By the time she’d called the hospital to check on her father, perked a pot of coffee, poured it into a thermos and wrapped a few cookies in aluminum foil, the sun had settled behind the mountains and twilight had descended. The first few stars were winking in a lavender sky, and a half-moon hung lazily over the horizon.

Mason was waiting for her in the paddock near the stables. Two horses, Lucifer and Fire Cracker, who was snorting and pulling at her tether, were saddled and tied to the fence.

“It’s, uh, getting late,” Bliss said, and Mason slid her a knowing smile.

“Don’t tell me you’ve become so much of a city slicker that you’re afraid to be out past ten? No one’s going to mug you out here, you know.”

“I was thinking of the horses. In the dark, they could step in a rabbit hole or stumble or—”

“They’re both more surefooted than either you or I,” Mason said, opening the gate. He untied the animals, took the thermos, cup and foil package to tuck into one of the saddlebags. “Come on.” Climbing astride Lucifer, Mason quickly pulled on the reins before the stallion tried to turn his head and take a nip out of Mason’s leg. “No, you don’t.” Mason chuckled and shook his head. “Still full of it, aren’t you, boy?”

Bliss laughed as Lucifer rolled his blue eyes and tossed his head in frustration. “I don’t know who I feel more sorry for. You or the horse.”

“The horse, definitely. I’m going to show him who’s boss.”

“This I gotta see.” Bliss’s worries evaporated as they rode through a series of connecting paddocks and corrals, then took off through a huge field of yellow stubble. The horses loped easily over the rolling ground while grasshoppers and a covey of quail fluttered out of their path.

Bliss, despite her worries, felt suddenly lighthearted and free. All her concerns about her father’s health, his upcoming marriage, her newfound sisters and mostly her volatile relationship with Mason, vanished in the clean air that tore at her hair and stole the breath from her lungs. Life was good, if complicated.

They rode through the pine trees and along a deer trail that wound upward to a craggy ridge overlooking the creek. A hawk soared high in the violet sky as stars winked and the moon cast the ground in shades of silver. Somewhere in the distance an owl hooted, only to be answered by a coyote whose cry was nearly drowned by the rush of water slicing through the canyon.

Mason climbed off Lucifer and the horse shook his great head, rattling the bit of his bridle. “This place hasn’t changed much.”