Welcome Home, Bobby Winslow. Christyne Butler

could be me? I guess you didn’t know we had become friends after I moved back to Destiny.”

      Bobby shook his head.

      “Your mom was nice to me from the very start. It took a couple of weeks, but I finally worked up the courage to remind her who I was, which of course, she already knew. I never had a problem with your mom back when we—well, not that we spent a lot of time with her back then. It was my parents who hated the idea of us … spending time together.”

      “Believe me, my mom wasn’t happy about you and me either. She just wasn’t as vocal about it.”

      “She was afraid the town’s princess was going to hurt you.”

      Bobby shrugged, but Leeann could see the truth in his eyes.

      “And I did just as she feared.”

      “It was a long time ago.” Bobby used his cane to point toward the old path. “So, what do you think of my house?”

      “I’ve never seen it.”

      “Really? The Murphys told me the construction site was a regular tourist attraction until the security system went live.”

      “Yes, the local paper ran a weekly report of what was happening up here.”

      “And you weren’t curious at all?”

      She had been. Often when she spent time here at the pond, she could hear the low rumble of construction equipment and men talking to each other as they worked, but something always kept her from going to check the building out.

      A surprise considering Leeann had never liked her former home here.

      Her mother, a transplanted Southern belle, had designed the two-story Georgian mansion, complete with tall white columns that looked out of place in this majestic wooded setting.

      Plus a complicated pregnancy had resulted in Leeann being an only child, making her a constant reminder of why only two of the home’s six bedrooms had been filled.

      Her life had changed so much since she’d broken free of the gilded cage, it’d almost been a relief when a fire had made the house uninhabitable, then the quick sale—

      “Do you want to come take a look?”

      His softly spoken question caused Leeann to focus on the ground to keep Bobby from seeing her face beneath the brim of her cap. “Oh, no, I should be heading back to town.”

      “Are you working today?”

      “No, I’m—” A rumbling from Leeann’s stomach stopped her words. She slapped her hands over her midsection.

      Bobby offered a light chuckle, then said, “Come on, I’ll even feed you.”

      Leeann looked at him and saw his familiar smile again, more relaxed now. A throwback to his rogue rebel days. Before she knew it, they were at the path she hadn’t used since selling the land.

      “Ladies first.”

      The ground was smoother here and more defined, but it still must’ve been hard for Bobby to get down to the pond, especially on a cane. “Why don’t you go first?”

      “I can handle the climb, Lee. I don’t need you to play rescuer if I take a tumble.”

      “You’ve only been out of rehab a few days.”

      He raised one eyebrow in a quizzical glance.

      “Yesterday’s headlines were about you.” She quickly filled him in on the front-page article. “They even had a picture of you in a wheelchair.”

      A shadow passed over his eyes, then it was gone. He swung the cane easily in front of him. “No worries. I’ve been walking on my own since the middle of July. I only use this on occasion.”

      Leeann didn’t want to argue so she started up the dirt path, conscious of his gaze on her backside the entire way. When they reached the clearing, she paused, amazed at the scattering of log buildings, including a huge log barn with a red metal roof.

      “Wow, that barn is amazing.”

      “I replaced the original structure, which was in terrible condition, and matched the style of the other buildings,” Bobby said, joining her.

      “Well, you’ve built more than just a house it seems. You’ve got your own compound.” She kept her gaze forward, but her peripheral vision allowed her to see the exertion on Bobby’s face. His slow, deep breaths told her the climb had been harder on him than he’d let on. “What are you going to do with all those buildings?”

      “Some are for storage,” Bobby pointed out as he kept walking. “The remaining are empty, but they can be used as staff—ah, guest quarters.”

      She followed his lead and they crossed the clearing. Leeann climbed into the passenger side of what looked like a souped-up golf cart with all-terrain tires and a cargo box on the back.

      Bobby slid behind the wheel and soon he was maneuvering the vehicle along the freshly paved road, its twists and turns so familiar to her, laid out so because her mother hadn’t wanted to see the old barn from her front porch.

      “The new barn will hold eight horses total. I’ve got three coming up from a farm in North Carolina in the next month or so, before winter sets in,” Bobby said. “I recently bought two more from a ranch in Texas called Still Waters, but they won’t be here until next spring.”

      The name of the ranch caught her by surprise. “That’s Landon’s ranch.”

      “Landon Cartwright, right?”

      “How did you know that?”

      “I dealt with a Chase Cartwright down in Texas,” Bobby said. “When I told him where I needed the horses sent, he mentioned his brother lived up here.”

      “Landon is married to Maggie Stevens—do you remember Maggie?” Bobby nodded, so she continued, “Anyway, they married a year ago and run The Crescent Moon ranch here in Destiny, together, but he’s still involved with his family’s ranch in Texas, too.”

      “Talk about a small world. I plan to talk to Maggie about getting even more horses from her place.”

      Leeann had read enough about Bobby’s career over the past few years to know his entire racing operation was based in North Carolina. Having horses seemed to suggest his stay would be permanent, unless of course, he planned to have a staff to take care of them, and in turn, take care of his house.

      Last night she’d finally nodded off convinced Bobby was only back in town temporarily as he continued recovering from his accident. She knew they were bound to run into each other again while he was here, she just hadn’t expected it to be as soon as today.

      But after clearing the air back at the pond, they were talking and acting like adults who allowed their shared history to stay where it belonged.

      In the past.

      Would that change if he—

      “Are you planning on sticking around?” The words fell from her mouth before she could stop them. “I’m so sorry,” she hastily added, “that was rude. It’s really none of my business.”

      Was it none of her business?

      Up until an hour ago, Bobby would’ve agreed with her. He would’ve made it clear that despite building his dream home, he hadn’t planned to reside in Destiny full-time, even though the thought of moving back home had crossed his mind a few times during his rehabilitation. He knew his mom wanted him here. No matter how many times he’d tried to convince her to move south to live closer to him, she’d refused.

      If pressed, he’d have to admit he’d purchased the land and built the house just because all this once belonged to Leeann’s parents.

      Then he’d come up with the idea of creating new headquarters for his racing organization. A place complete with