One

Jane Tanner felt like a dragonfly in amber—something that was meant to be free and swift, to change direction at a whim and evolve, but was forever caught and held in place.

Alone in her little vintage thrift shop on Lincoln Street, the main drag of Coyote Canyon, she gazed out the front window and saw the same sleepy scene she saw almost every morning around ten o’clock. She’d often considered moving to the big city, like her best friend, Talulah, did when she went to Seattle and started a dessert diner. But even Talulah hadn’t escaped Coyote Canyon in the end. She’d come back nearly two years ago and married Brant Elway, a local rancher—and, wow, did that cause a stir. There were still aftershocks. Those aftershocks affected Jane’s life, too. But at least Talulah was happy. She and Brant were living in the Victorian house Talulah had purchased from her great aunt’s estate, and she claimed she no longer wanted to leave.

Jane wondered if she could ever be content here and quit imagining a better life somewhere else...

She could leave her hometown if she really wanted to, she reminded herself. No one would stop her or even blame her. Her lease on the store ended in thirty days. Although the owner had been nagging her to renew, she hadn’t signed the document LaVeryle White had dropped off. Even the possibility of starting over someplace else where she felt she’d find people whose interests better matched her own was exciting. The Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco was one idea. From what she’d seen online, she’d fit right in—with her love of vintage clothing and furniture. She knew she would thrive in that iconic city with its cultural diversity, its museums, theater, concerts, sports, parks and beaches. The cute coffee shops, bookshops and delicious restaurants also appealed to her, as did living by the ocean and being treated to such incredible views of the Bay.

She ached with longing when she imagined it, but she couldn’t leave Montana right now. Moving would require putting her grandfather in a care facility, and she didn’t have the heart to do that. But his memory was getting worse. That was why, almost a year ago, she’d given up the small apartment above her store, which still sat empty, and moved in with him. Now she lived in his white brick rambler several blocks away, on the very edge of town.

Given all the things he was starting to forget, some would argue it was time she put him in the care of professionals. But she knew how much happier he’d be if he could remain in his own home, where he’d lived since marrying Grandma Ruby—or Nana, as Jane had called her. Nana had died ten years ago on the operating table while having a stent put in her heart, but her pictures still hung on the walls, her sewing kit still rested next to the couch and her beloved piano still filled the dining room, leaving no space for a table and chairs. Those items and all the others surrounding Papa kept the love of his life present. How could Jane move him to an assisted-living facility? It would mean taking him to Bozeman or Billings, where he wouldn’t get many visitors—only those who were willing to make the drive. He’d no longer be able to chat with his longtime neighbor, Herbert Hensley, as they stood watering their lawns or wave to Martha Grimmy when she delivered his mail or tinker in his large workshop the way he liked to. And if he went into a care center, he’d have to give up his beloved dog, Otis, which would probably kill him.

Jane couldn’t allow to that happen, let alone make it happen. If their roles were reversed, he’d never do such a thing to her. Besides, he still managed okay on his own while she was at work. If that ever changed, she might have to reconsider. But for now...

Her phone lit up with a message from her mom.

Jane’s mother checked in two or three times a week asking about Papa, which was nice and showed she cared. But she wasn’t any real help. She and her husband, Jane’s stepfather, Richard, had moved to Wyoming so they could be closer to Richard’s son, who’d always lived with his mother. That meant they were out of the picture, except when they came back for visits.

Papa was Jane’s father’s father, anyway, so her mother didn’t feel much obligation to him. Her half sister was still in the area and helped out when she could. But Kate was Richard’s daughter, and wasn’t close with Papa the way she was. Papa and Nana had helped raise her. She’d lived with them for three years after her parents’ divorce, while her mother went back to school and her father rambled on—sponging off one woman after another as he moved through life.

Seemed to be a little better this morning, she wrote back.

What choice did she have? There was no one else, which meant she’d have to sign the extension on the store’s lease, stay another year and see what developed—not that she was wishing for Papa to pass so she could leave. Just the thought of losing him brought a lump to her throat. But she also didn’t want his quality of life to continue to deteriorate and hoped he’d go before that could happen. In his right mind, he’d hate to suffer the many indignities that were in store for him otherwise.

Timing was the only problem. He’d started going downhill right when she’d begun to think seriously about moving on with her life.

How? She couldn’t let him down. He and Nana had been there for her when she’d needed them most. She was going to be there for him, especially since she couldn’t depend on her father to step in and help. He hadn’t changed over the years. These days, he was living in Oregon, anyway.

Her mother sent another text before Jane could respond. Want me to help you find the best home for him?

She wasn’t sure that was true. She only knew what her heart would allow, and it would not allow her to leave him quite yet.

With a frown, she navigated away from her mother’s texts to the message she’d received from her landlady first thing this morning.

She could see why LaVeryle would be getting impatient. She needed to know whether she was going to have to find another tenant and would like as much notice as possible. It was ridiculous to continue putting her off. Why inconvenience her for no reason?

A ding signaled another text from her mother: Honey, if he’s losing his mind, he won’t know the difference.

Jane rolled her eyes. Papa would know. He’d be lost, wondering where she’d gone and why he no longer had Otis at his side. She couldn’t even bear the thought of it.

Feeling more conviction, she returned to the desk where she kept the cash register and pulled the lease from the drawer. But as she held her pen poised above the signature line, her thoughts reverted to what she’d been daydreaming about lately—a plan B that made staying in Coyote Canyon not only palatable but somewhat appealing.

It wasn’t a solution most women would ever consider, but she was thirty-five, didn’t have a boyfriend—not since she’d broken up with Devon, who lived forty minutes away—and there weren’t any new romantic prospects on the horizon. If she was going to stay in Coyote Canyon, she felt she should be able to move forward in some regard and build the sort of life that would make her happy. Why not?

Before signing, she set the pen down and brought up Kurt Elway’s last text.

He’d sent that two days ago, but she hadn’t yet responded. In her mind, the question wasn’t whether she’d been serious; it was whether he’d been serious. His reaction to what she’d shared with him had taken her completely by surprise. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it.

She could say she’d been tipsy when they were playing pool at Hank’s Bar & Grill on Saturday. He’d been drinking, too. He could use the same excuse. That way they could laugh about the conversation in question, then forget they’d ever had it.

That was probably what he expected. But...she hadn’t been able to bring herself to kill the possibility. She was too excited to think he might be open to helping.

She typed that but didn’t send it. She stared at the words instead, letting them roll around in her mind the way a wine connoisseur might let a sip of fine merlot roll around in his mouth. Would it be too risky—too unconventional?

Most likely. They lived in such a small, conservative town. Comparing it to how everyone else around here did things would make it seem even more outlandish. But the longer she thought about the idea, the more she began to believe she could overcome the obstacles and barriers that stood in the way—as long as she was willing to be brave and a little different.

Nibbling anxiously on her bottom lip, she pictured the people closest to her who were in the same stage of life. Talulah and Brant were married. Ellen Truesdale, Talulah’s neighbor, who’d become a good friend, was engaged to be married. Even Kate, her younger sister, was getting ready to settle down. Averil was a notable exception. Like Jane, she wasn’t in a serious relationship. But she had a son, at least.

Jane was the only one who’d reached her thirties without any prospects for marriage or starting a family. She could change that if she really wanted to—the family part, at least—and if Kurt was willing to help her, she probably would.

So...should she take the risk of letting him know she’d meant what she’d said at Hank’s?

He’d probably run for the hills. But she’d never know unless she gave him the opportunity...

Holding her breath, she hit Send. She could feel the beat of her heart in her throat afterward. But there was no immediate answer.

He was probably out on the ranch, knee-deep in mud, patching a fence or riding a horse and didn’t have his phone with him. It was sometimes three or four in the afternoon before she heard from him, and that was generally after he’d returned to the house to shower, when he was finished for the day and wanted to get together and have some fun. With most of her friends now in committed relationships, and the same thing happening to him, the people they used to hang out with were less available. Over the past six months or so, they’d become good friends and spent a fair amount of time together, even though he was five years her junior and had occasionally dated her younger sister.

He’d get back to her eventually, she told herself. Or...maybe not. She wouldn’t blame him if he ignored her latest text. Everyone she knew would be shocked if she actually went through with what she wanted to do. If he participated, and anyone found out, his friends and family would be stunned, too. There’d also be all kinds of logistical questions and concerns—how and when they’d proceed, and what she and Kurt would do in certain scenarios. They’d have to think through it all and prepare well in advance.

But it was possible to work it out. That was the thing.

Grabbing the lease, she signed it so she couldn’t let Papa down, regardless of Kurt’s response. Then she sent a text to LaVeryle, letting her know the paperwork was ready.

For better or worse, she was sticking around Coyote Canyon for at least another year. But depending on what Kurt said, and what she decided after receiving his reply, it could be a year like no other.

Much to his parents’ chagrin, Kurt Elway had always been a risk-taker. When he was at a rodeo ten years ago, he’d made a bet with a friend that he could ride a bull, even though he’d never been on one, and had been thrown and nearly trampled. Five years ago, he’d jumped into a bar fight simply because it was four on three and he felt bad for some dude who was getting his ass kicked, and a chick with the group pulled out a knife and buried it in his thigh. And just a year ago last winter, he’d landed in the hospital with hypothermia when he skied out of bounds, searching for better powder, and fell into a deep crevasse from which he had to be rescued.

His mother said she’d known he was going to be trouble when he jumped off the barn and broke his leg and his collarbone at six years old, attempting to fly. She also said that danger was irresistible to him, and she was mostly right. So he felt he’d done fairly well up to this point. He would soon turn thirty, and he was still alive and fully functional.

As he grew older, he tried to be more cautious and conservative, like his brother Brant, but as far as he was concerned, taking chances was what kept life interesting.

Still, what Jane wanted was way out there.

He whistled as he gazed down at the text she’d sent.

“What is it?” Brant asked.

Kurt was taking a break from wiring a large diesel-fueled generator to the pump of the new well so they could water more of their two-thousand-acre cattle ranch. When he’d sat beneath a black cottonwood tree, seeking shade while he ate lunch, he’d thought he’d have a few minutes alone. Since that wasn’t the case, he quickly hid the shock he’d been feeling behind a more neutral expression. “Nothing, why?”

Brant dropped down beside him. “You just whistled at something on your phone as if you couldn’t quite believe it.”

He wasn’t sure he could believe it. During the past several months he’d wanted Jane to show more interest in him. Because he was younger than she was and had dated her sister, he knew he was at a disadvantage where she was concerned. That was probably why he’d responded positively on Saturday night. He’d been hoping to prove he was willing to do more for her than the next guy.

But they’d been drinking and playing pool. He’d thought they were just talking...

He had to say no, right? He couldn’t do what he’d said he’d do. That would be one hell of a risk, even for a guy like him.

“Well?” Brant prompted.

Lifting himself off the ground so he could shove his phone back in his pocket, Kurt cleared his throat. Brant was married to Talulah, one of Jane’s best friends. No way was he going to tell him what Jane wanted. “I told you. It’s nothing.”

Brant gave him a skeptical look but let it go. “You about finished wiring this up?” he asked, gesturing at the electrical box.

“Shouldn’t take much longer,” Kurt replied.

“Good, because it’s time to move the cattle.”

“Already?” he grumbled. “It’s got to be your turn by now.”

Brant scowled at him. “You know it’s not.”

“What about Ranson? Or Miles?” Their other two brothers worked on the ranch they’d inherited from their parents, too. “It doesn’t seem like they ever have to do it.”

“Because you had them cover for you while you went to Snowbowl in February, remember?” Brant leaned over and stole the apple out of his lunch. “You have to pay them back sometime. Might as well even things up.”

Kurt wiped the sweat from his forehead. He felt like he’d been paying for that ski trip for weeks. “I’ll give you fifty bucks to do it for me.”

A crisp snap sounded as Brant took a big bite of the apple and then had to talk around it. “Sorry, bro. I’ve got a full day, and I told Talulah I’d help at the diner tonight.”

Kurt couldn’t imagine Brant wanted to spend several hours at the diner after he finished at the ranch. They were all exhausted by the end of the day. But his brother never complained about the heavy load he’d taken on since getting married. The diner meant a lot to Talulah, so he supported her.

“Talulah’s business seems to be doing well...”

“You’ve tasted my wife’s cooking. Of course it’s doing well.” His brother shot him a cocky grin as he got up to walk off, but Kurt called him back.

“When you were dating Talulah...”

Brant raised his eyebrows. “Yes?”

“If she needed you to do something sort of...unconventional, would you have done it?”

“That would depend on what it was, right?”

“I mean...something you’re not quite comfortable with...”

“There isn’t much I wouldn’t have done for her. And now there’s nothing. But you have me intrigued. Why do you ask?”

Because Brant always did the right thing, and Kurt was hoping to use him as a guide. He didn’t want to screw up his life, and what he was considering could easily do that. He was standing at a fork in the road. One path was safe, while the other could bring him what he really wanted—or turn out to be the biggest mistake he’d ever made. “Just trying to figure something out.”

“I’m completely in the dark here. Do you mind explaining what we’re talking about so I can give you an informed answer?”

Kurt wished he could say more. If ever he’d needed advice from someone as stable and dependable as Brant, it was now. But he couldn’t explain. “Never mind. Don’t worry about it.”

Brant came back toward him. “You’re acting weird. Is this about Jane?”

“No.” Kurt scrambled to his feet. “Of course not. What made you think that?”

A funny look crossed Brant’s face. “Um, it could be that she’s beautiful. And available. And you two have been spending a lot of time together lately...”

“That doesn’t mean anything. We’re just friends.”

“That’s what everyone says when they don’t want other people to know they feel more,” Brant said with a laugh.

“I don’t feel more,” Kurt lied. “She’d never give me a chance, anyway.”

“Can you blame her? Dude, you slept with her sister.”

“Only once or twice. Kate’s my age, so she was a more natural choice at the time.”

Brant gestured toward him with the now-half-eaten apple. “That brings up another good point. The age difference hasn’t changed. You’re too young for Jane.”

“Five years might’ve been a big deal a decade ago. But it doesn’t matter now.”

“It sort of does,” Brant insisted. “You were in junior high when she was graduating high school. I don’t think she’s likely to forget that. And as I’ve already said, you’ve been with her younger sister.”

If only he’d known he might have the chance to date Jane later, Kurt would’ve left Kate alone. But he’d always considered her too far out of his league. “Is that what Talulah says? Has she mentioned how Jane feels about me?”

Finished with the apple, Brant threw the core as far as he could. “I thought you two were just friends.”

“We are, but...”

Brant rolled his eyes. “It’s obvious you like her.”

“Fine. Fuck you. I like her. So tell me...what’s Talulah got to say about it?”

After studying him for a few seconds, Brant said, “Nothing so far. I think she’d be surprised if you two got together. But Talulah’s a romantic. She thinks love can overcome anything.”

“You’re more skeptical.”

“I’m more skeptical,” he admitted. “Most women would steer clear of a man who’s been with her sister.”

“Kate and I were never a real couple,” Kurt pointed out.

“That might make a difference.”

Kurt scratched his neck. “But I shouldn’t bet on it?”

“I wouldn’t. Then again, who would’ve thought Talulah and I would ever get together with all we had going against us. So...what do I know?”

“Yeah, what do you know?” Kurt said, teasing to cover for his disappointment, and waved as his brother left. Brant’s last statement offered him a little hope, but just because Brant had been able to get Talulah didn’t mean he’d be able to get Jane.

Although...he did have the opportunity she was offering him. Maybe giving her what she wanted would change the dynamic between them and finally start her thinking of him in an entirely new light.