“I only wear them when I have to,” he said. “Most of the time I wear contacts, but I had an allergy flare-up and had to use my glasses for a while.”

He brushed past her on the way to get a cup of coffee, and there were those sparks again, only this time they were even hotter than before. An image flashed through her mind—she was cuddling up with him on the sofa, and he was tipping her chin up with his calloused hand to kiss her.

“Should I pour a cup for you?” Mack asked.

His deep voice jerked Lily back to reality. “Yes, please, and thank you.” She hoped he attributed her burning cheeks to the heat in the kitchen.

It seemed like the kids swallowed their brownies whole and hurried up the stairs to do their homework, or in Braden’s case, to change into different clothing so he could go to the goat pens with Mack.

“You also run the 4-H, right?” Lily asked when she and Mack were alone.

“I do.” Mack nodded. “Braden came to the 4-H meeting today with his new friend. Isaac Torres is a good kid. He’s a little shy, but he’s super smart. He’s always on the superintendent’s honor roll.”

“Then it’s all right for Braden to—” Lily started and then stopped. “Is he Levi Torres’s son? The Torres Ranch folks? Didn’t you and Levi graduate the same year?”

“We did, and yes, Isaac is his son. Levi married a girl he met in college. She’s from down around Houston and grew up on a ranch like Levi did,” Mack answered.

“Levi was smart and shy, too,” Lily remembered, and stopped herself before she added, “A lot like you.”

“You’re the mother, but I think Braden and Isaac will be good for each other.” Mack reached for a brownie.

“Why’s that?”

“Braden is outgoing, and he’ll help Isaac in that department. From what I see in Braden, he needs someone to challenge him intellectually, so Isaac will be a help to him that way. Same way that Holly is good for Rose and Ivy. Their parents are strict with them, so you don’t have to worry about her smoking pot. Yet they could sure use someone like Holly to give them a little push when it comes to grades.”

“Holly wants to go to Friday-night choir practice with the girls, and Braden wants to know if he can go to the ranch and hang out with Isaac on Saturday. What do you think?” Lily hadn’t asked for anyone’s input where her kids were concerned in years, but she really needed Mack’s opinion.

“If they were my kids, I wouldn’t have a problem with either the choir or the ranch,” he said.