“Maybe?”
“Holy shit.”
“And then his son came out, and we were all chatting, then Sadie went back into the office and his son went to take care of something for breakfast, and . . .” God, I was babbling. “I know this sounds crazy, but it looked like he waited till we were alone so he could hug me.”
“Hehuggedyou? Are we talking about the same Kit Baker?”
“Indeed, we are. I hugged him in front of Sadie when I first got there, but this was different.”
“Okay, I’m gonna need a minute to process that.”
Rowdy then went quiet, like he was actually processing what I’d said.
Finally, he said, “So he didn’t just wanna hug you. He wanted to hug youprivately.”
“Well, as private as you can get in front of a busy dude ranch.” I tapped my thumb on the steering wheel, impatient for the light that’d come up out of nowhere. “And he may have returned the hug with one of his own, right there at the beginning, come to think of it.”
More silence on the line.
“Rowdy?”
“Again, I hafta verify—this is Kit Baker of the Baker Dude Ranch, etcetera, we’re talking about, right?”
I caught my smile in the rearview and it was goofy as hell. “The one and only.”
“So even after hugging himin front of a witness, he still wanted a private hug?”
“I guess? That’s not the craziest part, though.”
“There’s more?”
“Uh huh,” I said, turning through the yellow light. “I had to get the magnet out of the back, and I got the distinct impression he was looking at my ass.”
“You do have a nice ass,” Rowdy said loyally.
“Thanks, Rowds.” Finally on the four-lane, I started passing cars. “Like I said, though, he was all over the place. Kept losing his train of thought. And he hugged me again before I left.”
“What kind of a hug does a man like Kit give?” Rowdy asked, curiosity lacing his words. “I imagine it’s rather robotic.”
“Not at all,” I answered quickly, shaking my head. “The private one especially. A good, long hug right up against his body. And I?—”
I stopped myself before I could give too much away.
“And you what?” Rowdy asked, hanging onto every word. “And youwhat?”
Fine. “And I sort of let myself melt into it.”
“Holy shit.” Rowdy couldn’t have been more stunned if I’d told him I was pregnant. “What’re you gonna do now?”
“I don’t know.” I smacked my steering wheel, then hit the brakes to make my turn. “That’s why I’m callingyou.”
“Why would you call me about any of this? What the fuck do I know?”
“You’re in love. You and Kess are practically married.”
“True.”
I narrowed my eyes as I slid past the open gate of my first patient. “Wait. Did something happen?”
