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support him in the style to which he’d like to become accustomed. Even knowing the morning after her impulsive, tacky Vegas chapel wedding ceremony that she’d made a mistake, even having suspected infidelity, she’d been hit hard by Jace’s desertion.
    Heather and Rachel had managed to convince her that her ex-husband’s behavior had nothing to do with her and everything to do with him being nothing but a slick-talking player in a cowboy hat. Something anyone could buy at any western wear store in the country.
    Real cowboys weren’t playacting at being John Wayne. They had ranching in their blood. They believed in what many these days might consider old-fashioned values of honesty, integrity, and character. And yes, those values could sometimes tend to be more black and white than shades of gray, and even the quietest among them had a capacity for rowdiness from time to time, but you always knew that you could count on them for standing by you. For having your back.
    Like Sawyer had always been there for her. Unfortunately, Austin allowed, there was also the chance that she was romanticizing their relationship. He had, up until that kiss, always treated her more like a sister than a girl he was interested in. And it wasn’t as if he’d been lacking for girlfriends back in high school.
    Not that she’d stayed home and taken up knitting. While her dating life hadn’t been as active as Sawyer’s, she’d been kissed lots of times, and once, while parked on the bluff above the river, which had long been a popular make-out spot, she’d come close to letting Radley Biehn get to third base.
    Later, she’d happily shed her virginity with a bass player in a motorhome at the Pendleton Roundup. She’d been there with stock while he’d been in a band that had opened for George Strait. The earth hadn’t moved, and it had been awfully quick, but at least she hadn’t had all of River’s Bend watching to see what, if anything, would come from what turned out to be a four-day hookup.
    Which had set the stage for other out-of-town affairs whenever she and some appealing-enough cowboy landed in the same town. Like that first time, the men were no more interested in a forever-after relationship than she was.
    Which, whenever she thought about it, Austin found ironic. When had she—the girl who’d grown up looking forward to settling down, becoming a wife and mother—become so averse to marriage?
    It was only when she’d received that New Year’s email from Sawyer that she’d realized the reason she hadn’t wanted to settle down was because none of those other men were the one she wanted. The one she’d always wanted.
    And wow, hadn’t she gone and screwed that up?
    “What if Sawyer’s happy the way things are?” she asked. “What if he doesn’t want to move out of the friend zone?”
    “That’s possible,” Layla allowed. “But you can waste time wondering—”
    “Not to mention giving him mixed messages,” Rachel broke in. “Which I’ll admit to having been guilty of with Cooper. I wanted him from the beginning. But I didn’t want to want him.”
    “Most of us have been there,” Layla agreed. “It’s damn hard putting your heart on the line. But here’s the thing. Guys are simple. They’re not real big on nuances. Especially when it comes to relationships. So, my point is, you should simply cowgirl up and ask him.”
    “Or seduce him,” Mitzi suggested. “That’d give him the idea real fast. And save on words because guys also aren’t big on multitasking. Asking them to talk coherently when they’re presented with the girls all dolled up in lacy bits is expecting a bit much.”
    “I wouldn’t have a clue how to do that.” Nor did she have any lacy bits for her girls, even if she’d had that much to present. Which, unfortunately, she didn’t. Also unfortunately, she was probably too old for stuffing her bra with tissues to create the illusion of boobage. Which would set up another