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that.”
    “You wrote Mason’s name down, didn’t you?”
    Valerie nodded, unable to meet her sister’s eyes.
    “Did something happen between you two today?” Brea asked. “Supper was damned uncomfortable.”
    Valerie inhaled, then let it out. “He came to see me in my room when I arrived.”
    “Uh oh. Did you two argue?” Jolene frowned. “I’ll kick his ass if he was mean to you.”
    “He wasn’t mean to me. We were talking, and then all of a sudden we were kissing.”
    “Whoa.” Brea’s eyes widened.
    “Yeah. I didn’t mean for it to happen. We’re divorced. He and I are history.”
    “Apparently not,” Jolene said, her lips lifting. “You two have always had combustible chemistry.”
    Valerie pushed herself into a standing position and paced the room. “I shouldn’t have come home. I need the distance between him and me.”
    Jolene reached for her hand. “Hiding isn’t going to solve what’s wrong between you and Mason.”
    “It’s been working just fine the past two years.”
    “Has it? Five minutes together and you’re tearing each other’s clothes off.”
    She pinned Jolene with a glare. “Nothing happened. I stopped it.”
    “Dumbass,” Brea mumbled. “You two are meant for each other. You have been since the first day you laid eyes on each other.”
    Valerie shook her head. “I don’t think so. His life is here. Mine is in Dallas. We want different things.”
    “Only because you think you can’t live here.”
    She turned her gaze to Jolene, swept her hand across her baby sister’s cheek. “I can’t live here. I tried.”
    Jolene hugged her. “Then I guess you’ll have to figure out a way to bury the past and your feelings for Mason. And we’ll be here to help you pick up the pieces.”
    Brea moved in and hugged her, too. “We’ll always be here for you.”
    Shit. Tears pricked her eyes and she forced them back. She threw her arms around her sisters. It had always been her job to take care of them, and now they were shouldering her burdens.
    “You know, as much as I hated the thought of coming here, I’m so damn glad to be with you two again. Bickering and all.”
    Jolene pulled away and grinned. “That’s not bickering. That’s just sisterhood.”
     
     
    they sat and went through their mother’s box of memorabilia for a while longer, drinking wine and reminiscing about their childhood until Jolene and Brea decided to go up to bed.
    Valerie wasn’t ready for sleep yet. She needed some air, so she pulled the doors open, went straight for the front door and down the porch steps, out into the chilly spring night. By the time she made it all the way to the barn, she wished she’d put on warmer clothes and a jacket; she’d forgotten how cold the nights could get out here in the spring. Goose bumps pricked her skin, making her shiver all over.
    She should head back to the house, but too many memories clung there. Instead, she opened the barn doors, and was enveloped in the warmth from the horses.
    “Hey, babies,” she said in a soft, gentle voice as she closed the door, letting the darkness surround her. She inhaled the scent of hay and horses and smiled. Such familiar smells. Sometimes the things of home just felt right. This felt right. She moved in, careful not to make too much noise in the dark. “It’s just me.” She wanted to assure them she wasn’t some stranger there to harm them.
    She heard the movement of hooves, the occasional wuffling of their breathing, but otherwise all was quiet. She moved along each stall, refamiliarizing herself with horses she’d ridden before, and meeting some of the new ones. The smell reminded her of being in here with her father. He’d loved the horses. He’d loved everything about this ranch, about this life. She had, too, until her parents had been abruptly taken away from her. Then she’d hated everything about the Bar M.
    Except Mason. But he hadn’t been enough to keep her here.
    “You could turn some light on