Putting the Heart Before the Horse

No one laughed.

She felt her cheeks flush scarlet, immediately aware that she’d made a terrible mistake. After a moment of silence that convinced Hope everyone had heard what she said, conversation resumed.

"Hey.” Josh leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Don’t worry about it. It’s okay.”

"No, it’s not!” she hissed back. "I’m about to die of embarrassment, and that is not okay!”

Having a heated, nearly silent spat at the dinner table was maybe the only thing worse than her original mistake, so Hope pointedly did not look at Josh anymore. Instead, she pretended that she was fascinated by the discussion Rick and Allison were having about cattle feed. As soon as she felt it she could politely leave, she thanked Rick for dinner and retreated to her room.

What a disaster. In her nervousness, she’d said something offensive and probably ruined any chances of Josh’s family liking her. Why couldn’t I have just kept my mouth shut? They must think I’m an idiot and a bigot. I should never have come, she thought. She considered going to bed, but she knew she’d only lie there and replay the humiliating incident over and over in her head.

Then she remembered a suggestion Rick had made earlier that evening. It was worth a try.

Down a bit from her bedroom and across the hall, Hope saw an open door. Classical music—something with a piano—drifted out. She walked up and peeked inside, and based on Rick’s directions, she was pretty sure she had the right person. She tapped gently on the door.

“Tammy, right?”

The red-haired woman sitting at a desk turned around, and her freckled face lit up with a smile. “Hope! Hi.”

“Am I interrupting you? I don’t want to bother you if you’re studying.”

“No, it’s a perfect time for a break. Come on in.” Tammy paused the music and stood and stretched her arms over her head. She was even shorter than Hope, who was unused to looking down at anyone. “I have finals coming up before too long. It feels like I’m spending my whole life in this room.” She gestured Hope to the empty chair next to the desk and sat down on the edge of her bed.

“What are you studying?” Hope asked. The laptop screen showed pie charts and a spreadsheet, the kind of stuff that had always given Hope hives.

“I’m getting an MBA online. I’ve been doing small-business consulting for a few places in town, and I want to be able to expand to some of the bigger cities around here. Fort Collins, Cheyenne, even Denver and Boulder.”

“Wow,” Hope said. “That’s great.”

“Josh said you’re a writer?”

“Yeah, freelance. Magazine articles, a lot of travel stuff. Some biographical profiles.”

“That sounds like a lot of fun,” Tammy said.

“It is. But it can also be tiring.”

“And a little lonely?” asked Tammy, knowingly.

“Maybe,” Hope admitted. “I mean, I did sign up with a matchmaker.”

“And look at what you got.”

“Was it easy for you? Not being a shifter?”

“That’s not the hard part. Marriage is hard. Raising kids is hard. Digging holes for fence posts is really hard.” Tammy scooted back to the head of the bed and leaned back on the pillows resting against the headboard. “I grew up here, in town, and went to school with all of the Farris brothers and sisters. That doesn’t mean I

didn’t freak out when I turned eighteen and Mark told me on our first date that we were destined to be together.”

Hope winced, remembering how that conversation had gone with Josh. “It’s a lot to take in.”

“Tell me about it. Here’s your hamburger, with a side of soul mate.”

“What did you do?”

“I may have thrown a glass of water in his face.” Tammy laughed and buried her face in her hands, so that her next words came out muffled. “It sounded like one hell of a pickup line.”

“No!” Hope gasped.