Hometown Hearts. Jillian Hart

remember. Dad tells stories of me helping him doctor the cattle when I was barely old enough to talk.”

       “Medicine was all I ever wanted to do, too.” He stared at the keys in hand and shrugged wide, dependable shoulders. “Best get the girls home. Thanks for, uh, saving Tomasina.”

       “Anytime.” She jammed her hands into her white jacket, feeling oddly sad for the man. Everyone heard how his wife had left him and his daughters for his best friend, a fellow doctor who shared his former practice. How hard that had to have been for him, she sympathized, remembering how shattered her father had been years ago when her mother had left him for another man. Adam Stone didn’t look shattered. He seemed invincible, as if no tragedy could ever touch him.

       She wanted to say something of comfort or reassurance, but she didn’t know what would possibly be appropriate. They were strangers. She knew his daughters but not the man, who managed a craggy half smile in lieu of a goodbye.

       “This isn’t over yet.” She backed away, waving through the sun-streaked windshield to the girls buckled up inside the sedan. “You are invited to our family’s Fourth of July bash tomorrow.”

       “Apparently there’s no getting out of it.” His wry tone held the hint of a smile although his face betrayed no emotion. He angled behind the wheel and shut the door.

       That was it. No goodbye. No looking-forward-to-seeing-you-again comments. Just the hum of a finely tuned engine rolling over. She watched the luxury car sail away, the vehicle at odds with the practical pickups and four-wheel drives in the lot, out of place just like the man.

       She headed back inside where her next furry patient awaited her, but she couldn’t get Adam Stone out of her mind.

       “You’re a little late for supper, girl.”

       She looked up at her dad’s comment, her feet dragging on the pathway from the garage to the backyard. An old maple spread broad-leafed shade over the picnic table set up on the lawn, where her family was eating. Signs of preparation for tomorrow’s bash were already up. Strings of lights hung from the porch eaves and stretched to wind around the maple’s lowest branches. A fire pit had been dug in the gravel at the edge of the lawn, stacked with wood and ready to burn.

       “Long day.” Exhausted, she dropped her bag on the lawn. “Three emergencies, a packed schedule and a couple drop-ins that I worked in after hours and a rescued baby finch.”

       “Tomasina?” Cady Winslow grabbed the iced tea pitcher and filled a plastic cup.

       “So you heard.” Cheyenne dropped onto the seat beside her sister Addison and reached across the table to accept the iced tea Cady offered.

       “Even I know who Tomasina is,” Dad quipped as he popped a barbecued potato chip into his mouth. “Julianna told me all about it when I picked Cady up just a bit ago.”

       “Poor Tomasina,” Addy sympathized as she poked at her hot dog, adjusting the bun. “Is she going to make a full recovery?”

       “She was doing much better when I left. Ivy volunteered to take her home. So far her prognosis is good.” She lifted the paper plate serving as a lid over her meal. The smoky scent of barbecued hot dog made her stomach rumble. The generous scoops of their housekeeper’s potato salad made her mouth water. “Mrs. Gunderson spoils us. I hope she never leaves.”

       “I just gave her a raise to make sure of it.” Dad chuckled as he polished off the last of the potato salad on his plate. “I’m going in for seconds. Anyone want more?”

       “I do.” Cady’s gentle green eyes softened when she focused on Dad. Honest love made her even more radiant. She rose from the bench with grace, taking her plate with her. The sun shone in the soft waves of her pretty brown hair and her sandals didn’t seem to touch the ground as she crossed the grass.

       The way Dad watched the woman’s approach made Cheyenne’s vision blur. She loved that her dad had found someone to treasure him the way he deserved. It was sweet when he drew Cady toward him and they walked the rest of the distance together. The couple’s happiness lifted on the temperate breeze like the low, merry murmurings of their conversation.

       “I’m glad Dad found Cady.” Addy sighed a little, too. “I’ve never seen him this happy.”

       “No, neither have I. She’s good for him.”

       “They are good for each other.”

       They sat in silence, watching the middle-aged couple cross the porch, their quiet laughter carrying on the breeze. Dad held the screen door for his lady love.

       “When do you think he is going to propose?” Addy tossed a lock of strawberry-blond hair over her shoulder, her big blue eyes full of mischief.

       “How should I know? Like Dad tells me anything more than he tells you.” She clasped her hands together, wanting to say the blessing before her stomach imploded with hunger. She’d missed lunch.

       “I think it will be soon. Just a guess. No, more like a wild hope.” Addy crunched on a potato chip. “I think Cady will make a good stepmom, don’t you?”

       “The best.” She tried to close her eyes for the blessing, but her gaze zipped across the lawn to the house. Large picture windows looked in at the family room and gave a sliver of a view into the kitchen where Dad stole Cady’s plate, set it on the breakfast bar and pulled her into his arms. Tenderness radiated from their embrace. As their lips met, Addy sighed again.

       “I don’t think Dad knows we can see him.” Cheyenne watched with interest. “We shouldn’t be spying.”

       “If he doesn’t want us to spy on him, next time he should close the blinds.” Addy’s grin stretched from ear to ear, showing off the dimples she’d inherited from their father. “I think he’s getting serious.”

       “I do, too.” She tried to look away, but the way her dad ended the kiss with reverence and tugged Cady against his chest, as if he cherished her above all else, made it impossible. Her father had never dated once in the seventeen years since their mother left. His heart had never recovered from the betrayal and his life had been too busy with the responsibility of raising five kids and running one of the largest ranches in White Horse County. He’d been lonely for so long.

      Father, thank You for sending someone to love Dad. Thank You for sending Cady. She bowed her head, finishing the prayer with thanks for the blessings in her life, so very many blessings. She opened her eyes. Dad and Cady had stepped out of sight but the feel of their happiness remained.

       “So, do you have tomorrow off for sure or not?” Addy chose another chip from the pile on her plate.

       Before she could answer, a cow leaned across the wooden rails of the fence at the far edge of the lawn, pleaded with doelike eyes and gave a long, sorrowful moo.

       “No chips for you, Buttercup, sorry.” Cheyenne grabbed the plastic bottle of relish and squirted it the length of her hot dog bun. “Addy, tomorrow I’m on call.”

       “Bummer. You’re always on call.”

       “That’s because there are two vets in a fifty-mile radius.” She traded the relish for the mayonnaise bottle and gave it a squeeze. “Nate is going to take the big animal calls, if there are any. I’m taking the small animal.”

       “You look happy, too.” Addy licked barbecue seasoning off her fingertips. “It’s good to see. You must be over your broken heart.”

       “Over it? I don’t even remember it.” That was what denial could do for a girl. She was the queen of denial. She could block out nearly any hurt, any heartache, any disappointment. In fact, she couldn’t even remember what had happened with what’s-his-name back in vet school. Broken heart? Her heart was just fine as long as she didn’t have to look at it. “I’m my own independent woman. What’s there not to be happy about?”

       “That’s my view, too. Marriage, who needs it?” Addy reached