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The possibilities had never been so wide open for Heidi Duffin. Though she needed a job—and quickly—she had four applications out, only one year remaining until she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Baking and Pastry Arts, and a whole summer to enjoy herself.
“Why are we driving out here again?” Heidi peered into the nothingness surrounding her as her younger sister aimed their truck east down the middle of the two-lane highway.
“It’s the first dance of summer in Three Rivers,” Maggie said. “And Chase will be there.”
Heidi frowned, her mind whirring to try to remember who Chase was. She couldn’t. “And he’s…?”
“He’s the boy I met a couple of weeks ago in Daddy’s store.” Maggie glanced at Heidi, her fingers flexing on the steering wheel. “The cowboy?”
Realization lit up Heidi’s mind at the same time her frown deepened. “Oh, yes. The cowboy.”
“You don’t have to say it like that.” Maggie made her chuckle sound light, but Heidi knew annoyance sat just below the surface. “We aren’t all big city girls.” Maggie lifted her chin and pressed a bit harder on the accelerator. “I like cowboys.”
“And apparently driving an hour for a dance.” Heidi brushed something invisible from her skirt. “He must be something special.”
Maggie giggled, and Heidi was reminded of the three-year difference in their ages. “He is. You meet anyone in San Francisco?”
Heidi had been grilled by her mother, and her grandmother, and then each of her mother’s three sisters. As if she needed to find a handsome chef before she finished her own journey through culinary school. As if that was the only way to have value as a woman, even though it was nineteen-eighty-six and lots of women were joining the workforce these days.
And there had been Westin….
She shook her head, dislodging the dark eyes that always seemed so angry, and said, “No, I’m too busy baking to be dating.”
“Oh, come on, Heidi. Surely you don’t bake all day and all night.”
She sighed. “No, but some days it feels like it.” And she wouldn’t have it any other way, despite the aching back and sore feet. Heidi was destined to have her own bakery someday, and she would. She absolutely would. She’d thought of little else for the past two years as she went to school in San Francisco, little else for the four years it had taken her to work and save for culinary school, little else since she was thirteen years old.
“So tell me about Chase,” she said to get the questions away from her.
“He’s a wrangler at the Three Rivers Ranch, and he is soo cute,” Maggie singsonged. Heidi smiled at the exuberance of her sister. Of the three she had, Maggie was Heidi’s favorite. The next youngest, Bridgette, had just graduated from high school and had started cosmetology school a week ago.
The baby of the family, Kayla, still had a couple years of high school left. Heidi loved all her sisters, but she and Maggie had been through the most together, caused the most trouble, and though they were practically opposites, Heidi got along great with her. Plus, Maggie had always helped out the most when their mom had to teach piano lessons late.
The two girls had put dinner on the table every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night, and sometimes more if Momma went to help Daddy at the store. He owned and operated a farming supply store, which made it possible for Maggie to meet boys like Chase.
If their daddy knew that, though…he might close his doors. Heidi let the smile she felt show on her face. She loved her parents, and they’d worked hard to provide a good life for her and her sisters. Though she’d saved and scrimped, her parents had helped pay for pastry school. And heaven knew that wasn’t cheap.
Thank you, she sent heavenward, the way she had everyday for the past two years. Gratitude filled her as signs of a town finally came into view.
“Oh, thank goodness,” she said, picking at her pink mini-skirt again. “I thought we’d never get here.”
“It’s not that far,” Maggie said as she slowed and entered the town of Three Rivers. “The dance is in the park.” She leaned forward as if the giant windshield didn’t provide an adequate view of her destination.
She turned here and there, and the streets became choked with cars and trucks. “Is the whole town coming to this dance?” Heidi peered out her window.
“Probably,” Maggie said. “Chase said it was a big deal—the first dance of the summer, Heidi!”
“Yeah, first dance.”
“Chase said the only event that’s bigger is the Fourth of July celebration. Rodeos, picnics, parades. He says he’s gonna come pick me up for that.”
“Great,” Heidi deadpanned. “You already got the weekend off?”
“No,” Maggie said airily. “But Bridgette will cover for me if I need her to.”
“Bridgette just started school,” Heidi reminded her. “She hasn’t been home before ten o’clock in the past week.”
Something akin to panic raced across Maggie’s face. “Kayla, then.”
“You haven’t told Daddy about Chase, have you?”
Maggie pulled behind another truck, the park nowhere in sight. “We’ll have to walk.”
“Maggie,” Heidi warned.
“No,” she said. “Okay? No, I haven’t told Momma or Daddy about Chase.”
“Where do they think we are?”
“Oh, I told them we were coming out to the dance here in Three Rivers.” She slid Heidi a mischievous grin that usually led to them being up a creek without a paddle. Literally, that had happened once after a cocked eyebrow like the one Maggie wore now. “I just didn’t say why.”
Heidi didn’t want to grin at her sister, but she did, feeling younger than she had in a long time. “Okay, well, I can’t wait to meet Chase.”
Terror tamped out the excitement in Maggie’s face. “Surely you’ll find someone to dance with.”
Heidi stared at her sister. “What do you mean? I came with you.”
“I don’t want you to meet Chase,” Maggie blurted. “He’ll like you more than me.”
Heidi blinked, blinked. “What?”
Maggie’s eyes rounded and she fiddled her fingers around each other. “You’re prettier than me. And the boys always like you more.”
Heidi burst into laughter, her sister’s worry ridiculous. “That only happened once, and only because Elliot was a senior and was embarrassed to admit he liked a freshman.”
It was Maggie’s turn to blink and say, “What?”
“Yeah, that’s what he told me at prom. That he really wanted to ask you, but you were too young.” Heidi tossed a dry look to Maggie. “It wasn’t my best date.” She climbed out of the truck and took a deep breath of the fresh air. She’d give Three Rivers a nod for that. “So don’t worry, Mags. I won’t steal Chase from you.”
They walked the two blocks to the park, where the country music could be heard after the first block. Maggie swept the crowd, looking for the one face she knew, while Heidi hung behind her. She didn’t know anyone here, and she didn’t really care to.
“Maggie!” a man called, and both Heidi and Maggie swung in the direction it came from. A blond cowboy pushed through the crowd and swept a giggling Maggie off her feet. His blue eyes sparkled with laughter and he slung his arm around her shoulders as they faced Heidi.
“Chase, this is my sister,” Maggie said, an edge of anxiety riding in her eyes. “Heidi.”
“Nice to meet you, Miss Heidi.” Chase grinned and extended his hand toward Heidi. She shook it, and shuffled her feet as he turned back to Maggie and started talking.
“I’ll see you later, okay?”
Heidi yanked her gaze back to Maggie. “Later?”
“Yeah, I’m gonna go dance with Chase.” She squealed and spun, leaving Heidi alone in this completely foreign place. Though, for a small town, this dance was impressive. She wandered along the edges of the dance floor until she ran into the refreshment table.
“Love your skirt,” a girl said, a genuine smile on her face.
“Thanks,” Heidi said as she plucked a cup of red punch off the table.
“Where’d you get it?”
“San Francisco.” Heidi took a sip of punch, wishing her voice didn’t carry a note of pride. She wasn’t better than this girl, despite her fashionable mini-skirt and oversized top with a teal stripe along the neckline.
“Do you live there?” the girl asked. “Oh, I’m Farrah.”
“Nice to meet you.” Heidi smiled at her. “No, I don’t live there. I’m going to school there.”
Farrah got a faraway look on her face. “I wish I could go to school.”
A pang of sadness hit Heidi, along with a wave of gratitude and the memories of her own longing to attend school. She’d worked for her father for four long years, living at home and spending nothing, until she could pay for the first year of culinary school.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured, wanting to escape from this conversation. Though the sun had started to set, it suddenly felt too hot to Heidi. “Excuse me.”
She turned, and everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Someone bumped her elbow—or maybe she bumped them. No matter what, her punch went flying, the red liquid practically leaping from the cup and flying through the air.
It hit the man who’d just stepped out of the crowd, and time rushed forward again. Heidi gasped at the same time the punch touched the man. He flinched like she’d physically touched him, and glanced down at his now-stained shirt.
His now-stained white shirt.
Heidi brought both hands to cover her mouth, absolutely horrified. “I’m so sorry,” she said through her fingers. “I got hit, and—”
“It’s okay,” he said, his voice low and deep and wonderful and flowing like honey over Heidi’s frayed nerves. The music faded into silence; the world narrowed to just the two of them.
She slid her eyes from his shirt and up his thick chest, taking in muscular arms under his short sleeves, and over the most handsome face she’d ever seen. He had a shock of dark hair poking out from beneath a black cowboy hat, and bright, electric blue eyes that drew her in like a magnet. He looked like he hadn’t shaved in a couple of days, and the facial hair added to his allure.
His belt buckle could’ve served as a dinner plate, and at the bottom of his long, jean-clad legs, he wore a weathered pair of cowboy boots.
Heidi forgot her own name. She swallowed and dropped her hands back to her sides. All her mind could conjure was, Maybe cowboys aren’t so bad.
“I don’t think we’ve met.” The man moved forward a step and reached for her. No, past her, to the refreshment table, where he collected a napkin and starting dabbing at his ruined shirt. “I’m Frank Ackerman.”
Heidi startled and cleared her throat. “Heidi Duffin.”
“You new in town, Heidi?” He settled his weight away from her, but his near proximity rendered her weak. He smelled like leather and pine and wood and everything manly and nice.
She took a deep breath of him, wanting to bake him into a pie so the aroma would infect the air for a long time. “Yes. I mean, no.” She took a step back to give herself some air. “No, I don’t live here. I’m just here with my sister.” She scanned the crowd, half-hoping Maggie would appear to corroborate her story. “I guess she’s dating some guy from some ranch—”
“Three Rivers Ranch?”
“Yeah, that’s it.” Heidi found his face again and smiled at him. When he returned the gesture, she thought sure she’d faint. She wondered if he knew how handsome he was, how fast her heart was racing, how he affected girls. “Anyway, I’m from Amarillo,” she finished.
“You wanna dance?” He nodded his hat toward the dance floor.
Heidi hadn’t intended to dance with anyone. Her brain screamed at her to say no. Her heart reminded her how she felt about cowboys, about living so far from civilization, about belt buckles the size of hubcaps.
But her voice said, “Sure,” and a thrill of excitement tripped down her spine when Frank put his warm hand on the small of her back and guided her through the crowd.
* * *
Frank didn’t know the pretty little woman who’d splashed punch down his chest, but he wanted to. Heidi had a calming voice, and though his shirt was starting to stick to his skin, he couldn’t risk leaving her to clean up before he had a chance to dance with her. Someone else would pounce on a pretty woman like her.
She sported light brown hair the color of the river rocks out at Frank’s ranch. Well, not really his ranch. At least not yet. As the eldest of three brothers, the ranch was being passed to him at the end of the year. He’d been knee-deep in figuring out how to run a twenty thousand acre cattle ranch without the help of his father.
Frank wanted the ranch, always had. That wasn’t the problem. But he also wanted someone to run it with, and therein sat the biggest problem of Frank’s life. His mother had died a decade ago, and Frank had seen how a ranch as vast and busy as Three Rivers could swallow a man. He’d watched his father disappear behind the desk, vanish out on the range, become a ghost in his own house.
Frank didn’t want to be like his father. He wanted his life to be as vibrant as the ranch itself, full of laughter and family and food. And to do that, he needed a good woman who could introduce that spirit the way his mom had.
He’d been trying to find her for the past six months. Of course, he hadn’t told any of the women he’d dated that, but he’d never made it that far in his relationships. He kept that desire close to the vest, worried it might scare a woman away.
As Heidi turned and slipped herself easily into his arms, he couldn’t help picturing her out at Three Rivers. The thought brought a smile to his lips, and he gazed down into her more-brown-than-hazel eyes and found strength there.
“So what do you do in Amarillo?” he asked as the band started a mid-tempo tune he could twirl and hold Heidi to.
“Oh, I don’t really live in Amarillo.”
“No?”
“Well, I do, but I don’t.” She giggled, but quickly smothered it.
“Well, that makes all kinds of sense,” he teased.
“My family lives there. I’m just home for the summer. I’m going to school in San Francisco.”
Frank’s heart dipped down to his boots, where it stayed for a few beats before rebounding to his chest. “What’re you studying?”
“Baking and pastry arts.” She practically glowed, and Frank itched to run his fingers down the side of her face. “I’m going to open a bakery after I graduate.”
So she could cook. Frank liked a woman who knew her way around a kitchen. “That’s great,” he said, genuine about her baking, but not liking that she wouldn’t be around very long. “What are you doin’ this summer?”
“Trying to find a job.” She possessed a quiet power, which called to Frank’s soul.
“I can help with that,” he said.
“Oh?” She gazed up at him with an open expression, her petite hand pressing into his shoulder warm and welcome.
“Sure,” he said. “I heard Three Rivers Ranch needs someone to clean their cowboy cabins this summer.”
She blinked, distracting him with her long lashes. “I’m sure that won’t work.”
“Why not?” Frank pulled his gaze from her and looked around as if he didn’t mind if she turned him down. But he did. He wanted to see her everyday, get to know her better, and he couldn’t drive to Amarillo at the drop of a hat. Or even once a week.
“Because I live in Amarillo.” Her fingers inched down his arm, and Frank’s stomach flipped.
“You could live on the ranch.” What was he saying? He felt as if he was grasping for straws.
A beautiful blush stained her cheeks. “Do you live on the ranch, Mister Ackerman?”
He met her eye again, pleased by the ring of desire he saw there. “Well….” He didn’t want to tell her he actually owned the ranch. Or that he would in six months when his father signed everything over to him and made it official. He’d kept that information private for as long as possible too. Seemed once women discovered that he was about to become the owner of the ranch, they were doubly interested.
Sure, the ranch was profitable. Some would say he was rich. But he didn’t want the ranch to be the reason someone liked him, and that had been happening more and more lately.
“Well, what?” Heidi pressed.
“Yeah, I live on the ranch.”
“And you just happen to know that I could live out there and clean cabins?”
“Yes.”
She cocked her head to the side, a cute gesture that only made Frank more interested in Heidi Duffin. “I’ll think about it.”
Which meant no. The song neared its end, and Frank felt frantic. She’d step away, melt into the crowd, and he’d never see her again. He wasn’t sure what to do, and he offered a desperate prayer for help.
What do I say?
Nothing came to mind. The song ended, and sure enough, Heidi fell back. “Thank you for the dance, Mister Ackerman.”
“Wait,” he blurted as she started to turn. His eyes slid down her clothes, landing on her black sandals before bouncing back to her face. He couldn’t just let her walk out of his life. “I need to get your phone number.”
Her eyebrows shot toward her hairline. “You do?”
Thinking fast, he gestured to his ruined shirt. “Yeah. I’ll need to send you a cleaning bill.”
Horror washed over her face, and Frank immediately regretted his tactic to get her phone number. He just knew he couldn’t let her walk away. He moved closer as another song started up, this one much louder and faster than the previous tune.
“Of course, if you let me take you down the street to the ice cream parlor, I could forget about the ruined shirt.” He grinned at her, well aware of the power of his straight, white teeth and flirtatious tone.
She seemed as susceptible to his smile as most other women, a curve playing with her pink lips. Frank cleared his throat, aware he’d leaned closer and closer to her. Heidi looped her arm through his. “I love mint chocolate chip. Do they have that?”
He’d personally make her some if they didn’t. “I’m sure they do.” He led her off the dance floor, relief rushing through him with the force of river rapids. “I’m more of a praline and caramel kind of man myself.”
“That’s my daddy’s favorite flavor,” she said.
“He must be an amazing man, then.”
Heidi practically wilted beside him, and Frank wondered if he’d struck gold by going to the dance tonight. He hadn’t planned on coming. Didn’t even want to. His cowhands would attend all summer long, but as the boss, Frank rarely went with them. Plus, his age set him apart from the crowd. And his status, his last attempt at a girlfriend had told him.
After Whitney had said every girl watched him wherever he went, he’d stayed out at Three Rivers, only coming to town for church. He’d even been sending a cowhand—and paying him—to do his grocery shopping. Lots of women at the grocery store, and Frank didn’t need them ogling him while he was trying to select the right variety of apple. Or hitting on him while he put milk in his cart. Or gossiping about when the thirty-year-old bachelor would find a wife and take over the ranch.
“Frank?”
“Hmm?” He returned to the warm evening, the weight of Heidi’s fingers on his arm.
“I asked what you do for a living.”
“Oh, uh.” Frank’s feet dragged against the cement. He didn’t want to lie, but he didn’t want to tell her either. “I’m out at the ranch.” Not really a fib, if God didn’t count omission as a lie.
“Oh, that’s right. You like it? The life of a wrangler?”
“Yeah, it’s great.” Frank reached for the door handle and pulled. The bell on the ice cream parlor’s door jingled and a woman lifted her head.
“Hey, Frank,” she said with an obvious note of suggestion in her voice. Frank cursed himself for coming in, for not remembering that Victoria worked at the shop. They’d gone out a few times, right at the beginning of Frank’s dating spree, and while Vickie was easy on the eyes, that was where her beauty ended.
“Evenin’, Vickie.” Frank tightened his arm against his side, keeping Heidi right next to him.
“Here for the flavor of the month?” Vickie’s appraising gaze slid over Heidi. “Oh, it looks like you already found one.”
Heat flamed in Frank’s face. He hadn’t intentionally tried to speed through several women in Three Rivers, but unfortunately he didn’t need very many dates to decide if he liked someone or not.
Heidi’s hand slipped out of his arm, and she put several steps between them as she moved up to the counter. “Do you have mint chocolate chip?” Her voice sounded on the upper range of her octave, though Frank had just met her and didn’t know for certain.
“Yes.” Vickie scooped with extra vigor while Frank glared, hoping she could feel the weight and displeasure in his gaze.
* * *
The next morning, Frank strode from the homestead through the yard to the cowboy cabins. He counted down six to Chase’s, climbed the steps, and knocked on the door. Several seconds passed before the blond cowboy opened the door.
“Boss,” he said, falling back a step in obvious surprise. “Come in.” He swiped a cowboy hat from a hook on the wall and smashed it on his bedhead. “What brings you here this mornin’?” Chase yawned as he backed into the kitchen. “Coffee?”
Frank waved him away. “No, I’m fine, Chase.” He glanced around the cabin, the questions he had obvious and embarrassing.
Chase busied himself making coffee anyway, and Frank realized he’d woken the cowboy on his only morning off this week. “Chase,” he said. “I’m sorry. I just realized I woke you.”
“It’s fine.” Chase tossed a smile over his shoulder. “I’m up now.”
“I’ll give you Monday morning off too.”
Chase’s grin widened. “Really?”
“Really.”
“Great.” He finished with the coffee and faced Frank. “So, what can I do for you?”
Frank cleared his throat. He’d always been able to just say what needed to be said. It was one of his greatest strengths. “The girl you met at the dance last night, what was her name?”
Chase’s eyes narrowed. “Maggie.”
“Maggie, right.” Frank remembered that Heidi had said she had three sisters. “And she has sisters?”
“Yeah.” Chase drew the word out, waiting, extreme curiosity burning through his eyes.
Frank dropped his gaze to his cowboy boots. “You have her phone number?” He’d left Heidi on the outskirts of the dance after they’d licked their cones gone and walked the perimeter of the park twice. He’d wanted to hold her hand while they walked, hug her good-bye, ask for her phone number himself, but Vickie’s poisoned words had caused Heidi to put distance between them. She hadn’t touched him again, a fact every cell in Frank’s body had been mourning for the past ten hours.
“You want to call my girl?” The incredulity in Chase’s voice hit Frank like a punch.
“No,” he said quickly, lifting his eyes to his cowhand’s. “No, of course not. Her sister. Maggie came to the dance last night with her sister, Heidi. I want to call her, but I wasn’t able to get her number before they left.”
Realization and relief sagged Chase’s bunched shoulders. A knowing smile followed. “I saw you two dancing. She’s pretty.”
Frank wasn’t interested in gossiping about Heidi’s beauty. “So can I have the number?”
Chase got up and retrieved a slip of paper from his messy kitchen counter. “What are you gonna do? Just call her and…then what? What will you tell her about how you got her number?”
Frank didn’t know, and he admitted as much to Chase. “Any ideas?” he asked.
“Maybe she won’t ask,” Chase said.
Frank knew she would. He didn’t know everything about Heidi Duffin, but he’d seen the sharpness in her eyes, enjoyed the wit in their conversation, and he knew she was smart. “She’ll ask,” he said, his heart plummeting though Chase handed him the paper with the number written on it. “Maybe I’ll just see if she applies for the housekeeping job.”
But he knew she wouldn’t. She’d made her position clear about living out at the ranch, calling Three Rivers “the middle of nowhere,” and asking him if he liked living so far from the city.
She seemed his opposite in every way, and yet he’d barely been able to sleep for want of seeing her again, hearing her voice, answering her questions, learning all he could about her. He mashed the paper in his fist and stuffed it in his pocket. “Thanks, Chase.”
“You’ll think of something,” Chase called as Frank opened the door and left the cabin. “Let me know how it goes!”
But Frank wouldn’t. Because he wasn’t going to call Heidi Duffin and tell her he’d gone crawling to her sister’s boyfriend to get her phone number. A phone number she hadn’t chosen to give him.
