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her PB&J suddenly feeling like a thick, lead anchor in her gut.
    “Like hell you do.” Kris’s head cranked around on his shoulder. “I know you mean well. But you have no fucking idea how I feel right now.”
    Olivia’s breath hitched. Kris shuffled off toward his room. God, her heart ached for him. Even though he’d never believe it, she did understand how he felt. Because it was the same helpless, trapped feeling she carried every day when she had to walk out that door and struggle to keep afloat the things she loved the most in this world.
    Like a magnet to its polar opposite, Olivia crossed the room toward the table where Eion had left his business card. She stared down at the simple, yet elegant black on cream design that stated only his name and number. Sighing, she lifted the card from the table and slipped it into her top pocket. Her pulse raced at the idea of having something of Eion’s next to her flesh.
    So stupid.
    Her brother was close to a meltdown. Her home and land were within inches of the chopping block. The man who seemed to hold a piece of her heart and had plagued her dreams for more than a decade had just shown up on her doorstep, but wanted nothing to do with her. Yet here she was coveting a slip of paper that belonged to him. But the man who did want her, who would never skip out on her, she couldn’t seem to give her heart.
    She shook her head, whirled around, and gathered up the remains of her lunch. Damn, could life get any better than this?
    ***
    “I can’t believe you talked me into this,” Olivia said and checked her hair in the visor’s mirror. “It’s Sunday. We both have to be in early tomorrow morning, and you know I don’t like leaving Kris alone when it’s not necessary.”
    “You need a night out, Livvy,” Taylor said, sliding his Tahoe into a parking spot in front of Chuck’s , the best steak house in Little Crow Pass. Well, the only steak house in town. “You wouldn’t go out last night, and I wasn’t going to let you come up with another excuse tonight. Besides, Kris will be fine for one evening. He does okay during the day while you’re at work.”
    “Yeah, I know.” She closed the visor with a snap against the vehicle’s roof. “But the ranch hands are in and out during the day, checking on him.” Olivia popped her seatbelt free. “I just can’t help but worry. He’s going through a lot right now, and me being out on a date…” Taylor grabbed her hand.
    “Is exactly where he wants you to be.” His gaze captured hers, softening her resolve. Maybe he was right. She sighed. Maybe this is where she needed to be tonight. Taylor was such a great guy, and Lord knew she could really use some fun. Josie would be all over a night like this. Heck, most women, in fact, any woman in town would be falling all over themselves for a chance with the handsome doctor. Sometimes Olivia wondered if she even knew how to let her guard down and live in the moment.
    A few minutes later with Olivia on Taylor’s arm, they passed through the restaurant’s oversized, thick doors with Chuck’s etched in the glass windows in the center of the wood. Inside, the place had a chic lodge-like feel with peanut shells on the floor and dark heavy wood paneling. But it was cozy, with a few booths hugging the perimeter of the room.
    “Taylor, Olivia, so good to see you.” Sue Larson, co-owner, hustled up to the front. She tugged at the sleeves of her black Chuck’s shirt, the logo embroidered in white with a steer horn protruding from either side of the name. “Would you two like a booth for a little privacy?” She swung her gaze to Taylor with a knowing smile.
    “That would be perfect,” Taylor said.
    They followed her toward the rear of the restaurant to a booth in the corner with a rounded back. Taylor allowed Olivia to slide in first. After placing menus on the table, Sue grinned and informed them that Barb would be over soon to get their drink order.
    “No rush,” Taylor