But his smile was nowhere to be found tonight.

  “Aren’t we, Noah?” Austen said, prodding him.

  Noah shrugged. “Of course.”

  “Aren’t you going to give me a hug hello?” I asked, unable to resist. There was something surreal about seeing Noah again. Like I needed to touch him to know he was real.

  He swung his leg out from under the picnic table, pushing up with his hand as if the whole thing was an effort.

  Like Austen, and all his brothers, he had reached the full Hart height. When I’d left, he was only a few inches taller than me. Now he was probably six foot one, and he must weigh easily near two hundred pounds of pure muscle. Whatever he had been doing since I moved away definitely agreed with his physique.

  But his expression was impassive. He crossed over to me and wrapped a single arm around my shoulders in a half hug. To say I felt deflated was an understatement.

  Looking up at him, I scoffed. “That’s all you’re going to give me?”

  “She doesn’t have cooties anymore. Do you, Rach?” Austen joked.

  It was true that at one point growing up, Noah did in fact think I had cooties. I was thirteen and he was eleven at the time.

  But Austen knew what had happened between Noah and me when we were older. Everyone in the Hart family knew. Noah had zero chill back then, and he’d proudly announced to his family that he was going to marry me, not that he bothered informing me of that plan. Austen had made sure to tell me. It was just puppy love, though.

  Perhaps to make a show for his brother, after giving Austen a dramatic eye roll, Noah wrapped me securely in his arms and lifted me clear off the ground.

  “That’s better.” I laughed with a lightness I didn’t feel as he set me down.

  Austen patted the spot next to him at the table. “Come have a drink. Settle a score for us.”

  “Uh-oh. I don’t want to get in the middle of anything,” I joked as I took the seat.

  The table was covered in, well, everything. Several pitchers of beer, jars of every shape and size. All types of food from honey to a can of sardines were scattered over the table. It was pure Hart-brother chaos.

  “What is all this stuff?” I asked.

  “This, Rachel Tyson, is the makings of genius.” Austen beamed as he gestured to the spread on the table.

  Noah might have been trying to avoid my gaze, but we locked eyes at that moment. “He’s obviously insane. He thinks my brew needs something added, which is ridiculous.”

  Excited that he was finally speaking to me, I decided not to let the opportunity pass. “How long have you been brewing beer?”

  “Well, officially, as far as Mom knows, four years. But honestly, more like six.” Noah gave me that devilish smirk I’d missed so much. The Hart brothers sure loved shenanigans.

  Austen cut in then. “I was a bad big brother. Or a good one. Depends on how you look at it. Because of this dude’s skills, we got a whole business up and running.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Here, taste this. This is his regular ale.” Austen reached over the table to grab the pitcher of beer and poured me a small glass. Then he turned to his brother, and in a snarky tone said, “With no extra flavors.”

  Noah shook his head with a laugh. “Just leave the beer to me, brother. You focus on making us money.”

  “Austen is the brains of the operation?” I teased as I took the glass from him.

  “I may not be a brainiac nurse, but I know how to sell a product,” Austen said defensively.

  “Glad to see all those years of selling candy cigarettes to kids at school finally paid off.” I grinned, enjoying teasing him.

  “Oh shit. I haven’t thought about that in years,” Austen said with a chuckle as I tried my first sip of Noah’s brew.

  “Oh my God.” I mumbled the words as the bubbles in the beer carried a tangy citrus flavor across my tongue.

  Finally, Noah’s relaxed sweet smile stretched his cheeks. “Pretty good, huh?”

  I rolled my eyes in pleasure as I took another sip. “It’s incredible.”

  “The secret is in the brown sugar.”

  Noah beamed proudly and then proceeded to tell me way more than I ever wanted to know about beer brewing. Not that I cared. It was just nice to see him light up about something. Whatever chilliness was there when I first arrived tonight seemed to have melted away. At least temporarily.

  By the time I got to the end of my glass, and thankfully the end of the brewing lesson, I told the guys, “It’s so nice to be back.”

  Austen cut in. “Don’t tell me you’re back here for good. A city girl like you? You’ll never last out here.”

  My mouth formed into a tight line at his words. I don’t know why I cared what Austen thought.

  Of course I could hack it back in Kodiak Canyon. I lived here eighteen years, didn’t I? And I didn’t leave because I hated it. I just wanted to see some of the world.

  “And on that note, I should be going,” I said with a little more irritation in my voice than I meant to reveal. I nodded to Noah as I rose from the table. “Thanks for the beer. See you guys around.”

  I marched off without looking back, but Noah quickly caught up to me.

  “Wait,” he called out in that smooth, deep voice of his. “Let me walk you home.”

  I scowled at him. “Don’t think I can handle it here either?”

  Maybe it was the lack of sleep or everything going on in my life. Maybe it was Noah’s chilly reception when I crashed his drinking session with his brother. Whatever it was, I was on the defensive.

  “Of course you can. A bear should be worried if it runs into you. I’ve seen you hit one in the eye with a slingshot, remember?” Noah crouched and slumped his shoulders a little to get eye to eye with me.

  I shook my head at the memory. “I was a squirrely ten-year-old, huh?”

  “I thought you were a real-life super hero.” Noah nodded for emphasis.

  At those words, we began the short walk to my property.

  “Well, it was pretty cool of me,” I said.

  I mean, we were safe on my grandpa’s porch and could have run inside at any time. I didn’t really need to try to hit the bear, but what can I say? I was ten.

  “Sorry for Austen. You know how he is,” Noah said, his shoes crunching on the gravel road.

  I shook my head. “I know how he used to be,” I said, reminding him of the years that separated us all.

  Noah nodded. “True. I want you to know I think he’s wrong, but I also know you were destined for bigger things. You needed to see the world beyond Kodiak Creek.”

  “I did.” My voice was quiet because I was startled to hear Noah say those words after the fight we’d had before I left.

  He didn’t understand at the time why I couldn’t go to nursing school at the local college and stay around here. Had he finally come to see things my way?

  “Rachel, listen, we need to talk.”

  Before he could say another word, I cut him off. “I left and I never looked back. I’m sorry.”

  He shook his head. “That’s what I want you to know. I don’t blame you. It’s okay, all right? A lot of years have passed since then. We were different people back then.”

  “You’re not mad at me for leaving?” I asked, voicing the question I never thought I’d get to.

  “No. You did what you needed to do to be happy. Are you . . . happy?”

  The genuine tone in his voice made my heart melt. So selfless and considerate. That’s the Noah I once knew.

  “I liked seeing new things. I had happy times, I suppose. But right now? No, not really. Being back home is helping, though,” I said. I had never been good at hiding my feelings from Noah.

  “Dating anyone?” he asked suddenly as my cabin came into sight.

  I couldn’t help but search his face in that moment. Moonlight danced over his skin, casting a shadow that fell over his square jawline. I wanted to reach out and touch him. My fingers twitched at my sides.

  “Not anymore. You?”

  We were almost to the door, and we stopped short and faced each other.

  “No,” he said. “In case you haven’t noticed, there’s not many women in this town.”

  I laughed at that. “Plenty of men, though,” I said with a snarky tone.

  “Yeah, but none my type,” he said lightly, making me laugh a little harder.

  Then the moment got quiet again. The only sounds were chirping crickets and the gentle breeze ruffling through the evergreens.

  “I’m sorry about your grandfather. We all loved him. He was a good man.”

  “He was. And thank you.”

  I frowned. Truth be told, since seeing Noah tonight, I hadn’t thought much about all the loss in my life, at least for a little while. I wasn’t ready to be reminded just yet. I wanted to rewind back to the moment when Noah’s gaze slid to my mouth, and he looked like he wanted to kiss me.

  Instead, time moved forward, and he shoved his hands in his pockets.

  “Good night, Rachel Tyson.”

  “Good night, Noah Hart.”

  5

  * * *

  TEMPERING EXPECTATIONS

  Noah

  I knew taking Mom into town to shop would be a mistake. She loved to offer me life advice, and after seeing Rachel, I suspected she’d have some thoughts on the matter.

  “Isn’t that Kim?” My mom pointed to the waitress across the diner as we sat and had a bite to eat.

  “You know it is, Ma. You see her here every week.” I knew my mom’s games. She wasn’t that hard to figure out.

  “Whatever happened with you two?” she asked.

  I sipped my soda for a long time, hoping for a subject change, but she kept her gaze trained on me. “I didn’t like her.” I shrugged for emphasis.

  Mom nodded in agreement. “That’s right, not like you liked Rachel.”

  “Smooth, Ma,” I said with a groan.

  “You’d have to be blind not to notice the way she looked when she asked about you. And for the record, she didn’t ask about your brothers.”

  “Two burgers.” Kim cut in then, setting two plates down in front of us.

  “Yeah, and how did she look when she asked about me, exactly?” I said, going for indifference before I took a big bite of the cheeseburger in front of me.

  Mom wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. “With interest.”

  Whatever Mom thought, I needed to put any fantasies about Rachel out of my head because we had bigger things to worry about. Austen was set on buying the Tyson property. Unfortunately for us, last night Rachel had made it sound like she was interested in sticking around.

  I made sure to keep my mouth stuffed while Mom kept poking at the issue.

  “You’ve considered it,” she told me with the certainty only a mother can have.

  I rolled my eyes. “It’s not that simple.”

  “Sure it is, sweetie pie. If you like her, ask her out. Don’t let her get away. What’s complicated about that?”

  I snorted at the irony. There’s no way I could tell Mom about Austen’s plan. She’d never sign off on trying to convince Rachel to sell her property.

  The bottom line was that it was either my family’s business expansion or Rachel’s happiness. They were mutually exclusive. Someone was going to lose, and I didn’t want to be caught in the middle.

  The best thing I could do was stay away from Rachel. If she stayed, that was on her, but at least it wouldn’t be because of me.

  “Mom, can we just drop it and eat our lunch in peace?”

  She rolled her eyes.

  • • •

  When I got home, Austen was practically bouncing off the walls. He pulled me aside by waving his hand obnoxiously until I went out back with him, out of Mom’s earshot.

  The joy on his face meant we were about to have the conversation I’d been worried about all day.

  “We got approval from the bank for a loan to purchase the neighboring property.” The words tumbled excitedly from his lips.

  It took all my effort to balance my expression. “But it’s not even listed yet,” I said to remind him.

  “I know.” Austen sounded a lot like a kid who’d just inherited a candy store. “Which is why the timing is perfect.”

  He drew out the word perfect, emphasizing it with his hands as he continued.

  “We’re not going to wait for it to go on the market and have someone potentially outbid us. This is the time to talk to Rachel.” He rubbed his hands together. “And since you two have a connection, I want you to be the one to handle this for us.”

  My heartbeat pounded in my ears.

  Everything was happening so fast. Sure, it was what we had been dreaming of, finding accessible land that we could manage. It was a sad loss to see Paul go, but I admit I was excited about the idea of buying the land when Austen brought it up. That’s partly because I never expected Rachel to show up and announce she wanted to stay.

  I had to think fast because there was no way I could pitch this idea to her. “Why not you? You’re the one who wants this property so bad.”

  Austen shook his head. “I want it to secure a future for us. For our family. Expanding means more money, means we can keep pouring money into this brewery business you want to work so bad.”

  I sighed, knowing I’d lost.

  Austen was right. He was the one who had been successfully selling farm equipment. He had been making a good living and loved the job. And he’d left that all to help me run this business. I owed him.

  “Okay, I’ll talk to her. You happy?”

  Austen snorted. “I’ll be happy once she agrees to sell and heads her pretty little ass back to Houston.”

  I rolled my eyes, unable to hold it back.

  Of course, Austen didn’t let that tell slide. “Why would this matter to you now? You sure you’re not overreacting to your history with her?”

  “What? No. Of course I’m not. It wasn’t much of a history, anyway . . . just some teenage fantasies come to life for a few months.”

  “Yeah, but we all always assumed you two would end up together. Everyone thought so.”

  I couldn’t meet his eyes. If I did, he would see right through me and know that his words cut me. It’s stupid to think your high school sweetheart, the girl who took years to finally notice you, would turn out to be more than just a fling.

  I shrugged off the question. “Yeah, well, things change. Rachel’s not the girl for me. Believe me.”

  I tried to sound sure of myself, though I doubted I had the proper conviction in my voice. Not after spending most of last night fantasizing about what it would mean if she stayed, what might happen between us. It was stupid, really.

  “You could always try it,” he said suddenly.

  My gaze snapped to his, and I frowned. “What are you talking about? You just said to talk her into selling.”

  “Yeah, and feeling close to you again might be the way to get her on board. Spend a little more time with her. Feel her out. Remind her she loves the Hart family.”

  “Or it might convince her to stay. Ever think of that?” I didn’t mean my words to sound so hopeful.

  Austen shook his head confidently. “No, I’m telling you, she always hated this small town. She’ll be gone in a week. Two, tops. Just you wait and see. But we need to make sure when she goes, she sells to us.”

  Any serious thoughts I had about asking Rachel out, for real, immediately went on life support.

  Talking her into leaving and selling the property and family home where she’d grown up . . . that was the task ahead of me. I couldn’t do that, and at the same time imagine actually being with her.

  My mind made up, I nodded at Austen. I needed to stay the course. We had built a viable business and a good life, and Rachel coming to town was temporary.

  Austen was right. I needed to get her to sell. Wash her hands of this place and move on once again for good.

  But I had to admit, if the tables were turned, I would never sell. And if she and I were together, I’d never let her lose her family property.

  6

  * * *

  RENO TIME

  Rachel

  I had called up my best friend, Megan, to update her on my plans, as promised. Though I was sure she wasn’t expecting what I had to say.

  “Wait, what are you saying? You’re not coming back to Houston?”

  It sounded crazier hearing it said back to me, but I really was leaning that way. I didn’t know just how much until Austen had suggested I couldn’t make it here. Something in that comment got the wheels in my brain turning, and I knew I was seriously considering staying.

  “This is my home. The only place I have roots. And I need roots right now more than anything,” I said.

  Megan sighed. “I’m sad for me. But, of course, I’m happy for you, babe.”

  “I know. It’s been a long three weeks not working together.”

  Since I was more senior by a few years, and therefore more expensive, the hospital had cut me and kept Megan on during budget cuts.

  “Ugh, you can say that again. I don’t even like the place without you, but I have too much student-loan debt to leave now.”

  Megan had gone into a bachelor’s program for nursing at a four-year school and racked up a good bit of student debt. My two-year community-college program had been much more cost-effective, so I didn’t have any loans to pay back. One small blessing, I guessed.

  “Honestly, I miss you, but I don’t miss the job. Maybe I’ll do something entirely different, especially if I stay out here.”

  “What’s it like out there? Isn’t it a super-small town?” Megan asked.

  “You’re going to see for yourself in a few days, silly. It’s beautiful. But as far as work options go, I’m not sure there’s much.”

  I was thankful she was coming to visit. She had surprised me with the news two days ago.

  If I did decide to stay, I wouldn’t need to work right away. I had decent savings, no debt, and Grandpa had this place paid off. Plus, he had a life insurance policy that would mean more money coming my way soon. It would be enough to afford food and utilities for months, plus the tax bill.