That had destroyed me. All of us. Huck had taken to loving too deeply, not giving up on Sarah even with a six-year separation. Sawyer had been wanting love, just like Momma and Daddy had. He’d finally found it with Kelsey.

But me? I wasn’t going to pick anyone. It was too risky. The idea of finding a love like my parents and then losing her… I wouldn’t be able to handle it. It was better to avoid love.

Safer. That was why I’d considered Kent’s offer and definitely why I’d finally said yes.

I thought of Astrid. The kiss we’d shared—it was a hell of a lot more than a hug—had been easy. Amazing. She’d been right there with me even though we both weren’t interested in anything serious. I wanted to kiss her again. And again because she felt… like something exciting. Something different. I didn’t recognize it or understand it.

I thought of her in the shower when rubbing one out. She’d moved to the prime spank bank fantasy spot. But it was more than that. I thought of her green eyes. The way she blushed. Her smile. Her scent.

Yeah, all those things were why I could be her fake boyfriend for the weekend, but that was it.

I pushed to my feet, brushed straw off the back of my jeans. “Come on, Dr. Ruth. Let’s take Maple and the puppies out to the field.”

She hopped to her feet. “I’m not Ruth. I’m Claire!” she shouted, then giggled when Sandy and another puppy nipped at her shoelaces.

It was better not to analyze it. Claire’s love logic and the fact that I was listening to a five-year-old.

Once outside, Claire ran off, all the puppies chasing her. Maple went and did her business, then dropped down in the sunshine for a snooze.

Huck and Claire came around the corner hand in hand.

“Done napping?” I asked.

They looked well rested. Or well satisfied.

Huck smirked and Sarah rolled her eyes.

“You still going to Cutthroat this weekend?” Huck asked.

I leaned against the exterior wall of the stable. “Yes.”

“Be careful, Thatcher,” Sarah said. “Astrid’s not like other women.”

I pushed off the wall, reached down and snagged a blade of grass. “What other women?”

There wasn’t a parade of them coming out of my place doing a walk of shame.

“Exactly.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Claire got knocked down by one of the puppies and now they were climbing all over her. Her giggling carried on the light breeze. Sarah walked over to her leaving me with Huck.

“You’re leaving in two months,” he explained. “You told Kent yes.” Meaning my winter-long stay in Cozumel.

“And I’m going to what, love Astrid and leave her with a broken heart? She bought me.”