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CHAPTERONE
Regina Barlow pushed her shopping cart out of the grocery store, the familiar sight of the huge trees only paces away reminding her of where she lived now.
Back in her parents’ house.
“Only for now,” she told herself for the tenth time that day. She’d given herself the same caveat at least a hundred times since returning to Chestnut Springs five days ago.
As she pushed the groceries past the trees and toward her car, she muttered, “You have to find a job. Today.”
A job would mean she could afford an apartment. A job would mean she wouldn’t lose her car and her dignity. Yes, she had a little bit of money from the severance package from the high-end restaurant in Dallas, but not enough to support herself independently for longer than a couple of months.
She pushed her hair back, semi-disgusted she’d let Ella talk her into all the highlights. Her sister loved getting her hair done, and she’d been shocked at the state of Gina’s upon her return to their small, Texas Hill Country town.
Truth be told, Gina had been somewhat shocked she’d let her hair get as frayed and as dim as it had, and she did feel better now that the blonde shone, and the sun caught on different hues of color. It was just a little too much, and it had cost her a small fortune.
With the groceries all loaded in her truck, she pushed the cart over to the return. A couple of men stood there, both cowboys of course, with a woman. In Chestnut Springs, Gina could throw a stick and hit a cowboy.
“Excuse me,” she said, her voice taking on some Texas twang she’d left behind a long time ago. Confusion ran through her at the same time the three people turned toward her, one of them edging out of the way so she could return her cart.
She pushed her cart into the chute, but her body froze immediately after that. Her arms fell to her sides like lumps of ice.
“Regina Barlow?” one of the men said. Calvin Rowbury. Of course she’d run into the most popular boy from high school, the one who’d known everyone, who’d come to Gina’s eighteenth birthday party fresh from his win in the state rodeo.
Before she could even offer a forced chuckle and a whispered hello, Cal engulfed her in a big hug. Of course. His spirit had always been as big as the Montana sky, and he would know, as he’d traveled all over competing in the rodeo.
He laughed and twirled around, all while Gina stayed still, her arms pinned to her sides by his. He set her down and backed up, his face aglow with life and love and laughter. Gina wondered what it would be like to feel those things again, actually, and her heart pinged out a twist that hurt.
“Hello, Gina,” the woman said. Tawny Grossburg. The way she linked her arm through Cal’s, it was obvious she was Tawny Rowbury now.
“Hi,” Gina said, looking to the other man. Todd Stewart. Her heartbeat knifed through her body, and she couldn’t look away from those dark hazel eyes. He didn’t look exactly like his older brother, but close enough.
Too close.
“Gina,” Todd said formally, with a nod of his cowboy hat. “Well, I best be goin’.” He looked back to Cal and Tawny. “My daddy has a whole bunch of interviews today, and he hasn’t been feelin’ the best. Needs this ginger ale.”
“Yeah, go,” Cal said. “We’ll pray for him.” He still grinned like he’d been deemed Santa Claus, and Todd started to walk away.
Gina couldn’t help her interest in him. Not because he was handsome, though he was. Not because she’d known him real well growing up, though she had. She had spent countless days and hours out at his family’s dude ranch, because she’d dated his older brother for quite a long time.
Yeah, she told herself.Back in high school.
Which was almost twenty years ago now.
No, the reason she was interested in Todd was because he’d said his daddy was interviewing, and well, Gina needed a job.
Not at the Texas Longhorn Ranch, she thought. Immediately a war started within her.Why not there? You don’t even know if Blake is still there.
There certainly wasn’t anywhere else in this small town, and Gina was done with big-city living.
She looked at Cal, who grinned on back at her. “You should come to dinner,” he said. He glanced at Tawny, who clearly didn’t share his same sentiments. “Shouldn’t she come to dinner, baby?”
“Sure,” Tawny deadpanned.
Gina wasn’t sure what she’d done to Tawny, but she shook her head. “No, I can’t,” she said. “Thank you, though.” No reason to make Cal’s light dimmer. “What are the Stewarts hiring for?”
“A chef…something or other,” Cal said, turning away from the cart return too. “I guess they’ve been in a real hurt.”
“I can’t imagine they have that many people applying,” Tawny said, going with her husband.
