Del stood and moved around the porch. Restlessness threatened. Not to leave town—he wasn’t ready for that just yet. But for a calming force. A place to be that always made him feel better.

Maya, he thought with relief. He needed to see Maya. Then everything would be fine.

CHAPTER TEN

“YOU WON’T BELIEVE the stuff we’re building,” Chase said, his tone excited, his hands barely able to keep up with his words. “We’re so over the robot cat. My team’s working on an underwater robot that does welding. It has to be light enough to be easily maneuverable, but also able to work with everything that goes with underwater welding. Just dealing with the currents. Because they’re always changing, right? And the tides have an influence.”

Maya smiled at her younger stepbrother. “You exhaust me.”

“It’s ’cause I’m so smart.”

She laughed and hugged him. “That’s part of it.”

Chase hung on for a second. “Have you seen Zane? He’s happy. It’s weird, but I like it.”

“As much as you like your nerd camp?”

The seventeen-year-old straightened and grinned. “Even more, but don’t tell him.”

“I won’t. I promise.”

Chase ran off to the house. Maya turned to Del. “He’s happy.”

“I can see that. The camp sounds intense.”

“It is.”

They were out by the barn, at the Nicholson family ranch. Tonight was the rehearsal dinner, which meant a small group. Maya and Del, Zane, Phoebe and Chase. Dellina was also there with her husband, Sam. The wedding would be a big affair with half the town showing up, but tonight was more intimate.

“Chase was lucky to get in,” Maya said, heading toward the goat pens nearest the main house. “Apparently there’s a long waiting list. But a spot opened up in the second session and Zane pulled some strings. I decided not to ask. I was thrilled that Zane was being so supportive.”

“Wasn’t he always?”

“Yes and no. Zane worried that Chase didn’t take life seriously enough. Chase isn’t that guy. He’s gifted when it comes to electronics and inventing things, but not one for following the well-traveled path in life. Zane saw him as a screwup and Chase kind of was. They both had the best of intentions but neither could see the other’s side.”

They paused by a pen of adolescent goats. She looked at Del, liking how he was watching her. She wanted to read desire in his gaze, but even if they were just going to be friends, she was happy. Being around him always made her feel better.

“Over the summer that changed,” she continued. “They had a couple of big fights, then had to pull together to save the cattle on that trip I told you about. Along the way Zane fell in love. It changed him in the best way possible. He’ll always worry about Chase, but he’s learning to trust a little. And Chase is acting more responsibly.”

“A win-win?”

“Exactly.”

He pointed at the goats in the pen. “Want to talk about these guys?”

“They’re goats.”

“I can see that.”

“Cashmere goats and they bite.”

He grinned. “You know that from personal experience?”

“I’ve been nipped a time or two. They’re being kept close to the house while they’re still young. They’ll head out with the herd soon.”

“There’s a herd?”

“More than one.” She pointed to the small animals. “The females are probably close to forty pounds now. The males a little bigger. Technically there’s no purebred cashmere goat. All goats can have the gene to produce down.” She paused. “How much goat information are you looking for?”

He leaned against a fence post and crossed his arms over his chest. “How much you got?”

He was tall and broad-shouldered, she thought, doing her best not to swoon. Handsome. There were tingles whenever she looked at him. Foolish, but unavoidable. She wanted to step closer and have him hold her. Kiss her. Touch her. Sure, it would give the goats something to talk about but these ones were teenagers. No doubt they could relate to the need to get into trouble.

“Solid-color goats are preferable to multicolored. As you can see, Zane has all solids here. Their coats have a coarse outer layer, with the down underneath. Each adult goat will produce three to four ounces of down.”

He frowned. “That’s it? Three ounces?”

“Uh-huh. That’s enough to knit about a third of a sweater. Which is why high-quality cashmere is so expensive.”

“You know a lot about goats.”

“I lived here for two years and I paid attention. I can tell you about the cattle, too, if you want.” She held in a laugh. “Zane sells bull sperm.”

Del took a step back. “I don’t think I want to know about that.”

“Most men don’t.” She looked at the big house, the tent set up for the wedding, the mountains in the distance. “It’s beautiful here.”

“Different from Las Vegas?”

She nodded, remembering her shock the first time she’d seen the ranch. “I didn’t know places existed like this. Not real places. I thought they were only on TV or in the movies.” She looked at him. “I’d never seen snow before we moved here. Not piled up on the ground.”

“You’d probably never seen a goat before.”