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He never wanted to surface.
In just a few weeks, she’d bloomed here on the ranch. Her face, once nearly translucent with illness, was now filled with color. Sparks of life replaced the dull sickness she’d arrived with.
If he hadn’t found her when he did—
He gulped down the thought and brushed his thumb higher, just beneath her full bottom lip. One slow stroke.
Then made himself drop his hand.
For a second she didn’t move, looking as stunned as he felt. Then they continued on without a word.
They walked out together toward the bonfire. Evening settled over the ranch, gold and slightly warmer than the previous day as spring hit Wyoming full force. The sun had fully sunk behind the mountain, coloring the world in a hazy purple-blue.
In the field beyond, horses trotted lazily, tails swishing. A cattle dog barked twice at whatever caught its interest.
The air carried the tang of woodsmoke and cut grass and something sweeter he couldn’t place right away—honeysuckle, maybe from the fence line he’d passed a dozen times without ever noticing it before tonight.
It should have been a short walk, but he didn’t want this time alone with Whitley to end.
As they neared the barn, the crackle of the fire reached them. He looked at her and tipped his head toward a longer route. This would take them around the barns and outbuildings instead of on the direct path to the fire.
She followed without question.
He ached to take her hand and had to fold his fingers into a fist at his side to stop himself. But their bodies wanted to connect. Even if his mind told him not to cross that line, their shoulders bumped as if a magnet pulled them together.
“The Malone family,” she said, filling the quiet. “They really do surround themselves with good people.”
He nodded. “Gabe. Upchurch,” he named the men from the training program. “Reno’s a hard-ass, but he’s growing on me.”
She laughed, and the way her hair swirled around her shoulders and her eyes creased with happiness was so stunningly pretty that it stole the air out of his lungs again.
They slowed to a stroll, passing a line of fence that stretched across the landscape.
“Sometimes it’s hard not having family around me,” she said after a moment, voice pitched quieter.
“Have you ever thought about joining your parents in Thailand?” He didn’t know why he asked because the last thing he wanted to hear was the answer.
She shot him a small, wistful smile. “I miss them. But my life is here, in the States.”
He breathed again. “I’m sure they miss you too.”
She held his gaze for a beat. “What about you? What’s your family like?”
“They’re military.” He focused on the path ahead. “Every single one of them. My brothers and my dad too, before he retired. There’s an entire wall in my parents’ house just for the service photos and framed medals.”
She glanced at him, surprise on her face. “You became a forest ranger instead?”
“Wasn’t exactly a choice I got to make.” He said it lighter than it felt, testing how much of the truth he wanted to hand over. “But yeah. Forest ranger.”
A weight sat in his chest, heavy with what else he wanted to say. He took her hand instead—no more fighting it—and she wrapped her fingers around his.
He stole a look at her. “This feels like a conversation that belongs indoors. Not at a bonfire.”
She arched a brow. “Want to go back?”
“Do you?”
“I can see whatever you want to say isn’t easy. I want to make it more comfortable for you.”
