“You can have it to have and to hold for all eternity, because borrowing it means you’ll give it back, and I don’t have any need for a toothbrush you have used,” Stevie said. “Other than to clean the toilet with, maybe.”

“How long are you going to hang on to the past?” Cody asked.

“Me? Hold on to the past or hold a grudge?” She raised her eyebrows. “Never! Why would I be angry with you? You warmed up the place before I got here, gave me the sofa last night, got the water ready for Dixie’s bottle, and even did the cooking.”

“So, we’re not going to talk about the elephant that’s been hanging around all these years?” he asked.

“I killed that elephant years ago,” Stevie said. “Speaking of animals, other than her legs being longer, Dixie isn’t much bigger than your cat. I bet Dolly even weighs more than Dixie.”

“You are changing the subject, and the elephant is not dead,” Cody argued.

“Yes, it is.” Stevie might consider herself strong and smart, but she still got a lump in her throat when she remembered the way she had felt that night when Cody told her that he didn’t have room in his life for a relationship. “Someday we might be good enough friends to talk about you breaking my young heart, but someday is not today. Go ahead and prop the door so she can romp and play in the barn with the cats. We’ll see how that goes before we make her stay in the house while they get to go out and play.”

Cody put on his coat, crossed the room with the cats right behind him. He waited on the other side of the door to see what the cria would do. When Dixie had sucked down all her bottle, she slowly made her way across the room, sniffed the air out in the barn, and returned to her blanket behind the stove.

“Smart girl,” Stevie said with a smile as she put the sofa to rights. “It’s cold out there.” She refilled the coffeepot with water, added coffee grounds to it, and set it on the stove. The coffee would probably taste like crap, but it had to be better than the road tar they had in the dorm when she was in grad school.

You need to really talk to Cody, not just argue and dance around this attraction. Her mother’s voice was in her head.

“We will when the time is right.” Stevie missed her mother so much. After the funeral a few months ago, she’d thought she would find closure, but it hadn’t happened—not yet.

*  *  *