Page 23 of The Cowboy Who Looked Again

Arizona shook her head, her smile radiant. “Misty Granger—oh, you mean—” She drew in a breath and stuck her hand out. “Misty Granger. So nice to meet you.”

Seeing the different reactions of Link’s family members had been interesting, to say the least. They obviously all knew her name. Every single one of them, right down to an aunt who didn’t live on this ranch anymore.

Arizona turned back to Sammy. “And don’t let Oakley hear you say I’m the most beautiful.”

Sammy only laughed, and they went back to dishing up leftovers. Misty exchanged a glance with Janie, and then she turned to Arizona. “So how old is Brandon?”

Arizona pinned her with a look. “For you? Or for you?” She looked over to Janie.

“She likes the dark-haired type,” Misty said with a smile. “I’m more into blonds.”

“Mm hm.” Arizona finished with another container and got interrupted by a girl in her early teens. “Shiloh, baby, take this over to my bag. Daddy will want these beef tips.”

Misty’s pride and satisfaction grew inside her, but she hid her smile. “Your daughter?” she asked.

“Yes,” Arizona said.

“You named her Shiloh?” Misty looked at her. “After this ranch?”

“Yes,” Arizona said. “Names mean something to us.” She smiled over to the teen, who’d been joined by another one. “My other daughter’s name is April Rivers, but she goes by Trouble.” She gave the girl a dark look, and as she put her hand on the chest of a boy a couple of years older than her, Misty could see why.

“Who’s that?” she asked casually.

“Jason Walker,” Arizona said without taking her eyes off the teenagers. “He’s a good boy, but April is a bit of a flirt.”

“It’s innocent,” Sammy said.

“Sure,” Arizona said, cutting her a look out of the corner of her eye. “If that was Heather, you wouldn’t be saying that.”

“If that was Heather, Bear would ground her and never let her leave the house.” Sammy scoffed and glanced around. “Where’s Duke?”

“Still trying to get the BRD out of the herd,” Arizona said. “We’ve had Cactus up to Hidden Hills a couple of times, and they’re getting close.” She looked back to her daughters and the Walker boy, and another teen had joined them.

Misty hadn’t grown up here, but she had in another small, Southern town, and she knew everyone knew everyone else. They knew each other’s business, and they had opinions that had to grow and change as the people they knew did.

“What’s BRD?” Misty asked, drawing the attention of the older women again.

“Bovine Respiratory Disease,” Sammy answered. “Spreads fast, but Duke caught it early.”

“He did,” Arizona murmured. She stepped away from the table and over to the teens. “You guys start getting the rest of the tables and chairs put away, please.”

“Yes, Momma,” April said, and she ducked away from the boys. Shiloh didn’t seem interested in them at all, and she stuck by them as they started folding chairs and stacking them against the wall.

Arizona rolled her eyes as she came back to the table, which made Misty smile and Sammy laugh. “So,” she said. “You and Link are getting back together?”

“Zona,” Sammy barked.

“Who’s getting back together?” another woman asked, and Misty had met this aunt already. Etta. She cut her eyes over to Misty. “Ah, I see.”

“I’m glad someone does,” Misty said, trying to control the pounding of her pulse. Too bad it did whatever it wanted, despite her efforts to calm herself. “I don’t…know….”

“She and Link just started talking again,” Janie said, finally piping up and saving Misty from herself. “I don’t think they’ve talked about if they’re back together or not.” Janie plunked a full container on the table. “I mean, I’m her best friend, and I think she’d have told me if they had.” She speared Misty with a look strong enough to make Misty put up one hand in surrender.

“We haven’t talked about it,” she said, though his words shouted in her head.

What are we doing?

She looked up and found eight eyes on her. She suddenly wanted to run, to hide, to shout that she had reasons for doing what she’d done with Link. The words stuffed down her throat, choking her, and she looked to Janie for help.

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