Maybe he should just forget about it. Maybe he should just get Lily a dog.

  And he was back to the beginning.

  When his cell phone rang, he grabbed it, thankful for the diversion.

  It was Adam. The buyer he had lined up for three purebred bulls. A minor purchase from a major cattle guy, but a potential foot in the door.

  “So, those bulls, you putting them on your sale or can I still get them?” Adam asked as Silas turned the truck in to his driveway.

  “They’re yours if you take all three.”

  “If they throw the calves you say they do, then I’ll be back for more next year.”

  Which would mean a much larger sale.

  “I’d like them delivered a week from tomorrow. Sunday.”

  “I can arrange that. There’s a local guy—”

  “I want them delivered by you. Not contracted out to some guy who doesn’t care in what shape they come to the farm.”

  Silas glanced at Lily who was swinging her feet, smiling at him.

  Adam’s ranch was an eight-hour drive. One way. There was no way he could take Lily along. She got carsick after an hour in any vehicle.

  He’d delivered bulls before, but only short distances to local ranchers. But Adam was exactly the kind of client he was trying to woo. And if Adam wanted his bulls delivered, Silas would find a way.

  But what was he supposed to do with Lily?

  A picture of Josie stroking Alyssa’s hair flashed into his mind.

  Silas dismissed the idea. He had a few other options. Sure, Lily had never stayed overnight anywhere for the past two years, but he’d figure something out. He had to if he wanted this sale and if he wanted to be fair to Lily.

  “Okay. I’ll get them to you next Sunday,” Silas said. They chatted a bit more, then the conversation was over.

  Silas snapped his cell phone shut and while it was still out, he called the neighbor lady who took care of Lily from time to time.

  But she was gone this weekend and his backup plan, a high school senior whom he’d used once or twice, was also busy this weekend.

  With a sigh he slipped his phone into the holder at his waist.

  “Is something the matter, Daddy?” Lily asked as he pulled up to the house.

  “No. Nothing’s wrong. I just need to deliver some bulls and it will be a long drive for us,” Silas said as he parked his truck in front of the house.

  Lily’s face drooped. “Can I please stay home?”

  “I can’t find someone to take care of you, punkin’.”

  “But I don’t want to be sick again.” Lily pressed her hand on her stomach, remembering the last time she’d come with him on a long trip.

  Silas remembered all too well himself. Neither the attendant guilt nor the post-sick cleanup had sat well with him.

  “I could stay at Alyssa’s place,” Lily suggested quietly.

  Silas gave her a sidelong glance, his mind working over that possibility.

  “I don’t know, honey. We barely know her or Ms. Cane.”

  “I know Alyssa real good. And Ms. Josie told me that if I ever want to stay over, I can.”

  Silas wasn’t surprised. Ms. Volunteer herself.

  “You could bring me on Saturday,” she said, turning to face him, as if sensing his hesitation. “Then you can leave early Sunday morning and be home at night and I won’t miss you for too long.”

  Silas had to smile at his daughter’s reasoning and how well she understood what needed to be done.

  “And it would work because on Saturday morning you are going shopping with Ms. Josie and you can bring me to Alyssa’s place. I can stay overnight and on Sunday you can bring your bulls away.”

  Silas shot her a frown. “I’m not going shopping with Ms. Cane.”

  “But I heard her say she would help you.”

  “When did you hear that?” Silas asked.

  Lily turned her head away so fast Silas was surprised he didn’t hear her neck snap.

  “You were listening in, weren’t you?” he insisted.

  Lily wove her fingers together and stretched her hands out in front of her. “Maybe I heard a little bit about my birthday present.”

  And maybe she heard a lot.

  “That would be nice to get a birthday present. And it would be really nice to stay overnight at Ms. Josie’s. So I don’t have to get sick in the truck,” she added, dotting her i’s and crossing her t’s with a poignant sigh worthy of an Oscar.

  He hadn’t taken Josie up on the offer, but Lily’s sigh hit his guilt buttons with deadly accuracy. He still wanted to get her a birthday present and he still needed a place for her to stay.

  “I’ll think about it” was all he said.

  But when Lily was in bed and Silas was sure she was fast asleep, he picked up the phone. Put it down. Thought of his options, which were nil. Thought of the repercussions, which could simply be the result of overthinking.

  Sure she was single. Sure she was attractive. But he wasn’t looking. So he was safe.

  He pulled in a long, slow breath, then dialed Josie Cane’s number as he tried to kill two birds with one stone.

  Chapter Six

  “You look pretty, Auntie Josie,” Alyssa said, looking up from the puzzle she was working on at the kitchen table. “I like it when you don’t pull your hair back.”

  Josie put her hand up to her hair, wondering if she should have put it in her usual ponytail. Was she being too obvious?

  And the lipstick? Should she have even bothered with makeup?

  Should she have offered to help him buy some clothes for Lily? Shouldn’t she have simply left him and Lily to Eileen and her limited inventory?

  Josie stilled her spinning thoughts as she slipped a casserole in the oven and set the timer so the oven would go on while they were away. She was simply helping out a little girl.

  And her very attractive father.

  Her very complicated and frustrating father, she added as a reminder to herself.

  As she rinsed off the dishes she’d used, she glanced out the window of the cottage. The window afforded her a view of Main Street so she would know if Silas was coming.

  A truck drove into view and Josie’s heart flipped, but it drove past. Not Silas, she thought, shaking her head at her silly reaction.

  A knock at the door sent her heart pounding against her ribs. But it was only the babysitter, a high school student who lived down the road, recommended to her by Maya Logan, now Maya Garrison. Someone who Maya assured her could handle two rambunctious girls and one cantankerous grandmother.

  While she was giving Carla, the babysitter, directions on what to do, Gramma rolled her wheelchair into the kitchen.

  “And this is my grandmother, Betty Carter,” Josie said to Carla, hoping, praying, her grandmother would be on her best behavior.

  “Good afternoon, Mrs. Carter. Pleased to meet you.” Carla flashed Betty a quick smile.

  Josie’s grandmother gave the girl a wary look. “You live down the street, don’t you?”

  “I do. Past the school. My father owns the restaurant on Fourth and Main.”

  “I used to eat at that place. Lovely food.” Betty Carter’s face softened and she smiled back at Carla. “I know your parents. Good people.”

  “Thank you.”

  Josie released her breath on a sigh of relief. Her grandmother had given her stamp of approval. All would be well while she was gone.

  And yet, while Josie watched Carla and Gramma chat it up, she felt a sliver of pain. Why was her grandmother so easy with other people and so judgmental with her?

  Sure she’d made mistakes, but didn’t six years of caring for her niece and Betty balance the books?

  Josie’s thoughts were interrupted by the growling sound of a diesel truck pulling up to the house.

  She ran to the window just as Silas stepped out of his truck, wearing his habitual blue jeans. He walked around the truck, then helped his daughter out. Today Lily looked a little more presentable, but the denim pants she wore barely reached her ankles and the sweater sleeves hung well above Lily’s slender wrists.

  Helping Silas get her some new clothes was a good idea, she rationalized.

  But as they walked up to the house, Josie noticed Silas hadn’t taken a suitcase for Lily. Had he changed his mind about Lily staying overnight? They had both decided not to tell the girls, to spare each of them the excitement this news would create.

  Just before they reached the ramp, Silas glanced at the house, his eyes zeroing in on her.

  Josie pulled back from the window, her face heating up. She looked like some silly teenager waiting for a date. She pressed her lips together, second-guessing the linen pants she had chosen and the coral sweater. Too dressy for a simple shopping trip. She should have stuck to blue jeans, a T-shirt and jean jacket.

  Then he was knocking on the door and Alyssa was running to open it.

  This was followed by another flurry of introductions and instructions and an exchange of cell phone numbers between her, Silas and the babysitter.

  “Now, make sure you call if you need anything, Carla,” Josie said as she grabbed her purse. “I’ll keep my cell phone on.”

  She glanced at Silas, but still he said nothing about the overnight visit. He must have changed his mind. Good thing she didn’t say anything to Alyssa.

  They said their goodbyes then Josie was following Silas down the wheelchair ramp to his truck. A light breeze tossed her hair around her face, making a few strands stick to her lipstick.

  As she brushed them away, she saw Silas opening the passenger door of the truck then holding out his hand to help her in.

  Her gaze grazed his hand and for a moment she was unsure whether she was supposed to actually take it or whether she even should.

  “Who said chivalry was dead,” she joked as she ignored his hand and lifted her foot to step into the truck.

  But she had underestimated how high his truck was and as she lost her balance, he caught her by the elbow. She struggled a moment, still trying to get in on her own, but gravity won out and she fell sideways.

  Her cheeks grew even redder as her shoulder came into contact with his chest, his hand still holding her arm. “I’m sorry,” she muttered, trying to regain her balance. “I didn’t think I needed any help.”

  “A common mistake,” he said with a dry tone, as he gave her a quick, ungainly push and then she was sitting on the seat.

  He slammed the door and as he walked around the front of the truck, Josie took a deep, slow breath, forcing herself to relax.

  Just a shopping trip, she told herself. You’re just helping out a single dad for the sake of Lily. It’s all about Lily. Relax, would you?

  But when Silas got into the truck, she shot him a quick sidelong glance, surprised to see him doing the same with her.

  “I noticed you didn’t bring a suitcase for Lily. Did you change your mind about having her stay?”

  “No. I didn’t.”

  Josie waited for him to elaborate but he said nothing.

  “Do you have an idea of where you want to go?” she asked.

  “I was hoping you would navigate. I know nothing about shopping.” He shot her a quizzical glance. “As you well know.”

  “In that case turn right when you leave here and we’ll head toward Manhattan.”

  Silas frowned. “That’s a half hour away.”

  Josie nodded. “I know, but there’s a lovely store there that I’ve shopped at from time to time for clothes for Alyssa. Eileen Struthers, who owns our local clothing store, doesn’t have a lot of selection yet. But when we come back, we can go to her for shoes and a few other things.”

  “Okay. You know best.” Silas turned the truck engine on and country music blasted out of the truck’s radio. His hand flew to the knob as he cut off a singer midtwang. “Sorry. I let Lily pick the volume and the station. Not my usual fare.”

  “What do you usually listen to?”

  Silas dropped his arm across the back of the seat, his hand a few inches from her shoulder. He half turned in his seat to look behind him, his other hand spinning the steering wheel as he negotiated a backward turn.

  Josie relaxed when his hand returned to the steering wheel.

  “I like it quiet when I’m driving,” he finally replied when he was driving back down Main Street. “What about you? What do you usually listen to?”

  “I don’t admit this to many people around here, but I like jazz if I’m in the right mood. Folk music. Classical. Bluegrass if the sun is shining and I’m driving out in the country and I’m in need of a banjo fix.”

  Silas flashed her a puzzled look. “Bluegrass?”

  “Of course. It’s good ol’ mountain music. Part of our heritage.”

  Silas’s frown morphed into a half smile. “Not Kansas’s heritage.”

  “There’s not many songs about farmers and wheat fields,” Josie countered. “So I’ll pilfer what culture I can from the Southern states.”

  His smile shifted but he didn’t reply and the silence that Silas preferred filled the cab.

  Josie sat back, content to watch the town slip past the window. This end of High Plains hadn’t been hit as hard as where she lived and they drove beneath a canopy of trees whose changing leaves created a blaze of color missing from her neighborhood.

  “I miss this,” she said, unable to keep the wistful tone out of her voice. “The trees in our neighborhood are just stumps and empty branches.”

  “When can you move back into your house?” Silas asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Why not? I noticed the other houses in town seem to be coming along.”

  “I’m having paperwork issues with my insurance company.” Josie let a sigh slip past her lips. Thankfully it was Saturday, so she had a break from the endless phone calls and paperwork required to get things back in order. And as an extra bonus, the excuse of helping Lily gave her a valid reason for a break away from her grandmother and away from Alyssa. “But I’m thankful I have a place to stay for now.”

  “And your grandmother’s place?”

  “It will be ready in a couple of weeks, but she isn’t doing well, so I doubt she’ll be moving back home soon.” Which reminded Josie, she had to tell her grandmother about the appointment she had set up. Betty wouldn’t be happy. She hated going to the physiotherapist’s, claiming she didn’t do her any good and she hated, even more, going to see any doctor. Claimed they knew nothing.

  Put that aside. Right now you’re away from the house and you should have taken this break a lot sooner.

  The houses of the town thinned out and soon they were in the country. Most of the fields had been combined and worked up already. Some tractors were pulling seed drills, planting fall rye and spring wheat.

  And so the cycle continues, Josie thought, wondering where she would be come spring. Would she still be stuck in High Plains? Caring for Betty in the tiny cottage that was only supposed to be temporary? She couldn’t think about that. She had a plan. It was only on hold for a while, that’s all.

  “How badly was her house damaged?” Silas’s question broke into her thoughts.

  “Not hugely, but I don’t know when she’s moving back. So, for now, she’s my responsibility.”

  “I think it’s admirable that you are willing to take care of your grandmother,” Silas said after a few miles of silence.

  “Don’t give me too much credit, I just do what I have to. Josie Cane, volunteering again.” The words came out in a rush before she could stop them. Josie blamed her lapse on her circling thoughts. “Sorry. You didn’t need to hear that.”

  Silas kept his gaze ahead as the power lines flipped past them. “I’m going to make a wild guess based on the one evening I spent with you and figure you have your troubles with her.”

  Josie pressed her lips together, as if to keep back the thoughts she suppressed every day.

  “You are allowed to admit to a few failings, you know,” Silas said.

  His voice had taken on a lightly teasing tone that was at odds with his usually broody expression.

  “I’ve got more than a few, as you probably well know. I’m sure you’ve heard the stories of my wild past.”

  Silas shot her a quick glance and nodded. “I heard them and, to tell the truth, when Lily and Alyssa took off from the church the day of the tornado, your reputation affected my decision to pull Lily out of the program.”

  Josie swallowed down a beat of disappointment.

  “But I was wrong. I shouldn’t have let your past get in the way of your present.” He gave her a careful smile that seemed to settle into the lonely places of her heart. “It’s past and I’m sorry. You’re a caring person and it shows. I know I can trust you with my girl.”

  He glanced at the road, then back at her, his smile growing broader. Warmer. His words of approval making a home in her heart.

  Josie couldn’t look away and for the merest heartbeat possibilities beckoned. They were both single. And she was lonely.

  She cut off that thought, and cut off the connection. She couldn’t start anything with him. It wouldn’t be fair to him or her. And besides, his life was way too complicated for her.

  “Thanks for that,” she said quietly. “I appreciate it.”

  “So, you were born here? In High Plains?” Silas asked, continuing the conversation.

  “Lived here all my life. My parents were born here.”

  “So you must have a lot of family here?”

  Josie shook her head. “My grandparents moved here when my father was little. He was their only child.”

  “Must have been hard for your grandmother and you when your parents died.”

  Josie shot him a frown. “You know that?”

  He shrugged her question aside. “Small town. I know a few things about you.”

  “I know she was very sad,” Josie continued, preferring to ignore the latter comment. “I think it was also difficult for her, raising me and my sister. I wasn’t the easiest granddaughter.”

  “But you’re taking care of her now.”

  “Only until she can be on her own. Then I hope to move away.”