Page 47 of Steal My Heart (Prosperity Ranch 2)

Carson Hunt was mesmerizing. That was the only way Evie could explain it. The fact that he hadn’t dated for the past two years had astounded her. And the fact that he’d lost his older brother in a tragic accident was heartbreaking.

This man had past sorrows that she couldn’t even begin to comprehend, yet, here he was in a tiny town in Texas, helping out his grandad. Even though Carson would soon earn a prestigious master’s degree, he was set on helping his grandad with his business of restoring rodeo grounds, which amounted to a lot of paperwork and tons of manual labor.

As they ate at the diner—Evie having chosen the two-scrambled-egg plate, and Carson the same thing, but adding on a stack of hot cakes—she barely noticed anyone else in the restaurant. Oh, she’d said hi to folks, but she’d been anxious to return her focus to Carson. Because he was practically all she could think about anyway, and this was their first official date, right?

“Tell me why you decided to go into graphic design,” Carson asked, after finishing off his orange juice.

Evie shrugged. Normally, she told people it was because graphic design was less risky than other types of art. One could always make a living at it. But after Carson had bared his soul to her, she didn’t want to give him her generic answer. “When I was a kid, I used to spend hours at the library going through news websites. I was fascinated by news, but mostly I was fascinated by the website layouts. I know, it’s totally geeky.”

Carson’s eyes were warm as he listened. “It’s not geeky. I’d love to see your stuff.”

Evie shrugged. “Well, maybe you’ll get lucky, because they’re amazing.”

He chuckled, and she was glad he knew she was kidding.

“I just wish I could figure out something that will set me above the other interviewees.”

Carson nodded. “What if you bring graphic design samples, you know, of your ideas to improve the newspaper’s website.”

Evie blinked. “That’s a really good idea.”

“Unless it would take too much time.”

“I could just do one or two samples,” she said. “It would give them an idea of what I can do that’s directly related to them.”

“Exactly.” Carson smiled, and she smiled back.

“I thought that was you,” a woman said, her voice sing-songing above Evie.

She looked up to see Barb. They’d never been friends because the two-year age gap had seemed too great back in school. Plus, Evie was hardly the popular girl in school. More like the person everyone avoided, unless they were trying to get to one of her brothers. Barb was dressed to the nines, as usual. Her blonde hair was pulled into a high ponytail, and she looked like she could step into an arena and take first place in barrel-racing by appearance alone. Her white jeans were studded with sequins on the seams, and her orange and white shirt reminded Evie of a Creamsicle ice cream bar.

Her silver earrings bobbed, and her silver bracelets jangled as she propped a hand on her hip. “Evie Prosper, it’s been a day and a year since I saw you. Now, look at you, you’re all grown up.”

Evie smiled, although she only felt annoyed at the interruption. She rose from her chair and gave Barb a quick hug. A cloud of perfume seemed to hover around the woman.

When Evie pulled away, Barb’s gaze had already lasered to Carson.

“Who’s this, sugar?” Barb extended her hand, her fake nails gleaming in the diner’s overhead light.

“Carson, this is Barbie, our neighbor on the opposite side,” Evie said, not missing how Barb was thoroughly checking him out. “Barb, this is Carson Hunt.”

“Oh!” Barb said, her mouth making a comical O. “You’re Mr. Hunt’s grandson! He told me y’all were coming this week. I’d planned to bring over a cherry pie. Do you like cherries, sugar?”

Evie was more than annoyed now. The words Barb was speaking were friendly, even neighborly, but her tone of voice was full of all kinds of insinuations.

“I like cherries just fine,” Carson said. “I’m sure my grandad would enjoy a pie.”

Barb rested a hand on Carson’s shoulder. “You don’t like pie?”

His voice was more stiff when he said, “I’m never opposed to pie, ma’am.”

“Oh, don’t ma’am me,” she said. “If I’m older than you, it’s not by much. Besides, we’re practically neighbors. I’m only a short hop past Prosperity Ranch.” Her eyes fluttered as she moved close to Carson. “Y’all coming to the battle of the bands tonight at Racoons?”

Carson actually looked interested, but Evie held back a groan. The name ‘battle of the bands’ was a huge exaggeration. A couple of cowboys strumming their guitars at the town bar. It wasn’t much of a battle, and there weren’t any actual bands.

And . . . Barb’s hand was still on Carson’s shoulder.

He looked directly at Evie. “I don’t know. I’ll have to ask Evie. What are our plans, sweetness?”

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