Wander Canyon Courtship. Allie Pleiter

this dog might give him a way out of that fussy inn made him that much more indebted to the beast. The last thing he wanted right now was to be under the same roof with his stepfather. “So we do something else.”

      Yvonne’s face brightened. “Bruce and Kelly have a cabin they rent in the back of their property. You might be able to stay there.” She raised her phone and stepped from the exam room. “I’ll go check.”

      “Looks like you just got yourself a dog.” The vet clicked her pen and picked up a clipboard. “Name?”

      “Charles Walker.”

      She smiled. “We covered that already. I meant the dog’s name.”

      Chaz rubbed his eyes. He was weary on so many levels it felt like his soul ached. “I have to name the dog right now?”

      “Well, no, but...”

      Without warning, Chaz’s mind brought up the story of William Cecil, the son who’d returned to the Biltmore estate when it was in bad straits. The son who’d fought to turn the failing property into the massive enterprise he’d spent the afternoon wandering.

      It seemed as good a name as any. “Cecil.”

      After a questioning look, the vet filled in her chart. “Cecil it is. I’ll give you a week’s supply of medicine to control pain and infection. I’ll throw in a blanket to take him home in, too. I’ll send word to this Dr. Mullins in Matrimony Valley to see Cecil tomorrow for follow-up. We’ve done the rabies, but Mullins can get him brought up to date on his other shots. I’ll go get that blanket, and a meal or two’s worth of food to tide you over.” With that, the vet left the room.

      Cecil, somehow sensing the weight of the moment, looked up at Chaz with worried eyes. The frightened plea in those eyes sealed it. As of this moment, Chaz would have walked all the way back to the valley carrying the animal rather than leave him here.

      “Cecil okay for a name?” he asked, feeling foolish.

      Cecil licked his palm and settled his head against Chaz’s hand, closing his eyes in rest. It must have been sheer exhaustion that choked his throat at that moment, not any loyalty to this scruffy canine or the weight of obligation he felt looking at the freshly applied cast.

      It didn’t matter that it made no sense, and he had no idea what was going to happen after tomorrow morning. How the dog was going to get back to Wander Canyon didn’t matter. Whether or not Chaz even had a Wander Canyon Ranch to go back to after this whole wedding mess was a problem for another day. This was one thing he could set right in a whole heap of “not right” all around him today.

      Yvonne stepped back into the room, yawning. “Bruce will be here in twenty minutes, and you can stay in the cabin for the rest of your visit.”

      “Cecil and I appreciate it.”

      She gaped at him. “Cecil?”

      “Cecil,” he replied, simply nodding. Even if he had an explanation for how and why he’d just named the dog—which he didn’t—he couldn’t put it into words anyhow.

      She gave him an understanding smile. Her soft eyes told him Yvonne recognized why Cecil couldn’t go anywhere but home with him. “Hello, Cecil,” she said, touching the dog’s dark, velvety ear. Cecil gave a low moan that sounded far too much like a contented sigh.

      As for Chaz, the warmth in Yvonne’s voice settled into his chest before he could stop it.

      * * *

      Most mornings Yvonne loved the solitude of the bakery. There was a glorious optimism in creating delicious things before most of the world had even opened their eyes.

      Not today.

      With an out-of-commission van and a sleep-deprived brain, the ovens seemed more like taskmasters than partners this morning. Dawn came blaring through the windows, and there didn’t seem to be enough coffee in North Carolina, much less in her corner of Matrimony Valley.

      Not too long after the school bus rumbled down the street, Yvonne looked up from a tray of cinnamon rolls to see Kelly Lohan, Bruce’s wife and the town florist, coming through the doors.

      “I was sure I’d find Cathy Bolton behind the counter this morning. You can’t have gotten much sleep last night.”

      “She’s coming in later to hold down the fort when I go over to Ziggy’s.” Jerome Zigler of Ziggy’s Valley Garage had towed the van all the way back to Matrimony Valley last night, but gave no indication of a prognosis. Yvonne offered her friend an apologetic grimace. “Sorry to haul Bruce out in the middle of the night.”

      “It wasn’t the first time. And it was for you.” Bruce was now a helicopter pilot for a commercial firm, but he had been a Forest Service pilot when he’d first come to the valley. The tale of how Bruce and Kelly fell for each other during one of the valley’s most calamitous snowbound weddings was one that had warmed everyone’s heart.

      “Well,” Kelly continued, “you and Chaz Walker and now an adorable dog named...Cecil?”

      “Yeah, I’m still not quite sure how that happened. But I have to admit, it’s sweet and rather noble. Chaz Walker is certainly a load of surprises—good and bad.” Yvonne slid a tray of sugary spirals into the waiting oven. “You’re okay with putting them up?”

      “The cabin was empty. Better our cabin than asking Hailey to break policy, and you should have seen how Lulu and Carly went crazy over the dog this morning. I had to practically push them onto the school bus. Someone ought to warn poor Cecil he’ll be getting loads of little-girl care while he heals.”

      Kelly’s daughter, Lulu, had connected strongly with Bruce’s daughter, Carly, when they had visited for the wedding, and the two girls had contrived mightily to get their parents together so they could become sisters. Their new family was one of Yvonne’s favorite Matrimony Valley happy endings.

      Little girls smothering Cecil meant little girls around Chaz. She had to admit, it might be amusing to watch that man handle such a heavy dose of cuteness.

      Kelly leaned in, concern on her face. “So the van...?”

      Yvonne wanted to lay her head on the counter. “I don’t even want to think about the van.”

      “But everyone’s okay? No one was hurt—well, people, that is?”

      Yvonne wiped her hands on a nearby towel and came around the counter. “That depends on your definition of okay. No one but Cecil’s hurt more than bumps and bruises.” It still felt ridiculous to call the dog by that name and recognize that Chaz had taken it in. “I just kept looking over at him, sitting there in Bruce’s passenger seat with that dog piled on his lap, trying to figure out what had just happened.” It was such an impulsive thing to do, and that man struck her as a long way from impulsive. Still, the compassion she’d seen from him impressed her as much as it had surprised her. Especially given the hours just beforehand. “I guess it was the last straw for him.”

      Kelly pulled the coffeepot from the brewer and poured a cup for herself, then refilled Yvonne’s. “What do you mean?”

      Sitting down at the front window tables, Yvonne gave a quick recap of the dinner and Hank’s announcement.

      “That sounds like a terrible thing to do. Who’d pit one son against the other like that?”

      “That’s what I think,” Yvonne agreed. “And why on earth do it here, in front of me and Auntie P.? Hank is about to marry one of my favorite people in the whole world, and I’m worried. His actions are a huge red flag for me. I don’t know how to tell her how I feel, or if I even should.”

      “Have you tried talking to her?”

      “There wasn’t really a time last night.” Yvonne stifled another yawn. “But I plan to today. She told me something was coming, but she looked as uncomfortable as I felt when Hank announced it. The whole restaurant stared when Chaz blew up