Cody and her mom reached the edge and dismounted. “Is this good?” Cody called out.

  “Excellent!” Zane called back. He came alongside Jake as they joined the other two at the rim.

  Mandy’s mom stood holding Eeyore’s reins. “I’m pumped!” She held up her phone. “Is it okay if I take a video?”

  “Absolutely.” Zane swung down from the saddle and turned as if planning to help Mandy.

  She’d already jumped down. The less he touched her the better off they’d be. She pulled out her phone. “I’ll take a video, too. That way we’ll have different angles since we don’t know which way she’ll go.”

  “Sounds good,” Zane said. “I’ve never had a video of this. Now that we’ll be fundraising, it would be great to have.”

  Cody ground-tied Winston and walked toward Zane. “What can I do?”

  “Unstrap the carrier and we’ll walk it over to the edge.” Zane took heavy leather gauntlets out of Jake’s saddlebags and pulled them on.

  Mandy glanced over at her mom. “Ready?”

  “Sure am.” She flashed a smile that made her look twenty years younger.

  Mandy couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen her mother this excited. She’d insisted that Mandy wear the western hat and boots. Then she’d decked herself out in sneakers, jeans, a fire-engine red parka and a baseball cap under the parka’s hood to shade her eyes.

  Now that they were here, she’d flipped back the hood and turned the cap backwards so she had an unobstructed view. She was joyous, uninhibited, totally in the moment. Happy.

  “Okay, ladies,” Cody said. “Zane’s about to take this bird out.”

  Mandy gave her attention to the two cowboys hunkered down beside the carrier sitting on the ground. She switched on the video as Zane reached inside with both gloved hands. He fumbled a little as the eagle flapped wildly, but then he pulled her out by her feet.

  Dangling her upside down for a split second, he launched her into the air. Mandy gasped and followed her progress with the camera lens as the eagle swooped upward. A second eagle appeared on the screen and they circled in the air, diving and gliding in what had to be a dance of joy. A jumble of emotions crowded Mandy’s chest.

  After a few seconds, one eagle headed toward the horizon and the other followed. Mandy had lost track of which was the male and which the female, but it didn’t matter. Zane could figure it out when he reviewed the video. What mattered was that he’d reunited a mated pair and given them a chance to fly free in this wild and glorious setting.

  “Woo-hoo!” Her mom shoved both fists in the air and danced in a circle. “Awesome! Loved it!” She rushed over to Zane and threw her arms around him. “Best experience ever.”

  He laughed and hugged her back. “Glad you liked it, Aunt Jo.”

  Her mom spun around. “Mandy! Did you see that? Did you see how they dipped and swirled in the air? They were so happy!”

  “They sure were!” She did her best to match her mother’s enthusiasm, but inside her heart was breaking. Those eagles weren’t the only ones who found joy here.

  Her chest was so tight she could barely breathe. Giving up a dream was no fun, no fun at all. The rest of this day would be hell, but there was only one right thing to do. And she would summon the courage to do it.

  * * *

  Zane felt as if he’d already said goodbye to Mandy early that morning in front of her mother’s house. But he pretended to tell her goodbye again for appearance’s sake two hours later, after they’d ridden back to the ranch and had lunch with his mom.

  It was the stupidest scene he’d ever been a part of. They said their goodbyes outside the house while his mom stood in the open door on her crutches. He wished Mandy well and even gave her a hug because Cody had and not doing the same would seem pointed.

  He hugged Aunt Jo with much more enthusiasm. Having her there for the release had been special. He couldn’t tell how the whole thing had affected Mandy. She’d been a lot more subdued afterward, which could be the result of their screwed-up deal.

  Because he refused to watch them drive away, he was almost through the front door when Cody announced that a truck was coming down the road.

  “That must be Faith,” his mom called from inside the house. “Right on time, too. Give her points for promptness.”

  “I give her points for driving a classic F150,” Cody said. “That model qualifies as an antique. It’s in damn fine shape, too. Love the dark green paint job.”

  “I don’t care what she drives.” Zane watched their potential employee slow down when she passed the barn, as if she might be checking it out. “I just want somebody who’s good with horses.”

  “And people,” Cody reminded him. “You need a people person for the trail rides.”

  “That’s for sure.” Zane continued to watch the truck’s progress. The driver’s slow speed was respectful of the property. That counted for a lot with him. “But I’m not taking a new hire on a trail ride. Whether it’s her or someone else, they’ll have to prove themselves in the stable before I’ll trust them with a bunch of greenhorns.”

  “She keeps her truck nice,” Cody said. “Looks freshly washed.”

  “That only means she ran it through the carwash in town before coming out here today.”

  Cody gazed at him. “You’re in a very negative frame of mind.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Zane sighed. “I should let you and Mom make this decision.”

  “But you’re not gonna.”

  “No sir.” He observed that the person in the truck parked it with care. He waited to see who would climb down from the cab. They’d never had another woman working around the place. He was determined to be open-minded about the possibility, though.

  But when the driver got out, he wondered if there’d been some mistake.

  “Doesn’t look like a girl to me,” Cody muttered under his breath.

  “Maybe it’s not her.” He searched in vain for anything feminine about the person walking toward them.

  The jeans, flannel shirt and denim vest didn’t help. The outfit looked clean but the clothes were so baggy he couldn’t make out the person’s shape. The battered Stetson disguised whether the hair under it was long or short and the boots were plain brown and gender neutral.

  The face, though, once he could see it clearly, made him think he might be looking at a woman, after all. No lipstick, but the features were delicate.

  The visitor paused a few feet away. “Hi. I’m here to see Kendra McGavin.”

  The musical voice clinched it. Definitely a woman. “Then you must be Faith.”

  She had a friendly smile with a slight gap between her two front teeth. “That’s me.”

  “Glad you could make it.” Zane touched the brim of his hat. “I’m Zane McGavin and this is my brother Cody.”

  Cody lifted his hat in greeting. “Pleased to meet you, ma’am. I’ll get the door for you. Mom’s right inside.”

  The interview went well, in Zane’s opinion, and Faith seemed completely at ease when he and Cody took her down to the barn and showed her around. When she drove away in her vintage truck, he turned to Cody. “She’d be great. Assuming Mom agrees, and I think she will, then we should hire her.”

  Cody nodded as they started back toward the house. “We absolutely should. She’s perfect. And she might be a big help to Mom.”

  “Yeah, I thought of that. I can even see using her for the trail rides, although I’d want to give her a couple of weeks to settle in.”

  “She’d probably be good at it. There’s something very calming about her.” Cody climbed the porch steps. “It’s also a plus that she’s not sexy.”

  “It is?”

  “I think so. We’re talking about a female employee on a ranch with five single guys. What if one of us was attracted to her? That could get complicated.”

  “I suppose.” Zane hadn’t even considered the possibility. Only one woman held any interest for him. He was afraid it could become a permanent state of mind, too. That would truly suck.

  His mom was on the phone when they walked in. She held up her hand to signal that she’d be finished in a minute.

  “I’m gonna pop into the kitchen and grab a beer,” Cody said. “Want one?”

  “Sure, thanks. I’ll bet Mom could use some lemonade.” Zane settled into an easy chair facing the couch.

  “Be right back.”

  “Of course I’ll tell him.” His mom sounded agitated. “He’ll want to know. If you feel like coming over tonight, please do. ‘Bye.” She disconnected and gazed at Zane. “Mandy’s left.”

  “Left?” He stared at her. “What do you mean?”

  “She’s on her way to Bozeman. She managed to snag a flight that leaves in two hours.”

  “Why the hell would she do that?” He’d been braced for Tuesday’s departure. This news blindsided him. She couldn’t be going back today. She’d only left the ranch a little while ago, for God’s sake.

  Cody came out of the kitchen carrying two beers and a can of lemonade, which he gave to their mom. “Mandy’s gone?”

  “Yep. Thanks for the lemonade. I’ve been on the phone with Jo ever since you took Faith down to the barn. My throat is bone dry.” She drank several gulps.

  “I’m confused.” Zane took the beer Cody handed him and set it on the side table. “Why would she leave two days early?”

  “Apparently after going on the eagle release trip she changed her mind about Jo moving back there.”

  “No way!” Cody plopped into the other easy chair.

  Heart pounding, Zane stared at his mom. “Why?”

  “She finally faced the fact that her mother loves this place and the friends she’s made.”

  “But she also loves Mandy.”

  “Yes, and Jo was totally committed to the move. But after lots of tears on both sides, they agreed it would be a mistake.”

  Zane winced. That must have been so tough for Mandy. She’d had what she wanted in her grasp and she’d let it go.

  “I’m sorry for Mandy’s sake,” Cody said. “But I’m glad she finally figured out that Aunt Jo belongs here. I don’t understand why she had to leave early, though.”

  “I do.” Zane dragged in a breath. “What she did took courage. Even though it was the right choice, she didn’t trust herself to stick with it if she hung around.”

  “Oh.” Cody twisted the cap off his beer. “I guess that makes sense. Hey, Mom, you’re looking kind of sad. Aren’t you happy that Aunt Jo’s staying?”

  “I am. I just feel bad for Mandy. I agree she made the right choice, but…“ She glanced at Zane. “It couldn’t have been easy.”

  “I’m sure it wasn’t.” He ached to hold his brave, determined Buttercup and tell her that she was amazing. Cody had been right that he’d always loved her. He needed to decide what to do about that.

  Chapter Twenty

  Mandy grabbed a jar of peanut butter and another of strawberry jam and closed the refrigerator door with her hip. She’d bought a loaf of her favorite multigrain at the bakery on her way home from the subway station and she’d insta-chilled some excellent Chardonnay by sticking it in the freezer. Did she know how to create the perfect meal or what?

  PB and J sandwiches reminded her of Zane, but she didn’t have anything else that was easy to fix. It had been three weeks, two days and four hours since she’d last seen him. Counting the hours as well as the days and weeks was a bad sign but her brain automatically made the calculation. If she began counting the minutes, too, she’d see a shrink.

  Carrying her plate and glass to the couch, she used the remote to turn on the TV. The routine was automatic, but most evenings she didn’t pay attention to what was on the screen. The chatter was better than silence for helping her think and she needed to do that. She was still figuring things out.

  Immediately following her hasty exit from Eagles Nest, she’d been riding high after making a grand gesture for her mom’s sake. The euphoria had lasted about a week. During the next week, she’d cried every night because she’d chosen not to have her mom living with her, after all. She’d notified her friend she wouldn’t be subletting his two-bedroom apartment and that had been a bad day. Without that apartment the plan was truly scrapped.

  In the last week, though, she’d been able to regain the certainty she’d had that afternoon of the eagle release. Bringing her mother to New York would have been a disaster. Her mom had rebuilt her life in Montana and Mandy had expected her to tear it apart and start over.

  Yet her mom would have done it. That was humbling. Her mother’s love was bigger and stronger than she’d ever imagined, and accepting that had spread a healing balm over old wounds. She and her mom had talked several times on the phone since then. The conversations were more open and honest than any they’d ever had.

  Resentments she’d held onto for years were melting away. Those long talks were pure gold and it turned out she didn’t have to drag her mom away from Montana to have them.

  She hadn’t said goodbye to Eagles Nest as she’d planned, either. She got updates from her mom on Aunt Kendra’s progress and had found out that a woman named Faith was working at the ranch these days. Mandy hoped Faith would take an interest in Licorice.

  Zane owned her mom’s house, now, and he’d helped her move into the condo. The dialogue with her mom included hearing about Zane and his progress on the raptor headquarters. He was already living there but hadn’t started moving the birds.

  She was hungry for news about him even though every bit of information increased her sense of loss. They were separated by a chasm of maybes and might-have-beens. She didn’t know how to cross it and wasn’t sure she had the courage even if someone could show her the way.

  She’d finished half her sandwich and was reaching for the other half when her doorbell buzzed. Since she wasn’t expecting anyone, she figured a neighbor had ordered takeout and the delivery person had the wrong apartment number.

  Brushing breadcrumbs off her lap, she stood, walked to the door and checked the peephole. Then she blinked and checked it again. Not a hallucination. Zane McGavin stood in the hallway holding a small duffle bag.

  She threw open the door. “What in heaven’s name are you –” She didn’t get to finish before he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. As his hat fell to the floor of the hallway, she sank against the familiar sheepskin coat and hung on for dear life. If this was a dream, she never wanted to wake up.

  “Ooo-weee! Where can I get me one of those cowboys?”

  Mandy eased out of Zane’s embrace and glanced over to see her eighty-year-old neighbor Sadie standing in the hallway holding his hat in one hand and a trash bag in the other.

  “This is…” Mandy cleared her throat. “This is my best friend from back home, Zane McGavin. Zane, this is Sadie Phillips. She lives two doors down.”

  “Pleased to meet you, ma’am.”

  Sadie peered at him, her brown eyes wide behind her thick glasses. “Ditto. I’ve never met a real cowboy before.”

  “They don’t all look like this,” Mandy said. “He’s the cream of the crop.”

  “I would believe that. Here’s your hat, Zane McGavin. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll take this trash to the bin. Then I’m going back to my apartment so I can book a trip to Montana. I may not find anyone as cute as you, but I’ll have fun lookin’!” Laughing, she hurried down the hall.

  Mandy grabbed his arm. “Come inside before any more of my neighbors show up. You don’t exactly blend into the landscape.”

  “I’ve noticed. I’m pretty sure I was the only one on the subway wearing a Stetson.”

  “You took the subway?” She closed and locked her door as she tried to imagine Zane on a New York subway. It didn’t compute. “Speaking of that, how did you know where to find me?” Then it dawned on her. “My mom. And she neglected to tell me you were coming.”

  “Don’t go blaming Aunt Jo.” He dropped his duffle on the floor and laid his hat on top of it. “I asked her not to tell you. I was counting on the element of surprise.”

  “What for?”

  “To add some drama.” He glanced at the half sandwich on her plate. “Mind if I have one of those? I’ll make it for myself, but I’m starving. I haven’t been on a plane in a long time and I didn’t realize they don’t feed you anymore.”

  “I’ll make it while you take off your coat and explain why you wanted to add drama to this visit.” He’d certainly accomplished that. Every time she looked at him her pulse rate shot up. She hadn’t fully grasped the fact that he was standing in her apartment, but he seemed real enough.

  “I started thinking about our history and decided you’ve always liked a little drama in your life, provided it was the exciting kind and not the gut-wrenching kind. When we used to play like we were pioneers on the frontier, you were all for the disasters like floods and run-ins with grizzlies.”

  “You loved that, too!”

  “Yeah, I did. You made everything more fun.” He leaned on the counter that separated the kitchen from the living area and watched her making the sandwich.

  His sexy self was damned distracting. Her hand trembled as she worked on the sandwich. “How’s the raptor headquarters coming along?”

  “It’s not.”

  She stopped working on the sandwich to stare at him. “What’s wrong?”

  “I can’t use the house for my headquarters, after all.”

  “Oh, Zane, why not? Is there a zoning problem you didn’t know about?”

  “No.” He came around the counter. “It’s a personal problem.” Taking the table knife from her and laying it on the counter, he drew her into his arms. “I moved in and discovered how much I love the place exactly the way it is.”

  “But that’s crazy! You bought it so you could expand your operation.”