Page 48 of The Cowboy Who Came Home

“Howdy,” he said. “How’s the online classes going?”

“Great,” Seth said, his smile fixed in place too. “Good enough.” He glanced over at someone as they joined them too. Link backed up a step as another cowboy arrived.

“Link,” he said with a laugh.

“Oh, hey, Will.” He shook that cowboy’s hand too, marveling at how well Mitch could communicate with people who didn’t know a lot of sign language. He caught him looking at Link, and he shifted over to stand next to Mitch.

“Oh, the Jessup sisters are here,” Will said. “Bridget! Izzy! Over here!”

Link’s heartbeat picked up, because if they had women standing with them, perhaps more would come over too. He wasn’t sure who he was looking for, but he did know Bridget and Izzy Jessup, and he said hello along with everyone else.

“Link, how’s your horse?” Izzy asked, putting her hand on his elbow. He looked at her perfectly manicured fingernails before sliding his gaze to her face. She’d taken time and put in effort to pretty up before coming, and he smiled at her.

“He’s okay. He still favors that right leg, and I can’t get him in the trailer.”

“I could come work with him a little,” she offered. She worked at a boarding stable over in Pampa, but she lived on the southern edge of town. “If you want.” She ducked her head and tucked her hair, and Link recognized shy flirting when he saw it, even if he hadn’t dated a lot.

Because right now, Izzy wanted him to flirt back. Ask her out. Tell her to come up to the ranch and help him with Royce. He liked Izzy well enough, sure. But he didn’t feel a spark with her skin against his. Only heat.

And Link wanted fireworks.

The band on the stage finished a song and started another one, this one slow. A ballad. A dancing song. The lead singer even leaned right into his mic and said, “All right, gentlemen. Find yourself a lady and take her for a twirl around the dance floor!”

Link looked at Izzy, who wore such hope on her face. “Do you want to dance?” he asked.

“Sure.” She giggled and took his hand in hers. Link knew how to dance, and he knew how to play a part. He hated it, because he just wanted to be himself.

But he held Izzy in his arms, and they moved around the floor. He quickly lost sight of Mitch, who’d also asked someone to dance with him.

“Got any new horses at the stable?” he asked.

“Seemingly every day,” Izzy said. “If you guys have extra people at Shiloh Ridge, my boss is hiring.”

Link nodded. “I’ll tell my daddy.”

“Did you see the theater is playing Ghostbusters?” she asked. “Not the new one. The old one. The classic.”

“I hadn’t seen that,” Link admitted. “It’s great the Miners bought it and cleaned it up.”

“Right?” Izzy laughed again, and Link could admit that tonight’s dance was better than any he’d been to in the past.

A pause came between them, and Link felt like he should ask her to go to the movies with him. But he didn’t want to be her boyfriend, and he didn’t want to lead her on. The conversation stalled for a minute, and then he said, “Would you believe me if I told you my uncle got another couple of dogs?”

Izzy looked up at him, her face aglow. “If it’s Cactus, absolutely.”

They laughed together, and then the singer yelled, “Twirl her away from you, boys!” and Link went out on a limb and grabbed Izzy’s hand and twirled her away from him.

As he stepped back, his foot landed on someone else’s instead of the dance floor. Izzy started coming back toward him, but his ankle buckled. She realized it too late, and they started to fall together.

The person behind them did too, and someone else somehow got all tangled up in the three of them too.

Link landed hard on his backside, his hand flailing up. Izzy hit the ground in front of him, but someone else landed right on top of him. Another woman, this one wearing a bright purple sweater with short sleeves. He knew, because her arm hit him right across the nose.

He grunted and groaned, and then people rushed at them, asking things like, “Link, are you okay?”

“Mitch, what happened?”

“Can you get up, Izzy?”

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