Page 16 of Steal My Heart (Prosperity Ranch 2)

Carson tossed the duffle into the bed of his truck. He didn’t need much during spring break, and his laptop was snug in his backpack on the truck’s bench. He was mostly caught up with school work, but he assumed there’d be some downtime to finish off his part of the group project, plus any grading that might come in from the biology class.

Grandad had already called him twice this morning, and Carson had to smile at that. The old guy was pretty dang excited about his visit. And he could only hope that it would be a win-win for both of them.

Possibly his only regret was that his brother Rhett wasn’t here to experience any of these milestones. Not Grandad’s recent acquisitions. Not Carson’s college graduation. Not this new opportunity in Prosper.

Rhett had been the older brother who’d paved the way for Carson in sports. Carson had been the one to play in college, but Rhett had held his own in high school. He’d also included Carson in all the activities, and it was like he had an automatic friend group the first day of high school.

Sometimes, moments like this, when Carson was transitioning from one thing to another, was when he missed his brother the most. He didn’t even want to imagine a time when Grandad would no longer be around. Every time Carson saw him, the guy looked more and more ancient, yet he was the most spunky man alive.

Carson started up his truck and pulled away from the curb. The streets of San Antonio were quiet this early on a Saturday morning. His route leaving the city took him to the bus station.

Carson glanced over at the line of people, a bunch of them probably college students, waiting to get on the bus. A blonde woman caught his attention, and Carson did a double-take. She reminded him of Evie Prosper. But Evie had a car, right? She’d been insistent that she didn’t want to carpool with him. Regardless, Carson found himself slowing down and studying the woman in his rearview mirror.

It was her. And she was taking a bus? To Prosper?

Carson swerved into the center lane of the road and did a U-turn. He pulled alongside the curb and stopped in front of the bus station.

Yep. Evie Prosper was in the bus line, a backpack slung over her shoulder as she scrolled through something on her phone. Her ratty jeans fit her legs like a second skin, and her pale pink T-shirt almost matched the morning sunrise.

Rolling down the passenger window, he called out, “Evie Prosper!”

She glanced up, her brows lifted. Her mouth formed an O when she saw him, and then something interesting happened. She blushed.

Carson motioned with his hand for her to come toward the truck. He could see her hesitation clear as day, but then she glanced at the bus, and back to him. Soon, she was striding toward him, hitching her backpack on her shoulder.

“You taking the bus home?” Carson asked when she neared.

Evie puffed out a breath. “Yeah. My car’s in the shop.”

“The offer’s still good,” he said. “Heading out now, and you’ll be home before any bus can get you there.”

She bit her lip, glancing back at the bus, then said, “I already bought a ticket, and there’s no refunds.”

“Tell you what, I won’t charge you for gas.”

The edge of her mouth lifted, and it was perhaps the first almost-smile he’d seen from her.

“That’s mighty gentlemanly of you.” She was teasing him, and he knew in that moment, she was going to ride with him.

“I’m happy to oblige, ma’am.” He pulled his own backpack closer to him. “Come on, there’s plenty of room. Got a suitcase or anything? The bed’s wide open.”

“No,” she said, reaching for the door handle and popping it open. “I only have my backpack.”

He must have looked surprised, because she said, “I might not like living in a small town, but I’m not high maintenance.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, pulling away from the curb the second her door had shut. As he did another U-turn, Evie rolled up her window.

“Thanks for this,” she said, her voice quiet.

He glanced over at her. She was holding her backpack in her lap, and her gaze seemed pensive.

“I’m stopping for gas,” he said. “Do you need anything, like breakfast?”

Her gaze flitted to his. “I’m not hungry.”

He couldn’t quite read her, but as he pulled into the gas station, he decided to get her something anyway. It was nearly an hour drive. “There’s plenty of room for your backpack on the bench,” he said. “Or you can put mine on the floor. But I do insist you wear a seatbelt.”

She smirked, and he climbed out of the truck. Once he had the thing full of gas, he headed into the gas station. He picked up a couple of water bottles, two packaged muffins, a bag of pretzels, and corn nuts, since he wasn’t sure what she liked.

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