Page 72 of His Eighth Ride

Opal leaned back into his chest and pulled the blanket up to her chin. After tucking her arms in, Tag re-tucked it, and Opal closed her eyes. “I actually have a site now.”

“Do you?” His voice pitched up.

Opal nodded. “It’s a little south and a little east of here,” she said. “There’s a hospital in Caster Falls, and small clinics out this way, but nothing in Maplewood. There’s a big piece of commercial land, and I’ve talked to the realtor about it.”

Tag didn’t respond right away, and then he asked, “And?” in his blunt but positive way.

“But my daddy says I should do everything through a business or a foundation, and I don’t have anything like that. So I’ve been talking to him about getting that all set up. I can’t buy the land until that’s done.”

“Does that take a long time?”

“Shouldn’t,” Opal said. “I don’t want to talk anymore tonight. Can you just hold me, and we’ll pretend to watch something on TV?”

Tag’s body behind hers relaxed, and she hadn’t realized how tight he’d been until then. “Yeah, all right.” He used the remote control and switched on the TV. “Opal, can we talk about something serious next time we have a minute?”

Now everything inside her tensed. “Yeah,” she said anyway. “Of course we can.”

“Okay,” he whispered, and then he slid down behind her, wrapping her more fully in his arms.

“Oooh, Mike isn’t going to be happy about this,” she teased in a whisper.

Tag didn’t laugh. Not even a chuckle. Instead, he kissed her right behind her ear, and Opal started shivering all over again—for an entirely different reason. She wasn’t sure what “serious thing” he wanted to talk about, but she sure hoped it wasn’t too serious, and that they’d be able to find their way through whatever maze they found themselves in.

She really needed that, because as she kissed him, Opal felt herself falling, falling, falling in love with the gorgeous cowboy—and she didn’t want to stop.

twenty-two

Keith Whettstein came in from his fiancée’s stables and called, “Everything is good to go, Linds.”

The scent of maple and bacon hung in the air, and Keith reached down to get off his boots. That done, he continued through the utility room and into the kitchen. His gorgeous almost-bride stood at the stove, her hair already twisted up into a topknot. As he watched, a little awe-struck she was about to be his wife, she lifted a pan and flipped off the flame under it.

“Breakfast is done,” she called.

“Okay,” he said, and she turned toward him.

“Oh, you’re right there.”

Keith gave her a warm smile. “You didn’t need to make breakfast on moving day.”

“We have to eat, don’t we?” She gave him a smile. “Besides, we don’t have to be out for a few more hours, and I wanted to use my gas range one more time.”

“I’ll get you a new range when we get back from our honeymoon.” Keith let her set down the pan of bacon before he took her into his arms. “Tomorrow,” he whispered into her hair. “We’ll be married and on our way to Florida.”

“I can’t believe it,” she murmured back.

“You still want to marry me?”

“Of course.” Lindsay beamed up at him and stretched forward to kiss him.

He could waste hours doing this exact thing, but he didn’t let himself carry on for too long. “Great,” he said. “Because I can’t wait to marry you.”

“Let’s eat.” She stepped out of his embrace and picked up a plate. Lindsay handed it to him and then took the second one for herself. Neither of them seemed to have much to say while they ate the bacon, eggs, and pancakes she’d put together while he’d done her farm chores.

Leaving Twilight Fields was going to be harder than he’d anticipated—and this wasn’t even his place. He watched her swipe the last bite of her pancake through her syrup and put it in her mouth.

“Derrick and I went by the new place last night,” he said. “Everything is ready for the animals.”

Lindsay met his eye. “You texted me that.”

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