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Evie rested her arms on the arena fence as she waited for Holt to come talk to her. She knew he’d gone to the Hunts’, and when he returned, he said he needed to talk to her, but he had to get through a couple of phone calls first.
So, here she waited in the partial shade. Carson would be arriving in about thirty minutes, and she hoped whatever Holt wanted to talk to her about would be cleared up by then.
Her mom had just barely awakened when Evie had returned that morning. She’d told her mom, matter-of-factly, that she’d been on a breakfast date with Carson. Her mom had only smiled. “Good for you, Evie. He’s a nice man.”
That was it?
Evie had finally texted Becca to tell her that she’d been kissed. Then she spent the next twenty minutes texting back and forth with her friend. And an email had arrived on her phone. Evie had stared at the subject line for a long moment before opening it and reading it through.
She’d been asked for an interview at the San Antonio Daily News. A major publication, and one on her top five list. And the email wasn’t a standard reply, either. The marketing directors referred to Evie’s resume multiple times.
Oh boy. Evie’s mind had started spinning in all directions. This was good—very, very good. Right? But the only thing she could think of was how her mom would react . . . and Carson. What would he do?
Evie had replied to the email and set up an interview time for the day after spring break ended. She didn’t know how things would work with Carson once they were back at school. They’d take things one day at a time, though. That was all she could hold onto right now. Regardless, she had to tell her brothers that she was dating Carson.
Either that, or one of them would find out through the Barb gossip chain.
So, her heart thumping, she’d gone to the barn to find Holt and tell him the same thing.
Holt hadn’t been so easy-going. In fact, he’d drilled her with quite a few questions, then he strode off.
Sometime later, he’d gotten in his truck and left. Evie had sensed her brother was going to talk to Carson.
What had Holt said to him? By his phone call, it appeared that whatever had been said between the two men, Carson hadn’t been scared off.
And that thought made a horde of butterflies zing through her body.
“Sorry for the wait,” Holt said, and Evie turned to see him approach.
He joined her at the railing. She could tell he was biding his time, trying to decide how to tell her what he’d come to talk to her about, as he gazed out over the arena.
“Had a talk with Carson Hunt.”
Evie held her breath. Was she about to defend her choice of men she wanted to date?
“Well, I had a talk with him, and then he had a talk with me.”
Evie studied her brother, her pulse racing. “What do you mean?”
Holt turned to face her fully. He took off his cowboy hat and ran his hand through his brown hair. “Seems there’s been a misunderstanding between us, Evie, and I apologize for that.”
Then, her brother proceeded to tell her what Carson had said to him. How Carson had told Holt that the family needed to trust Evie and have more faith in her.
Evie could only stare at her brother as he repeated the conversation with Carson. At the end of it all, she still had no words.
Holt placed a hand on her shoulder. “I believe in you, and I trust you, sis,” he said. “You’ve made the entire family proud, and I hope you can forgive my blockheadedness. I’ll let Lane and Knox speak for themselves. But as far as I’m concerned, Carson Hunt is a good man, and even though you don’t need my permission or anyone else’s, I’m in your corner.”
Evie blinked back the stinging tears, then she stepped forward into her brother’s arms.
Holt held her tight.
“What’s goin’ on here?” her dad asked as he walked toward them.
Evie pulled away. “I’ll let Holt tell you. I have a date to get ready for.”
And without any other word of explanation, she ran toward the house, her heart thumping with gratitude and awe. She wished she could have been a witness to Carson and Holt’s conversation. Had he really said all that stuff about her? Stood up for her?
She hurried into the house, calling out to her mom, “I’m going on a picnic with Carson.”
