Burke's Christmas Surprise. Sandra Steffen

at the look of self-confidence and humor on Wes’s lean face.

      “The longest eight and a half seconds of my life. Near as I can tell, ridin’ a bucking bronco is a lot like steering a spaceship through reentry.”

      “How many times have you steered a spaceship through reentry?” Louetta asked around a grin.

      Although she hadn’t seen much of Wes since they’d graduated from high school, she realized he’d always been easy to be with. Maybe it was because he hadn’t exactly fit in, either. He hadn’t been unpopular, but he’d rarely participated in after-school activities.

      Louetta couldn’t remember much about Wes’s mother, who’d died when he was a young boy, but it was common knowledge that Sam Stryker had had a drinking problem, just as it was common knowledge that the reason Wes had spent every free moment practicing his roping and riding skills was that he’d been planning his escape from Jasper Gulch. He’d left town the day after graduation. Although he’d come back a couple of times every year, nobody had really expected him to return for good. But then, Louetta thought to herself, nobody had ever expected her to be pursued by two men, either.