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“And Ruby?”
“Yep.”
“Wow.” Barb shook her head, making her dangling earrings swing. “Knox has it bad for you.”
Jana bit her lip… Hearing Barb say that made it all a little surreal.
“Go with the polka dot summer dress,” Barb said. “Pretty, yet casual. And Knox won’t be able to keep his eyes off you.”
Jana felt her neck warm. “I don’t want too much attention. His parents will be there, you know. And Macie.” She sighed. “I mean, I know who Macie is, but we’ve never talked. What if there is tension? Like, that weird kind of tension?”
“Listen to me, hon,” Barb said as Jana pulled the dress out of the closet and inspected it to see if it needed ironing. “You walk in there, head held high. You aren’t responsible for Macie or Knox’s choices in the past. Their marriage is long over, and you are Knox’s woman now, so be proud of that.”
Jana sighed. “Sounds like something you could pull off, not me.”
“Oh, honey, Knox has never been interested in me,” Barb said with a laugh. “You need to know he wouldn’t be taking you to his family dinner if he wasn’t serious.”
Jana went quiet.
“Jana… ? Has he said something else about this?”
She met Barb’s gaze in the phone. “He says he’s serious about us.”
Barb hooted. “It’s about time! I saw this coming a mile away. Remember what I said that night we knew he’d arrived in town for the rodeo? And how you were so feisty, then left Racoons early?”
Barb didn’t forget a thing. And Jana wasn’t going to remind her friend that she’d also said that Knox was still in love with his ex-wife. Which was something Jana didn’t want to ever wonder about. “Well, I don’t know what any of that has to do with tonight.”
“It’s because somehow, you subconsciously knew that Knox was about to walk into your life again.”
Jana puffed out some air. Barb and her theories and conjectures. “I don’t know about that. And I also wonder if I should just wear jeans.”
“No way, hon, the dress is a must.”
“All right.”
Barb beamed. “See, that was easy. I wish I could get an invite to the dinner, too. What I wouldn’t give to be a fly on that wall tonight.”
Jana laughed.
“Can you promise to call me after?” Barb asked. “I won’t be able to sleep unless I hear all the dirt. Both good and bad.”
“All right,” Jana said. “I’ll call you, or text, or something.”
By the time Jana was off the phone with Barb, had ironed the summer dress, and zipped it on, she only had ten minutes left. She’d have to rush through her hair and makeup routine and hope that Knox wasn’t early.
Which he usually was. Something that Jana found charming.
The familiar rumble of a truck sounded outside, and Jana hurried to the kitchen window. Knox was here. She’d have to make him wait, she decided. But she didn’t leave the window just yet, because Knox had just climbed out of his truck, a bouquet of red roses in his hand.
Jana’s heart wobbled.
Knox strode up the walkway, wearing a black cowboy hat, black jeans, boots. He was dressed about as formal as she’d ever seen him. Oh boy.
Her breathing felt erratic as she moved to the front door. She opened it a crack to see Knox’s green eyes shift to her. His gaze perused her, and his slow smile started to grow.
“I’m not ready,” she said, keeping the door a crack. “Can you give me a few minutes?”
“Sure thing, sweetheart,” he said, “but you look perfect.”
