the floor, give it a good rinse, and then go back to my job, trying to keep my hands steady. Am I in love with Gavin? My reaction to her words had more to do with my shock than her actual wording.
But honestly? I’m not sure she’s wrong. Not that I have anything to compare it to. My relationships have been sparse. Thin. I’ve never had a boyfriend who made me feel a fraction of what I feel for Gavin.
That doesn’t mean it’s love. I mean, come on. Can you fall in love with someone while watching them from a professional distance? Can you fall in love without being on a real, official date that didn’t end abruptly? Can you fall in love without having a conversation to define the relationship, without a kiss on the lips?
I close my eyes, pausing for a moment so I don’t peel my fingers instead. Because the more questions I ask myself, the more firm my suspicion becomes.
Yes. Yes, you can fall in love like this. I think I already have.
Gavin’s mother wipes her hands on a dish towel and pats my bottom, like it’s the most normal thing in the world. “No need to panic, dear. It was a mother’s intuition. Confirmed by your response.”
“Oh, great.” I shake my head, feeling the burn in my cheeks.
“Trust me—Gavin is probably clueless,” she says, moving the meat to a silver pressure-cooker on the counter. “About relationships anyway. Give him a business, and he can fix it. Give him a good woman, and he doesn’t know what to do with himself.” She clucks her tongue. “It’s a shame.”
My mouth is the Sahara and my thoughts are like scattered clouds, skimming across the desert horizon.
“But we’ll see what we can do about that,” she says with a wink, before grabbing the peeled potatoes and tossing them in with the meat. “Grab the baby carrots, will you? They’re in the drawer of the fridge.”
I do as she asks, thankful for something to do that will keep me from doing something, saying something, or just looking stupid.
Brushing her hands off on her apron, Norah gestures to the long wooden table. “Sit, dear. I’m just going to roll out some biscuits. Thank goodness for Pinterest and instant pots. I tend to forget about dinner until about five o’clock every night. Just pop something in that magical contraption, and voila! Dinner in under an hour. Makes me look like I’m a planner, even though my husband very well knows that I am not.”
I take a seat, and a moment later, she places a glass of ice water in front of me with a smile.
“Thank you,” I say, taking a long swallow. “So, are you and your husband opposites, then?”
She laughs, a sound that resembles the honking of a goose, and I find myself grinning.
“You could say that. Polar opposites. Moon and sun. Dark and light. Sweet and savory. Even how we look. Tall and short. Lean and … not so lean.”
She gives her hips a little shimmy, and I giggle. “And have you always lived here at the ranch?”
“Since our early marriage days, yes. Though it was a working ranch then. We lived in one of the staff houses out back.” She gestures toward the barn where Gavin and his father disappeared to a while ago. She shakes her head. “Those were long days. Filled with longer nights.”
Her wink makes me laugh. Her openness and honesty are a bit shocking compared to Gavin, who hides a world behind his eyes. It’s refreshing, especially given the heaviness of the past few days. If things never work out with Gavin and me, I wonder if I could still keep his mom.
“Did you work on the land as well? I don’t even know if that’s the right way to say it.”
She laughs. “You sound like me when I first met Charles. I was a city girl, falling for the country boy. I couldn’t tell the front end from the back end of a cow.”
I know she’s joking about that, but my mind has swirled away, thinking about Gavin’s parents, about Zane and Abby. It seems that the old adage about opposites attracting is a real thing. While Gavin and I are perhaps too much alike.
Norah thankfully doesn’t notice me drifting away, and she continues. “It was his family’s place, and not long after we were married, they won the Texas lottery, so to speak.”
“The lottery?”
She grins. “Oil. And unlike many of the ranchers, his