Page 5 of Caleb

Liam’s bottom lip jutted out. “I don’t want you to go.”

“I know, baby.” She hugged him, his small body warm and solid against hers. “I don’t want to go either. But this is important for Mommy’s work.”

He clung to her momentarily, then pulled back, his expression serious. “Okay. But you hafta bring me a toy.”

Taylor smiled, kissing the top of his head. That was a given. It would ease the heartache she felt at leaving him. The kid knew how to work her. “Deal.”

Later that evening, after Liam was bathed and tucked into bed, Taylor sat at the kitchen table with her laptop open. Her mother joined her, setting a cup of tea before her.

“Thanks, Mom,” Taylor said, taking a sip.

“You’re doing the right thing, you know,” Grace said after a moment.

Taylor glanced up, surprised. “Going to the convention?”

Grace nodded. “You’ve worked hard for this. You deserve it. And Liam will be fine here with me. He’s loved, Taylor. You both are.”

The words eased some of the tension in Taylor, but leaving her son was harder than she’d ever thought possible. She reached across the table to squeeze her mother’s hand. “Thank you. For everything. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

Grace smiled. “Always, sweetheart.”

As Taylor returned to her laptop, her thoughts drifted once again to Caleb. She’d built a life for herself and Liam without him, and she was proud of that. But a small, treacherous part of her wondered what it would feel like to see him again.

To look into those familiar brown eyes and know she had moved on, even if she wasn’t sure she believed it herself.

She shook her head, brushing the thought aside. Tomorrow was about the future, not the past. And she intended to keep it that way. Caleb had made his choice with that cold, unfeeling phone call. Maybe he did deserve to know about Liam, but she’d deserved a better explanation.

It would be best if he were still at home on the ranch, taking care of his family’s drama. All she wanted was to find more clients until her business took off. Then, she and Liam would make a life of their own together.

CHAPTER3

Caleb Burnett adjusted his tie for the third time, scowling at his reflection in the mirrored elevator doors. The damn thing felt like it was choking him, and he’d already loosened it twice. Whoever thought ties were essential for hiring help clearly didn’t spend much time around ranches.

No self-respecting cowboy wore a tie to work. A cowboy’s work was done under the wide-open sky, with dirt on his boots and sweat on his brow—not buttoned up in a starched shirt and a noose of fabric around his neck. A tie had no place on the back of a horse or while fixing a busted fence. It was as useful as a saddle on a bull.

The elevator dinged, and Caleb stepped into the bustling hotel lobby. Businesspeople moved with purpose, laptops slung over their shoulders and cups of overpriced coffee in hand. Somewhere, a speaker’s voice echoed faintly over the murmur of conversation.

Caleb wasn’t in his element, and it showed. He tugged at the tie again, wishing he’d stuck with his first instinct and worn jeans. But Aunt Rose had insisted he needed to “look like a man who knows his business” if he wanted to make an impression.

“Looking presentable won’t kill you, Caleb,” he muttered as he walked toward the conference hall.

His goal for the day was clear: shake hands, check out who had the best talent, and hire the best to make sure no one forgot the name Burnett Dude Ranch. Simple enough. At least, it would have been if Eugenia’s cryptic warning weren’t rattling around in his head like a pebble in a boot.

“Get ready to open your heart. Soon enough, you’re going to meet your woman.”

Yeah, right. Caleb shook his head. The last thing he needed was a woman. He’d spent years keeping his life tightly sealed, just the way he liked it. No emotional messes, no complications.

Stepping into the convention hall, he surveyed the crowd. Rows of booths lined the room, each promising the latest in digital marketing, guest experience management, and other fancy tools he barely understood. The air smelled faintly of printer ink and fresh coffee, a combination that made him inexplicably tense.

Caleb made a beeline for the coffee station. He hadn’t slept well the night before, his mind milling with Eugenia’s smug voice. He poured himself a cup, adding a splash of cream.

And then he saw her.

Taylor Montgomery.

She stood across the room, chatting with someone at a booth. Her profile was unmistakable: her elegant features, her dark hair pulled into a sleek ponytail, and the way she tilted her head slightly when listening intently.

And those curves—Lord help him—were even more shapely and defined than he remembered. They seemed tailor-made to drive a man out of his mind, the kind of curves that made rational thought impossible. Time had only sharpened their allure, turning memory into something more vivid and dangerous.

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