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Her logical mind would usually be trying to count steps or over-analyzing her movements, but somehow, with Chevy, her body surrendered to his lead, and she let him spin and steer her around the porch, one hand cupping her neck and the other cradling her outstretched palm.
He grinned down at her as he pulled her close and promenaded her in a circle. She felt dizzy and breathless—both from the dance steps and from Chevy’s beaming smile that was meant just for her.
“My turn,” Max called out, lifting his arms. “I want to dance, too.”
Chevy laughed and let go of Leni to scoop up the little boy and spin him around, amazingly still in time with the music. Max giggled and whooped and sang along to the chorus with Chevy.
Leni leaned back against the front of the house, trying to catch her breath and calm her heart.
Sometimes, she forgot how much fun Chevy was. How he could turn anything into a party. He had a zeal for life—and probably a bit of a middle child’s desire for attention—and had a way of taking the most menial task, like building railings for a set of steps, and turning it into something exciting and fun.
It was so easy to be around him, so easy to get pulled back into his orbit.
She had been on the shy side in high school, a brainy nerd who cared more about reading books than attending football games or parties. No one really paid much attention to her at all. Unless she was with Chevy.
There was something about him. About the way he was with her. Like he justgother. She didn’t know how or why, but he saw beyond the nerdy brainiac and the quirky side of her.
They shouldn’t have worked. The fun, loving cowboy who craved attention and the shy, timid bookworm who was happy to be on her own, escaping into her books and dreaming of dragons and time-travel and sci-fi adventures in space.
But they did.
He drew her out of her shell, and she made him laugh. And they just worked.
Right up until the day he’d broken her heart.
Chapter Twelve
Chevy’s muscles burned as he swung the axe the next day, splitting the log with a satisfying whack. He swept the two pieces into the growing pile of firewood and grabbed another chunk of the tree that had fallen victim to a lightning bolt in a thunderstorm earlier that summer.
He’d come up to their family’s cabin, tucked up into the mountains behind their ranch, to get away from everyone and have some time to think.
But his body and mind were restless, and chopping firewood always had a way of relieving stress for him.
Sweat dripped down his back as the afternoon sun beat down on his bare skin, his t-shirt discarded and tossed over the stacked pile to dry in the summer heat.
Frustration and exasperation fueled his next swing. He didn’t know what was happening with Leni. She’d seemed happy to have him around the house the day—and the night—before but then something had happened after he’d danced with her on the porch.
It was like a cloud had crossed her face, and she went inside and didn’t come back out again.
Lorna had told him she was upstairs working when they’d stopped for lunch and then again when he’d gone in to tell her that he and Dodge had finished the railings. It had taken them into the afternoon to sand and paint them, but they were sturdy, and no one would get a splinter when they ran their hand along them.
He’d texted Leni the night before. Just a simple message.Hope you all are doing okay. Let me know if you need me or if I can do anything to help.
She hadn’t answered.
He’d lain awake half the night trying to think back over everything that had happened between them to see if he could figure out what he might have done to upset her. She was a little prickly at times, but then other times she was laughing and joking around with him. When she was first around him, her body was stiff, vibrating with tension. But then that night, in the dark comfort of her bed, her body—and her lips—had been pliant and warm as she’d melted into him.
The sound of an engine broke through the still air, and Chevy cocked his head to see if he recognized the vehicle. This engine was too quiet to be either his grandfather’s or one of his brother’s trucks.
A flash of dark metallic blue broke through the trees, and his heart leapt as he recognized Leni’s Tesla. She must have finally picked it up from the library. He’d driven by it on his way home the night before, just to make sure it was okay, and that no one had messed with it.
Not that anyone would. Not in a town this size where everyone knew who that fancy car belonged to.
He looked around for Murphy. The dog had run off into the woods to chase a squirrel, but the arrival of a vehicle usually brought the golden racing back.
His breath caught in his throat as Leni opened the door and stepped out. She was wearing a simple outfit of jean shorts, flip flops, and a black tank top. A delicate silver chain sparkled around her neck. Her dark hair was down, full and curly, the way he loved, and his palms itched to run his hands through it.
She pushed her sunglasses up on her head as she walked toward him, but he was already striding across the yard to get to her. They met in the middle, in front of the cabin, then stood awkwardly, staring at each other, like neither one knew quite what to say.
