Page 31 of Nate Hayes

“And the little girl?”

“She’s back with her sister. Safe. They’re being flown home today.”

I kissed him then.

Right there, on the gravel, with the goats watching and flour on my shirt and tears on my cheeks.

Because Ilovedhim.

Maybe I hadn’t said it yet. Maybe I didn’t have to.

But I did.

Ilovedthis man. I’m not going to say anything to him about that. I didn’t want to scare him off.

I would enjoy what I had, and not overthink it. I’d kiss him like it was the first time and the last time all at once.

“Come inside,” I whispered against his lips. “I made biscuits. Goat cheese biscuits.”

“I don’t believe I’ve ever had Goat cheese biscuits,” he said.

“You’ll love them,” I said as we entered the house.

15

Nate

Iwas falling hard for Willa, and it scared the hell out of me. I was obsessed with keeping her by my side. I loved that woman more every day, and I didn’t want to scare her off. I’ll play it cool for a couple of days. I’ll stay at my place, so she won’t think I’m weird. Max and Tessa are having a barbecue on Saturday. I’ll invite her so she can meet everyone.

I was up to my elbows in grease working on an old Buick. It was a 1953 Buick Skylark Convertible. We babied this vehicle. The man who owned it has had it since it was new; he loved his Baby Blue, which he called his car. The problem with Jeb McDonald is that he wanted to keep this all original.

“I want you to fix her. I don’t want anything replaced. Baby Blue is my darling, and I don’t want her replaced,” Jeb tried explaining.

“What if I can’t keep putting her parts back together? Sometimes, you need to replace parts to keep going—a knee, hip, heart, or liver. Everything and everyone needs new parts.”

“If you put it that way, then go ahead, but let me know first. I have to walk over to Junior’s and get some groceries. Shirley isgiving me a ride home. She wants to be my girlfriend. I told her we could play, but there wouldn’t be any marriage.”

“I’ll call you when your car is ready.”

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll be busy tonight.”

I laughed as he walked out the door. I heard the Harley before I saw it. Axel forgot his helmet again. When he stopped and walked over, I looked at him. “How is everything at the B&B?”

“It’s great. Max and Tessa are getting ready for the barbecue.” Axel leaned against the frame of the garage door and crossed his arms. “You inviting Willa?”

I wiped my hands on a rag and nodded. “Yeah. I want her to meet everyone. I think… I think I’m falling for her, man.”

Axel’s eyes narrowed, but a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Youthink?”

I shook my head and exhaled. “No. Iknow. I’m in love with her. But I don’t want to freak her out. She’s been through too much, and I don’t want to rush anything.”

“She’s tough. She wouldn’t have survived Derek if she wasn’t. Just be real with her. Don’t pull back so far, she thinks you’ve lost interest.”

“I was thinking about not seeing her until the barbecue.”

Axel raised a brow. “Yeah? And how long did that plan last?”

“About an hour.” I tossed the rag on the workbench and ran my hand through my hair. “I miss her goat. Pancake keeps climbing on her porch and staring at me like I’m an idiot.”

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