Page 31 of Cowboy Falling Hard

The fear that had pinched her heart eased, and she felt peace.

Before she could enjoy the feeling, her phone buzzed from where she had it plugged in on the nightstand.

Reaching over, she saw it wasn’t quite as early as what she thought, 7:30. It must be cloudy out for it to be so dark yet.

Unplugging her phone and holding it up to her face so it unlocked, she smiled when she saw the text was from Dwight.

Maybe he woke up with a smile on his face as well. She hoped so. Mornings were her favorite time of day, other than maybe sunset, especially this time of year, when the sight of the sun was so welcomed.

How do you feel about sticky buns for breakfast?

Her smile never wavered as her fingers moved across the phone.

I feel good.

I’ll bring some out.

I’ll make bacon and eggs.

Be there in twenty.

Her eyes widened. If he was going to be there in twenty minutes, she had a lot of work to do if she wanted to be ready.

She texted back,okay, then threw the covers off and jumped out of bed, turning around immediately and making it. That was a habit that had been ingrained in her since she was a child. Making her bed the second she got up, that way the job was done first thing. It wasn’t something that nagged at her throughout the day. It took five seconds, tops. And already she had something accomplished.

Tempted to put bacon on the stove before she got in the shower, she didn’t want to burn the house down, and not just because it wasn’t her house, so she took a quick shower, then went out and got bacon started on the stove.

She promised herself that she would think “just friends” all day, and then she would call Daphne in the evening and make sure everything she thought was right on. Daphne would tell her the truth, even if it wasn’t what she wanted to hear. That was part of what made Daphne a great friend.

She had the bacon in the skillet, but it wasn’t nearly done when she heard Dwight’s pickup pull in.

She put her hand on her stomach, wondering why it tightened with nerves.

They were friends. Yeah, he made her smile, but they were still just friends.

Heading to the door, she opened it just as he had his hand raised to knock.

“Perfect timing,” she said, grinning.

“Did I get you out of bed?” he asked as he opened the screen door and she stood back, allowing him to walk in.

“I was awake.”

“I did get you out of bed.”

“Maybe. But I like mornings. I’m happy to be up. So, you did me a favor.”

He grinned. “I heard your sister Marigold talking to another sister, I wasn’t sure of her name, but they said you were always up early. I took them at their word, but they were a little bit wrong, it appears.”

“7:30 is early to most people. And considering that I didn’t get to bed until after almost two o’clock this morning, I’m pretty proud that I was awake.”

“Yeah. I actually thought it was quite an accomplishment for me to be up too.”

“You’re not a morning person?” She closed the door behind him, and he walked over to the table.

“I can be, when I walk into a kitchen that smells like this.”

“I thought maybe you’d want to have a little revenge. This isn’t the hog that bit you yesterday, but it might be a relative.” She walked over to the stove, forking the bacon and flipping it over.