Greta must have heard his arrival by now. What was wrong? He studied the lone square window next to the door and wanted to ply Judd with a dozen questions. But Judd wouldn’t say much more than a rock buried in dirt.

When Wyatt had told Judd that everyone thought Greta was pregnant, all his friend had said was, “The more you pile on the manure, the harder it’ll be to come clean.”

Maybe Judd was right. Maybe he should have come clean and been honest with Greta from the start. She was an understanding woman. With her business sense, she might have even approved of the bargain he’d struck with Steele in marrying her for the cattle.

He was in too deep now to know where to begin shoveling himself out of the heap.

Judd took the crate, peeked inside, and cracked a crooked smile.

Wyatt dismounted his horse, and after a few more minutes of relaying news about the cow purchase, Wyatt moseyed toward the barn, unable to keep his shoulders from sagging with weariness.

Judd grabbed the lead line away from him. “I got this. Go on now.”

“You sure?”

“I ain’t the purty one you’re dyin’ to see.”

“You’re a little purty,” he teased.

Judd released a stream of spit that shot hard and straight into the dirt yard. “Get on. You’re gonna be as useless as a dead pig in the sunshine until you see her.”

Wyatt glanced toward the house and scrubbed a hand down his grin. “You’re probably right.”

“I’m near always right.” Judd moved on without missing a beat in his lopsided gait.

Fortifying himself with a lungful of crisp evening air, Wyatt grabbed the crate and headed to the cabin. Everything was just fine. But the minute he stood in front of the door, all his doubts crowded around him.

Why hadn’t she come to greet him? What if he’d read the signs wrong and she didn’t like him after all? What if he was imposing on her?

He lifted his hand to knock, but then, as with other times, he opened the door without announcing himself. After all, it was still his home, and he wasn’t about to get permission to enter.

As he slipped inside, the front room was in immaculate order, the way he’d come to expect from her. Bunches of drying herbs and other vegetables hung from the rafters, filling the air with an earthy scent that made his stomach rumble with hunger. Several new shelves Judd had added were lined with jars of canned goods. The table was half filled with shucked corn waiting for preserving.

Even with signs of her all around, she wasn’t in sight.