Chapter 1
Wyatt Walker had survived a lot during the long and exhausting thirty-one years he’d spent on Walker Ranch.
He’d survived losing his mother.
He’d endured watching his idiot older brother, Beau, fall head over heels in love with a woman he had sworn was nothing more than a “New York kitten.”
He’d even survived being kicked into the dirt by more horses than he cared to admit.
But the moment barrel racer Daisy Collins stepped out of her truck after being gone for five years...
Something inside him simply...
Stopped.
The black mustang standing in front of him immediately noticed.
The gelding flicked an ear, refusing to move another step.
Beau’s horse, Whiskey, snorted from the neighboring paddock as if he knew exactly what had just happened.
And Cash?
Well...
Cash was barking at Wyatt like he’d stolen his last treat.
“Beau!” Wyatt called from the round pen.
His older brother looked up from the barn and started walking over.
“What?”
“Get your dog away from here.”
Cash barked again.
Wyatt pointed at the Australian Shepherd.
“I’m trying to work.”
Beau looked from Wyatt...
To Cash...
Then toward the driveway.
His lips slowly curled into a grin.
“Oh.”
“No.”
“Oh, yes.”
“Don’t.”
Beau folded his arms.
“She’s here, isn’t she?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You’ve forgotten how to ride a horse, haven’t you?”
“I have not.”
“You’ve forgotten your own name.”
“I know my name.”
“What is it?”
Wyatt opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Beau burst into laughter.
“I cannot believe this.”
Before Wyatt could defend himself...
The sound of gravel crunching beneath tires echoed across the ranch.
Every Walker brother instinctively looked toward the entrance.
A dusty black pickup slowly rolled through the gates, pulling a silver horse trailer behind it.
The truck stopped.
The engine fell silent.
Even Cash quit barking.
Jack stepped out onto the porch, wiping his hands on an old shop towel.
“Looks like she’s finally home.”
Wyatt swallowed.
Home.
The driver’s door opened.
A worn pair of cowboy boots hit the gravel.
Then another.
A woman stepped out, removing her sunglasses before looking around the ranch.
Long blonde hair spilled over one shoulder in a loose braid beneath a faded tan ball cap.
She wore fitted jeans, an old rodeo hoodie beneath a canvas jacket, and boots that had clearly seen hundreds of arenas.
She looked older.
More confident.
Like someone who’d spent years chasing sunsets and championship buckles.
She shut the truck door and smiled.
It was the exact same smile Wyatt remembered.
The one he’d spent five years trying not to think about.
“Daisy,” he whispered.
“What was that?” Beau asked.
“Nothing.”
“It definitely wasn’t nothing.”
Daisy looked toward the round pen.
Her eyes landed on Wyatt.
For a second...
She didn’t move.
Then...
Her smile grew.
“Well...”
She started walking toward him.
“I’ll be damned.”
Wyatt’s heartbeat did something incredibly stupid.
Cash took off first.
The Australian Shepherd sprinted across the yard, nearly sliding to a stop before launching himself at Daisy.
She laughed as she crouched down.
“Hey, handsome!”
Cash’s tail wagged so hard his whole body shook.
“I missed you too.”
Wyatt frowned.
“Traitor.”
Cash ignored him completely.
“I see nothing’s changed,” Daisy laughed.
“He still likes everyone else more than us.”
“He likes Beau’s fiancée more than anyone.”
“I heard about that.”
She looked past Wyatt toward Beau.
“You actually got engaged?”
Beau shrugged.
“I know.”
“It’s shocking.”
“I figured someone had slipped something into your coffee.”
“Ivy says the same thing.”
Daisy laughed.
God...
He’d forgotten that laugh.
It was exactly the same.
Warm.
Easy.
The kind that made everyone around her smile without realizing it.
She finally stopped in front of Wyatt.
Close enough that he could smell leather, fresh air, and the faint scent of vanilla.
“So...”
She tilted her head.
“You gonna keep staring at me...”
“...or are you going to say hello?”
His brain completely abandoned him.
Beau coughed loudly.
“You’ve got this, brother.”
Wyatt shot him a glare.
Then looked back at Daisy.
“Hi.”
She blinked.
“Hi?”
He rubbed the back of his neck.
“I had something better planned.”
She laughed again.
“No, you didn’t.”
“No...”
He smiled despite himself.
“...I really didn’t.”
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Five years suddenly felt like five minutes.
“So...”
Daisy looked around the ranch.
“You gonna help me unload my horses?”
Wyatt answered before she finished asking.
“Already on my way.”
She smiled.
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
As they walked toward the trailer together, Beau fell into step beside Luke.
He looked at his younger brother.
“Ten bucks says he falls in love before New Year's Eve.”
Luke laughed.
“I’ll take that bet.”
Grandma June stepped onto the porch just in time to hear them.
She smiled knowingly.
“You boys are both wrong.”
They looked at her.
“Why?”
She watched Wyatt open the trailer door for Daisy.
“Oh...”
A grin spread across her face.
“That boy’s been in love for years.”
Beau slowly looked back toward Wyatt.
Then toward Daisy.
Then smiled.
“Well...”
“That explains a lot.”
