“Of course I have. But, with her dad’s heart attack, it’s a done deal. Besides, I saw the announcement for the engagement party. It’s over.”

“But she’s not married, right?” Will asked.

“Not yet.”

“And the douchenozzle’s the wrong man for her?” Will asked.

“Of course he’s wrong for her. He cheated on her.” Brodie tipped his head back, glancing up at the dark gray sky but only seeing Rosie’s smile. Thunder rumbled over the mountain, but he only heard her laughter. Her excitement when she talked about her essential oil. “The day I met her, she ran in front of my bulldozer. She was all worked up because I was going to mow down, like, fifty square feet of her flowers.”

His heart—it felt like a giant fist was squeezing it like a sponge. “She wanted to buy the land from me, lease it, anything to keep me from tearing up her lyantha.” The pain of his loss spread through his body, making his limbs heavy with it. “It’s over for her. The thing that lights her up, that makes her who she is, they’re going to strip her of it. They’re going to shut her down.”

“Are we talking about Rosie?” Fin looked to his brothers.

“Exactly,” Gray said.

“I was thinking the same thing,” Will said.

“What? What’re you talking about?” He wanted to pull his hair out, wanted to tear up the meadow with his bare hands.

“I don’t know her as well as you, but the Rosie I met wouldn’t just go along with some plan,” Fin said.

“Hell, no,” Gray said. “She’s like us. She’s a fighter.”

“But, mostly, she’s like you,” Will tipped his head to Brodie. “She’s a visionary.”

Which means she won’t just accept her fate.

As soon as she knows her dad’s all right, she’ll calm down.

And come up with a plan.

“Okay, but even if she does figure out a way to avoid marrying that prick, she still has to live in St. Christophe. Still has to marry someone and get pregnant.”

Pregnant. He could picture her belly rounded, her cheeks ruddy. Her smile soft, her fingers sifting through his hair, as he pressed his ear close to hear their baby’s heartbeat.

Our baby. Mine.

His was the only baby she’d carry. He knew it in his gut and in every fiber of his being.

Want, need, hunger, all of it lived under his skin. Just like when he was a kid and wanted his mom to come home.

“What’s really going on?” Will asked.