Page 46 of The Cupcake Cottage

“Oops.” He gave Daisy-Mae an innocent look.

She laughed. “She’s already got a huge crush on you, but I think that sealed her undying devotion.”

Now he just had to figure out how to do the same with Ella’s owner.

He finished the sandwiches, packing the fish separately. “Don’t add the fish until right before you eat or everything’ll get soggy.” He set their lunches in the fridge, washed his hands, and checked his phone. “My mom says I have decorations in the barn.”

He was barely finished the sentence before Daisy-Mae was moving to the front entry. “Let’s go find them. I love decorating Christmas trees.”

“Wait! We need a flashlight.” He grumbled about her impatience as he moved past her, finding the large light he kept at the door.

He discovered he didn’t mind the small entryway though. Moving around Daisy-Mae often caused her to place her hands on his waist, back, hip, or arm. He liked it. Too bad he couldn’t think of more reasons to spend time in there.

In the barn, Maverick swung the flashlight left and right along the ground so they wouldn’t trip on the boards, cables, spare parts, and other things left behind by the previous owners.

“Careful,” he said, directing her around some metal pipe.

“You don’t have lights in here?” Daisy-Mae asked.

“There’s something wrong with the wiring. It’s way down near the bottom of the to-do list somewhere.”

He shone his flashlight past his car and toward a stack of boxes at the back of the small barn as they made their way closer to them.

“How’s the herd doing, Mr. Cowboy?” she asked, giving the punching bag he’d hung from a rafter a delicate right jab.

“Gotta earn my hat and buckle,” he joked.

“Why do you have cows? You’re barely around.”

“My hired hand takes good care of them when I can’t get out there. Having my own herd is something I’ve always wanted. When I retire I plan to be more involved.”

It still surprised him how much he wanted to prove his worth and belonging when it came to his land. He wanted the respect of the neighboring cowboys. And yet he didn’t care that half the world thought he’d cheated with his ex-coach’s wife and, as a result, would never respect him.

Although, to be fair, when he allowed himself to think about it, he did care what everyone thought about his bad boy reputation. The fact that there was a crowd of folks out there who believed he lacked integrity kept him up at night—especially when he thought about how it all reflected back on his mom and the work she’d put into raising him.

All because of one story. That one false story.

So, he did care. A lot more than he wanted to admit, in fact.

As they shuffled through the boxes, Daisy-Mae let out a soft gasp. Maverick was at her side in a flash.

“What’s wrong?”

“Kittens!”

“Well, will you look at that?” he said, leaning to look past her. A litter of five kittens tottering around their gray mother. “I’ve always wanted cats. We couldn’t when I was a kid.”

“Your mom’s allergic?”

“No, we just couldn’t afford it. But I can now.”

“So much for your woman-free zone.”

He realized that when it came to that rule, there was a lot of room for exceptions.

** *

Back in the house with the Christmas decorations, Maverick cracked an egg into a pan and began frying it.

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