Page 56 of Apple of My Eye

“Completely, for you.” I stepped back, buckled up, and reached for my shirt. “Tonight at the barn dance planning meeting, I’ll smell like you.” I let that sit for a second.

She smiled and pulled her bra and tank top back down, her cheeks rosy. To me, she looked well-fucked. And I didn’t mind that being our little secret, even if I’d shout about us from the barn roof if I could.

From outside came the rumble of voices and horses and ATVs, the sound of the guys coming back up from the pastures.

“I have to get to my next appointment.” She pecked my cheek and left the straw room. Our quick, stolen moment over with.

I closed my hand around the red scrap of red fabric in my pocket.

When did this arrangement start being complicated?

I already knew the answer.

From the beginning, being honest. From the moment she handed me her keys on a dark hilltop because the world was spinning, and I drove her home, and she looked at me in the cab of her truck like she already knew the trouble we were headed for and was going to pretend otherwise for as long as she could manage.

I pulled a bale of straw out with me to the new horses, where Rhett had worked his nose over the top of Scarlett’sstall door. She had stepped as far into the corner as the space allowed.

After I spread the straw, I reached over and scratched behind his ear.

“Know how you feel, buddy.”

He turned and looked at me with those deep brown eyes that said we were both head over heels for our girls, and probably always would be, and there was not a damn thing in the world to be done about it.

Chapter Seventeen

Daisy

I stoodat the edge of the impressive new wood-and-iron-beam pavilion on the Off-Duty Ranch and took it all in, from the string lights running the full length of the open-air structure to the round tables draped in burlap and wildflowers. People could also sit around on hay bales stacked along the perimeter. A proper stage had been erected, prepared for the coming speeches, and Nicoletta’s four-piece country band tuned their instruments, working through final sound checks.

Food tables lined up in the back. Knox had told me that Eldon had spent all week baking pumpkin pies. Harper had hired a slew of her daughter’s teenage friends to hand out spiced lattes left and right. It was a perfect setup for late October. Even the weather cooperated with a little chilly and sharp air, but everyone bundled up appropriately.

Crowds filled the pavilion and spilled out onto the surrounding grass. All of Forest Grove must have turned out, cowboys in their good boots and their jeans and best snap shirts, women in dresses or casual jeans, plenty of flanneland sweaters to go around, too. Most all-too happy to share their opinions about the sheriff’s election.

Ivy was in her element, our resident event planner, running around, barking last-minute orders. A group of college friends had kept hold of Poppy from the moment we arrived. I stood and watched it all unfold.

Everything would work out as long as the voting population of the town voted the Sheriff back into office, not Trevor. A lot rode on this for me, but today I was happier than usual. I chalked that up to Knox and being able to share my full self with someone at last.

Some deputies had been posted on horses here and there for safety. The ODRR guys were everywhere tonight, helping direct parking, running the bar, and stationed at the edges. Seemed there was always one no matter which direction I looked, dapper in their navy blue pearl-snap shirts and black jeans and black hats. But it was the sight of Knox near the stage talking to Ash that I cared about. He winked at me from afar. As usual, his attention knocked some butterflies about in my stomach.

Sage bounded up, two cups of hot apple cider in hand, offering me one. She had done something different with her hair tonight, keeping her chestnut locks down and soft around her face. Her usual glasses she’d traded for contacts, which created an entirely different version of herself. A prettier one, not that the original lacked anything. A bold red lipstick finished her look.

“Thanks. Ready to dance tonight?” I peered down at our boots, new and fancy ones that Ivy had provided, coordinated with our outfits. Her “best form of advertising” for the shop, she called us. I’d gone at first for the turquoise ones, butSage begged me to switch. So I ended up with red leather and dark red stitching, some sparkles on them, too. It didn’t clash with my ivory turtleneck sweater at all.

She stood beside me and surveyed the crowd. “Sure. Let’s get this over with.” She rolled her eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. I went to all the Cowboy Nights and didn’t find a single cowboy that caught my attention long enough to care,” she lamented. “All of the guys around here are the same. Rugged cowboys. I guess I’m looking for… something different.”

“It takes time to find the right one. You can’t force it. You’re young, enjoy your time while you can. I’ll bet when you stop trying, you’ll meet someone,” I offered my best advice. What would Mom have said?

Ivy appeared in a rush. “Ladies, I want to introduce you to someone new in town, who just moved here to work at the Off-Duty Ranch. His name is Carter.”

“Okay. Where is he?” Sage asked, not a cowboy in sight around us that we didn’t know.

“I’ll bring him by. He’s a little green with horses, apparently, which is going to be a real problem for him, given where he works. I thought maybe you could give him some advice.”

“You wantmeto give a stranger horse advice at a barn dance? Sounds more like Daisy’s job.”