Olivia nodded as she finished chewing a bite of her burger. “Yeah. Cotton mostly, but corn too. He inherited the land—about a hundred acres—from his dad. My uncle’s in the process of taking over so my grandpa can retire, though everyone says he won’t stop farming completely till the day he dies.

“My uncle lives in town with his family and still works the night shift at a bakery three days a week. At some point, he’ll move his family onto the property, but not for a few years. He wants his kids to finish high school where they are. My dad and my aunt are the only other Graham siblings, and neither of them are interested in farming. I guess you could say my dad’s a dreamer. He’s always working on the next big thing, which drives my mom nuts.”

Her fingers, long and delicate, were wrapped around her burger. Gabe had a feeling it would be awhile before he forgot the feel of them brushing over the ridge of his jaw.

“Yeah, well, neither of my parents are dreamers, and they still drive each other nuts.”

Her tense shoulders fell as they talked. Gabe took it as a good sign that she was relaxing again, the same way she had on the drive down when they’d fallen into easy conversation. Between bites of burger and fries, Olivia filled in the silence with what she’d loved best about growing up in a such a rural area—the night sky; crisp, clean air; and the county fair—and what she’d loved least—the isolation and everyone knowing pretty much everything about everyone else, or assuming they did. Gabe listened intently, distracted only when their fingers brushed as they reached for fries at the same time and by how her long lashes framed her hazel eyes.

Her sense of humor, a touch dry blended with a heavy dose of realism, was refreshing. Unlike a couple of single women his age who worked at his clinic, she didn’t seem to be tailoring her answers to what he might hope to hear. It was this as much as the fact she was so damn beautiful that had him reaching out to brush the tips of his fingers down her temple. She could probably read it on his face, but he wanted to do much more than that.

He was impossibly close to leaning over and kissing her again—and he was confident she’d open her mouth to it the same way she did earlier—when a truck pulled into the parking lot and slipped into an open space ten or so feet away. The look that passed over her as she glanced that direction sent an alarm through Gabe.

“I, uh…” Bowing her head, she pressed her middle and index finger against her forehead. “Wow.” She sucked in a breath and looked up.