LITMIR.BIZ

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blanket, a bowl and bottle of water. Then she grabbed a carrot from the fridge and went back outside.

      The dog was exactly where she’d left him. Waiting for her.

      “Good boy. You’re a boy, right?” she asked.

      The dog didn’t answer—not that she expected him to. She put the bowl down in front of him and gave him some water and stood to watch him as he drank, then texted the small animal vet that Clay used to let him know she’d be bringing in an injured dog. Though it was after hours, Clay had an agreement for the ranch that included 24/7 coverage.

      She spent the next hour getting the dog settled at the vet. He had a chip and the vet contacted his owners, who were very glad to find him. Amberley waited until they arrived before leaving to meet her cousin. But the truth was she no longer wanted to go out.

      The dog—Barney—reminded her of how alone she was. Even the stray had someone to go home to. His owners had been really nice and so happy she’d found him and Amberley was gracious to them, but a part of her had wanted the stray to be a loner. To maybe need her.

      She hated that she was feeling down about her life. She’d finally gotten past everything that had happened when she was eighteen and now some dude was making her question her situation. She’d never been this knocked on her butt for some guy. Yet there was something about him that had made her want to be more. Want to be someone she hadn’t thought about being in a long time.

      But there it was.

      She wanted to see him again.

      Her cousin was waiting in the parking lot of the Wild Boar, a roadhouse that served food and drinks and had a small dance floor with live music on the weekends. There were pool tables in the back and a mechanical bull. If you weren’t in the upper echelon of Royal and weren’t a member of the Texas Cattleman’s Club, then this was the place to hang out.

      “Hey, girl. You ready to blow off some steam?”

      She nodded. Maybe a night out with Royal’s rowdy crowd was what she needed to remind her of where she belonged and whom she belonged with...and it wasn’t a hot guy from Seattle.

      * * *

      Midnight was his favorite time of night and when he found the most clarity when he was working—tonight wasn’t any different. Faye was a little night owl like he was, so the baby was playing on the floor at his feet while he watched the scripts that were running and tracking down Maverick on the monitor nearest to him.

      She’d woken up crying. Erin was worn out from a long day of dealing with Faye teething, and since Will was up at night working anyway, they’d established that he would take the night shift.

      Maverick wasn’t the cleverest hacker, but whoever he was, the man was running his internet through a few connections. It would have fooled someone who didn’t have Will’s experience, but he’d been a pirate hunter in high school for a large software company that his dad had helped found and he’d spent a lot of years learning how to follow and find people who didn’t want to be found.

      “Dada.”

      “Yes?” He looked down at Faye. Her face was so sweet and she was holding a large round plastic toy up to him.

      He took it from her.

      She immediately reached for one a size smaller and held it up to him. This was one of her favorite new games. She gave him all the toys around her and then he had to sit still while she took them back and put them in a seemingly random order in front of him.

      But this time she was done handing them all to him, so she crawled over to where he sat on the floor next to her and crawled onto his lap. He scooped her up and hugged her close.

      His heart was so full when he held his daughter. She smelled of baby powder and sweetness. He knew sweetness wasn’t a scent, but when he held Faye it was what he always felt.

      He stood up and walked around the house with her while she babbled at him. He set a notification on the computers to alert his phone when the scripts were finished running and then put Faye’s jacket on her so they could go for a walk. He’d grown up in Bellevue, near the water, and some of his earliest memories were of being outside with his mom at night looking at the sky.

      He knew that many people would expect Faye to be in bed at midnight, but she wasn’t looking sleepy at all. It was probably his fault for having a long nap with her in the afternoon. He’d been keeping odd hours since they had arrived in Royal.

      He walked toward the barn, telling Faye the stories his mom had told him. Will’s mom’s people had been sailors and the sky and the water were a big part of their history.

      He heard the rumble of a truck engine and turned as a large pickup rounded the corner. He stepped off the dirt track to make sure he wasn’t in the path of the vehicle.

      The truck slowed and the passenger-side window rolled down. He walked over and was pretty sure it was Clay Everett. But Will knew if he had a woman like Sophie waiting for him at home, he’d have a better way to spend his night than patrolling his ranch.

      “Hey, Will. You okay?” Amberley asked.

      He was surprised to see her. She had obviously been out, as she smelled faintly of smoke. Her hair was thick and fell around her shoulders. The tousled tresses, so different from her neat braid, made his fingers tingle with the need to touch her hair.

      He regretted leaving her the other afternoon. One kiss. Would that have been so bad? Even Lucy wouldn’t begrudge him that. But he hadn’t taken it.

      So instead a need was growing in him fast and large. Each day it seemed to expand and he knew he was losing control.

      “Yeah. Faye’s a night owl like me so I thought I’d take her for a walk.”

      Faye heard her name and started babbling again.

      “Want some company?” Amberley asked.

      “Sure,” he said.

      She turned off the engine of her truck and climbed out, coming around by him. Her perfume hit him then—it was sweet like spring flowers. There was a slight breeze tonight and Amberley tipped her head back and looked up at the sky.

      “When I was little, my dad told us that if we were really good we’d see a special angel in the sky.”

      “Did you ever see one?”

      “Yeah,” Amberley said. She stretched out her arm and pointed to Venus. “There she is.”

      “That’s Venus.”

      “Show some imagination, Brady. That’s my special angel. She watches over me at night.”

      “Does she?”

      Amberley nodded. But she wasn’t looking up anymore—she was staring at Faye. “She’ll watch over you, too, little lady.”

      Faye answered with one of her babbles. And Amberley listened until Faye was done and then she nodded. “I know. It’s hard to believe that someone up there is looking out for you, but she is.”

      Faye babbled some more.

      “Your mama?” Amberley asked when she was done.

      Faye babbled and then ended with “Mamamam.”

      “Mine, too. They are probably friends,” Amberley said.

      Faye shifted toward Amberley and Amberley looked over at him for permission before reaching for the baby. Will let Faye go to Amberley and watched the two of them talking to each other. She was good with the baby. He was surprised that Faye had wanted to go to her. She was usually pretty shy with strangers.

      He noticed that both of the girls were looking at him.

      “She’s usually not so eager to go to strangers.”

      “Well, we’re not strangers,” Amberley said. “We chatted up a storm while you were holding her.”

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