Page 145 of Saltwater Cowboy

“Oh, you sure can, Wells,” she countered, crossing her arms. “I will manage all the morning tasks on my own.”

I raised a brow, skepticism creeping in. “Even the goats?”

She pursed her lips. “I will handle almost all the tasks on my own.”

A small laugh escaped before I could stop it. “I’ll help you with your archnemesis. Don’t worry.”

“Mr. Nibbles has boundary issues.”

“What can I say? He likes pretty girls.”

Rose bit her bottom lip, eyes narrowing playfully. “Are you flirting with me?”

“No,” I said, voice dripping with sarcasm. “I would never.”

And just like that, for the first time in what felt like forever, the weight in my chest loosened—just a little.

Rose smirked, tilting her head as if she were deep in thought. “Well, if you were flirting with me… I wouldn’t mind it.”

My stomach did a somersault. I huffed out a laugh, shaking my head. “That so?”

She lifted a shoulder, all casual, but the glint in her eyes told me she knew exactly what she was doing. “I mean, it’s not every day a rugged cowboy with excellent goat-handling skills flirts with a girl like me.”

I winked at her. “I told you I wasn’t flirting.”

“Whatever you say, cowboy.”

SILENCE

Something shifted in the air between Wells and me tonight. There was something undeniably attractive about the way he finally let me in—not just into his past, but into the parts of himself he usually kept locked away. My heart ached for him, but more than anything, I wanted to help him find peace in the quiet, the way the farm had done for me.

And after the slight flirting, I couldn’t help but think we might be on the same page.

Over the last few months, Wells had helped me see that I hadn’t been the problem in my relationship with Thad. That I wasn’t hard to love.

After the bonfire, we had gone inside and parted ways, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something between us had shifted.

I carefully placed the sunflower Wells had left me this morning on the growing pile. I really needed to figure out what to do with them.

A soft knock at my door pulled me from my thoughts. It was already cracked open.

“Hey,” Wells said quietly.

“You can come in.” I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror—glasses on, hair in a messy bun, in my pajamas. Wells had never seen me like this.

He pushed the door open but didn’t step forward.

“You good?” I asked.

His eyes lingered on mine. “Yeah… just wanted to thank you again for letting me get all that off my chest earlier.”

I offered a genuine smile. “Nothing to thank me for. You let me sob into your chest when Thad called. It’s only fair.”

“You’re doing better with that situation now?”

I nodded without hesitation. “Blocked his number. Deleted his contact. He’s as good as gone.”

“Cool.”