Derek’s words had been brutal, but they’d forced her to clarify her thoughts. True, Conner had a reputation for breaking hearts, and he’d never told her that he loved her. But he had trust issues of his own. If she wanted to get around those issues, she would have to love him enough to be completely honest—and that would include revealing her secret identity as Lacy.

With a tired yawn, she set the alarm, crawled into bed, and tried to sleep. But her mind was churning with worries and plans. Her flight left early tomorrow morning. After it landed, she would have to drive home from Amarillo. By the time she arrived in Branding Iron, it would be midday.

After a quick check-in with her family, she would set out to find Conner—or at least find out what had happened to him. She would go to the ranch first. If he wasn’t there, she would go to Maggie’s.

She could only hope that he was all right, and that, when she finally told him the truth about being Lacy, he would forgive her.

* * *

Conner finished cutting the season’s last tree and loaded it onto the trailer. Pausing to rest a moment, he gazed out beyond the dark pines to the horizon, where muddy-looking clouds were spilling over the western hills. The December sky was clear, but the breeze on his face smelled of snow. Did he dare to hope for a storm that would bring a white Christmas?

After tying the load of trees onto the trailer and checking the hitch, he climbed into the driver’s seat of the ATV, whistled for the dog, and headed back down the trail toward the house. Bucket made a flying leap to land beside him on the passenger seat.

Conner and Rush had been cutting and hauling trees all morning, but now Rush had left on an emergency call. Conner was on his own. He was still waiting for the cell phone he’d ordered after giving up on the one he’d dropped in the puddle. This morning, he’d borrowed Rush’s phone and tried to call Megan, but after a few rings, the call had gone to voicemail. Twice—once yesterday and once last night, he’d driven by her house, thinking to find her and explain about the phone. But both times, her car had been missing from the driveway, and he hadn’t wanted to disturb her family.

Things had been so good between them on Sunday. What had happened? Some emergency? Since he knew she couldn’t call him, all he could do was wait and hope.

As he neared the house, he saw her small blue Toyota pulling into the driveway. His pulse kicked into high gear. If she got out of the vehicle, she would know he was home. She’d see his Jeep parked under the shed and hear the roar of the approaching ATV.