The bang as they hit the edge of the table and crash as the beer bottles and game fell to the ground froze them in place, Chad halfway out of the chair with Hannah still clutched to him with her legs locked around his torso. They both seemed to hold their breath, their eyes wide, as they waited to hear the pitter pat of Aria coming out of her room to check out the cause of the noise.

  Chad set Hannah down slowly, and they waited for another few seconds of silence.

  “She’s still out,” Hannah whispered.

  “That was a close one,” Chad replied.

  “Yeah,” Hannah said in a normal voice. She cleared her throat and knelt to clean up the mess from the bottles as Chad picked up the game board.

  The spell was broken, and the kitchen was silent as they finished tidying up. Chad was about to put the board back in the box when he glanced at Hannah.

  “One more round?”

  “Huh?” She looked perplexed.

  He gestured to the game. “You, me, and Candyland. Let’s do this. We can strategize our next moves as we play.”

  She gave him a lopsided smile.

  “Seriously?”

  Chad nodded.

  “Well, okay then. Have a seat, King Kandy, and prepare to lose your crown.”

  He laughed and felt a little closer to Hannah, even though he knew that closeness was the last thing they needed.

  8

  There was no reason for Hannah to feel nervous as she pulled up in front of Nina’s beautiful house. After all, it was just a friendly planning meeting with a dozen Cattlemen Association wives. She couldn’t understand why her palms were sweating and her heart was racing.

  Then it hit her. She wanted to do right by Chad. She wanted to make the wives see how perfect she was, which in turn would make Chad look better and more qualified for the position he’d set his heart on. She squared her shoulders and straightened her back as she reached into the back seat of her minivan for the overflowing box of Magpie pastries. She was going to be fine. After all, this kind of stuff was her thing. She could plan, promote, and pull off an impressive event no matter the budget. The wives were going to wonder what hit them!

  She’d brought her tablet and a few notepads as well as a huge cup of coffee. Her hands were full enough that she had to watch her step as she made her way to Nina’s arched front door. Hannah surveyed the cars in the driveway and stopped in her tracks when she spotted the gleaming black truck with the unmistakable steer head hood ornament on it.

  Tripp.

  Her heart rate doubled as she got closer to the house. What the hell was Tripp doing at a wives’ meeting? Was she going to have to spend the morning avoiding him? And were the other association members going to be there too?

  She debated turning around and leaving, but she had to be there for Chad if he was going to be there for her. At least she’d have the other wives as a shield.

  Hannah was so caught up thinking about her next move that she didn’t see the loose brick on the walkway. Her toe hit it and the box of pastries went flying onto the sidewalk, dumping out every last scone, doughnut, and cinnamon roll onto the ground. She had to struggle to keep the tablet and coffee cup from falling as well.

  “Damn it!” she muttered as she assessed the damage. For an instant she considered scooping them all back into the box and pretending that it didn’t happen, but it didn’t feel right. Hannah piled the mess back into the box and walked it back to her car, trying to think of the right thing to say when she showed up empty-handed. Even though Nina hadn’t asked her to bring anything, she hated showing up to events without a little gift or snack.

  Her phone buzzed and she pulled it out to check. A “good luck” text from Chad, with a thumbs-up emoji. She smiled despite her frustration with herself.

  “I’m an idiot,” she texted to him. “I just dropped all of the goodies from Noelle’s on the driveway. Grrr, so mad at myself!”

  “Don’t sweat it, they’ll love you, doughnuts or no doughnuts. Go get ‘em!” he texted back.

  She grinned again. His enthusiasm was contagious. He was right, she needed to shake it off and go show the wives just what great assets she and Chad could be.

  “Please, don’t even worry about not bringing anything,” Nina said warmly as she welcomed Hannah into her sunny front room. The other wives waved and smiled at her as she walked in.

  Nina turned to the group. “Everyone, this is Hannah Smith, also known as Chad Radford’s new girlfriend. Let’s give her a warm welcome and get her prepared to help out with the Cattlemen’s Festival madness.”

  The room echoed with their hellos and she instantly felt at ease.

  Hannah smiled. “Hi there, thanks for welcoming me in. I feel bad to show up empty-handed, but I dropped the giant box of pastries I brought out front. I didn’t think anyone wanted dirt on their danish!”

  Everyone laughed.

  “Hey, did someone say you needed pastries?” a voice rang out from the front room.

  Chad came striding in with not one, but two blue boxes in his hands and a smile plastered on his face.

  “What?” Hannah said in shock as the ladies in the room ooh and ahhed.

  “Tyler let me in. I was at Noelle’s when you texted, so I figured I’d deliver some replacements. Nina, where would you like me to put these goodies?”

  She led Chad to the table in the next room as the chatter around Hannah got louder.

  “Lucky duck,” a pretty blonde woman said to her. “That’s about the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen! It’s like Chad’s a new man.”

  “Isn’t that the truth?” a grey-haired woman next to her added. “He’s always been a doll, but I’ve never known him to get involved with our events. More of a watcher than a joiner.

  “Oh, that hasn’t been my experience with him at all,” Hannah said with a bright smile even though their seemingly casual comments were sort of mean. “Chad is the best. He’s so good with my daughter Aria, and he’s really thoughtful. I feel really lucky to have him in my life.” She shrugged and felt her cheeks go pink, because it was the truth on a few levels.

  “Chad Radford saves the day!” a pretty brunette said with her eyes on Chad in the next room. “Speaking of, I’m starving. Let me at those things!”

  The rest of the crowd agreed, and they all filed into the dining room where Nina was putting the pastries on a platter, and Chad was quickly stuffing a doughnut into his mouth.

  “Sorry,” he said with a guilty expression and his mouth full. “Couldn’t resist.”

  The ladies laughed and everyone grabbed a goody.

  The idea came to Hannah as she watched everyone. “Excuse me, this might sound weird, but could you all go stand next to Chad and hold up your pastries? I want to take a quick photo.”

  “I don’t need an excuse to stand next to a Radford boy,” someone’s voice echoed in the room, causing him to blush. They clustered around him with their treats held up, and Hannah quickly snapped the picture. It was perfect; it was goofy enough to get people to stop scrolling and pay attention. The women looked suitably dazzled by Chad and he looked sheepish but adorable. She quickly adjusted the color for maximum pop, and added the caption, “Emergency pastries from Magpie Bakery! Chad Radford saves the day at the Cattlemen Association wives’ meeting.” She tagged the local and national associations as well as Magpie and put her phone away to focus on the pretty brunette who was getting a little too friendly with Chad.

  He seemed to notice too. “Hey, Hannah, walk me to my truck?”

  “Sure.” She nodded.

  He blew out a sigh of relief once they were outside together. “Wow, that was … a lot.”

  Hannah laughed. “Lesson number one: sugar is a must before a planning session. It puts everyone in a good mood. That’s why I was so upset I dropped them out here.”

  “Glad I could help,” Chad said, touching the brim of his hat.

  They stared at one another. It felt important for their charade to hug or have some other sort of physical connection before they said goodbye, especially if the women were watching from the window. They stepped together at the same moment and their arms circled around each other, Chad’s around Hannah’s shoulders and Hannah’s around his waist. Just as their eyes met and Chad started to lean in, a voice rang out.

  “Aww, look at the lovebirds,” Tripp mocked as he hauled an auger into the back of his truck.

  They jumped apart, startled.

  “Tripp,” Chad said through gritted teeth. “Doing some long-term borrowing of equipment again, I see? You mean you could actually con Tyler into loaning you something?”

  “He knows I’m good for it.” He closed the tailgate and strolled over to them, his eyes lazily trailing up Hannah’s body.

  “I should get back in,” she said quickly. Before she could stop herself, she grabbed Chad’s face and planted a hard, quick kiss on his lips. She could tell he was trying to hide his shock as she pulled away. “Bye, I’ll see you later.”

  “Later, Amanda.” Tripp’s mocking voice stopped her in her tracks.

  She turned back to him slowly. “What did you say?”

  “I said goodbye, Hannah.” His eyebrows shot up, and he looked like a bad actor trying to seem confused. “What, is saying goodbye a crime?”

  Hannah shook her head slowly. She wanted to believe she’d misheard him … but his tone sounded too deliberate. Mentioning “crime” felt intentional too. She glanced at Chad and he seemed to read whatever was registering on her face.

  “Tripp, you done here? Because I want to leave out the back driveway and your parking job sucks. You’re blocking me in.”

  Tripp nodded slowly and got into his truck, still looking at Hannah in a way that made her want to slap the smile off his face.

  Suddenly, she wondered if Chad could protect her after all.

  9

  “I noticed this the last time I was here, and it drove me crazy. I don’t like the thought of you two living in a house with a broken gate latch,” Chad said as he screwed the thing on tighter.

  “You really didn’t have to do that,” Hannah said. “My landlord said he’d get to it eventually.”

  “Eventually,” Chad snorted. “Six months you’ve been here, you still got a gate that bangs every time the wind blows. All it took was a little elbow grease.”

  Aria dropped the watering can and walked over to Chad, studying him. “Grease?” She put her little hand on his arm and examined it.

  Hannah laughed. “It’s just an expression, sweetie. Mr. Chad means that it took a little bit of effort, but it wasn’t hard to do.”

  Chad watched the little girl process the information, her confusion registering on her face. He reached into his tool kit and pulled out a can of WD-40 and pretended to put some on his elbow, then flexed his arm. “I’m like the Tin Man. Much better!” He held the can out to her. “Want some?” She ran away laughing.

  “What are you up to today?” Hannah asked in a quiet voice, like she was nervous. “Busy day?”

  Chad shook his head. “This is a surprisingly slow Saturday for me. We finished chores ahead of schedule this morning, so Jett’s doing family stuff, and Shane and Matilda are at the breeding barn for the rest of the day. I’m wide open. You?”

  There was that smile he was coming to expect from her.

  “Same. Just hanging around here, I guess.”

  “I’m bored,” Aria yelled from the playset, where she was draped over the swing.

  “Bored?” Chad shouted in mock shock. “How can you be bored, young lady? Why, you’ve got a great jungle gym to climb, and flowers to water, and butterflies to chase … there’s absolutely no reason to be bored!”

  Aria groaned and kicked her feet in a halfhearted attempt to swing.

  “Four going on fourteen,” Hannah whispered to him.

  “I’ll say.” He grinned. “Hey, I have an idea. Have you two been to the Carousel Park yet?”

  Hannah shook her head. “We haven’t, but I love carousels. Aria’s never been on one.”

  “It’s kind of a drive, an hour away. But would you want to go today? We could probably get some good photos for my feed,” he added quickly.

  “Oh, I’m a mess from chores. I probably stink and look at my hair,” she said, running her hand up the back of her head to smooth her high ponytail.

  “Stop, you look great. You always do.”

  The smile was all the answer he needed.

  “Hey Aria, wanna meet a carousel horse?”

  “Wow.” Aria sighed as the massive carousel came into view.

  “You know it,” Chad replied, picking up his pace to keep up with the little girl running ahead of them.

  Hannah watched the two of them race to the entrance of the carousel with a bemused smile. She couldn’t tell who was more excited to take their first ride. Aria and Chad had chattered nonstop on the drive to the park, playing games of I Spy and talking about how many times they were going to ride the carousel. At last count Aria had pledged to take a zillion trips on it.

  It made her heart happy seeing Aria so comfortable with Chad. He was nothing like what the people of Kingsley thought he was, and she was pleased to have the opportunity to help showcase the side of him that both she and Aria were getting to know. Funny, kind, helpful …

  And an amazing kisser.

  She cleared her throat and tried not to think about kissing Chad again.

  “Mommy, are you going to come too?” Aria called over her shoulder to Hannah.

  “Of course I am!” She sped up to catch up to them as Chad bought a long ribbon of tickets they’d probably have to spend hours using up.

  Hannah took a moment to examine the carousel while they waited for it to stop so they could board. The top was edged in lights and shaped like a crown, and the tiny white lights lit up the ride itself, giving it a magical glow even in the sunlight. There were horses, of course, from gleaming black beauties to dappled white mares and every color in between. But there were also longhorn steer, deer, bears, tigers, and camels. Each was decked out in jeweled saddles with ropes of fat cabbage roses around their necks. It was the most breathtaking carousel Hannah had ever seen.

  She glanced down at Aria, and the little girl’s eyes were wide with wonder. Hannah could see her cataloging each of the animals, probably trying to determine which she was going to ride first.

  Chad knelt beside Aria. “Did you pick a winner yet?”

  She shook her head, still unable to say a word.

  “How about you, Honeybee?” Chad looked up at Hannah with a twinkle in his eyes.

  “I’m feeling very tigerish today.”

  “Grrrr,” he growled. “I like the spirit. I’m going horse. Always go horse,” he said as the ride slowed to a stop and they got ready to enter the gate.

  The ride operator let them in, and Aria approached the ride like she was about to board an alien craft.

  “You have to pick fast, sweetie—the ride’s going to start soon,” Hannah said as Aria examined each animal, touching them in wonderment.

  “This one looks like a winner,” Chad said as he started to get on a black stallion covered in war armor.

  Aria stopped. “I’m scared.” she whispered.

  Hannah realized that Aria had had limited exposure to horses and that being on top of even a fake one that high off the ground was bound to be a little scary. Chad answered before she could open her mouth to reply.

  “Really?” Chad’s eyebrows shot up. “Okay, you know what? I’m not going to ride that guy, I’m going to coach you and stand right next to you. Would that help?”

  She nodded, and Hannah’s heart swelled.

  “Which one, little lady? How about this unicorn?”

  Aria nodded again and Chad lifted her on the glowy white creature, the only unicorn on the entire ride. Luckily, the tiger was just a few feet ahead of it so Hannah could be ready to step in if necessary.

  “Okay, first we gotta name this baby. What do you think?” Chad asked.

  “Umm … Pinky Cupcake!”

  “Wow, that’s the perfect name! Pinky Cupcake it is.”

  Hannah laughed at how seriously Chad was taking their interaction.

  “Now, riding a unicorn is different from riding a regular horse,” he said, sounding like a teacher. “Instead of saying ‘giddy up’ you have to say, ‘sparkle up.’”

  Aria giggled and seemed to relax a little. The music cranked up and a piston let out a wail.

  “Okay, I think we’re ready for flight. Say it now!” Chad coached.

  “Sparkle up,” Aria said with a laugh as the unicorn began to slowly move up the pole. Her eyes went wide. “Whoa! Oh no!”

  “Don’t worry, cowgirl. You’ve got this! And I’m right here beside you.”

  She held onto the pole with a viselike grip.

  “And we’re off!” Chad said. “Now, unicorns are faster than any other creature on the ride, but we don’t want to show off too much, so you have to keep it nice and easy. And unicorns need a very gentle hand, so use the reins …” Chad drifted off and opened his eyes wide in exaggerated shock. “You’re not holding the reins, young lady! Let go of the pole and grab them quick, or this baby is gonna head for the stars!”

  Aria laughed a little louder and took the reins from Chad. The look of delight on her face was a joy to see, and Hannah slid her phone out of her pocket and started recording the two of them.

  “Hold them between your thumbs and pointer fingers. Keep your thumbs up like you’re holding an ice cream cone.” Chad looked at her hands. “Perfect.”

  Hannah had a perfect view of the two of them. They didn’t know she was recording them, so everything she was capturing was a pure interaction, not staged for the camera.

  “Now, unicorns want to fly as much as possible, but sometimes they go too high, all the way up to the clouds. You’re a beginner and you’re not ready for cloud flying yet, so in order to keep her low, just fix your eyes straight ahead of you.” Chad watched Aria focus then threw his hands up in alarm. “Whoa, little lady, be careful! If you look too high, she’s going up, up, up!”