The Cowboy's Texas Twins. Tanya Michaels

by on minimum effort. But you certainly grew out of that! My nephew and I were at the rodeo last summer and happened to see you ride. I can’t begin to imagine the bone-jarring effort that takes.”

      “Th-thank you.” If anyone had asked him when he was thirteen, he would have sworn Ms. Templeton hated him. His phone began ringing in his pocket, signaling that Vi was finished.

      “I’ll let you get that,” Ms. Templeton said. She gave him one last smile. “Welcome back home.”

      He stared after her, almost too bemused to answer Vi’s call. “Hey,” he said once he’d regathered his wits. “All done?”

      “Yes.” Vi’s voice was tight. She didn’t sound as if the meeting had gone well.

      “Okay, the boys and I are right outside the front doors.”

      She hung up and a moment later, he saw her striding through the lobby. Before she reached the exit, however, two men in tank tops and shorts crossed her path. Grayson squinted, realizing that the one carrying a basketball was Jim McKay, Violet’s ex-boyfriend. Were they on friendly terms? For Vi’s sake, he hoped so. In a town this size, you were bound to run in to an ex from time to time.

      With the men standing in front of her, he couldn’t see Vi’s expression, but when she came through the door a few minutes later, her movements were stiff and jerky, her smile of greeting brittle.