Page 12 of Wed By the Lumberjack

Heath’s own grin fades but a voice distracts us both.

“Why haven’t I met her either?”

We both turn to look at the old man in the bed.

“Who are you?”

“I’m his wife,” I blurt before whipping back around to Heath. “I haven’t met your uncle either?”

“I can explain–” Heath begins but the old man tries to whistle only to incite a coughing fit.

Heath zooms past me into the room to gently pat the man on the back while I scramble to pour him a glass of water from the tray on his bedside table.

When he’s finally settled again he glances up at me with sudden recognition.

“That’s right,” he says. “You’re Dixie Rose. The Dixie Rose!”

I smile unsurely at Heath. “The?”

“Heath spoke so much about you, I wasn’t sure if he knew how to converse about any other topic. It was always Dixie Rose this, Dixie Rose that. I was on the road a lot back then, so I never had the pleasure of meeting you.”

Warmth spreads through me and I’m sure a blush is creeping across my cheeks. “Really?”

“I swear it. It’s no wonder you two ended up together.”

Heath’s staring at Buckee with a face as red as a tomato but I think it’s cute how embarrassed he is over bragging about me to his uncle.

“Shame we’re just meeting,” Buckee says, “I live over by Moonshine Creek. About an hour and a half away from Heath’s cabin business.”

Moonshine Creek. Why did that sound so familiar?

“Yeah, sorry we haven’t come around to the ranch yet, Bucks.”

“Well, we will now,” I assure him, reaching out a hand to touch his shoulder. “The doctor mentioned you need to be on a schedule. Heath, we’ll have to take our turn with Ash too... It was Ash, right?”

Heath swallows and nods.

“You’d drive all that way just to make sure some old man takes a few pills?” Buckee asks me incredulously.

“Of course. We’re family right?”

“I like her.” Buckee smiles at Heath before turning back to me. “Say, do you like telenovelas? There’s a really popular one about heirs to a dynasty. I’m on episode two hundred and thirty-eight, but don’t worry you haven’t missed much. We should watch it when you come over.”

I nod. “That sounds great.”

Or at least to me, it did. Heath’s staring at Buckee with an unreadable expression.

What? Did he not like soaps?

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