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“Well, let’s hope he behaves himself.”
    â€œIf he doesn’t, he’ll have me to deal with,” Mac said.
    â€œDon’t I know it.” Elena smiled warmly at her. “Ranch foreman.”
    Mac smiled back.
    â€œI wonder if he’s got that fancy model girlfriend with him. I always enjoy seeing city folk taking in the country. Complaining about all the meat we eat and manure on their Manolo Blahniks.”
    Mac gave her a strange look. “How do you know about that? The shoes, I mean.”
    â€œSex and the City,”
Elena whispered with a shrug. “It’s on at night, and I watch it when I can’t sleep. From what I’ve seen in the papers, Deacon’s girlfriend looks just like that Samantha.”
    Reverend McCarron emerged from his private prayer room then and started for his pulpit. The young man who Mac remembered from high school as being one of the biggest bullies around now held a dutifully somber expression.
Deacon’s girlfriend.
Lord, those were two words she hadn’t heard in a while. Back in the day, her teenage self had hated them somethin’ fierce. Back when she’d actually thought Deacon Cavanaugh was the one for her. But those days and adolescent fantasies were long gone. Tucked away in the back of her brain along with the wanting to die her hair pink and being a contestant on
The
Price Is Right
. Now, the man with the gleaming black chopper was nothing but a ruthless billionaire who thought he could buy whatever he wanted, even if it wasn’t for sale.
    â€œThe Lord is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds,”
Wayne McCarron began, his voice as close to godlike as she’d ever heard him.
“The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desires of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them. The Lord keeps all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.”
    Except for the rustle of a handheld fan or two, the church was still, listening, remembering.
    â€œThat was Psalm 145:17–21,” Wayne said, then looked out at the congregation and smiled gently.Odds were, this was the biggest crowd he’d ever had in his three years at the pulpit, and he was wondering how he could manage to keep them, bring them back every Sunday. “Thank you all for coming,” he continued. “Everett Cavanaugh was a good man, a good friend and a hard worker. We honor him today and give his soul over to the Lord.”
    The heat in the church was starting to get to Mac. The fabric of her dress was now completely fused to her skin, and she was feeling slightly light-headed from all the emotion and anxiety over what the future would hold. She wondered if Deacon
was
here, if he’d driven one of his fancy cars into town and was sitting in the back row with James and Cole. She wanted to look. Wanted to take a quick glance over her shoulder and check. She wanted to see what might be lurking in those green eyes of his. Those eyes that had always pinned her and Cass where they stood, then quickly narrowed in suspicion. Grief? Possibility? Was he thinking about Everett at all? Or was the reading of the will afterward his main concern?
    â€œEverett’s one thought was this town,” Reverend McCarron continued, “keeping us going, keeping us prosperous.”
    And if she did manage to catch his eye, would she see any of the young man he used to be beforehe left? Before he and his brothers took off for parts unknown?
    Her heart started to pound dramatically inside her chest, and she reached over and grabbed Blue’s hand. It was big and dry and familiar, and it instantly made her feel grounded and safe. That was how it was with Blue. Kind of like how it had been with Cass. Best friends, family without the blood, a shoulder to lean on.
    â€œYou okay?” he whispered, leaning in. “Your hand feels like ice, and it’s a