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ago. He doesn’t have any small herds right now, but he’ll keep a lookout. I’m just anxious to get started.”
    Judging from the way her mother covered up a small cough, she might have thought Kane was referring to more than just cows.
    â€œIs there something you want to tell us?” her mother asked.
    Eliza hoped that question wasn’t directed at her. But no such luck. Her mother was looking right at her.
    â€œNo, nothing,” Eliza said. It was an easy answer. The less she said, the less she’d have to lie. Or risk exacerbating the stabbing pain in her head.
    Her mother flexed her eyebrows. “Well, you didn’t come home until after six this morning. Violet got to Dax’s around four because he texted me to let me know she’d made it in all right.”
    Since Eliza lived in a cottage just about thirty yards from her parents’ house, it wouldn’t have been hard for her mother to notice the limo dropping her off. Which meant her mother might be fishing for some kind of admission that Eliza had spent the night with Kane. Her mom wouldn’t see that as fodder for a shotgun engagement, but she might be asking Kane’s intentions.
    â€œShe was with me,” Kane volunteered.
    â€œI see,” her mother said. Her father pretended to be oblivious to the conversation. He probably didn’t want to know that his grown daughters did such things.
    â€œYou stayed the night?” Violet asked her. She attempted a smile, winced again.
    â€œA few hours this morning,” Eliza corrected.
    And the room fell silent. Then something happened that Eliza certainly wasn’t expecting. Tears filled her mother’s eyes.
    â€œThey’re happy tears, I promise,” her mother quickly assured her. “It’s just when you broke up with Brett, I thought maybe you were chasing a dream that wasn’t meant for you.”
    Oh, God. Her mother hadn’t just said that, had she?
    Yes, she had, and she just kept on going.
    â€œI mean, I felt responsible because I thought maybe you were in the ‘seize the day’ frame of mind because you realized life was short. And I knew you’d always had a crush on Kane, but I had no idea it would ever work out between you. I can see now, though, that you were right to break up with the wrong man so you could go after what you really wanted.”
    Eliza mentally repeated that “oh, God.”
    Her mother didn’t seem to notice what had to be a shell-shocked look on Eliza’s face. Maybe because her happy tears had clouded her eyes. Maybe also because everyone had finished eating, and she stood to start clearing the table. Eliza stood, too, to help, but Kane stepped in front of her.
    â€œWe need to, uh, talk,” he whispered.
    It seemed like a good time for another “oh, God.”
    â€œI’ll be back to help you in just a minute,” Eliza told her mother.
    â€œTake your time,” Dax insisted. He winked at Kane and her. “I’ll do the dishes.”
    Dax probably thought Kane was carting her off to a kissing session, but Eliza figured that was the last thing on his mind right now. Not with the juicy little detail her mother had just tossed out there. Since she didn’t want her family to hear this, Eliza took the lead and motioned for Kane to follow her to the front porch.
    â€œYou broke up with your boyfriend to be with me?” Kane asked the moment they were outside. “And what was all that ‘seize the day’ stuff about? Why would your mother feel responsible for any of this?”
    Figuring she’d need it, Eliza took a deep breath and decided how much of this she should tell him. Since there’d already been too many lies, she went with the whole truth.
    â€œYes,” she admitted. Judging from his flat look, he wanted slightly more than that. “I ended things with my old boyfriend because I thought I’d give it one last shot to be with