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“But ... you two had sex?” Tillie asked.

Kate looked over to her friend, and she couldn’t quite verbalize it, so she nodded.

“Was it good?” Tillie asked.

Kate was pretty sure her eyes rolled back a little at the memory, but she nodded, a little vigorously this time.

Tillie smiled and continued to stroke her dog. “Sounds awesome.”

“It can’t have exactly been that awesome. I haven’t heard from him since. I can’t go up there. What if it was just a little fun for him, and I’m misreading everything? That would be so embarrassing.”

“I don’t believe for a second that you misread anything.”

She wished the other woman was right, but it didn’t make any sense. “I’ve got to, you know, get this stuff together,” Kate said. She didn’t want to push Tillie out of her shop, but right now, all she wanted to do was lick her wounds and not think or talk about Cruz, at least not right now. “Oh, and my mom has tried to come and take the shop from me.”

“What?”

Even though she really needed to get back to work, she felt she could talk to Tillie as a friend.

“Wow, just wow,” Tillie said. “This is why I don’t like to go away on vacation.”

“You were on your honeymoon.”

“Yeah, but I could have totally gotten all the good gossip as it was happening,” Tillie said.

“Did you have a good honeymoon?”

“Oh, it was the best,” Tillie said. “Or, as best as it could be while you’re pregnant.” She put a hand on her stomach.

“What’s it like being pregnant?”

“It’s brilliant and sucks all at the same time. The morning sickness and aching body, that is not fun. Also, not being able to eat and drink what I want, that sucks. However, everything else is pretty awesome. A couple of women on my vacation were telling me that during childbirth, I am going to hate every second of it. It is going to be painful, and I’m going to despise Jaxson, and then when my little bundle of joy is placed in my arms, I’m going to be as happy as a clam. I mean, what is that statement? How do people know if clams are happy?”

Kate laughed, but it was so good to catch up with Tillie.

“I better go, let this little one trash our home and leave her scent everywhere. I missed her so much. You’re an angel for taking her, Kate.”

She hugged Tillie and gave Belle a stroke, then she watched them go. She waved to them from her shop as Tillie climbed into her car, and she took a deep breath, as she felt quite raw. Being with Belle had been a dream come true. She was such a lovely, beautiful dog. A pain in the ass, but so loyal. She was going to miss her wagging tail and the love she felt coming from Belle as she woke up in the morning.

She hadn’t realized how lonely her life had gotten until Belle was in it. She loved that dog so much.

****

“For fuck’s sake!” Cruz slammed his hands on the steering wheel, not once, not twice, but multiple times.

This was his backup car, and his other car was in the shop, as he had no choice. He was able to get it to the garage so it could be repaired by a qualified mechanic. He knew it was going to cost a fortune, and he was going to complain about it, but it had to be done.

Now, his backup car would not start, and it was fucking Friday, near to Kate’s closing, and he was pissed off. All week long he’d been trying to find the time to make it to her shop. He must look like an asshole right now.

During the snowstorm, it had gone smoothly. He didn’t lose any cattle. The fences were working, even his generator actually worked. Everything was peaceful. The moment the snow melted enough for Kate to get to her shop, all hell had broken loose.

One of the fences had literally fallen down from the weight of the snow, and his cattle wandered off. One cow had scraped its leg on barbed wire, so the vet had to be called. Thankfully, she was making a full recovery, but that required the men to check all the fences.

Three of his men fell ill with the flu. Another was injured trying to make repairs at home and couldn’t come in, so he was down four men. Then to top it off, the workload kept piling up, and there was no stopping it. It was just getting busier and busier, and tonight, he intended to see his woman. The nights were so freaking lonely, as were his mornings, and all the hours in between.

The guys that were still fit to work complained about his cooking. There was no housekeeper willing to fill the position.

He thought about Kate, and how much he missed her. He wanted her in his arms, and he had never told her the truth.