“The cats’ names have evolved. They sound like hookers in an animated movie.” She laughed. “Is it the truth? Have you fallen for me, Sawyer O’Donnell?”

“Yes, Jill Cleary, head over boots, I’ve fallen for you.” He brushed another kiss across her lips and headed to the kitchen.

She snapped half a dozen pictures of him, one of nothing more than that tight butt as it walked away from her. “Paybacks,” she said when he looked over his shoulder and she took another one.

“Just remember that I can do the same thing.” He turned around quickly, ran toward her like a football tackle, and without slowing down, picked her up and carried her into the bedroom. “Forget the chocolate. We’ll get warm another way.”

“Hmmm. Chocolate or sex? Which one?” She cupped his face in her hands.

“You decide.” His dark eyes fluttered shut, and she barely had time to moisten her dry, still-cold lips before he found them.

No contest. Chocolate took a backseat.

* * *

The bar was so slow on Friday night that time practically stood still. They opened at six, and the first customer arrived at seven. He was a middle-aged fellow from across the river, who just wanted to sit in the corner, nurse a couple of double shots, and listen to a dollar’s worth of old Hank Williams tunes before he called it a night at eight thirty. The next customer that wandered in was Hart Gallagher, who’d gotten tired of the church party. He bought a pitcher of beer and plunked quarters into the jukebox.

“Bet you he’s playin’ beer-drinkin’ songs because he’s got the hots for a Brennan woman and he can’t have her,” Sawyer whispered to Jill.

“It’s pretty plain that something has his mind in a twist,” Jill agreed.

Sawyer was right. For the next hour, the jukebox spit out sad songs while Hart finished off his beer.

Gladys called at ten to tell them the party was winding down but that it had been a success. “Everyone had a wonderful time, and the potluck was great.”

“Mavis and Naomi?” Jill asked.

“Sat on different sides of the fellowship hall all evening, surrounded by their grandchildren and children. They didn’t kiss and make up, but they didn’t start a food fight, so I guess it was a draw where the pig war is concerned. I really don’t know what else they could do anyway,” Gladys answered.

“Aunt Polly worn out?”

“Yes, but she won’t admit it,” Gladys said. “She wants to know how things are going there.”

“Two customers all evening. Couple of double shots of Jim Beam and a pitcher of beer is all we’ve sold. Won’t even have to sweep the floors. If Aunt Polly had brought the decorations down here from her house, we could have the place ready for tomorrow.”

“Polly says for y’all to shut it down and go home. Tomorrow is going to make up for tonight, and you need your rest.”

“Yes, ma’am. You don’t have to beg me to shut the doors tonight,” Jill said.

* * *

“Mama, please tell me I didn’t wake you.” Jill shut her eyes and could picture her mother. Tall, thin, and blond. Big doe-colored eyes and a smile that was a dental record.

“Did that feud and scalding-hot cowboy suck all the memory out of your brain? Remember, I’m a night owl,” her mother said. “If I’d known he looked like that when you told me you were going to Burnt Boot, I’d have kidnapped you myself.”

“I think I’m in love,” Jill said.

“Either you are or you aren’t. Which is it?”

“I am, but I need you to talk me out of it,” Jill said. “Oh my God, I’m fanning myself with my hand, and I’m telling you this because you can’t see me, and you are my mother, but I don’t know who else to call.”

“You’ve slept with him?”

“He brought me daisies,” Jill answered.

“You didn’t answer my question. Have you slept with him?”

“And we bought an ice tray and a cast-iron pan together, and we have two kittens, Miss Piggy and Miss Chickadee.”

“Are you in love with him, Jillian?”

“Yes, just like you were with my daddy.”

“You both like ranchin’. He bought you freakin’ daisies, and you bought an ice tray and cast-iron pan together. What in the hell are you waiting for, girl? Propose to him,” her mother said.

“But, Mama, I’ve only known him six weeks.”

“I proposed to your father in three weeks. When it’s right, you know it. You still didn’t answer my question.”

Jill laughed. “I’m in the bathtub, and the water has gone cold. I’m going to end this call and get out. And, Mama, I’m not going to answer that question.”

“Where are you sleeping tonight?”

“That is need to know, and you don’t.”

“Hey, now, we’ve been sharing some pretty big secrets.”

“Good night, Mama,” Jill said and hit the “end” button.

Sitting in the rocking chair, towel drying her hair, and thinking about the conversation, she didn’t hear her bedroom door crack open. She was so deep in her thoughts that she didn’t even see Miss Piggy chasing a bit of ribbon across the floor.

“You take my breath away,” Sawyer said. “No wonder I fell in love with you.”

As if in slow motion, her head raised. The hinges squeaked when he pushed the door wide open. The thought that ran through her mind was that she’d have to put some oil on them or she’d get caught sneaking across to Sawyer’s room after Rhett arrived. Then she wondered if she’d heard what she wanted to hear, not what he’d actually said.

“Say that again,” she whispered.

“I said I’ve fallen in love with you, Jillian Cleary. My heart has known it for a while. It just took my mind a while to catch up,” he said.

“One more time, just so I’m sure there’s no water in my ears.”

He took the towel from her hands, picked her up, and sat down in the rocker with her in his lap. “I love you, Jill.”

“I love you, Sawyer,” she whispered.

“That makes me the happiest cowboy in all of Texas,” he drawled. “I’d planned all these beautiful scenarios to say those three words, but they just slipped out tonight. I guess we aren’t destined for roses and romance.”

“Roses? No, darlin’, we are not. Romance? It goes much deeper than just saying words, although they are beautiful and I want to hear them every single day. FYI, right here in our bunkhouse at the end of a workday is the best place ever to say it for the first time. Romance is wonderful, Sawyer, but it needs actions to back them up. Your bed is bigger than mine, and I’m not sleeping alone anymore, so…” She hesitated.

“Yes, ma’am, I’m right good at showing instead of telling.” He stopped any further talk with a searing-hot kiss.

* * *

Decorating the next day involved stringing up some crepe paper, putting a glittery heart garland around the mirror behind the bar, using red paper liners in the plastic burger baskets instead of the customary white ones, and hanging a big red foldout heart above the jukebox. It took all of thirty minutes to do that and take the chairs down from the tables.

“Now what? I was expecting an all-afternoon job,” Sawyer said. They could go back to the bunkhouse and spend the afternoon in bed or maybe drive around the ranch and talk about the changes they’d like to make.

He looked around the pitifully decorated bar. He’d been out to dance and drink on Valentine’s Day, and this place sure didn’t scream romance.

“If we had a pool table, I might suggest a nap on it until opening time,” she said.

“How about a trip into town? If we hung a paper heart over where the Gallaghers sit and one above the Brennans, it might put an end to the pig war,” Sawyer said.

“It’ll take more than a paper heart to create that miracle. But I do think we need more than this after that big ad in the paper,” she agreed. “Let’s make a run into Walmart—no wait, isn’t there a party store in that outlet mall?”

“I wouldn’t know. Guess we could check on it first, and if there isn’t, we could go on into Walmart.” Sawyer was already getting their coats from the backs of two bar stools. “Last time I was in a bar on Valentine’s, they had put little fancy things on the tables. Folks fought over who got to take them home.”