Shay nodded, though she wasn’t sure Travis was looking at her. Her neckline itched, the lace and gems starting to irritate her. She scratched along her collarbone, her nails only adding more discomfort to her needled mind.

  “Anyway, I went to a lawyer, and he drew up a new business license and documents that put Sweetspot in my sole control.” The words tasted like poison in her mouth. “I wish I hadn’t done it. But I believed—I still do, Trav—that if I hadn’t, Kylie would be in my position at Sweetspot. She’d own twenty-five percent of it, and have no control over her own company, and I’d be the one drifting…somewhere.”

  Travis let a mile or two pass under the tires. “Do you know where she is?”

  “No,” Shayla said. “I haven’t spoken to her since she came back to our office, waving some paper that said she’d signed the first investor.”

  “So she signed them.”

  “She sure did,” Shayla said. “I was so angry. So…angry.” Shayla had never known such fury. “So I busted out the new docs, and I showed her that she didn’t own Sweetspot anymore. I did, and that her contract with whatever investor she’d gotten was null and void. Meant nothing.”

  “She didn’t try to get the company back?”

  “She did,” Shay said. “I won in court.” The last couple of words ghosted out of her mouth, which she found ironic given the holiday. “She hates me. I know she does. She has every right, but I didn’t want to lose Sweetspot either.”

  He had to understand. He simply had to.

  “I closed the home office in Marble Falls and moved it here. We’ve been operating online and at trade shows, fairs, stuff like that for the past few years. The storefront is⁠—”

  “New,” they said together. “I know,” Trav said. His hand tightened around hers, and Shay had never been so glad that she hadn’t been able to flee the scene of her discomfort quickly.

  She breathed. He drove. The radio hummed along at a volume she could hear but couldn’t decipher.

  “Anyway,” she said. “Flynn broke up with me when he learned what I’d done. He said he couldn’t be with someone who could do what I’d done to a friend. I guess he didn’t see what she’d done to me as the same thing. Or what she’d tried to do to me.”

  He still said nothing, and Shay would go mad any second if he didn’t. “What do you think?” she asked.

  “I don’t think anything,” he said. “I wasn’t there. I don’t know what happened or how you felt about it. I take you at your word.”

  “You once took Kylie at hers,” Shay said. “You accused me of stealing Sweetspot from her the first time we met.”

  “I regret that,” he said. “I didn’t know anything about it beside what she’d texted me. And we’d already broken up.”

  Shay nodded as the streetlights started painting the road ahead of them in yellow light. They passed the sign welcoming them back to Sweet Water Falls, and a few turns later, he pulled up to her house. “I’ll wait here if you want to go change.”

  “Can you come in?”

  “Absolutely.” He got out of the truck and came around to her side. She turned her legs so both of her knees faced him, pausing as he put one hand on her thigh and one on her face. “Shay,” he said. “You’re a stunning woman, in every way. You’re smart, articulate, and talented. You see things no one else does, both in terms of what’s missing in the outdoor outfitters market, and inside other people. Inside me.”

  Shay’s eyes filled with tears again. “I don’t need you to be nice to me.”

  “Don’t you?” He didn’t smile. He wasn’t teasing. “I just want you to know I don’t want you to leave. I don’t want you to run from me. I don’t want you to relocate, mentally, emotionally, or physically.”

  She let her eyes drift closed, but Travis didn’t lean down to kiss her. She appreciated that too, because this moment wasn’t about a physical connection. It was about him supporting her through something difficult for her.

  “I’ll stay,” she said. “I decided that when I first said ‘right’ earlier.”

  “Good.” He fell back and let her ease herself out of the truck. He walked her up to the front door, where she unlocked the knob and led him inside.

  “I’ll be fast,” she said. “I know you still have a long drive home.”

  “I’m fine, Shay,” he said. “Take your time.” He sank onto the couch and then sprang right back to his feet. “I can change out of this outfit too. I just remembered.” His face split into a grin, and he followed her down the hall. He veered off first into the spare bedroom, and Shay went to the bedroom at the end of the hall to shed her dress and pull on her lounge clothes.

  As she placed her fancy earrings back in their velvet box, she realized she didn’t want to go to Elaine’s. She hadn’t texted or called her friend yet. Perhaps she could get Travis to brew some coffee and hold her on the couch until she fell asleep. If he did that, she’d be fine sleeping here alone once he left.

  She returned to the living room before him, once again wondering what took him so long with that darn Regency costume. She had the coffee dripping into the pot when he emerged from the hallway, and she gave him a weary smile.

  “I don’t want to go to Elaine’s,” she said. “Do you want to stay for coffee?”

  “Are you sure?” he asked. “She has Sweetie.”

  “She’ll bring her to me in the morning,” Shay said. “Or meet me at the store with her.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned into him. “Will you just hold me for a minute?”

  He said nothing, and every woman in the world should be held by a cowboy at least once in their life. A man who smelled like fresh rainwater and pine needles, who simply leant his warmth to whoever needed it, and who could hold a woman without saying anything for ten, then twenty, minutes.

  Shay smoothed her hands down the front of her dress, feeling like the bright green number was far too formal for this event. Elaine had told her she wanted to stand out. She, Shay, and Jadyn had gone shopping together, and they each wore a bright dress that reminded Shay almost of a fifties diner outfit. Just more…neon.

  “I’m so nervous,” she admitted, and Travis finally looked away from his phone. She didn’t want to be irritated with him, but he’d barely spoken to her or met her eye since he’d arrived a half-hour ago.

  He stood from the folding chair he’d been in, shoved his phone in his back pocket, and approached her. “You’re going to be fine. The speech is perfect.” His hands landed on her shoulders and moved down her arms. “You’re perfect.”

  She knew she wasn’t, but she appreciated him saying so. She looked up at him, wishing she was better. He deserved someone better than her. Perhaps she could hold onto him long enough to become better.

  “Shay,” Jadyn said, bursting into the back room. “You have to come see what Gretchen is doing. It’s incredible.” She wore sunshine in every pore on her face, and she turned to head back out to the showroom.

  They’d spent hours, and utilized plenty of cowboy muscles, to rearrange the storefront for the big reveal and launch of their happy-family-camper tent. Currently, the tent—fully assembled and set up—stood behind a curtain Shay would lower at the precise moment in her speech. They had a big display of them off to the side, and Shay, Elaine, and Jadyn had strategically arranged other products perfect for large family camping events nearby as well.

  She paused in the doorway, hugging in close to Jadyn, who hadn’t fully entered the showroom from the back of the store either. The curtain hung on the far side, with the boxed tents against that wall.

  Shay had hired Gretchen Bellows and Sweet Water Taffy to come set up refreshments, and she’d asked if Shay wanted a caramel apple station. Shay had said yes, not fully understanding what that meant.

  Her eyes saw what was happening, and she still wasn’t sure what she’d paid for and agreed to. Gretchen, a pretty blonde woman with cascading curls down her back, had set up a couple of tables, which held chocolates and rice crispy square bites. Those alone would’ve been enough for Shay, as she’d never seen such beautiful rice crispy squares. Some had been dipped in chocolate and feathery toasted coconut. Some had small tents stuck to the top. Some bore a hiking boot.

  The chocolates were immaculate, and Shay had sent Gretchen the logo for Sweetspot, and it had been emblazoned on every chocolate in gold or silver powder.

  “My goodness,” Shay said, pressing one hand to her pulse. “Look at those.”

  As she continued to watch, Travis’s brother Will approached Gretchen with a large, clear plastic bin. “Right here?” he asked her, his eyes flitting past the chocolatier’s.

  “Yes, please,” she said politely, and Will set the bin on the ground at the end of the table. Shay saw the attraction arc between the two of them, and she wondered if either of them would do anything about it.

  “What else do you need?”

  “Can you find me a place to plug this in?” Gretchen looked around, moving to the right, and a huge copper pot came into view.

  “Is that what I think it is?”

  “She’s going to make the caramel apples on-the-spot,” Jadyn said, her voice filled with glee. “She brought a whole station. People can decorate it however they wish.”

  “No wonder she has all those plastic sheets on the floor,” Shay said, spotting them.

  “She’s doing slices,” Travis said, pressing in behind Shay. “Remember we had those at the Fall Ball?”

  “Yes,” she said. “Let’s go see what she’s doing.”

  Will turned toward them, and Shay lifted one hand. “You can plug that in on the floor right over here,” she called to him. “It looks like it’ll reach.” Shay did her best not to take in the crowd along the railing above the showroom floor where she’d be speaking. More people had crowded down the ramp and plenty pressed up against the barricade she and Elaine had erected last night.

  She arrived at the caramel apple station, and Gretchen met her eye. “I hope this is okay. I brought my least-messy items. No sprinkles.”

  A tray with six wells sat to the left of the pot of caramel. Nuts, cookie crumbs, and cinnamon filled the first three. Gummy bears, white chocolate, and dark chocolate took up the rest.

  “They’ll dip,” she said, “It should be fast and painless. Plates at the end to keep the mess contained. I asked Will to set up numerous garbage cans.”

  “I did,” he said, returning. He didn’t even look at Shay, who simply wanted a caramel apple slice to quell the jitteriness in her stomach. “Is there anything else, ma’am?”

  Shay wanted to tell him to ask her out already, but she kept her mouth shut. Travis had already embarrassed Will in front of Gretchen—or so he said. He’d brought both of his brothers last night to help with the arranging of the store, and she’d been grateful. Will hadn’t volunteered to come early today…until he’d learned Gretchen would be there with treats.

  “No,” Gretchen said, shooting him a pretty smile. “Thank you, Will.”

  He tipped his hat at her, exchanged a glance with Shay, and made himself scarce.

  “It’s time,” Elaine said, her voice coming only through Shay’s earpiece. “The mic should be hot, and the clock just ticked to eleven-thirty.”

  Shay nodded, though she couldn’t see Elaine. The woman would be nearby, she knew. Shay found Jadyn, and together, they approached the podium that had been set up.

  Jadyn stepped behind the mic first, saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re about to begin.” She let a few seconds pass while conversations wrapped and a hush fell over everyone gathered at Sweetspot.

  “First, let me introduce the driving force behind Sweetspot,” she said, glancing down. Shay had no idea what was about to come out of her mouth, and she put a smile on her face, determined to appear thrilled no matter what.

  19

  Lee Cooper stood next to Travis, who’d camped out next to Will. The three of them waited off to the side of the podium and close to the curtain they’d hung last night to hide the new tent Shayla was introducing into the camping world.

  He could take every Cooper in the country out for a night in the wild in that tent, and he hoped they’d be the splash Shayla wanted them to be. He wasn’t a complete ogre, though everyone thought he was.

  Lee carried a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. First as the heir to Cooper & Co, and second as a father to an eight-year-old boy. A single father. Not only that, but Daddy came to him for advice. Will did. Travis did. Even Rissa did. He had to know everything, all the time, and his brain hurt with the weight of it all.

  If his family wasn’t quite so nosy, Lee wouldn’t have to justify his every move. He told himself to listen to Jadyn as she introduced Shay, but his phone beckoned to him. If he pulled it out to see if Anya had texted him back, Trav would notice. Trav would say something.

  Lee would have to defend himself—again—and he was so tired of doing that. Out of his two younger brothers, Lee would prefer Travis to know. The man had changed a lot in the past several months. He didn’t blurt out every question that came into his mind. He took longer to respond to questions and statements, as if he was thinking about things before he said them.

  He didn’t seem as judgmental, though Lee had never really thought of his brothers as judging him or anyone else. Sometimes they could say harsh things, and it did come off as if they knew better than everyone else. Heck, that had been one of his ex-wife’s biggest complaints about him.

  You act like you know so much, Lee Cooper. You don’t.

  The words still lashed him from time to time, though he’d been divorced for six years now. When he’d tried to defend himself, Heather had told him that whether he meant to sound arrogant and cruel or not, he still did. And she couldn’t take it for one more day.

  She’d moved out that afternoon, and Lee had been living in the cabin on the edge of the wooded part of the farm alone since. He shared custody of Ford with Heather, and the boy did live with him every Wednesday afternoon through Sunday morning. Sometimes Sunday night, depending on what he or Heather had going on with their families.

  More and more lately, he’d been taking Ford back to his mother’s in the early evening, after spending the afternoon at the farmhouse with his parents and siblings. Lee wasn’t complaining. He’d take his son all the time if he could get him.

  “And here she is,” Jadyn said, her voice rising. “Shayla Nelson.”

  The audience clapped, and Travis whooped like he’d just won the National Rodeo Championship. Shayla looked like she might throw up, and she definitely tossed a look in Trav’s direction. He didn’t settle down, and Lee wanted to smack his chest. In his pocket, his phone buzzed, and that only sent his pulse into a frenzy.

  Anya had said she’d meet him here today. She claimed to be big into the outdoors, and he’d mentioned that his brother’s girlfriend owned Sweetspot and was launching a new line of camping gear for families. He’d made sure to okay the things he’d said with Travis, so he hadn’t spoken out of turn.

  He hadn’t seen her yet, but of course, he wasn’t really sure of that. He hadn’t actually met Anya yet, though he’d been conversing with her through a dating app for oh, about four weeks now. They’d not been on any dates, so when he’d yelled at Will about not dating anyone, at least he’d yelled true.

  Instead of pulling out his phone, Lee glanced to his right. Only his brothers stood to his left, so there was no reason to look that way. Anya had told him she had short hair. A pixie cut. She’d said she’d be wearing her “hiking clothes,” whatever that meant. Lee wore jeans and a T-shirt to hike, just like he did when he worked in his yard, or with the cows, or out of the farm office. The only time he didn’t wear jeans and a T-shirt was when he went to church, which admittedly, wasn’t all that often.

  He didn’t see anyone in hiking clothes with a pixie cut.

  “Welcome,” Shay said, and Lee did his best to focus. “I don’t want to take much of your time today. Thank you all for coming to the unveiling of our newest family product in the Sweetspot lineup.”

  Shay wore a dazzling smile, and Lee could see why his brother liked her so much. “So much of my focus this year has been on making getting outside easier for families. We’ve got larger coolers and better, bigger backpacks for toddlers. So naturally, the next step was the sleeping accommodations for your family.”

  “My design team and I have been poring over the happy-family-camper tent for several months. It’s going to be made of the same high-quality materials all Sweetspot tents are made of, because it’s for your family. They deserve nothing but the best.”

  She paused and nodded over to Lee and his brothers. Travis swiped his pocketknife through the rope holding the drape in place, and it went whizzing up toward the ceiling. The crowd legit ooh’ed, and Lee wanted to roll his eyes.

  He wasn’t sure why. This should be a great moment for Shay, and when he looked back at her, she wore a wide smile. “Travis Cooper and his brothers, Will and Lee, are going to be my demonstrators. Travis, show them how the entry allows even the tallest man to enter without stooping.”

  Travis did that, really hamming it up as he entered the tent and came back out. He spread his arms wide, and a couple of people clapped while most laughed.

  “The zippers are whisper-quiet,” she said. “So parents can check on their children without causing a riot. Each tent sections into four separate rooms, and the main area has built-in seating. Lee?”

  Lee sprang into gear, having forgotten he was doing something, despite Shay just saying he would. He entered the tent, and while Travis held the flap back and demonstrated how to tie it with only one hand—“Perfect for parents carting little ones,” Shay said—he readied himself.

  “Lee will lower the seating now,” she said. “While Will shows you the anchors.”

  He met Will’s eye through the mesh window of the tent, which Shay also spoke about. He held them down on the ground as if they’d been hammered in, and Lee made slow, deliberate movements to lower the bench from the thick canvas tent inside. He hooked the ties to the ceiling and looked at Will again.