“I’ll tell Deb you said that,” Chris said. “She’s feeling less than amazing right now, so she’ll probably bring you brownies later.”

  “Mint brownies,” Jed clarified.

  Chris laughed and said, “Have fun with Cherry.” He hung up before Jed could protest that his “little problem” had nothing to do with Cherry Cooper. He faced the truck again, shoved his phone in his back pocket, and pulled open the driver’s door.

  “Sorry,” he said. “Chris called.”

  Cherry trained her big eyes on him, her smile slow and absolutely gorgeous on her face. “How’s Chris and Deb?”

  “They’re great,” Jed said. “Pregnant again. Deb’s really praying for a girl.” He smiled and flipped his truck into drive. “I’m honestly surprised they’re having another baby after the twins.” He chuckled, and Cherry laughed with him. “They’re a handful, let me tell you.”

  “You’ve talked about them before,” Cherry said, looking out her window.

  Jed quieted, because Cherry had, and he didn’t know how to talk to her when she receded inside herself. He cleared his throat, uncomfortable in the silence with her. “How’s work?”

  “I’m thinking of getting a new job,” she said.

  He whipped his attention toward her. “You are? Where?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “I’m sure there’s something for you here,” he said.

  Cherry turned toward him, her arms folding across her midsection as she did. “Is that so? Here? In Sweet Water Falls, where there is no college for an academic advisor?”

  Jed swallowed, not sure where to go with this. Perhaps he should just lay everything on the line. “You could work at your family farm,” he said. “Or do something for a college online. Or take a completely new career path.” He glanced over at her and turned out of the parking lot. “Didn’t you tell me that once? That you wanted a new career path?”

  “I can’t remember,” she said. “I probably did.”

  “Not anymore?”

  “I don’t know, Jed.”

  He frowned at the road in front of him, because if she didn’t know, he certainly didn’t. He felt too old to be having this conversation. He knew what his life held, and he’d always known. The family farm. Horses and hay fields and hard work. He didn’t really have the luxury Cherry seemed to enjoy of picking and choosing the path she wanted to be on.

  Although, he did have ideas which swirled through his head from time to time. As the middle son, he’d often thought of finding his own piece of land, and he pictured the farm south of his family plot. Then he quickly shoved those images out, because tonight was about Cherry, and he couldn’t have his attention divided.

  He drove the two of them to Beeville without much more conversation, questioning every minute of the way what he was doing. He honestly had no idea—and he was far too old to be doing things he didn’t understand.

  There was simply something about Cherry Cooper he liked and wanted to know more about. He wanted to help her in any way he could, and he didn’t understand that either. His father had always told him he had a too-big heart to run the farm, but Jed had embraced that instead of trying to change it.

  If there was an animal in pain or in need of something, he wanted to provide for it. When he was fourteen, he’d set alarms for a foal who’d been born too early and gone out to the stables every two hours to nurse it along until it was strong enough to survive without his help. In some ways, Cherry reminded him of that foal. In other ways, she was powerful and strong in a way that struck Jed as pure royalty. He could picture her entering a room and having everyone bow to her as their queen. She certainly brought him to his knees in such a way, especially after their first kiss a couple of months ago.

  He pulled into the pho restaurant parking lot and came to a stop. “This is okay?”

  “Yes,” she said softly. She stayed put while Jed jumped from the truck and jogged around the front of it to get her door. He opened it for her and stepped into the space. She’d unbuckled, but Jed didn’t want her to get out.

  The words he needed to say had been building beneath his tongue during the drive, and he had to say them before he lost her again.

  “Cherry.” He reached up and smoothed her hair back. “I’m sorry about saying I didn’t have time to drive to see you.” He looked at her earnestly, hoping she could feel how genuine he was trying to be. “I’ve regretted that text every day since I sent it. Every minute.”

  She studied his face. “You didn’t mean it?”

  “I was frustrated,” he said. “So I probably meant it in the moment, but no, overall, of course I didn’t mean it. I think about you all the time, and I just don’t know how to sweeten up and ask you to forgive me.”

  She smiled at him, and the heavens opened to him. Light shone on her, and all Jed could think about was kissing her. He wasn’t going to do that today, because he didn’t want her to think that was all he wanted from her.

  “You are a bit salty,” she said. “Maybe my sister-in-law could send you some of her truffles. They’re as sweet as the day is long.”

  He smiled back at her. “Can we try again?”

  Cherry hesitated for a moment, then she reached out and ran her hand down the side of his face. “I’ve missed you, Jed.”

  “I’ve missed you too,” he whispered.

  She leaned forward, pushing her hand up and removing his cowboy hat. Normally, Jed didn’t like it when anyone touched his hat, but Cherry had a way of doing things that he just went with.

  Her eyes drifted closed, and Jed’s heartbeat fluttered in the large vein in his neck. She pressed his hat to his shoulder blades, bringing him closer to her, and Jed touched his lips to hers in a soft, sweet kiss that he didn’t try to accelerate or take to the next level.

  The first time he’d kissed her had been explosive, and he hadn’t been able to control the way things had spiraled and taken off. This time, he bowed to his queen and let her lead him in the kiss. She only kissed him for a moment before she pulled away.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  He opened his eyes and met hers. “Nothing.”

  “You’re not kissing me back.”

  “Yes, I am.”

  She cocked her head to the side, and said, “Give me some of your attitude, Jed.”

  He grinned at her, semi-embarrassed at his limp kissing. “If you don’t like it, don’t kiss me,” he said.

  “I don’t want to kiss you,” she said. “I want you to kiss me.”

  Jed ran his hand up the outside of her thigh and along her waist. “We’re going to pick up where we left off, is that it?”

  “I’d like to,” she said, and he liked that she didn’t play games with him. She was a couple of years older than him, and perhaps she didn’t have time for a relationship that wasn’t going anywhere either. “So?” she asked. “Are you going to kiss me or not?”

  Jed looked at her, trying to decide if he should tell her what truly ran through his mind or if he should kiss her the way she wanted him to.

  3

  Cherry didn’t like the calculating look in Jed’s eye. The man had never been to college, but that didn’t mean he was stupid. “Just say it,” she said, the fingers of her left hand still gripping his collar, and those of her right hand drifting up into his hair. If he didn’t kiss her soon, she didn’t know what would combust inside her.

  “I don’t want this to just be kissing,” he said, clearing his throat in a gruff way. “I mean, I like that. I do. I just…” He tried to pull back, but Cherry maintained her grip. She knew what he’d do. Back up. Sigh. Run his hands through his hair. Then those dreamy, stormcloud-gray-blue eyes would find hers again, with a hint of worry and a bit of vulnerability and plenty of desire.

  His expression changed as she predicted, but since she wouldn’t release him, he didn’t back up or sigh, and she kept running her fingers through his hair.

  “You want to be my boyfriend,” Cherry said. “Like, a legit boyfriend, who doesn’t have to leave the room to call me, and who I don’t hide from my family.”

  His jaw jumped, and attraction sparked in those eyes. “Yes,” he said plainly. “That’s what I want.”

  Cherry did the sighing, and she looked past his face and over his shoulder. “I’d like that too.”

  “Yeah?” Before she could confirm, Jed kissed her. This time, it wasn’t the type of kiss that had her leading the way, but he took control and decided how fast he moved, and how firm he stroked, and Cherry sank into his arms, the very muscles in her body unable to hold her up.

  “Jed,” she giggled as he slid his mouth across her jaw. “I was going to say something else.”

  “Say it,” he said, his voice husky and hoarse.

  “Can we wait to make things public and…official until after Rissa has her baby?”

  Jed brought his head up, his eyes searching Cherry’s again.

  “I don’t want to overshadow her,” Cherry said, hoping he’d understand. “I do sometimes, even when I don’t mean to, and I really don’t want to in this regard.”

  “You showing up out on your family farm with a real boyfriend is going to blow your momma’s mind.” He grinned at her, and while Cherry returned it, she couldn’t help thinking that the fact that she had a boyfriend blew her mind too.

  “Me showing up on the family farm is mind-blowing enough,” she said.

  Jed did back up then, and Cherry slid down from the front seat of his truck. He laced his fingers through hers, closed her door, and they faced the restaurant together. “No, it isn’t,” he said. “You’ve been back several times this year.”

  “Yeah,” she said, her train of thought automatically switching over to what she could do here, in Sweet Water Falls—or close to it—for a job. “Maybe Beeville has something I could do.”

  “To do?” Jed asked, glancing at her.

  “For a job,” she said. “I was a secretary and an administrative assistant before I got my master’s degree. I could maybe do something like that.”

  “City offices,” he said.

  “No one ever gives up those jobs,” Cherry said, her mind still moving. “A company or something. Small business. Someone like Shay or Gretchen.” She thought of her brothers’ wives. “Or even Rosalie. I could run their office, all their financial stuff, everything, while they do…whatever they do.”

  She knew what they did, but she didn’t know how much any of them needed an administrative assistant. Shay designed all of her own clothes, but she employed several people at Sweetspot, Cherry knew that. Gretchen had help in her candy kitchen. Rosalie… Cherry wasn’t sure about Rosalie.

  She could ask, she knew that.

  She enjoyed dinner with Jed, the conversation lighter and easier now that she wasn’t trying to hide from him, and he wasn’t as salty as he’d been a couple of hours ago. He tossed some money on the table when the waitress brought their check, and he’d just gotten to his feet when Cherry’s phone rang.

  “It’s Lee,” she said, looking up at Jed.

  “Answer him,” Jed said with a kind smile. “I won’t make a peep.”

  Cherry believed him too. She stood and swiped on the call from her oldest brother. He was only a couple of years younger than her, and they’d always confided in one another. She’d helped him a lot with Rosalie over the past several months, and she suspected if she sat down with Lee, she could open her heart and tell him everything she felt for Jed. He’d separate it all, examine it, and help her without teasing her.

  She’d spent so long doing everything herself, thinking that was the way she wanted things, that she didn’t know how to open those doors. Not even to Lee. Not yet, anyway.

  “Lee,” she said, just as someone dropped a stack of plates. A terrible clattering and shattering sound filled her world, and she winced away from it. If Lee had spoken, she didn’t hear what he’d said.

  “What was that?” she did hear, and Lee had to know she wasn’t in her car, about to arrive on the farm he now ran for their father.

  “Someone dropped something,” she said, glancing over to the source of the noise. “I’m just finishing dinner. I should be to the farm in…” She looked at Jed, who shrugged one shoulder and held up a single finger. “An hour.”

  “Don’t come to the farm,” Lee said, his voice breathless now. “Rissa went into labor earlier today, and they’re at the hospital.”

  “What?” Cherry started striding toward the exit now. “Why didn’t you call me sooner?”

  “Spence just called Trav,” Lee shot back. “We all just found out too.”

  “Rissa.” Cherry shook her head, gained the doorway, and flew down the steps. She turned in a circle, trying to remember where she’d parked her car. “She always does this. She says she doesn’t want to be dramatic, and then she’s dramatic.”

  “I just think she doesn’t want everyone in the room for the birth,” Lee said. “But Spence made it sound like she’d have him soon. Said we could come tonight. I’m headed to Mama’s to help her and Daddy.”

  Cherry turned as Jed touched her arm. He nodded down the row, and she remembered she hadn’t driven her car to this restaurant in Beeville. She hurried toward his truck, with him at her side. “I wish I was close enough to help. She wasn’t due until tomorrow, and even then I expected her to be late.”

  “It’s fine,” Lee said. “See you there.” He ended the call even as he said, “No, Ford, real shoes. We’re goin’—”

  Cherry broke into a jog which Jed didn’t have to match. His long legs kept him at her side. “What’s goin’ on?” he asked.

  “She’s already at the hospital,” she said. “Can you take me there?”

  “Of course.” He didn’t come around to her side to open her door, and she swung into the passenger seat as he fired up the engine. He backed out and asked, “Do you want me to take you back to my place first? Then you can get your car.” He flicked a look in her direction, but Cherry didn’t hold his gaze.

  Indecision raged through her. She could cover her dinner with Jed tonight easily. She hadn’t told Lee where she’d been eating, only that she had. But if she told Jed to take her back to his farm first, she’d be even later getting to the hospital.

  Something told her she didn’t have that time to spare. “No,” she said. “If you’re okay with coming, let’s just get to the hospital. Then you can take me out there after.” She looked at him, trying to decipher his feelings on the matter from half of his face. “Okay?”

  “Okay,” he said, shifting in his seat. “Am I sittin’ in the truck while you go in for an undetermined amount of time?” He still wouldn’t look at her, and Cherry switched her attention out the windshield.

  “No,” she said. “That would be ridiculous. You’ll come in with me.”

  “This won’t be a secret then,” he said.

  “No,” she murmured. “It won’t.” She hugged herself and gathered her courage. She looked at Jed again, and this time, he did meet her gaze and hold it. “It doesn’t need to be a secret.” She reached over and took his hand in hers. “I’m not embarrassed of you. I want to tell my family about us.”

  “It might overshadow Rissa,” he said, squeezing. “I’m fine to sit in the truck, Cherry. Honestly.”

  She fell for him a little bit more then, her foot slipping down the mountain she so desperately wanted to cling to. She wasn’t even sure why. She’d wanted to fall head-over-heels in love with someone who loved her back for so long, and Jed sure did seem to like her.

  She just didn’t want to fall first.

  She was tired of falling first.

  “I’ll decide when we get there,” she said. “Let’s just get there.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said, and he pushed on the gas pedal to do just that.

  Forty-five agonizing minutes later, Jed finally put the truck in park, and Cherry released her seatbelt. “Come on,” she said. “It makes no sense for you to sit out here.”

  She’d have to explain why Jed was with her, but Cherry was forty-six years old. She could do it. If she acted like she’d driven her car, and someone wanted to leave for some reason, she’d have to say why she couldn’t drive. Or…something.

  She knew that something would come up that would force her to explain to her family that she didn’t have her car and hadn’t driven herself. Then they’d find out that she’d made Jed sit out here and wait, and she couldn’t even imagine the looks she’d get then.

  No one understood her the way she wished they would, but she also couldn’t fault them for that. She hadn’t told them much over the years, and she’d been the one to put up and maintain the walls between her and everyone else.

  Knocking them down would be hard, but Jed caught up to her and slipped his hand into hers. Suddenly, Cherry wasn’t so alone, and she sure did like that. In truth, she liked that the man at her side was specifically Jed, but she didn’t know how to deal with that right now, so she filed it away for later.

  Inside the hospital, Jed knew right where to take her. “Deb’s had two kids,” he said. “I know where maternity is.”

  Sure enough, he took them right to the maternity ward, and only then did Cherry’s footsteps slow. Down the hall and around a corner, she found a small waiting room outside a thick, heavy wooden door.

  Travis sat on the couch, his wife Shayla at his side. She was pregnant too, and she rested one hand on her baby bump. Lee paced, and his son, Ford sat in a chair, his phone in front of him. Will and Gretchen sat side-by-side in a pair of chairs, their heads bent together, whispering.

  She couldn’t see Mama or Daddy, and Cherry said, “Lee,” drawing everyone’s attention to her and Jed. All six pairs of eyes landed on her, then slid to where she held Jed Forrester’s hand.

  Lee turned, stared, and blinked, his eyes back on Cherry’s in that next moment. “Hey,” he said, jogging toward her. “You made it.”

  She embraced him, really feeling the love her brother held for her sink through her, and asked, “Where’s Mama and Daddy?”