Lee cocked his head then. “I sense some stories.”

  Rosalie laughed lightly. “I do have some of those.” She met his eye again, a boldness in her face he sure did like. Around the farm, Lee had to make quick decisions sometimes. Everyone looked to him to be the boss, and that was no easy weight to carry. “Lee, I’d love to go to dinner with you tonight. I just have to make a couple of phone calls first.”

  “Sure,” he said easily, his breath practically whooshing out of his body. He held it back just in time, and covered his long, relieved sigh with a smile. “I know what it’s like to always have one more thing to do at work.”

  Rosalie looked over to the rack of games that stretched as tall as he did. “Yes,” she said absently. “But these are personal calls. I need to talk to my mom and sister about coming this weekend.”

  “So no dinner on Saturday.”

  She smiled at him. “Probably not. Tonight, I need…I’ll have to check with my babysitter or arrange for a different one if she can’t stay.”

  Lee didn’t miss a beat. “How many kids do you have?”

  “Just one,” Rosalie said, reaching to tuck her hair. Of course, the curl didn’t stay. “A little girl. She’s four.”

  Lee nodded, so much understanding pouring through him. “I can hang around town for a bit. It’s thirty minutes out to the farm, so it doesn’t make much sense to go back and then drive in again.” His eyebrows went up. “How long do you need?”

  She raised her arm and looked at her watched wrist. “Let’s see…it’s almost four-thirty.” She looked up, a question in her stunningly beautiful eyes too. “A couple of hours? Six-thirty?”

  “Sure,” Lee said, though he had no idea what he was going to do in Sweet Water Falls for two hours.

  “You sure? You’ll just hang around here?”

  “I can go see my boy,” Lee said, deciding on the spot. Martha didn’t care when Lee stopped by, as long as he let her know he was coming. “Call my daddy and see if he or Mama needs anything from town. I’ll be fine.”

  Rosalie nodded and turned back to her desk. “All right. I’ll be ready at six-thirty.” She picked up her phone and faced him again. “Want to give me your number, and I’ll text you my address?” She met his gaze again. “You are going to come pick me up, right?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said, rocking back onto his heels for a moment, then righting himself. He rattled off his number, sure he’d entered some dream world through an ordinary storefront door-portal. He hadn’t gotten a woman’s number in forever, but as his phone chimed, he now had Rosalie’s.

  “That’s me,” she said, smiling still. Lee couldn’t quite believe that either. Questions screamed at him again, but he silenced them all. He had her number now, and they were going to dinner in just two hours. He could ask about her divorce—or if she’d been married to her daughter’s father at all—her age, everything later.

  Much later, a voice told him. His sister’s voice. Both of them combined in his head, tormenting him with things like, Be nice tonight, Lee. Don’t ruin anything tonight, Lee. Don’t ask her hard questions tonight, Lee. It’s a first date, for crying out loud.

  Through Clarissa’s and Cherry’s voices, he managed to hear Rosalie say, “Okay, well, I have to get going,” which was her obviously telling him to get his feet moving toward the exit too.

  “Right,” he said, pulling his hands from his pockets. “Okay, I’ll see you soon.”

  “Yep,” she said, and Lee turned smartly on his heel the way soldiers did and left Curious Kids. Outside, the air went down like soggy paper towels, but Lee didn’t care. He felt like jumping up and touching his heels together, then congratulating himself for finally, finally asking Rosalie to be his date for the wedding.

  Instead of doing any of that, he got behind the wheel of his truck, started it, and backed out of the space. He left the parking lot completely, thinking an ice cream cone sounded like a fine way to spend at least ten minutes of the next one hundred and twenty.

  Perhaps he could take a nap too. He never had much time off from the farm, and as he waited in the drive-through line for one of the famous Rock House cement-thick shakes, he tapped out texts to Daddy and Mama and Martha.

  He didn’t tell anyone that he’d successfully asked out Rosalie, and he collected his orange chocolate chip shake from the window and headed down the street to a shady parking spot alongside a park.

  Only then did he take a bite of the sweet treat. Happiness soared through him with the fruity chocolate, and he grinned as he tapped the screen to call Cherry for the second time that day.

  “You better be reporting the success of the tasks you were assigned,” his sister barked at him.

  “Yep,” Lee said, mimicking Rosalie’s last word to him.

  “Lee,” Cherry said, her voice mostly a gasp. “You did? You asked her to the wedding?”

  “Yes,” Lee said, taking another bite of his treat.

  “Well, what did she say?”

  He looked up and out the windshield. “She said she thought we should go out before the wedding,” he said, some of his joy freefalling now. “So we’re goin’ to dinner in a couple of hours.”

  “You’re kidding,” Cherry said.

  “No, why?” Lee didn’t like her theatrics, and his irritation with his sister grew. “Is that bad?”

  “No,” Cherry said, her voice too high now. “Not bad at all.”

  “But…” Lee prompted, scooping up another bite of ice cream, this one with a nice load of chocolate chips. He put the whole thing in his mouth, which had started to grow freezing cold.

  “Did she commit to the wedding?”

  “She said—” Lee cut off, trying to think back through the conversation. It took him several moments, and not even the chocolate in his mouth helped settle him. “She said she didn’t think our first date should be at the wedding.”

  “So she didn’t commit to it.”

  “No,” Lee said darkly. He stirred the melting edges of the shake into the thicker middle part. “Not that I recall.”

  “But dinner tonight is good,” Cherry said with a false brightness to her voice. “Where are you going to take her?”

  Lee looked up again, this time plenty of alarm streaming through him “I…have no idea.”

  Cherry laughed, but Lee didn’t find anything funny. He lived out on the farm, and he only came to town to collect Ford on Friday afternoons. He drove him back to school on Monday mornings. He might stop by the drugstore then, or pick up some essential groceries for the weekend on Friday. But he didn’t have friends in town, and he didn’t socialize with anyone outside of the men and women who worked at or came to Sweet Water Falls Farm or Cooper & Co.

  “I’ll look up some places for you,” Cherry said. “And text you.”

  “Thank you,” Lee said. “My brain feels like it’s gone on vacation.” He shook his head. “Every time I’m around this woman, I fall apart.”

  “Well, that’s good, right?” Cherry asked.

  “How is that good, Cherry?” He shook his head again. No, falling apart around the gorgeous Rosalie Reynolds was definitely not good. Jeez Louise.

  “It means you feel something for her,” Cherry said. “It’s sweet.”

  “I just end up looking like a fool,” he muttered. “Nothin’ sweet about that.”

  “Just remember that she said yes to dinner,” Cherry said. “She must see something she likes already.”

  “I can’t imagine what,” Lee said, actually looking down at his shirt. Perhaps Rosalie liked bright colors on cowboys.

  “Come on, Lee,” Cherry said. “You’re a handsome man.”

  “Okay,” he said, a new blush crawling into his face for absolutely no reason. “You promised to tell me who you asked to the wedding if I went inside and apologized and asked Rosalie, and I did all of the above.”

  Cherry remained silent for a few moments, and then she cleared her throat. “Fine,” she said in her ultra-refined voice. The tone she used whenever she talked about her job in the city, as if Sweet Water Falls was way beneath her. “I asked Charlie, and he said yes.”

  Lee forgot about ice cream and video games and his own name. “You asked Charlie?”

  “Yes,” Cherry said, plenty of haughtiness in her voice. “I don’t need a lecture from you about him.”

  “You don’t?” Lee asked, dumbstruck. “Cherry…the man broke your heart. He’s the reason you won’t come home.”

  “Not entirely true,” Cherry said. “There are many and varied reasons I won’t come home.”

  “He’s the biggest one.” Lee pictured the tall, tan, talented Sheriff’s deputy. Charles Hooper had dated Cherry for years. Three or four or six, Lee wasn’t sure. He hadn’t wanted to get married until he’d achieved a certain rank in the Sheriff’s department, and Cherry wasn’t going to be a perpetual girlfriend while the man built his career.

  They’d broken up, and Cherry had fled Sweet Water Falls in favor of San Antonio.

  “But he’s still just one,” Cherry said, sounding tired now. “Listen, Lee, I have to go. I’m so happy you asked Rosalie. Are you happy?”

  “Yeah,” he said slowly. “Do you think I should press her about the wedding when we go out tonight?”

  “I think…wait and see how it goes. If it goes real well, you can ask her when you drop her off. Just be like, ‘so…I didn’t really hear if you said yes or no to the wedding. Should I be lookin’ for another date?’”

  Lee chuckled as his sister laughed. “I do not sound like that,” he said, though she’d gotten his accent pretty spot-on, even the “lookin’” was exactly right.

  “Sure,” Cherry said, still giggling. She sobered in the next moment. “Lee, not a word about Charlie to anyone, especially Mama.”

  “No, ma’am,” Lee said, his spirits quieting. “But you’ll tell them, right? I hate keeping secrets. I’m no good at it, and they knot me all up.”

  “I’ll tell them,” she said. “Soon.”

  “When?” he pressed.

  “As soon as you tell them you’ll be at the wedding with Rosalie,” she said, nailing into his heart with those words.

  “You know what?” Lee asked, but he didn’t have anything to follow it up with.

  “What?” Cherry challenged.

  Lee shook his head and stirred his shake as a couple of boys ran out onto the grass near him, a soccer ball going back and forth between them. “I don’t know what,” he said. “But one day, I’m going to have something really amazing to hold over your head. See how you like it then.”

  Cherry laughed again, and Lee allowed himself to smile. “Call me later, little brother,” she said. “I want to know how the whole date went.”

  “Send me some places to take her,” he said quickly. “Nice places, Cherry.”

  “You got it.” With that, the call ended. Lee sighed and took another bite of pure perfection. He nursed the shake until it was gone, and then he checked his phone.

  Another sigh pulled through him, but this one carried a lot more weight. Mama and Daddy had texted, both needing items at different stores. Martha had also responded and said Ford finished his piano lessons at five-thirty, and Lee could come by any time after that.

  “Can’t sit around eating ice cream,” he muttered to himself as he flipped his truck in reverse and backed out of yet another parking stall. If he timed everything just right, he could run his parents’ errands and see his son before he had to be on Rosalie’s doorstep for dinner.

  His stomach trembled, and Lee told himself it was just the orange chocolate chip ice cream causing havoc with his guts. But really, he knew it was because he’d have to somehow find a way to charm, chat, and chuckle with the gorgeous Rosalie Reynolds…without making a complete idiot of himself.

  He really didn’t want to come up short this time, and he honestly hadn’t felt half as excited about a woman as he did Rosalie. He’d never believed in love at first sight before, but when Rosalie was in the room, Lee couldn’t even see anyone else.

  “Slow down, cowboy,” he muttered to himself as he turned into the organic grocery store lot. “She might be the one for you, but that doesn’t mean you’re the one for her.”

  He applied the brakes in his truck as he came to a stop in a stall, and he could do the same for his thoughts about Rosalie. It was their first date. He’d just see how things went tonight, but as he walked inside to get Daddy’s sprouted wheat bread, Lee prayed that this dinner would be amazing for both him and Rosalie.

  4

  Rosalie worked very hard not to roll her eyes as Nat continued to talk about the colorguard competition she’d watched last week. “Nat,” she said. She’d been sitting in her driveway for ten minutes already. “Nat?”

  “…it’s just so hard to watch, you know?”

  “Yes,” Rosalie said automatically. “Honey, I’m sorry, but I’m home now, and I have to go inside and talk to Autumn.”

  “Okay,” Nat said cheerfully, and Rosalie wished she was like her autistic sister sometimes. “Mom said I could text you when we left tomorrow.”

  “It’s on Saturday,” Rosalie corrected gently. “You’re driving here on Saturday.”

  “In the morning,” Nat said

  “Yes.” Rosalie gathered her purse and reached out to touch the button that would turn off her car.

  “Love you, Rose,” Nat said, and those words filled the world with love.

  “I love you too, Nat.” Rosalie ended the call and got out, the Texas evening heat assaulting her as she quickly went toward the house. She opened the door with a “Hey, everyone,” and stepped over the gate keeping Thumper from escaping.

  Right now, she didn’t see the white rabbit, and she didn’t have time for him anyway. Charity poked her head up from behind the small island in the kitchen. “Hey, Mrs. Reynolds.”

  Rosalie didn’t correct her on the Mrs. part. She hadn’t gone back to her maiden name after the divorce, because she wanted to have the same last name as her daughter. She wanted them to be a family, and for a while there, she could admit she’d hoped James would come around and come back to the two of them.

  “Autumn’s in the back yard.” Charity stood with the broken pieces of a glass in her hand. “I just dropped this glass, so be careful.”

  Rosalie stopped where she was, taking in the shards of glass. “I can help,” she said.

  “Don’t worry about it.” Charity gave her a smile and tucked her stick-straight blonde hair behind her ear. Hers actually stayed, and Rosalie envied her that. “I’ll get it cleaned up, and then I have to head out.” She wore a sympathetic smile now. “I’m sorry I can’t stay tonight. Is it something really important?”

  Rosalie wanted to gush her guts to the college student who had a steady engineering-major boyfriend. She held back, telling herself she was this woman’s boss and she didn’t want too many lines blurred.

  “It’s fine,” she said. “I asked Tess if Autumn could come over there.”

  “Oh, good,” Charity said with a smile. “I have this huge study group for our finals next week.” She ripped off a couple of paper towels and got them wet.

  “Of course,” Rosalie said, glancing down the hall toward where her bedroom sat. She wanted to change out of her pencil skirt and blouse, but she couldn’t decide if she should go with another dress or choose slacks instead. Lee had been wearing jeans and a bright peachy-orange shirt, and he’d said he didn’t have time to go home.

  Maybe she should go with jeans too. She could pair them with that bone-colored wrap-around she’d ordered online last week…

  “…Mom.” Autumn touched her arm, and Rosalie blinked her way out of her wardrobe. Her beautiful daughter stood in front of her, her dark eyes alight with something.

  “What, baby?” She bent to pick up the girl, her feet protesting the extra weight in her heels. “Did you have a good day today? Did you show Charity your pet rock?” She’d painted them at preschool earlier this week, and her teacher had let Autumn bring the pet home today.

  “Yep,” Autumn said, putting her arms around Rosalie’s neck. She hugged her, and Rosalie embraced her back. She loved her daughter with everything she had, and she could not imagine moving to California the way James had. Didn’t he miss Autumn? How could he stand to not see her as often as he once had?

  “Come see the house I built for him and Thumper,” Autumn said, pulling back and wiggling to get down.

  “All right,” Rosalie said, shooting a glance toward Charity. The college student smiled and waved to her, because she knew that once Rosalie stepped foot in the back yard, she’d be there for a while.

  Rosalie knew it too, and her eyes next landed on the microwave, which showed her the clock. It was just after five. She had time. Her nerves still bounced through her veins, because she wanted to look perfect for Lee tonight. Absolutely perfect. Presentation perfect.

  She wanted to be princess-beautiful for him, and she thought of herself in a yellow gown like what the princess wore in the movies, and she pictured herself dancing with the beastly Lee Cooper as the moon rose higher and higher in the sky.

  It was a nice picture, but the heat outside ruined it. A gown like that would only make her sweat, and Rosalie didn’t have anything princess-like about her.

  “Look,” Autumn said, crouching down in front of a semblance of a structure made of twigs and grass. “Thumper likes it.”

  Thumper was eating his house, but Rosalie didn’t say so. “It’s great,” she said. “What did you name your rock again?”

  “Stone, remember?” Autumn looked up at her with child-like innocence in her gaze, everything so unassuming and so happy. Rosalie wished she could feel like that again. She wanted to believe in the goodness in the world again, and she told herself she had to choose to see the positive.

  James had left, yes. It was twenty-one months ago, she thought, and she pasted a smile on her face too. “Stone, that’s right,” she said. Autumn had been naming things what they were since she was old enough to talk, and Rosalie should’ve remembered.