Lizzy’s plan was to sneak inside the house, up the stairs
and into her room. She could already feel the cool water
from the shower, washing away the hot sex still lingering
on her body.

Her plan did not work.

She hadn’t even kicked her boots off in front of the hall
tree when her sister Allie shot out of the kitchen,
grabbed her by the hand and tugged her into the table,
where the man she’d been in bed with not thirty minutes
ago gave her a sly wink. Oh my God, how could her mother—
standing right there—not notice the sparks bouncing
around the room. She was sure Allie’s husband, Blake,
also at the table, was picking up on something.

“Where have you been?” Allie accused. Lizzy braced
herself. Allie never paused for breath when she got
worked up. And sure enough she started talking faster
than some auctioneers that Lizzy had heard.

“I’ve called a dozen times and we were ready to start up
a search and rescue party to find you. Mama says you’ve
been puttin’ in too many hours at the store. You’ve got
to get out of this depression, Lizzy. Mitch isn’t worth
it. He’s a sorry son of a bitch, but don’t let him ruin
your life. It’s been over six months since that bastard
left for Mexico. In fact, tomorrow is June first, and I
declare it the day that you are moving forward with your
life.” Allie paused to suck in some air and looked around
at the other three people in the kitchen. “Okay, now that
she’s here, get out the ice cream, Mama, so we can tell
y’all our news.”

Lizzy pulled out a kitchen chair and melted into it.
Droplets of water still hung from Toby’s hair. So he’d
had time for a shower before he’d been dragged across the
fence to Lizzy and her mother’s house. If she hadn’t had
to run by her feed store for a late delivery, she might
have already had time to clean up, too. But Fate had not
liked her in a very long time. She tried not to notice
the way those droplets ran down his neck—exactly where
her mouth had been less than an hour earlier. Or that
sexy white scar on his face where a bull gored him—her
fingers itched to touch it again like she’d done so many
times.

He gave her a wink, and she could scarcely believe the
heat between them hadn’t set the wallpaper on fire. A
downright miracle.

Her mother, Katy, dipped ice cream into five bowls. These
days she was less stressed, now that Granny was in a care
facility in Wichita Falls that specialized in treatment
and care of folks with dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Allie, looked like she was about to explode with some
kind of fabulous news. Her husband, Blake O’Donnell, had
one of those smiles on his face that a dose of alum
couldn’t erase. And then there was Blake’s brother, Toby,
leaning against the wall, his rock hard body sending
waves of desire shooting through her body like blasts of
lightning. It wasn’t fair that he could stand there all
calm and collected while butterflies fluttered around in
her stomach. Sweet Jesus! Why did he have to be right
there in the room with her so soon after they’d gotten
all slick with sweat on that twin-sized bed in the back
room of her mama’s convenience store?

Allie and Katy carried the ice cream to the table and as
luck would have it, Toby sat beside Lizzy around the
table made for four people. His thigh pressed against
hers and she had trouble concentrating on the ice cream,
the excitement in her sister’s dark brown eyes, her
brother-in-law’s grin or anything else.

“We had the ultrasound done yesterday, and it’s a
girl...” Allie reached for Blake’s hand.

Katy’s spoon hit the table with a thud.

Toby jumped up and hugged his brother across the table.

Lizzy felt as if someone sucked all the oxygen from her
lungs and left her to smother to death in a grove of
mesquite trees. It was exactly the vision she’d had for
herself before her fiancé had run off with another woman.