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“Oh, stop!” Summer lightly slapped his shoulder before letting it go. “I’m well aware that your nephew is stupidly in love with my daughter.”
He raised one eyebrow at her. “Not the adjective I would’ve chosen, but yes.”
“He raised a manhunt the size of Manhattan and moved part of a cavern to save her life.” A pained whimper escaped her at the memory of how close she’d come to losing Prim that night. “He’s an exception to every dating rule I taught my daughter.” She ticked them off on her fingers. “He works a dangerous job, he’s awfully comfortable in cowboy boots, and he’s her best friend.” She added a few more unspoken motherly fears to her list. Shep Whitaker also didn’t command a big salary and never would. Further, there wasn’t a crowbar big enough to pry him away from this cozy little town.
Nope. Her precious only child was in Heart Lake to stay, which probably meant Summer was going to need to find herself a real estate agent soon.
Talk about fate! Heart Lake was the one place in the world she’d been avoiding. She knew things about this town and the people in it, things she hadn’t asked for, things she wished she didn’t know. And now her own daughter was forcing her hand to come back and face those secrets.
It dawned on her that Caleb had stopped talking. She shot a curious look in his direction and discovered he wasn’t paying one drop of attention to her. She wasn’t sure whether to be amused or miffed. He was watching his nephew as closely as a sports enthusiast glued to a television screen. She might as well have been on another continent.
She followed his line of sight and found Shep and Prim racing their dogs through a trio of weaving flag obstacles. The three K-9s were running as fast as they could in and out of the lines of flags their owners had placed in the ground. Rook’s flags were red, Bishop’s were blue, and Pink’s were pink, of course.
Summer found herself straining forward and silently urging Pink on. The Saint Bernard was younger and smaller than the German Shepherds, but she was pushing her hardest to keep up with them. It was a close finish, with Rook and Bishop in a dead tie. Pink was only a nose breadth behind them.
Caleb’s fist flew into the air. His bellow of triumph was loud enough to rattle the porch rafters.
“She did it!” Prim’s shriek competed with Caleb’s in volume. “Oh, you beautiful thing! Good job, Pink!” Like she’d done before, Prim ran to Shep to celebrate.
This time, he cradled her close in a gentle side-to-side dance. Then he slowly lowered himself to one knee in front of her.
“O-o-oh!” Both hands flew to Summer’s mouth. Unsure if she had enough strength to continue her balancing act on top of the railing, she slid back to the porch.
Though Caleb never looked up, his hand was there to steady her again. This time, his strong fingers remained on the small ofher back as they witnessed Shep ask Prim to be his best friend for the rest of his life. A best friend with a ring on her finger. A best friend he could kiss anytime he wanted to.
“You alright?” Caleb’s voice was like a gentle glove, lifting her out of her stupor.
She stared at him, uncomprehending at first, until he reached inside the pocket of his well-worn jeans and withdrew a clean, dry tissue.
Only then did she feel the wetness dripping through the fingers that she still had pressed to her cheeks.
“Prim wears love so beautifully.” Her voice trembled. “It’s all I ever wanted for her.” She’d been waiting for this day. Waiting to finish what she and her precious husband had started together. And now the waiting was over.
Caleb’s fingers momentarily curled into her back. “After Shep’s parents died, making sure he turned out alright is all I ever wanted for him, too.” Then he dropped his hand.
“He’s a good man, Caleb Whitaker, and so are you,” Summer declared softly. “You raised him well.” If he hadn’t, there was no way her daughter would’ve fallen in love with his nephew. Prim had been through too much. She was too wise to be fooled a second time.
The man at her side merely grunted. “I tried.”
She didn’t know his story. He was a man of few words. He didn’t smile much. But she suddenly wanted to know how he’d gotten his limp, why there was a crossbow propped against the back wall, and how in the world he’d raised such a perfect match for her sweet, sweet Primrose.
Who knew? Maybe if she stuck around long enough, as he’d put it, she’d get to find out.
As Shep slid the simple diamond solitaire onto Prim’s ring finger, she lifted his Stetson and placed it on her own head. “Now help me go explain to my mom why you’re the exception to every one of her stinking dating rules.”
“Man, I love you!” He stood and bent her over his arm, holding his hat on her head while he sealed the newest promise they’d just made to each other with a kiss. “And I’m never gonna stop.”
“Don’t you dare,” she breathed against his lips. She loved him so much that it scared her sometimes. “‘Cause I’m never gonna stop loving you, either.”
He deepened their kiss before straightening with her.
“You’re stuck being my best friend forever now,” she informed him happily, “so don’t you ever try to weasel out of that, either.” She lifted his hat and returned it to him.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He settled his hat more comfortably on his head and pulled the brim lower, looking deliciously dark, broody, and mysterious.
Her fearless K-9 search and rescue partner.
Her very own cowboy cop.
Her perfect match.
