the way he’d said her name. Instead, she continued fiddling with the closure on her case.
“It’s good to have you home,” he said finally.
Chin down, she nodded. “I have a job to do.”
“Yeah, about that. We should probably coordinate on the events you have planned. We could look at them over dinner one night or—”
“No.” Her voice was sharper than she’d intended. So much for being professional. He was staring at her like she’d lost her mind. Maybe she had, thinking she could come home in hopes of doing something good for the community, something to honor her deceased mother, even if it meant working alongside Mason. Were her emotions so tangled up that she couldn’t separate her professional life from her private one?
Goodness, but she had to. She’d committed to this fund-raising campaign. She was being paid to see it through. And she had to remind herself over and over that she was doing this to honor her mother. It was time she came home. At least temporarily.
“No?” Mason narrowed his eyes.
“I mean, I’ll email you. I really am very busy, Mason. I have a lot on my mind today.”
She gave him a plastic smile, one he immediately picked up on as bullshit. He nodded. “Yeah, I get it.” His mouth curled in a frown and there was an edge of annoyance in his voice now. Ha! He had no right being annoyed with her. Not when the last time she’d been with him, he’d treated her like dirt.
He slipped a business card into her hand, his long lean fingers skimming over her knuckles. Immediately her heart beat faster, her nerves jumped. The shock of his brief, warm touch strummed through her body. “Email me when you find time. We have exactly one month to pull this off.”
His urgency wasn’t lost on her. This was as important to him as it was to her. They had that in common. Both wanted a special cardiac wing of the hospital built in Boone Springs. But all of a sudden one month in Texas seemed like an eternity.
Not to mention she’d be living at the cottage on Rising Springs Ranch again.
On Mason’s home turf.
* * *
“Yum, this is just as delish as I remembered.” Drea swallowed a big hunk of her Chocolate Explosion cupcake. Unladylike, but Katie Rodgers, her bestie from childhood and owner of the bakery, would expect no less.
Her friend laughed and removed her apron. She put the Katie’s Kupcakes is Klosed sign on the door and joined Drea at the café table.
“You do not disappoint,” Drea said. “And you remembered my favorite.”
“Of course I did. Can’t forget all those times you’d come over and we’d bake up a batch. We were what, ten at the time?”
“Yeah, but ours never came close to these marvels you crank out at four in the morning. Gosh, you always knew what you wanted to do with your life. I’m so proud of everything you’ve accomplished, Katie. I bet you’ve got all of Boone Springs wrapped around your sugary fingers, with lines out the door in the morning.”
“I have no complaints,” she replied. “Business is good.” She sighed sweetly. “It’s great to have you back in town. I’ve missed you.”
Drea grabbed Katie’s hand and squeezed. “I’ve missed you, too. I couldn’t drive out to Rising Springs without seeing you first.”
“I’m glad you did. Only I wish it wasn’t temporary. I kinda like seeing you in person instead of on Facetime.”
“Well, let’s try to make the most of my stay here. We’re gonna both be busy, but we have to make a pact to see each other a few times a week,” Drea said.
“Pinkie promise?” Katie curled her last digit, and they linked fingers just like they had when they were kids.
“Pinkie promise.”
“Good, then it’s settled.” Katie began to rise. “Would you like a cup of coffee to wash down the cupcake? I could brew up a fresh pot.”
“When did your cupcakes ever need washing down?” She smiled. “No thanks. Any more coffee today and I swear I’ll float away. Let’s just talk.”
Katie smiled and plunked back into her seat. “Okay. So, you’re working on the hospital fund-raiser.”
She nodded.
“With Mason?”
“Yeah, which is the major drawback to my coming home. I have to make the fund-raiser my high priority, so I’m enduring the Boones for as long as it takes.”
“I get that it’s hard for you, Drea. I really do. It was hard on Mason, too, losing Larissa and the baby. From what I hear, he’s only just starting to come out of his grief.”
“It’s a tragedy. But let’s not talk about the Boones. Because if we do, then I’ll have to ask you about Lucas.”
Katie’s eyes rounded. “Lucas? We’re just friends. If that anymore.”
“Uh-huh. So you say.”
“For heaven’s sake, he was engaged to my sister. And he broke Shelly’s heart when he went off and joined the Marines.”
“But I hear he’s back now.” Drea took another bite of cupcake, certain she’d die from an overdose of decadence.
“Don’t remind me. Shelly still hasn’t healed from him running out on her like that. It was such a shock. Luke seemed true blue. After the breakup, Shelly hit some rough patches. Mom’s convinced it’s all Luke’s fault. I mean, it sounded more like something Risk would do. Not Luke.”
River “Risk” Boone, heartthrob and one-time famous rodeo rider, was the player in the Boone family.
“Yeah, well, we can’t forget he’s a Boone. It’s part of his DNA,” Drea said.
Katie’s right brow rose and she shook her head. “So, after all these years you haven’t gotten over it, either?”
“Over what? The fact that the Boones preyed on my father’s grief and then stole Thundering Hills out from under him? Our families had been friends for years, but as soon as my dad hit a rough patch, the Boones swooped in, stole our ranch and we were reduced to living at the cottage on Boone property. They gave Dad a pity job as caretaker. Then there’s Mason and all that he put me through... Oh, never mind. I don’t want to rehash it.” She waved her hand, ending her rant.
Katie gave her a serious knowing look. But Katie didn’t know everything. Drea hadn’t told her best friend what had happened after her debacle with Mason. How she ran into the arms of the first willing man and gave up her virginity. How she’d gotten pregnant and lost her baby. It had been the worst time of her life.
“I guess we need to put the past behind us, Drea. That’s what I keep telling my sister.”
“Yeah, easier said than done sometimes.”
She was through
