Chapter Three

      “Easy does it, girls.” Conner walked behind the pair of fully harnessed draft horses, the long reins gripped firmly in his hands. Because the team was well broke and used to being hitched to a wagon, he was able to accomplish alone what might normally require two men. “Come on,” he coaxed. “Almost there.”

      Molly, the older of the pair, eased into position on the left side of the wagon tongue. Her partner, Dolly, suddenly started veering the wrong way.

      “Haw, haw,” Conner hollered, using the command to go left.

      Dolly obeyed and promptly changed direction, the chains on her harness rattling like the ghost of Christmas past’s.

      Molly watched, head bobbing and tail swishing. When both horses were lined up, Conner called out, “Whoa,” and let up on the reins.

      “Need a hand?”

      He glanced over his shoulder at the sound of Gavin’s approach. “You can help me hitch them to the wagon.”

      While Conner attached the neck yoke to the collars, Gavin hooked the trace chains to the doubletree.

      “You seen Ethan this morning?”

      “Earlier,” Conner answered. “He called to say he was heading over to the rodeo arena. Clay’s new bull is arriving.”

      Like Conner, Gavin’s younger brother worked for their friend Clay. And like Gavin, Ethan had recently added to his family, when his wife, Caitlin, gave birth to a baby girl.

      Conner thought about Dallas being pregnant. Just about all of his married friends seemed to be having babies lately.

      Except Dallas wasn’t married to Richard, and he and Conner were no longer friends.

      Checking the britchens and back straps one last time, he tied the mares to the hitching post. Eager to get started, Dolly pawed the ground with her heavy hoof.

      Gavin came around the wagon to Conner’s side, stopping briefly to unlatch and lower the tailgate. “Maybe you should wait for Ethan to get back before you and Dallas leave.”

      “What for?”

      “He’s the expert and could go with you in case there’s a problem.”

      “I know enough about wagons and driving a team to manage.”

      “Just a suggestion.” Gavin shrugged. “Or I can take her.”

      “I’m taking Dallas.” Conner dropped the ice chest he’d packed into the wagon bed, shoving it beneath the seat. “My job, as I recall.”

      “No need to get riled.”

      “I’m not.” He tossed the rain ponchos and rope behind the ice chest.

      “You’re throwing things around for the heck of it?”

      Okay, so maybe he was a little riled at the prospect of Ethan or Gavin replacing him.

      “Ask her out,” Gavin said.

      That halted Conner in his tracks. “On a date?”

      “Yeah, on a date.”

      “You can’t be serious.”

      Together Conner and Gavin loaded several bales of hay into the rear of the wagon. The extra weight would provide needed balance on the steep hills.

      “Why not? You’re both single. You like each other. If you hadn’t let her slip through your fingers when you did, you two might still be together.”

      Would they? It was possible. Conner did like her. More than he should. As good of pals as he and Richard were, he’d always been a little jealous of his friend and mad at himself for letting Richard steal her.

      “No.” Conner all but barked out the word and wiped his damp brow with the sleeve of his jacket. “Not happening.”

      “Because she’s pregnant?” Dallas had told Gavin about her condition and, after checking with his wife and sister-in-law, he’d reluctantly agreed to let her go on the ride into the mountains.

      “I don’t care that she’s pregnant.”

      “Didn’t think so, because your old girlfriend had a little girl and that didn’t bother you.”

      It hadn’t bothered Conner. He’d gotten along well with the child and missed her. More than he did her mother, who’d dumped him when his severance pay ran out and he could no longer afford her expensive tastes.

      “Be a big step, getting involved with a woman carrying another man’s baby.” Gavin’s voice was absent of judgment.

      Conner paused and rested his arm on the side of the wagon. “It’s not her pregnancy stopping me.”

      “Her ex-fiancé? Kind of awkward with him still in the picture.”

      “No fooling.”

      Gavin scratched behind his ear. “I’d be wondering if she was comparing me to him.”

      Conner’s stomach clenched. He hadn’t considered that unpleasant possibility.

      “’Course, there would be a certain satisfaction in dating her. Paybacks are hell.”

      Conner rarely got mad, but his temper abruptly flared. “If I was to ever go out with Dallas, and I’m not, it wouldn’t be to get back at Richard. She’s too good for that.”

      Gavin chuckled and retreated a step. “Hey, relax. I wasn’t serious.”

      Conner reached for the canvas satchel containing the snacks he’d packed, shoving it next to the ice chest.

      Gavin watched him closely. “What’s the real reason you won’t ask her out?”

      “Richard being her baby’s father isn’t enough of one?”

      “I know you, buddy, and you’ve got a hankering for Dallas. Did from the first time you laid eyes on her.”

      Conner wished his friend was less astute.

      He had always been drawn to her. She was pretty and genuinely nice, with a heart of gold. Her small, curvy body enticed him more than his model-thin ex-girlfriend’s ever did.

      What really appealed to him, however, was her gumption. Her adventurous nature and love of life. Her many passions and her dedication to them. The fearless way she pursued her ambitions.

      Conner had been the same once. Passionate and fearless, with an endless supply of gumption.

      Then he’d lost his job and a large chunk of his self-esteem in the face of countless thanks-but-no-thankses.

      “Richard was a fool to let her go.”

      “Here’s your chance, buddy,” Gavin continued. “You don’t ask her out, I guarantee you someone else will, pregnant or not.”

      “I’m not asking her out,” Conner repeated.

      “She doesn’t care that you aren’t bringing home six figures a year.”

      He jerked at the reminder of his former circumstances. “I care.”

      “Money’s not important to her.”

      “Easy to say.” Conner’s ex-girlfriend used to profess a similar sentiment. Funny how people change.

      A horn beeped, causing both men to turn. Dallas waved from her Prius, then headed behind the barn, where the parking area was located.

      “You’re wrong.” Conner returned