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so she could work with him on the ranch full-time. And now here she was. In charge of Lone Mountain while Dad sent palm-tree postcards from his new home in Florida.
    Mandy interrupted her musings. “You’d have known about Wade being back if you left this ranch once in a while.”
    Lori glanced at her sister, who’d pulled the cloth off a bowl of bread dough and was kneading briskly. “What do you mean?” Lori tried to remember the last time she’d been in town. “I leave the ranch.”
    â€œWhen?” Mandy asked. “And going to the feed store doesn’t count. That’s still work.”
    Lori shrugged. “I left a couple days ago to yell at Wade. He’s sunk a well above ours, up by the northern edge of the ranch. And now we have no water for the pastures up there.”
    Mandy’s pale skin got paler. “That’s horrible, Lori. I had no idea.”
    â€œYeah, well, I’m trying to figure out what to do. Bill says we should just share the water from the new well, but I can’t imagine Wade will be happy about that.”
    â€œYou don’t know until you ask.”
    â€œI don’t want to ask.” The knot coiled again in Lori’s stomach at the thought. She shouldn’t have to beg for water. Not from anyone. Definitely not from Wade.
    â€œI know you had some kind of crush on him in high school, but that was ages ago.” Mandy covered the dough again and opened a carton of eggs, cracking them briskly into a pan on the stove.
    Lori wished it had stayed a crush. She’d never told Mandy about what happened. About sleeping with him. About the pregnancy. About how she’d handled it. She probably never would. It would upset her sister too much. And the telling would bring no relief. “It’s not that. When I talked to him about the well, I might have gotten a little upset. Said a few things I shouldn’t have.”
    â€œThat’s not like you. It goes right back to what I was saying before. You need some time off. A few hours away from this ranch. I can see the responsibility weighing you down. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but let’s go out this weekend. I saw Sunny at the store yesterday. She mentioned that she’s meeting Heather and Tina for drinks on Saturday. She invited us to join them.”
    Lori stared. “Who are you, and what did you do with my sister? You hate bars.”
    â€œI know you won’t go on your own.” Mandy turned off the stove and scooped scrambled eggs onto a flowered plate. She handed it to Lori. “If ever someone needed a night out, it’s you. Taking on the ranch has been a huge job. You don’t tell me much, but I know it’s been hard.”
    Lori sighed. “It’s just the guys, you know? They question everything I do. They wouldn’t do that if I were a man. It bugs me. It’s so weird to have worked here almost my whole life only to realize that no one’s on my side.”
    â€œI think it’s just an adjustment. They’ll see how amazing you are once they get used to Dad being gone. And I’m on your side. You can talk to me about anything. I’ll try to help wherever I can. Like by taking you drinking on Saturday night.”
    Lori smiled. It was just too funny, her homebody little sister trying to get her to go out drinking. It was probably the last thing on earth that Mandy really wanted to do. How could she say no? “You’re right. We should go out. Tell Sunny we’ll be there.”
    â€œAnd you need to apologize to Wade if you really were out of line. Eat some humble pie. It won’t kill you, and you just might talk him into sharing his well.”
    Sometimes Mandy reminded her so much of their mom. Lori’s heart ached a little. “Yes, ma’am,” she said, and smiled when her sister giggled.
    â€œYou know I’m right,” Mandy retorted.
    â€œI hate humble pie,”