“You like him, don’t you?”

“That’s just it,” Sherry said, reaching for her drink and gripping it tightly. “I’m not sure how I feel about him. It’s all messed up. I don’t know Cody well enough to have an opinion, and yet…”

“And yet, you find yourself thinking about him, wishing you could be with him and missing him. All of this seems impossible because until a few days ago he wasn’t even in your life.”

“Yes,” Sherry returned, astonished at the way Norah could clarify her thoughts. “That’s exactly what I’m feeling.”

“I thought so.” Norah relaxed against the cushion on the patio chair and sighed, lifting her face to the sun. “That’s how it was with me after Rowdy was released from the hospital and went home to Texas. My life felt so empty without him. He’d only been in the hospital a couple of weeks, but it seemed as if my whole world revolved around him.”

“Rowdy, fortunately, felt the same way about you,” Sherry said, knowing Cody was as perplexed as she was by the attraction they shared.

“Not at first,” Norah countered. “I amused him, and being stuck in traction with that broken leg, the poor guy was desperate for some comic relief. I happened to be handy. Being Valerie’s sister added to my appeal. You know, he actually came to Orchard Valley to break up her engagement to Colby! I don’t think it was until much later that he fell in love with me—later than he’s willing to admit now, at any rate.”

“Don’t be so sure.” Sherry still remembered the chaos Rowdy Cassidy had brought into the tidy world of Orchard Valley General. His plane had crashed in a nearby field and he’d been taken, seriously injured, to Emergency. He’d been a terrible patient—demanding and cantankerous. Only one nurse could handle him…. Sherry had known he was in love with Norah long before he’d ever left the hospital, even if he wasn’t aware of it himself. Norah’s feelings had been equally clear to her. It seemed she could judge another’s emotions better than her own.

“I’m sorry, in a way, that you took this position in Pepper,” Norah said. “I know it’s pure selfishness on my part, but I was hoping if you moved to Texas you’d settle closer to Houston.”

“I don’t think I realized how large this state is. Central Texas didn’t look that far from Houston on the map. I found out differently when I had to drive it.”

“I wish you’d taken the time to stop in San Antonio. Rowdy took me there for our first anniversary, and we fell in love all over again. Of course, it might’ve had something to do with the flagstone walks, the marvelous boutiques and the outdoor cafés.” Norah sighed longingly at the memory.

“It sounds wonderful.”

“It was,” Norah said wistfully. “We rode in a river taxi down the San Antonio River and…oh, I swear it was the most romantic weekend we’ve ever spent.”