“Much better. Come give me a kiss.” Evie did what she was told, crossing the beautiful tile floor before kissing the elderly woman on her cheek.

“I thought I was cooking today. When I suggested a family brunch I didn’t mean for you to lift a finger.”

“It’s my fault,” Lilah spoke up. “I mentioned this lemon blueberry crepe tart recipe and before I could stop her, she was gliding outside to get some eggs.”

“Glide I did, Miss Lilah,” she said, as she swayed a little more, the fabric of her seafoam green tunic swirling around her hips. Amanda wasn’t sure what she expected, but she definitely didn’t expect Miss Leona Lovell to be so light and fun.

“Did you just get off a horse?” she asked Evie suddenly.

“Yes, ma’am, I did and I am going to shower right now.”

“Good. Now who is this?” She waved her spatula in Amanda’s direction. She instantly felt her cheeks warm. Please let this woman like me, she thought.

“Geez, I’m so sorry. Miss Leona, this is Sam’s friend Amanda. She’s visiting the ranch for the weekend. I thought she could join us since we have enough to feed Jesse—”

“Oh, we have enough to feed a small city. Of course you can join us for brunch.” She looked over at Amanda before she focused back on the crepe slowly browning in the pan. “We met last week at that lovely wedding.”

“Briefly, ma’am. Yes. Yes we did.”

“And she watched the worst movie ever with us last night,” Lilah added with that same kind smile she’d greeted her with. Amanda already liked her.

“Well, it’s nice to see you again. Yvonne, where are my grandsons?”

“They are over at Zach’s, showering. Which I am going to do right now. I’ll be back in a minute . . . to help you finish preparing this delicious meal.” Evie winked at Amanda, then ducked back down the hallway. Amanda knew she was in perfectly good hands, but that didn’t help her back away from the edge of a possible freak-out. She was in Leona Lovell’s kitchen. In her actual home. How was she supposed to handle that? She realized there was only one thing to do. Get the freak-out out of her system.

“Um, I hope this isn’t too much, but I am a huge fan of your work. My mother is even a bigger fan. I had a horrible case of the flu in fifth grade and she let me watch Glory in the Night and just—”