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could, anyway, with only one parent. But for him, normal died with his wife. That was just the way it was, nothing he could do to change it.
    Just as he knew he’d never fall in love again. Because his once was over.
    And not being able to get Mallory Keyes out of his head wasn’t going to change that, either.
    * * *
    “Honey,” Mama called from the other room, “have you seen my sunglasses?”
    Wrapped up in a fluffy throw on a wicker couch—she refused to spend all her waking hours in the frickin’ wheelchair—out in the glassed-in porch, Mallory called back, “Sorry, no.”
    “Shoot,” Mama said, her ballet flats slapping against the brick pavers when she joined Mallory. “I know I had ’em when we drove out to the ranch, I must’ve left ’em in the powder room. And is there some reason you’re sitting out here in the dark?”
    Mallory felt a tight smile tug at her mouth. “Just thinkin’.”
    “About?” Enough light spilled through the great room’s double door to see Edgar cradled against her mother’s chest as she balanced a mug of something in her other hand.
    She could, she supposed, refuse to answer. Or lie. Knowing her mother, both choices would be pointless. “How sad that poor man is.”
    Mama lowered herself into the padded rocker across from the couch. “I take it you’re referring to our friendly neighborhood vet?”
    Mallory smirked. “You know what’s strange? Ever since this—” she gestured toward her lap “—I have a much harder time seeing other people unhappy. Almost like...”
    “You can feel their pain?”
    “Maybe.”
    “That’s hardly surprising,” Mama said, rearranging the spoiled rotten dog in her lap before reaching over to turn on a small lamp on the table next to her. Mallory winced. “Considering how hard you’ve worked to regain your own equilibrium, it’s no wonder you’re more empathetic. Now maybe you understand why I wanted the two of you to meet each other.”
    “Oh, I know why you wanted us to meet—”
    “No, I don’t think you do.”
    Mallory crossed her arms. “You’re honestly gonna sit there and tell me you weren’t trying to fix me up?”
    “Not in the conventional sense, no. I’m serious,” she said at Mallory’s smirk. “Yes, I’d love for you to find a man who’ll love you the way you deserve to be loved. I’m not gonna apologize for that. But even now that I know Zach Talbot is single, I’m not all that sure he’s that man.”
    This was a shocker. “Really?”
    “Really. Well, not now, anyway. Because when his brother and I were up at the house, he filled me in a little more about what Zach’s been through.”
    “Oh, Lord, Mama—”
    “I did not ask him, I swear. But Josh is clearly worried about him. So’s the rest of his family, I gather. Zach’s the oldest of the four boys—the second one’s off finding himself or whatever, and then there’s Josh and his twin brother Levi—”
    “There’s two of them?” With his dark good looks, Josh could put most of the Hollyhood hotties to shame. “Damn.”
    “You said it. But Josh and Levi are fraternal twins, Josh said. Any way...” She waved one hand. “Zach was always the quiet one, but since his wife’s death, Josh says, it’s like Zach’s buried himself in his sorrow. Not that he ever was the life of the party or anything. More the serious type, you know? But for more than two years, it’s like he’s been in a fog. And the more Josh and I talked, the more it occurred to me you might be able to help him find his way out of that fog. As a friend , Mallory Ann. Only as a friend.”
    “And I’m supposed to believe that?”
    “I do not understand why you always think I have ulterior motives.”
    “Um, because I’ve known you for nearly forty years? But even accepting your premise...why do you think I’d be able to help him?”
    “Because you’ve been where he is. Not losing a spouse, no, but having your world turned on its head. And you yourself said