“Might turned into did.” He dropped her on her feet, and still grinning, looked at her. “You got taller.”

“Some. I think I’m done now. So did you.”

Taller, and harder-and the scruff he hadn’t shaven off in a day or two, she judged, added sexy. His hair, longer than the last time she’d seen him, curled and waved around his face so his chilled blue eyes seemed even clearer, sharper.

The trickle inside her went warm.

He took her hand as he turned to study the house. “It looks the same. New paint on the shutters, but it looks the same.”

He didn’t, she thought. Not exactly. “How long have you been back? Nobody said you were here.”

“I’ve been back about ten seconds. I called my grandparents when I hit Sioux Falls, but I told them not to say.” He released her hand, but only to wrap his arm around her shoulders. “I wanted to surprise you.”

“You did. You really did.”

“I stopped by here before I went there.”

And now, she realized, everything she wanted and loved most was here for the summer. “Come inside. There’s sun tea. When did you get that thing?”

He glanced back at the motorcycle. “Nearly a year ago. I figured if I could make it back this summer, it’d be fun to bike cross-country.”

He stopped at the base of the stairs, cocking his head as he scanned her face.

“What?”

“You look… good.”

“I do not.” She shoved at her hair, gone to tangles under her flat-brimmed hat. “I just got back from the trail. I smell. If you’d gotten here a half hour later, I’d be cleaned up.”

He just kept staring at her face. “You look good. I missed you, Lil.”

“I knew you’d come back.” Giving in, she went into his arms again, closed her eyes. “I should’ve known it would be today, when I saw the cougar.”

“What?”

“I’ll tell you all about it. Come inside, Coop. Welcome home.”

Once her parents had come in, greeted Coop, settled down with him, Lil dashed upstairs. The long hot shower of her dreams became the fastest shower in history. Moving at light speed, she pulled out her small supply of makeup. Nothing too obvious, she ordered herself, and used a light hand with blush, added mascara and just a hint of lip gloss. Since it would take forever to dry her hair, she pulled it all back, still damp, into a tail.

She thought about earrings, told herself it was too obvious. Clean jeans, she decided, a fresh shirt. Natural, casual.

Her heart was beating like a marching band.

It was weird, it was strange, it was unexpected. But she had the hots for her best friend.

He looked so different-the same, but different. The hollows in his cheeks were new and fascinating. His hair was shaggy and sexy with the dark brown just starting to go streaky from the sun. He’d already started to tan a little-she remembered how he’d go brown in the sun. And his eyes, that glacier ice blue, just pierced some unexplored land inside her.

She wished she’d kissed him. Just a friendly hi-Coop sort of thing. Then she’d know what it was like, know what it felt like to have his mouth meet hers.

Calm down, she ordered herself. He’d probably laugh his head off if he knew what she was thinking. She took several deep breaths, then walked slowly downstairs.

She could hear them in the kitchen: her mother’s laugh, her father’s joking tones-and Coop’s voice. Deeper, wasn’t it deeper than it had been?

She had to stop and breathe again. Then fixing an easy smile on her face, she strolled back into the kitchen.

He stopped, in the middle of a sentence, and stared. Blinked. Just that instant, that surprise that flickered in his eyes, had her skin humming.

“So are you staying for supper?” Lil asked him.

“We were just trying to talk him into it. But Lucy and Sam are expecting him. Sunday,” Jenna said with a finger wag. “Everybody here for a picnic on Sunday.”

“Absolutely. I remember the first one. We can fit in some batting practice.”

“Bet I can still outhit you.” She leaned back against the counter and smiled in a way that had him blinking again.

“We’ll see about that.”

“I was hoping for a ride on that toy you’ve got out there.”

“A Harley,” he said in sober tones, “is nobody’s toy.”

“Why don’t you show me what it can do?”

“Sure. Sunday, I’ll-”

“I was thinking now. It’s all right, isn’t it?” She turned to her mother. “Just a half hour?”

“Ah… Do you have helmets, Cooper?”

“Yeah, ah, I bought a second one figuring… Yeah.”

“How many tickets have you racked up riding that?” Joe asked him.

“None in the last four months,” Cooper said with a grin.

“Bring my girl back like you took her.”

“I will. Thanks for the tea,” he said as he rose. “I’ll see you on Sunday.”

Jenna watched them go out, then looked at her husband. “Oh,” she said.

He gave her a weak smile. “I was heading more toward: oh, shit.”

Outside, Lil studied the helmet he offered. “So are you going to teach me to drive this thing?”

“Maybe.”

She put the helmet on, watching him while she strapped it. “I can handle it.”

“Yeah, I bet you could.” He got on. “I thought about picking up a sissy seat, but-”

“I’m no sissy,” she said, and swung on behind him. She snugged her body behind his, wrapped her arms around his waist. Could he feel her heart thudding? she wondered. “Let her rip, Coop!”

When he did, zipping down the farm road, she let out a scream of delight. “It’s nearly as good as riding a horse,” she shouted.

“Better on the highway. Lean into the turns,” he told her, “and keep a good grip on me.”

Behind him, she smiled. She intended to.

COOP MEASURED OUT grain while the sun streamed through the loft windows. He could hear his grandmother singing as she fed the chickens, and their clucking accompaniment. In the stalls, horses chuffed and chewed.

It was funny how it all came back-the smells, the sounds, the quality of light and shadow. It had been two years since he’d fed a horse or groomed one, since he’d sat down at a big kitchen table at dawn to a plate of flapjacks.