Page 85 of The Cowboy Who Looked Again

Dawson’s smile had slipped, disappeared, and hidden. Burrowed down into his body the way he imagined those silly owls did into the ground. He didn’t want to talk this morning. He just wanted pancakes and some of the candied bacon with chili flakes.

Then, he’d head back to the church to pick up his brother, and they’d go on home to the ranch, where the work didn’t stop just because it was the Sabbath. He pulled up the latest news articles on his phone, and Caroline got the hint that he did not want to socialize. She remained quiet and absorbed in her device too, which suited Dawson just fine.

He hadn’t dated in a while, and he wasn’t going to start with someone who made assumptions and chewed him out for no reason. They put in their orders, and since the diner had fast cooks, especially when busy, their food came quickly.

He’d just buttered his buttermilk pancakes and poured syrup over them and his chocolate chip stack when Caroline asked, “Are you ever going to file your paperwork to protect the endangered habitat on your ranch?”

Looking up from his food, he glared at her. “We don’t have burrowing owls on our property.”

“It’s not about the animals,” she said. “Yet.”

“We cleared the dens before it was legally required to keep them,” he informed her coolly. “Did you not get my email?”

“Did you get mine?” she shot back. “It clearly stated I needed the paperwork anyway.”

He’d gotten it, but he pressed his teeth together instead of admitting so. “We’ve been busy.” He indicated the diner beyond them. “You heard me tell Marianne about the harvest and the roundup.”

“Yes,” she said with a bite of attitude he did not appreciate.

“I just want to enjoy my breakfast,” he said.

“That’s all I wanted too,” she said.

He studied her, trying to find a way past her displeasure. “She wouldn’t have seated you without me. I did us both a favor.”

“If you say so.” She looked down at her breakfast—she’d gotten the All American, which was two eggs, two sausage links, two bacon strips, two buttermilk pancakes, and hashbrowns. “These aren’t the potatoes I want.”

Oops, home fries.

Dawson ducked his head before she could see his smile, and he tucked into his pancakes before the syrup could make them too soggy. As he swallowed, down went the insane words scratching through his head.

Do you have a boyfriend?

No? Perfect.

Would you maybe want to go out with me sometime?

I’ll file the paperwork.

No, he definitely couldn’t say any of those things, and he thanked God that he’d managed to keep them dormant, so he wouldn’t make a fool of himself when she laughed and rejected him outright.

Chapter Thirty

Link checked his phone again, but Misty hadn’t responded. He’d been back on the ranch, back in service, for a few hours now. Once the cattle had been put to pasture, he’d helped put away the horses, and he’d come home to shower off the week’s worth of work, dust, grime, and sweat.

Their family feast to celebrate the conclusion of the round-up would be at the firepit in another half-hour, and Link’s stomach told him he would not miss it. But he missed Misty something fierce, and he needed to hear from her.

She’d sent a lot of texts, which he’d gotten in a flurry of notification noises and in a seemingly random order. He’d managed to piece together the events of this week as he made assumptions about which texts had come when.

He’d answered her and said, I’m back, and I can’t wait to hear your voice. Call me when you can.

She hadn’t called. Or even texted again.

Link didn’t know how to breathe without her. Every moment where he hadn’t heard from her made him into someone else. A different version of himself that would do anything to hear her voice and make her happy. A new cowboy in this moment, and then the next, who would know exactly how to tell her he loved her, and of course there was a place for her brother at Shiloh Ridge.

He hadn’t spoken to his father, Uncle Ward, or Uncle Preacher about it, but Link still knew it to be true. Danny had been in jail for his role in a bar fight—armed assault—but Link believed in repentance. He believed in second chances—and he knew his family did too.

The problem was, Misty had messaged among all her other texts that Danny didn’t want to leave Dallas.

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