was taking. What she felt, what healed the lingering ache in her soul, was the love that comforted her like an embrace.
“I’m fine,” she told them. “Seriously. I’m perfectly fine.”
“I don’t believe that,” Nevada said flatly. “How can this be? You’ve always wanted kids. A lot of them.”
“Which is why I’m adopting. I’m on the list. I could get a call any day now.”
That was a slight exaggeration. So far, her adoption experience had been less than perfect, but it could change. She refused to give up hope.
Montana hugged her. “There are other ways to get pregnant, right?”
“I’ll definitely need help if I want to carry my own child.”
Because of the scarring, there might not be any good eggs. And getting them out would be more difficult than for most women. But there was no point in getting into that.
“Have you given up?” Montana asked.
“On having a kid? No. I’ll get there.” She didn’t know how, but it would happen. She had to hang on to that.
“This doesn’t change anything,” Nevada told her. “You’re great. Smart and beautiful, with a great personality. Any guy would be lucky to have you.”
She appreciated the vote of confidence, especially because she happened to know Nevada didn’t think of herself as very attractive. An interesting mental schism. If Nevada thought Dakota was pretty and she and Dakota were identical triplets, how could she not admit the same about herself? Perhaps that should have been the topic of her thesis.
“Guys seem to be amazingly blind,” Montana said. “It’s very annoying.”
“Who have you liked who hasn’t liked you back?” Dakota asked.
Her sister’s mouth twisted. “I can’t think of anyone right now, but I’m sure it’s happened.” She sat on the carpet and rested her chin in her hands. “What’s wrong with us? Why can’t we find ‘the guy’ and fall in love? Everyone else seems to be in a relationship. Even Mom is thinking of dating. But here we sit—alone.”
Montana looked at Dakota. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to rant off topic. We can talk about the baby thing more.”
Dakota laughed. “I’m okay with being done with it. As to the man question, I don’t have an answer.”
“You don’t need one,” Nevada grumbled. “You have Finn.”
Not as much as they thought. “He’s only here temporarily. As soon as he gets his brothers to go back home or figures out it’s time to let go, he’ll return to South Salmon.”
“What about a long-distance relationship?” Montana asked.
Dakota shook her head. “Finn and I want different things. He’s tired of being responsible and I want to get serious. In fact, he told me he’s concerned I’m getting too attached, so I don’t think we’re going to see each other anymore.”
Both her sisters stared at her.
“He didn’t,” Nevada breathed.
“He did.”
“Butthead,” Montana grumbled. “I liked him. Why do all the guys I like have to be jerks?”
“Max isn’t a jerk,” Nevada said.
“Would you lay off Max? He’s old enough to be my father and while he’s nice and everything, um, ick. He’s my boss.”
“The boss-secretary romance is very popular,” Dakota said, her voice teasing. “What about that ‘Ms. Jones, you’re so beautiful’ moment? That could be fun.”
“I don’t want to have sex with Max. Ever!”
Nevada looked at Dakota. “I hope she makes up her mind soon. All this indecision exhausts me.”
Dakota sighed as she leaned back in her chair. “Me, too.”
“I’m ignoring you both,” Montana grumbled.
Nevada laughed.
“We’ll all find someone,” Dakota told her sisters. “Statistically, it’s bound to happen.”
“I love math as much as the next girl,” Nevada said, “but I don’t find it very comforting when it’s applied to my love life.”
“You could go to South Salmon with Finn,” Montana suggested.
Dakota shook her head. “First, he hasn’t asked.” If anything, he’d made it clear he wasn’t interested in keeping things going for the next two days, let alone twenty years. “Second, I don’t want to. I’m sure it’s a wonderful place to live, but my life is here. I love Fool’s Gold. My family is here. My history, my friends. I belong here. When Geoff’s show wraps up, I’m going back to work for Raoul and develop the curriculum for the program we want to start.”
She was also thinking of opening a private practice. Just part-time, seeing a few patients a week.
“His loss,” Nevada said firmly. “I’d thought the guy had a brain, but I was wrong.”
“I wish I had a dog that liked to bite people.” Montana wrinkled her nose. “A really big, scary, biting dog. That would show him. Maybe I could train one of the dogs to bite on command.”
Dakota leaned forward and hugged them. “I love you both,” she whispered.
“We love you, too.”
She was lucky, she reminded herself. No matter what, she would never have to deal with the dips in her life alone. There were people who cared about her. People who would always be there for her. And eventually, because she refused to give up hope, she would have a child. And that would be enough.
CHAPTER TEN
FINN FOUND SASHA AND LANI playing volleyball in the park. His brother had recovered from his minor burns and seemed to be doing just fine. Sasha spotted him and waved but didn’t break away from his game.
After watching for a few minutes, Finn wandered away. It was Saturday afternoon on a warm spring day. Much of the town seemed to be outside taking walks, running errands. He saw parents with small children, old ladies walking little dogs. The fire department had pulled one of their trucks up to the park. Children scrambled over the shiny rig. Restaurants and coffee shops had set up tables outside, taking advantage of the mild weather.
Two of the other couples on the show were away on dates. Finn thought they might have gone to Lake Tahoe. Regardless of their destination, there was no filming in town today.
He walked through the park, remembering that Stephen had told him he and Aurelia were going to have a picnic by the lake. Twenty minutes later he found them on a blanket in the shade of a tall tree. Aurelia sat cross-legged while Stephen lay on his stomach, looking at her. Their expressions were intense,
