kids during the day while Michelle’s at work. She got a promotion, you know. Heading up the bakery section at the grocery store.”
Katlynn smiled at her mother. She took equal pride in her children’s accomplishments, no matter what they did. How strange to be treated like everyone else. No one rushing to compliment her, fetch her favorite drink, roll out the red carpet... If she’d expected a big fuss, a celebration to welcome the returning, prodigal child, she was very mistaken.
Yet it didn’t hurt like she’d imagined. Instead, the sense of being no one special, out of the limelight’s glare, loosened her muscles and made her breathe easier, despite her evil shapewear. “Michelle was always the best at birthday cakes.”
The baby’s wails escalated into a screech.
“I’ll be by tomorrow, if that’s okay.”
“Anytime, honey, you know that. Only, your brother John’s working a double, so I’ll have his four kids. And your aunt Betty’s dropping by because her grandchildren like to play with two of John’s boys so—”
“It’ll be busy,” Katlynn finished for her, resigned to the fact that her mother’s schedule was, as always, too full to fit her. “How about you call me when things are a little less crazy. You have my number.”
Her ma pointed at a scrap of paper stuck to the cluttered refrigerator by a marijuana leaf magnet. “I’ll fix your favorite meal. Chicken and biscuits.”
“Thanks, Ma. That’d mean a lot,” Katlynn said, even though Michelle was partial to the meal, not her. “And you know the magnet’s a marijuana leaf, right?”
“Keith got them at some convention in Denver...” Her mother’s eyes widened. “And I gave some out at the church group. What’ll they think of me?”
“That you’re a sinner in need of penance.”
“Glory be.” Her mother sighed. “You sure you’ll find a place to stay?”
Katlynn opened the screen door, stepped outside and turned. “I’ll be just fine. No need to worry about me.”
Her mother patted her on the cheek. “Nope. Could always count on you to never give us a moment’s worry. It’s what made you special.” And with that, she hurried after the baby, leaving Katlynn staring after her, mouth agape.
Not needing her parents’ attention, not causing them concern, had made her stand out? She’d always done her best not to add herself to their list of things “to handle,” but it’d never occurred to her they’d noticed.
Inside her rented sedan, she reviewed her housing choices.
Staying in a Denver hotel meant an hour-plus commute every day, not to mention her hair and makeup team remained at the Holsford Hotel.
Tom had offered to share his suite with her, but he had a reputation, as well as two ex-wives. She’d been in the business long enough to understand offers like his also came with expectations and gossip-rag headlines.
Which left Boyd’s offer to stay at Loveland Hills. Eyes on her back-up monitor, she reversed out of the twisting driveway and onto the gravel road. The powerful engine purred as she pressed on the gas and zipped around the shoulderless curves.
If she accepted, she’d have greater access to the story—a plus. On the other hand, she’d also be near Cole, and the show demanded all her focus—a big negative.
Could she stay at Cole’s house and keep her professional distance?
She met her eyes in the car mirror, her nerves jumping in her stomach. She’d worked too hard, on herself and her career, to be swayed by an old flame. Whatever feelings she’d experienced today were just echoes from the past. They had no bearing on her life now...she wouldn’t let them.
She blew out a long breath then spoke to the car’s AI system.
“Siri, dial Loveland Hills Ranch.”
* * *
“KATIE-LYNN’S STAYING HERE?” Cole paced in his family’s kitchen, clenched hands shoved in his pockets.
“Her mother doesn’t have room for her.” Boyd swiped a washed plate with a towel and slid it into the rack above the sink.
Cole grabbed a dish towel and thrust it inside a glass, swirling it as he imagined Katie-Lynn sniffing around the place, exposing all their secrets. “I don’t like it.”
“I think it’s awesome!” Sierra breezed into the kitchen in a cloud of her orange-blossom scent, her blond hair wet from her shower, her red cowboy boots matching the sleeveless blouse topping her floral, ruffled skirt. She plucked the dried cup from Cole’s hand and stowed it in a glass-fronted cabinet. “Finally, another female to balance things out around here. Plus, she was my friend before you stole her, Cole.”
“What’s your objection?” Boyd slid another plate into its slot on the drying rack. “Do you still have feelings for her?”
“No!” He choked out his response, his throat tightening around the automatic denial.
Sierra thumped him on the back. “Not buying that, big brother.”
“I haven’t thought about her since she left.” He swiped at his stinging eyes, filled a glass of water and drained it.
“Then why haven’t you dated anyone else?” asked his younger brother Heath, joining them. He carried his six-string slung across his back, one of the guitars he handcrafted as a hobby when he wasn’t ranching or gigging at local honky-tonks.
“Too busy keeping track of you troublemakers.”
Heath shook longish bangs out of his purple-blue eyes. “That’s your story?”
“Yep. And I’m sticking to it.” Cole caught Sierra’s eye-roll. Why did they think he pined for Katie-Lynn all these years?
Because you have been...
The heart-shaped diamond engagement ring still in his nightstand called him out—just as loudly as Sierra and Heath.
But seeing her today, noticing how much she’d changed, proved that even if he had carried a torch, it’d been for a girl who no longer existed. Katlynn was someone he didn’t know.
“I’m heading out for my sound check.” Heath donned a brown cowboy hat and curved its brim. “See you two there?”
“We wouldn’t miss it. You’re doing the new set, right?” Sierra placed the last glass in the cabinet and shut its door.
“Classics and originals.” Heath shot them a quick smile then ducked outside.
“He’s nervous,” Sierra observed, hooking a pot on the rack above their table.
“Don’t know why he wastes his time with those songs,” Pa grumped. “Ain’t like he’s going to Nashville or getting famous.”
“He’s not trying to be a country star, Pa.” Cole sprayed cleaning fluid over the cleared table and rubbed a paper towel over it, gathering crumbs.
“And what if he was? What’s so wrong about that?” Sierra huffed, one fist on her hip.
“It’s a road full of disappointment,” Pa observed quietly.
Silence swelled, heavy enough to ache, as they finished the after-dinner cleaning. Cole supposed they all thought of Ma and how her unfulfilled dream to sing professionally drove her to drink. She’d taught Heath to play guitar and fiddle, the only one of her children interested in music...or who’d shown any talent for it. The rare times Cole saw her smiling, heard her laughing, was when she and Heath played together, those music sessions usually followed by even heavier drinking.
“You kids ruined my life!” she’d scream, stumbling around the ranch, searching for her stash of booze. “I wish you’d never been