“How long did you serve?”

“Eight years.”

She arched her eyebrows. “That’s more than a stint.”

“The work was worthwhile.”

“What did you do?”

He shifted in his seat. “I was in Special Forces.”

Nate Cox had been a Green Beret? A member of one of the most elite fighting units in the world, peopled by intelligent, brave, motivated, and relentless warriors?

Whoa.

“I’m impressed.” To say the least.

He shrugged. “That’s just where I ended up. I’d have been willing to serve wherever they put me.”

The man was modest too.

Also impressive.

“Why did you leave?”

He exhaled. “Jeff died, and Kathleen needed help on the farm. At that point in my service, I was facing a decision, anyway—leave, or make the military a career. I was on the fence until the accident. After that, the choice was clear.”

“Or a very unselfish act.”

“No.” He dismissed that suggestion with a definitive shake of his head. “It was the right choice. And it wasn’t a sacrifice to come back here after living in war zones. While I didn’t want to be a farmer, I did appreciate the peace and slower pace of country living.”

“Did you live on the farm?”

“Yes. In the apartment over the barn, for propriety’s sake. I helped her with the day-to-day operation of the place.”

“What happened to law school?”

“I lost interest. After my experience in the Middle East, I didn’t want a desk job. I was still interested in law enforcement and justice but at the field level. After I was back in the States for a while, I signed up for the Missouri Sheriff’s Association satellite training academy, taking classes at night and on weekends. Once I completed that, I was hired as a part-time police officer in a small town nearby. When the sheriff announced his retirement, my boss convinced me to run for the job. The rest is history.”

That could be true career-wise, but he hadn’t given her any insights into his romance.

Maybe he didn’t intend to. After all, a gentleman wouldn’t tell tales out of school. Nor would she expect him to. But a few pertinent details would be helpful.

Could she probe a bit without sounding nosey?

“Why did you buy a house and leave the farm?” Perhaps that move was related to his ex-girlfriend.

“Eighteen months ago, Kathleen met someone new. After they got serious, I bought my house and moved off the property. She and Luke are engaged now, and he’s stepped into my shoes at the farm.”

So the house purchase hadn’t been precipitated by his girlfriend but by his sister-in-law’s boyfriend.

“You okay with that?”

“More than. Luke’s a good guy, and Jeff wouldn’t have wanted Kathleen to spend the rest of her life alone. She’s the type of woman who should be married with a houseful of kids—and who thinks everyone else should be too. Including me. That’s why she introduced me to Becky eight months ago.”

The conversation had worked its way back to the ex-girlfriend.