With a last look at the empty drive, he turned and headed for the barn. He would lose himself in work, and eventually he would forget her.

Chapter One

Five months later

“Excuse me, Miss, but this toast is burned. And I clearly asked for real half-and-half with my coffee, not this nondairy junk.”

Taylor stared down at the annoying customer seated at table fifteen, wishing he would just disappear. Every Saturday morning he came to the Pancake Hut for breakfast, and every Saturday morning he found something wrong with his food—which meant she had to take it back to the kitchen.

The cook—her boss—hated it when she took an order back. He usually got mad and purposely messed up her next several orders.

That had the same result every time. Lower tips.

Taylor needed those tips. Desperately. She lived from paycheck to paycheck, barely managing to keep a roof over her head and make payments on the debts she’d racked up several months ago. So instead of telling Mr. Annoying where he could put his toast—which was what she would have done a few months ago—she gritted her teeth and counted to ten.

He waved to his side order plate. “What are you gonna do about my toast? I’m hungry and I don’t got all day.”

She reached for the toast. The slices were a light golden brown, not burned at all. It figured. “I’m very sorry, sir. I’ll replace this as quickly as I can.” If she timed it right, she could do it herself while the cook was busy at the grill. If he didn’t see her she’d be all right.

The customer huffed, then gave her a grudging nod. “What about my cream?”

“We don’t have any, but I could bring some milk. Would that do?”

“Well, be quick about it.”

Fighting the urge to bop the man on the head, Taylor turned away from the table.

That was when she saw him. Jake. Standing at the entrance to the coffee shop, gorgeous and rugged in faded jeans and a thick shearling coat.

In the space of an instant, Taylor’s world shifted sideways. She felt as if her stomach had plummeted to the ground. Her whole body tingled with shock.

Five months, she thought. It had been five long, challenging months since she’d seen him, yet it might have been only yesterday. He was so much the same, so familiar with that long, lean rancher’s body and thick dark hair.

How many times this fall had she imagined being with him again? Imagined what it would feel like to be in his arms again, warm and comforted instead of alone in a cold, impersonal city?

Everything about him had haunted her. His seductive brown eyes, the masculine grace of his movements, the warm scent of his skin. She remembered the first day they’d met, on vacation last summer. The sensations came back to her: hot sun on her skin, powder-soft sand underfoot. The scent of suntan lotion. And Jake, sitting there on the beach in Mexico, propped up on his elbows, watching her walk by. She’d felt an intense attraction the moment her gaze had locked onto his chiseled features and dark, windtousled hair. And when their eyes had met, she’d felt the most heady response.

It had been a magical week, full of champagne and music and moonlit dancing. They’d eloped before the trip was over, each of them absolutely confident they’d found their life partner.

But then he’d brought her home to the Cassidy Ranch—and everything had fallen apart. Within days she’d felt the change in him. The subtle withdrawal. She’d married him for his passion, for his joy in life, but once on the ranch he’d settled into a pattern of nonstop twelve-hour days and left her to her own devices. Their physical attraction had been strong, but not strong enough to bridge the growing gulf between them.

She’d tried to ignore it. But the feeling of abandonment she’d experienced was all too familiar. Her mother and father had always valued their work and their social lives more than her. She’d thought Jake would be different, that he would value her more, but he didn’t.

Their marriage was an impulsive mistake. Though it had started in a passionate whirlwind, it crashed and burned in barely a month.

She watched Jake now as he scanned the busy restaurant, looking for her, she knew. Nothing else would have brought him to Boston, to this dingy little dive in a bad part of town.

And the only reason he’d be looking for her was to initiate their divorce. A sick feeling settled in her stomach. She’d known this day would come, had tried to tell herself it was what she wanted. To be free of him. But that didn’t explain her reaction, her sudden flash of despair.

Finally Jake’s deep brown eyes locked onto hers, steady, assessing. Feeling like a deer caught in the headlights of a car, she stared back at him, frozen and vulnerable. Even her mind seemed frozen, stuck on that one awful thought. Divorce.