage’s weekender on the side chair in the living room. By the time she turned around from making space for the jug, Adler stood next to her laptop, the firm lips puckered with fresh amusement.

“If you want to get to know me, Miss Ballard,” he teased. “Just ask.”

Sage turned the laptop around to see a photograph of the man in front of her next to his management bio. She snapped the lid down and stepped past him into the living room, her voice trailing softly in her wake.

“I clicked over from a job site.”

Her hand landed on the weekender. Her fingertips tingled with the need to make sure that its contents were undisturbed, especially the thick envelope with unsent letters to Jake from their mother. At least she had sealed the envelope. Then again, there was nothing written on the outside. He could have simply stopped off at a store or pharmacy and purchased a new one.

“Well, we certainly are the county’s largest employer,” he said, stopping less than an arm’s length from Sage. “If you’re looking for work, I definitely have a position you can fill.”

Her gaze flicked in his direction, but nothing in Adler’s expression suggested he had worked a double meaning into his words. It was just that his natural baritone, so close and subdued for the sake of the toddler sleeping down the hall, added a speculative twist to the offer—at least it had for one fleeting second inside Sage’s sleep-deprived mind. Even thinking he might hold a sliver of THAT kind of interest in her was ridiculous. She could only think of one man who rivaled Adler’s looks but preferred his women fluffy.

Sage swatted her thoughts and Adler’s offer away as if she was chasing a fly.

“I decided to look further afield if I stay any length of time.” She swept her hand at the luggage. “The airport said they were still searching when I called an hour ago. But you already had it by then.”

“I imagine they were still searching,” he snorted. “That airport handles more cargo flights than passenger planes. Most airlines tend to toss misplaced luggage in with whatever is headed to Billings next. You just have to know where to look or you wait a couple days for your carrier to figure it out.”

Arms folded across her chest, Sage stared at the luggage. It was better than looking at Adler Turk.

Too bad out of sight wasn’t out of mind. She could feel his body heat, smell faint strains of the detergent in which his clothes had been washed. The heat magnified the scent, clogging her nose with a mix of magnolias and vanilla. Feeling her bones go soft, she knew she needed him gone. But she had to be polite about it for the sake of Jake and Leah.

Chewing at the soft inside flesh of her bottom lip, Sage mentally rehearsed a few phrases, weighing their level of resolve and civility.

“Now, don’t go blaming the clerk,” Adler coaxed. “He dealt with Dawn more than any of us, saw the Ballard name and figured it was okay to release the bags to me.”

She stared at him from the corner of one eye.

“You were there on other business?”

His hands did a little dance in the air before folding around one another. “No. Jake said your luggage got lost. I figured I needed to atone for the fright I gave you this morning…”

Adler stepped in front of her, decreasing the distance between them to a hand’s length. Sage had to tilt her chin up if she wanted to see his eyes instead of the firm lips as he strained to push out an apology.

“Seeing you in the kitchen, I got a little worked up. My first impression was—”

Hands moving to her hips, Sage finished for him.

“Hysterical?”

The midnight blue gaze narrowed, so did the mouth. His eyes darted as he seemed to study her face and then he offered a smile that Sage deemed entirely forced.

“Not the word I would have used,” he said, voice vibrating in the air between them. “But if it’s the one you’re most familiar with, Miss Ballard, then, yes, hysterical.”

With that, the visit—and his apology—was over.