Now, I was in the kitchen with my phone to my ear, my mom talking to me, my other hand carefully balancing a big dish with my loaded potato casserole in it that I was trying to shove into the oven at the same time listen to my mother.

I had not yet pulled out that casserole for Deacon because it was a bit of a fiddle. But I knew he was going to love it. I knew this because I’d also learned my man was a meat and potatoes man.

Tomorrow, we were going to the breeder to pick my puppy.

And life would be sweeter.

“You were right,” Mom said in my ear. “Titus blew a gasket.”

I did not rub it in. For once, I remained silent.

“He says he’s coming but he’ll be giving you a call. He and Bessie will be staying at the house with you.”

“This is good, Mom,” I told her. “I had a booking come in for that week that I had to turn down today because I’m full. Now I can e-mail them and they can experience the glory of Glacier Lily.”

I heard her chuckle.

Then I heard her say, “You sound good.”

I grinned as I successfully settled the casserole dish on the rack in the oven. “I am good.”

There was silence for moment before she said, “No, Cassie, you sound good.”

I straightened and kicked the oven door closed with my foot then looked to the floor, not knowing how to play this.

I lifted my eyes and turned them to the kitchen windows. Through them, I saw Deacon in his chair, feet up on the railing, eyes to the trees.

And I instantly knew how to play this.

My gaze went back to my feet.

“I’ve met a man.”

Mom said nothing.

“We’ve known each other awhile. He’s…he’s a good man, Mom,” I told her. “He’s, well, no other way to put it, he’s incredibly handsome. Very tall. A big guy. I…we, well, we’ve moved it to the next level.”

“And that would be?” Mom asked when I said no more.

“He’s staying with me,” I shared. “He travels for a living but he has some downtime and he’s staying with me.”

That received no response.

“He cleaned my gutters,” I said softly. She didn’t reply so I kept going. “He noticed the rain running over them and he cleaned them. He found they were in a bad state so then he replaced them. After that, he took care of the ones on the cabins. I helped, and he let me, but he did most of the work.”

Mom said not a word.

“Doing that, he saw the state of my roof so he fixed that too. His downtime, not working, he spent days working on the house and cabins for me.”

She still didn’t speak.

“I…I,” I stammered then whispered, “Mom, he thinks I’m beautiful.”

She said something to that.

“You are beautiful, Cassidy.”

“He’s the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen, Mom, and he told me he feels the same about me. He told me I could be in magazines. He told me I’m the finest woman he’s ever known. That means a lot since, outside Dad, he’s the finest man I’ve ever met.”

“That isn’t a surprise either, angelface, because you’re you. He’d have to be very thick to miss that.”

I felt my face soften, my lips tip up, and I moved to lean a hip to the counter. “I really hope things keep going this well, Mom, because I really want you and Dad to meet him. Dad would love him. He takes care of me like Dad does, letting me be me but being there to support me in being it.”

“So you see a future with this man?”

“Yes,” I said quietly.

“Does this man have a name?”

I closed my eyes tight as the only darkness on a horizon that included Deacon blackened my mood. “John Priest.”

“Strong name,” she remarked.

She wasn’t wrong.

I liked Deacon better.

“I’m happy for you,” Mom continued, now her voice was quiet. “I’m happy because you sound happy. And I hope this works out for you, too, honey, so I’ll get to meet him, but so you’ll have someone to share your time with amongst the glory of Glacier Lily.”

I grinned in the phone. “Love you, Mom.”

“Love you a whole lot more, angelface.”

“That’s debatable.”

“Let’s not debate it, because knowing my daughter, that could take ten years and I don’t have that time. Dinner’s nearly done and I need to feed your father.”

“Right, I’ll let you go.”

“Okay, Cassie, talk to you later, see you soon, and again, so happy you found someone you like who likes you.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“’Bye, Cassidy.”

“’Bye.”

We hung up and when we did, I took my phone from my ear and stared at it. Then I set it aside, took in a deep breath, and walked out of the kitchen.

I didn’t go to my chair.

I went to Deacon’s.

His head tipped back when I did and he put his beer on the arm of the chair when I put a knee into the seat by his hip. I swung my other leg over and settled astride him.

He rested his hands on my ass, his eyes never leaving mine.

“She wants something,” he muttered like he was talking to himself.

“Just got off the phone with my mom,” I shared.

He made no response, not verbally, not physically, just continued to look at me, waiting for me to go on.

I took this as good. He could have shut down. He could have tensed. He could have given some indication that whatever it was I was going to share about my family that included me getting close was something he wasn’t ready to be a part of.

“They’re coming out in August. Everyone. Mom, Dad, my sister and her family, my brother and his wife. My aunts and uncle.”

“Right,” he prompted when I said no more.

I got closer, my heart squeezing as I gave it to him.

“I’d really like it if you worked it out with your jobs so you could be here when they are.”

“Then that’s where I’ll be.”

I sat motionless atop him, staring in his handsome face, shocked but filled with glee that that wasn’t only his answer, but it also came quickly.

“You’re not…” I shook my head. “That doesn’t freak you?”

“They come with you?” he asked.