“Um, no, Junebug.” She looked at Colin. “At least not this round.”
He grinned at her.
“But one day.”
The loving look he gave her melted her heart.
The hawk made one more circle above the ranch and then flew west.
That night,safely wrapped in Colin’s arms after making love, Maren dreamed.
In her dream, she was looking at herself until she realized it wasn’t her. It was Mira. A man with Juni’s eyes appeared at her sister’s side and put his arm around her. He looked kind, and definitely mischievous.
They have that in commonMaren thought, as she looked back and forth between Mira and Sean. They also looked like they were very much in love.
“Thanks, Maren,” Mira said.
“Give Juniper a kiss for us,” Sean added.
They faded as Maren awoke. She braced herself for tears, but all she felt was peace.
Colin shifted and opened his eyes. He smiled lazily at Maren.
“You okay, babe?”
Maren nodded as she pulled Colin closer.
“Let me tell you about the dream I had.”
THIRTY-SIX
Jodie Kennery
Jodie blamedherself for the catastrophe she wasn’t sure she’d survive.
Well. Herself and Stephanie, but Stephanie’s track record was annoyingly good, which was the only reason Jodie had said yes to begin with.
Look how well things turned out the last time I played matchmaker,Stephanie had said with a persuasive smile. And she wasn’t wrong. She’d set up Waylon and Frankie—Waylon, the paramedic who sometimes did work for Watchdog, and Frankie, who was possibly the most adorable human being in Colorado—and they’d had a rough start when they both realized they’d been set up without their knowledge, and then promptly fallen completely in love anyway. Lightning had struck once.
Maybe it would strike again. Because the guy Jodie was interested in for real didn’t seem to know she existed.
So Jodie had said yes to Dale. Dr. Boyfriend’s sister’s husband’s cousin’s nephew, which was a chain of relation so tenuous it barely counted, but Dale was new to town and lookingfor a hiking partner and it wasn’t technically a date, Stephanie had said.
Except itwastechnically a date.
Dale was good-looking enough, she’d give him that. He was also deeply, profoundly in love with himself, which left very little room in the relationship for Jodie. She discovered this at the coffee shop near the trailhead, when she suggested breakfast. While she drank her latte and munched on a blueberry muffin, Dale explained that he didn’t need breakfast because he’d already had his Saturday protein powder, which was different from his Monday and Wednesday protein powder, which were both different from his Friday powder, which he saved for because it had slightly more sugar and he liked to earn it. He also suggested, with what he seemed to think was genuine helpfulness, that with her lack of muscle structure she might want to consider giving it a try.
“You have one of those sanitary jobs, don’t you? Where you just sit around all day?”
“Um, do you meansedentaryjob?”
“Whichever. Your muscles look like they don’t get much action.”
Wow.
“I’m the receptionist at a security company,” she told him, not bothering to elaborate how she assisted in the kennel’s private clinic or how she kept everything running smoothly.
“Yeah. So you do sit around all day. You could really benefit from some of these powders. I could hook you up. I sell them, too. I’m one of their top reps.”
