She gripped it in her paws, her head shifting as she scanned right, left, forward. Her eyes met Lil’s.

Go on and eat, Lil thought. Go on, now.

She cocked her head, and still watching, sank her teeth into the meat.

She ripped and bolted the food. Lil squeezed her hand on Tansy. “Waiting for someone to lay into her. God, I wish I could take a cattle prod to those bastards in Sioux City.”

“Right there with you. Poor girl. She could make herself sick.”

But she kept it down. Rather than clean her paws, she slunk over to the trough, drank and drank.

On the other side of the fence, Boris rose on his hind legs, called to her. She kept low, kept subservient, but approached the fence to sniff at him. When he lowered, she scurried back to stand at the entrance to her cage.

To what, Lil knew, she thought of as safety. He called her again, insistently, until she bellied over to the fence, quivering, trembling as he sniffed her nose, her front paws.

When he licked her, Lil smiled. “We should’ve called him Romeo. Let’s get the cage away, close her in. Boris will take it from here.”

She checked her watch as she rose. “Excellent timing. I need to run into town.”

“I thought we had our supply run.”

“I’ve got to do some errands. And I want to swing by and see my parents. I’ll be back before sundown.”

SHE DIDN’T INTEND to stop by the Wilkses’ stables, but she was early, and they were right there. In any case, it was irresistible when she spotted Coop leading a little girl around the paddock on a sturdy bay pony.

The kid looked as though she’d just been given the keys to the universe’s biggest toy store. She bounced in the saddle, obviously incapable of being still, and her face under her pink cowgirl hat glowed like the summer sun.

As she stepped out of her truck, Lil heard the kid chattering away at Coop while her mother laughed and her father took pictures. Charmed, Lil walked over to the fence and leaned against it to watch.

Coop looked pretty damn pleased himself, she noted, giving the kid his attention, answering endless questions while the little horse plodded along patiently.

How old was the kid? she wondered. Four maybe? Long sunny pigtails twined down under the hat, and her jeans had colorful flowers embroidered on the hem.

Impossibly cute, Lil concluded. Then felt a hard, deep tug as Coop reached up to lift the girl out of the saddle.

She’d never really thought of him as a father. At one time she’d simply assumed they’d have a family together, but it had all been vague and silver-edged. Pretty dreams of “one day.”

She thought of all the years between. They might have had a little girl.

He let the girl stroke and pet the horse, then fished a carrot out of a sack. He showed her how to hold it, and put the frothy icing on the kid’s happy cake by allowing her to feed the pony.

Lil waited while he spoke with the parents, and saw him grin when the girl flung her arms around his legs in a hug.

“She’ll remember you for the rest of her life,” Lil commented when Coop came her way.

“The horse anyway. Nobody forgets their first.”

“I didn’t know you offered pony rides.”

“It just happened. The kid was dying for it. Anyway, I’ve been thinking about opening that area up. Low overhead, nice profit. The father insisted on giving me a ten-dollar tip.” He grinned again as he dug it out of his pocket. “Want to help me spend it?”

“Tempting, but I’m meeting somebody. You were good with the kid.”

“She made it easy. And yeah, I’ve thought about it.” When she lifted her brows in question, he laid his hands over hers on the top of the fence. “What kind of kids we might have made.” He tightened his grip when she would have pulled back. “Your eyes. I’ve always been a sucker for your eyes. I wondered what kind of a father I’d make. I think I’d be okay. Now.”

“I’m not going dewy-eyed over dream children, Coop.”

“This is a good place to raise kids, the real kind. We both know that.”

“You’re taking a lot of big leaps. I’m sleeping with you because I want to sleep with you. But I have a lot of things to resolve, a lot to think through before it can be anything more than that, and what’s turning out to be a tenuous friendship.”

“I said I’d wait, and I will. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to use whatever comes along to get you back. It occurs to me, Lil, I never had to work for you before. Could be interesting.”

“I didn’t come by to talk about this. God, you frustrate me.” She yanked her hands from under his. “I wanted to tell you Brad thinks we’ll have the security up and running by the end of the day.”

“Okay. Good.”

“I’m going to let everyone know we won’t need patrols. That includes you.”

“I’m there until Howe’s in a cell.”

“That’s your choice. And I won’t pretend I’d rather not stay in the compound alone at night. You can keep your drawer and your share of the closet. I’ll sleep with you. For the rest, I don’t know.” She started to walk away, then stopped. “I want to know everything Willy’s shared with you, because I know he’s kept you up on the investigation, the manhunt. I want to see those files you’ve been so careful to keep away from me. You want a chance with me this time around, Coop? Then you’d better understand I expect to be trusted and respected. On every level. Good sex and yellow tulips aren’t nearly enough.”

FARLEY WAS PACING a trough in the sidewalk in front of the jewelry store when Lil arrived. “I didn’t want to go in without you.”

“I’m sorry I’m late. I got hung up.”

“No problem.” The hands in his pockets jingled loose change. “You’re not late. I got here early.”

“Nervous?”

“Some. I just want to make sure it’s exactly the right one.”

“Let’s go find it.”

There were a scatter of customers and a lot of glitter inside. Lil raised a hand in a wave to the clerk she knew, then hooked her arm through Farley’s. “What did you have in mind?”

“That’s why you’re here.”

“No, just tell me what you think.”

“I… Well, it’s gotta be special, and kind of different. I don’t mean fussy or…”

“Unique.”

“Yeah, unique. Like she is.”

“So far, you’re exactly right, according to her best friend.” She drew him over to a display of engagement rings. “White or yellow gold?”

“Oh, shit, Lil.” And he looked as panicked as if she’d asked if he’d prefer cyanide or arsenic in his coffee.

“Okay, that was a trick question. Given her coloring and her personality-and her appreciation for the unique-I think you should go with rose gold.”

“What the hell is that?”

“Like this.” She gestured to a band. “See, it’s warm, and a little soft. Glows, I think, rather than glitters.”

“It’s still gold, right? I mean, it’s good-it’s not less, I don’t know, important? It’s got to be important.”

“It’s still gold. If you don’t like it, then I’d go with yellow gold.”

“I do like it. It’s different, and it’s, yeah, warm. Kinda rosy. Rose gold, ha, that’s why.”

“Relax, Farley, it’s all good.”

“Right.”

“Just take a quick scan, pick the one that pops out to you first.”

“Ah… That one? It’s got that pretty round diamond in it.”

“It’s beautiful, but the trouble with that one is how it sticks up from the band.” Lil held her thumb and index finger a little apart to show him what she meant. “Tansy works with her hands a lot, with the animals. That’s going to catch.”

“That makes sense. So she’ll want something that doesn’t stick up so high.” He shoved up his hat to scratch his head. “There’s not so many with this color, but still a lot to figure from. That one’s nice, with the working on the band, but the diamond’s kind of puny. I don’t want to go on the cheap.”

As Lil leaned forward for a better look, the clerk bounced up.