Page 114 of Dusty Spur Ranch Cowboys

“You do.”

She smiles before turning back to Sadie.

I keep watching anyway.

She kneels on our kitchen floor without caring about the dust on her jeans, laughs at every impossible story Sadie tells, and slips into this house like she’s always belonged here.

That’s the part I can’t afford to forget.

Arizona’s only passing through. I know that.

My heart just refuses to believe it.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Arizona

A bee settles on my shoulder before I even make it through the gate.

I stop where I am while Abilene looks up from the row of wooden hives and smiles. “Congratulations.”

I frown at her. “For what?”

“He likes you.”

I angle my head, trying to catch a glimpse of the fuzzy little inspector making its way across the fringe of my jacket. “I feel like there should’ve been an orientation before we reached this stage of the relationship.”

She laughs. “He’s just curious.”

“That’s exactly what people say right before the main character gets attacked.”

The bee climbs onto the brim of my hat, decides I’ve lost its interest, then heads toward a patch of purple wildflowers.

I finally breathe again. “Well, that could’ve gone worse.”

“It usually does with tourists.”

“I am deeply offended.”

Abilene laughs. “You’ll recover.”

“I’ll try.”

I look around while she returns to checking the hives.

The honey stand sits beside the country road with hand-painted signs advertising fresh honey, beeswax candles, and wildflower soap.

Beyond it, wildflowers spread across the meadow as bees drift from bloom to bloom, completely absorbed in whatever keeps an entire colony running without meetings or paperwork.

“I’ve never been this close to beehives before.”

Abilene lifts the veil resting around her neck and hands me another. “You’ll be fine. They’re focused on their work.”

“Easy for you to say.”

“I’ve only been stung twice this year,” she assures me, and I stare at her until she winces. “Yeah… I probably should’ve opened with a different fun fact.”

“You think?”