I laughed, tugged my second glove on. “Hell, no.”

When I argued that was what I wanted to do with my life, he’d tossed up his hands and pointed out that my sister, Lynn, had listened to him. Found a better life than a blue-collar mechanic’s daughter.

Lynn was married to Tom Bunker, known around town as Bunky, and had two kids. She was miserably unhappy, but she was also shallow. She stuck it out because her husband was rich and she liked expensive things more than a loving spouse.

Turning, I set my hands on my hips and checked out the wreck. I was done talking about my screwed-up family dynamics. “What happened here?” I asked, although it was pretty obvious.

Graham pointed and I turned to look in that direction.

“The cow?” One dark cow stood eating grass on the side of the road. Only prairie and big sky was behind her.

“It was Kale Bradford versus the Hereford.”

I glanced back at the truck. “Looks like the Hereford won. Is Kale okay?” I hadn’t seen the guy in a long time. Not since Huck and I had dated, as they were best friends.

“He’s fine. A little beat-up.”

“The truck’s not,” I said. “That axle damage is enough for any insurance company to total it.”

Graham scratched the back of his neck. The sun was warm, and it felt good to be away from my desk and balancing a spreadsheet. “That’s my thinking.”

“I’m on it. I’ll get it loaded up so you can do something besides stand on the side of the road.”

He gave a shrug, then checked his watch. “The bachelor auction’s tonight. Gotta go spiff up.”

I spun on my booted heel and eyed the guy up and down. “Some woman’s going to empty her bank account for you.”

He blushed as red as his hair, then swiped his fingernails over his uniform shirt as if buffing them. Graham was a nice guy. Sweet. Caring. He’d make a fine husband, but not mine. I’d been off men for a long time. Too long. My friends said I had cobwebs on my vagina. Sadly it had been a while.

“Maybe I should buy myself a guy,” I said to him, joking. Although if I was going to get back in the dating game, this was one way to do it.

“The Mannings are up for sale.” His chin was tipped down, and he gave me a cautious look. Butterflies danced around in my stomach at the mention of the Manning boys. My mind went to one in particular.

Tall, blond, gorgeous. He had a quick smile that could make any woman hand him her panties. I knew that for a fact.

“Huck Manning had his chance and walked away,” I said, frowning. Graham knew exactly what I was talking about. So did everyone in town, even though it was old news. “I think Claire Manning’s proof of that.” I shrugged and tried to play it off. “Thatcher and Sawyer aren’t hard on the eyes though.”