Page 57 of The Cowboy Who Looked Again

“Hey,” she finally said back.

He didn’t play loud, and it set the stage for this new scene she’d entered. “I didn’t mean to make things awkward between us,” he said. “I sincerely thought you knew I had a lot of money.”

“I suppose I did,” Misty whispered. “I guess I’d never given it to you. It was always the ranch that was rich.”

Link nodded. “Just another thing for me to work through about not really being a Glover.”

“I hate that for you.” She cuddled into his side, glad when he finally stopped playing and set his guitar aside. He stared out toward the road she’d driven down, to the trees on the other side of it. His hands hung down between his knees, the way they had that evening they’d sat overlooking the town of Three Rivers, talking about her fractured past.

“You’re a Glover through and through,” she said. “They don’t just give anyone a junior foreman position, you know.”

“I’m not special because I’m the junior foreman,” he said.

“No.” Misty drew in a deep breath, about to take their game into a brand-new direction. “But you’re special because you’re a Glover.”

He put his arm around her and pulled her against him. “Thank you for saying that.”

Misty felt the world open up, the way one of those pop-up cards did. She’d been living as a flattened version of herself, but with Lincoln Glover, all the flaps and pieces could expand into something intricate and beautiful.

“You’re special to me,” he murmured.

Misty’s emotions swirled and surged. Her throat felt like one of those tiny coffee-stirring straws. “I don’t know how to talk the way you do.”

“You just open your mouth,” he said. “And let God fill it with the right words.” He kneaded her closer and pressed a kiss to her hair. “No one has ever told me I’m good at talking.”

“Better than me.”

“You’ve always done just fine with me, Misty,” he said. “It’s just the two of us here. I’m not going to judge anything you say.”

She laced all ten of her fingers through just a single hand of his and squeezed. “I’m falling in love with you,” she murmured.

“I’m going to take that to mean things are still serious.”

“They are for me.”

“Good,” he said. He nodded toward the food. “Smells good. Should we go inside and eat?”

She nodded, and Link somehow knew what she wanted though they both faced the landscape opposite the cabin. He stood and took her hand in his to pull her up. His eyes hooked into hers, and while Misty wanted to look away, she couldn’t.

“I’m just going to open my mouth, and I don’t know what will come out.”

“Oh, this sounds like a new game for us,” she said.

Link gave her half a smile that stayed for half a second. “The Lord’s been telling me to be patient for quite some time now. It’s perfectly exhausting, if I’m being honest. I don’t want to be patient. I feel things for you Misty, that I’ve not felt for anyone, ever, before. I’m hungry for you. I want you here without an end date, because if I’m not in love with you, I’m really dang close.”

Misty nodded, tears squeezing out of the corners of her eyes.

“I’m not going to ask you to move here,” he said.

“You already have.” Maybe not in those words, but Misty knew what Link wanted.

“I don’t think you’re ready for any of this,” he said. “I don’t feel ready either, so maybe God has been telling me the right thing, and I’ve just made a huge mistake by opening my big mouth.”

Misty smiled at him. “Again, nothing anyone has ever said about you.”

He smiled more fully this time. “I feel out of words, so it must be a good time to stop.” Link bent and picked up the bag with their dinner. “Let’s go inside.”

Misty went with him, her mind whirring around all he’d said. They didn’t speak as he pulled the Styrofoam containers out and got down plates. Misty removed silverware from the drawer, and she took the plate he’d prepared for her.

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