Glancing up at the clock, Heather Carver tried not to mentally calculate the minutes until she could go home. She did anyway—seventy-four. And her impatience with teaching third grade had come much too early in the school year. After all, it was only September.
At least it’s Friday, she thought, rationalizing that that was the reason she couldn’t wait until the final bell rang. But deep down, she knew that wasn’t why. Teaching had a way of taking everything from a person, especially someone who didn’t have anything else to give anything to.
She pushed away her thoughts and focused on the little boy in front of her. With a flop of dark hair and a smattering of freckles across his nose, Mathias was reading from the book he’d gotten from the library that morning. He read with great fluency, and she marked off his rate and told him to send Jorge back.
Seventy-three minutes later, she stood at the door and said, “Have a great weekend, boys and girls. See you Monday.” She gave side-hugs as the children filed past. Some wanted high fives. Some just went by with a hesitant look on their face, as school had only been in session for three weeks and they were still getting to know her.
Once they were all gone, she closed and locked the door and leaned her back against it. A sigh leaked from her lips, and a keen sense of exhaustion dripped through her. She’d just begun her tenth year of teaching third grade, and the thought of doing it for two more decades was suffocating.
Pushing off the door, she headed to her desk, determined to stay only until she was ready for Monday morning. She had a prep period that morning, and it was early-out day, so she could get by without having to spend time tonight getting ready.
The open riding period normally started at Levi’s stables at six o’clock, but he’d moved it up to five now that fall had arrived and the sun was setting earlier. Heather told herself she wasn’t going to go. Not again. She’d been showing up for his open riding period for almost two years, and she’d be willing to bet an entire year’s salary that he didn’t even know what color her hair was.
Her pulse quickened at the simple thought of him. Levi Rhodes stood over six feet tall, with dark hair and eyes, and a five o’clock shadow on his strong jaw by three PM. He was soft-spoken yet completely in charge of every horse at his boarding stable. He’d also inherited his family’s peach orchard, and one of the girls in Heather’s Wednesday night yoga class managed the sales and distribution of the fruit.
Sally had described Levi as “meticulous,” and Heather wanted to be the one to unravel him. But he seemed completely unreachable.
“Time to move on,” she muttered to herself as she reviewed the math lesson she’d be doing on Monday. Problem was, there wasn’t anyone to move on to. Brief thoughts of leaving Grape Seed Falls floated through her mind, but she knew she’d never do it. Her family lived here, and she loved visiting the ranch where she’d grown up. She had a close relationship with her oldest brother and her parents, and she loved her house on Redglobe Street.
She stayed at school later than she would’ve liked and finally returned home to her four cats. Or maybe she had five now. Heather wasn’t sure if the black cat with white paws would stick around. She’d been putting food and water outside ever since she’d noticed the too-skinny animal crouched beside her garage.
Heather certainly didn’t need to take in another stray. Jasper, a gray tabby cat, and Tigger, an orange tabby, were both rescues and they usually stuck together as she’d adopted them on the same day. Ashes she’d raised from a kitten, and she was Heather’s favorite. All the other cats knew it, and Ashes could usually be found perched on top of the couch when Heather got home from school.
Today was no different, and Heather stroked the smoky gray cat as she passed. Dropping her bag and kicking off her shoes, Heather tried to talk herself out of going over to the open riding session. No one would notice if she didn’t show up. No one would know if she simply slipped into her stretchy pants, grabbed the box of leftovers from last night’s take out, and parked herself on the couch to watch romantic comedies.
She dialed Elaine as she took out her earrings. “Let’s do something tonight,” she said when her friend answered. “I don’t want to stay home alone. Again.”
“I wish I could,” Elaine said. “I wish I was even still in town. But my mom fell this morning, and I’m in Austin.”
“Oh, no.” Heather picked up the cat food bowl and dumped the uneaten food back in the bag. “Is she all right?” She’d eaten dinner at Elaine’s house more times than she could count over their lifelong friendship, and Elaine’s mother had always been kind, with a quick wit Heather envied.
“It’s a fractured hip. The doctors want to do another x-ray in the morning to make sure it’s not broken.”
“Is your sister there?” Elaine had a “perfect” older sister who caused Elaine quite a bit of grief.
“Oh, no,” Elaine said, her tone full of sarcasm “Erin had choir practice tonight. She simply can’t miss choir practice. She’s coming in the morning.”
Heather could hear the way Elaine would be rolling her eyes, and she giggled. “What can I do for you? Bring you dinner when you get home?”
“Your sausage stuffed rigatoni,” Elaine said immediately. “I’m hoping to be back on Sunday night. Dad should be able to take care of Mom if it’s not too bad.”
“Who took your shift at the park?”
“I don’t know. I called in, and Damien said he’d take care of it.”
Heather wondered what that would be like. For her, taking a day off was harder than just going to school. And if she didn’t have a substitute and absolutely couldn’t go, she worried all day. Taking care of twenty-four eight-year-olds was exhausting, emotionally and physically. But she still loved her job, loved the kids, and couldn’t imagine herself doing anything but teaching.
“Hey, my dad is yelling about Ziplock bags. He’s lived in this house for thirty-four years. You’d think he’d know where they were. Gotta go.”
Heather hung up laughing, glad she’d called Elaine. They’d been friends since childhood, had roomed together in college, and returned to their hometown to make a life for themselves. Ellen worked at the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Park, about thirty-five minutes from Grape Seed Falls.
And she wasn’t in town tonight to give Heather an excuse to skip the open riding lesson. She really didn’t want to stay home alone, and she allowed herself to change into her blue jeans, a sensible T-shirt with the Texas star on it, and her comfiest pair of cowgirl boots.
She loved riding horses, but she didn’t need to go out to Levi’s to do it. Surely he knew that. Why didn’t he know that?
Levi wasn’t hosting a party, but she arrived fashionably late anyway. She knew the drill—pay the ten dollar fee, move into the stable, pick out the horse you want, see a cowhand if you needed help saddling or riding.
Heather didn’t need help. Even if she did, she didn’t want it from just any cowboy. In fact, she’d tried dating cowboys for a long time, and it just didn’t feel like the right fit for her. Why she thought Levi was a good match, she had no idea.
All she knew was that when she stood in front of Starscape’s box stall, her hand stroking the horse’s mane, Levi’s voice filtered down the aisle and caused her heart to bump faster. Excitement built in her stomach that she’d get to talk to him face-to-face. Look into those dark eyes and fantasize about the day when he might actually see her. Really see her.
Pathetic, she told herself before commanding her pulse to quiet. It didn’t, and she didn’t know how to make it settle down. The barn sat in silence, all the other riders already in the pastures, the arenas, or the riding circle.
“Should we go?” she asked the horse. “You remember me, right? I rode you a couple of months ago.” Starscape’s eyes closed halfway, almost a horse acknowledgement. Heather unlatched the Tennessee walking horse’s gate and led the animal toward the tack rooms at the end of the barn. Levi’s voice grew louder, and it became obvious to Heather that he was on the phone. Not wanting to eavesdrop on him intentionally, she made her steps extra-heavy.
His voice cut off and he poked his head out of his office. He gave no reaction at all when he saw her. His face didn’t brighten. Or darken. Or register any recognition. She felt like a specter, completely invisible, and now her heart beat out pulses of foolishness and shame.
Which was ridiculous. Levi should feel like a fool. She’d eaten dinner at his family’s table. Dwayne had invited Levi to more than one Christmas dinner out at Grape Seed Ranch. Why he couldn’t even give her half a smile—something to show, hey, I know you. Good to see you—was starting to get old.
He ended his phone call, and Heather decided to do something different. Her methods of trying to get his attention these past two years obviously hadn’t worked. She paused in the doorway of his office and said, “Hey, Levi.”
He shuffled some papers on the desk and barely glanced up. “Hey, Heather. How’s Dwayne?”
So maybe he did know who she was. She admired his stubbled jaw, his strong fingers as he tapped on his laptop to wake it, the scent of aftershave and leather and man that was uniquely his.
Her voice wobbled a little as she said, “Doin’ just fine. What about you?”
“Just fine,” he echoed, settling into the squeaky office chair. “I have to put in a feed order, and then I’ll be right out.”
Heather understood conversation code, and he’d just said, “Go away, Heather. Stop bothering me.”
So she did, her footsteps heavy now for a completely different reason.
Outside, the beautiful autumn air lifted her spirits. Starscape held perfectly still while she saddled her, and once Heather hoisted herself onto the horse’s back, she’d almost forgotten about Levi.
Almost.
She seemed to live her life in almosts. She’d almost gotten married once. She’d almost gone back to graduate school. She’d almost won that beauty pageant in high school.
After glancing toward the open riding arena, she shook her head. Levi Rhodes was the most clueless man on the planet. The arena was filled with two dozen women, either alone, in pairs, or with their child.
And she was one of them.
Her stomach soured.
The open pasture on her left wasn’t much better. At least the women out there seemed to be interested in riding more than socializing. More than hovering as close to the stable as possible in the hopes that Grape Seed Falls’ most eligible and obviously fiercely sought-after bachelor would grace them with his appearance.
There was not a single man in the open riding lesson besides the hired help. No women over forty. No teenagers. Only children younger than probably twelve.
Disgusted with herself for coming again tonight, she opted for the pasture. Starscape liked grass better than gravel, and Heather could pretend she’d actually come to ride instead of for the man-candy who was still sitting inside.
