her.
Sal looked down at his hands. What had once been calloused and toughened up from all the horse training he had done was now soft and maintained. The most demanding thing his fingers usually had to do anymore was type or grip a steering wheel.
That was depressing.
…maybe a visit to the stables was in order. Get reacquainted with all their mounts. Sal hadn’t really had much interest in the horses ever since his good old guy, Midas, had passed.
His phone’s alarm went off and he grabbed at it, realizing he only had about a half-hour before Nova arrived, and that was only if she didn’t arrive early.
And given what he knew about Nova, she absolutely was going to arrive early.
“What are you doing?” he asked his reflection as he realized how caught up he was. His reflection didn’t answer, naturally.
Nova was just helping out his mother, and they all happened to have a good time. That was no reason for his heart to be thumping and for him to feel like it was Christmas.
…except that was exactly how he felt.
His second alarm went off, and he shut that off too while he headed out the door. He wanted to get to the kitchen early and shove some actual food down his gullet before Nova got there. Goodness knew he had about seven thousand calories the day before—and all of them sugary. He needed some actual protein to balance it out.
“Oh, there you are, honey,” Mom said, already in the kitchen. She had a different apron on than the day before, which made sense considering how she liked to collect them. “I made some biscuits and gravy if you’d like some.”
“Is that even a question?” he retorted happily, crossing to the skillet on the stove. He couldn’t remember the last time that his mother had made good old biscuits and gravy. It seemed like a holdover from his high school years. Happier times when things were less complicated. “You didn’t have to make anything, you know. Not when you already have so much on your to-do list.”
“I don’t mind. I was feeling inspired.”
“Were you?”
She nodded, taking a truly comically large bite of what was on her plate. Sal helped himself while she chewed, sitting across from her and pouring himself a glass from the pitcher of water between them.
“So…”
He knew that tone. That was a mom-tone if there ever was one. “…so?”
“This young woman, Nova. How do you know her?”
There it was. “She’s an employee, Mom. You know that.”
“Oh yeah, sure. Sure. But Sterling hired her, and Silas is the one who set up all her paperwork, and then Elizabeth is the one she works under so… how do you know her?”
Had his mom found all that out in one night? Sal didn’t know whether to be impressed or disturbed. “We ran into each other on the farm.”
“Uh-huh.”
“That’s it, Mom.”
“Right. So you ran into her, and then she felt the need to bake you a basket of delicious food and thank you for getting her out of a tough spot.” Her eyes narrowed. “Doesn’t quite add up, if you ask me.”
Sal didn’t want to tell her that the only reason he knew Nova was because the young woman had stopped him from killing a snake that was mostly minding its own business. Mom wasn’t thrilled about snakes, but the more time that passed, the more Sal cringed at how he had acted. A shovel? Really? It wasn’t like the critter was in the house.
“Why don’t you get to your point, Mom?” Sal tried to ask as lightly as he could.
“Do I have to have a point?”
“Only when you clearly do.”
She shrugged, sending him an innocent look while batting her eyes. “I have no idea what you mean. She’s a lovely young lady, that’s all. I like her. You seem to as well.”
“I’m not my brothers.” The words were out of his mouth before he could think better of it.
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean, I’m not going to run into some random woman in a meet-cute and then start dating them. I’ve got the business to worry about. We’re in a difficult spot right now; I’m sure Dad’s told you as much.”
But Mom just waved her hand as she finished up her plate. “Business, schmizness. The only business I care about is having some grandbabies before I return to the dirt.”
Sal groaned. “Mom, you’re not even that old.”
“That old? What is that supposed to mean?”
Sal held his hands up. “Hey,