Small-Town Moms by Janet Tronstad

she could think of that might be giving him trouble.
    He shook his head like that wasn’t where his mindhad gone. “I’m just glad you can work from Dry Creek. That’s all.”
    â€œOh, yeah, that should work out fine for now,” she said.
    Â 
    Clint stood there, facing her and ignoring the questions in her eyes. He needed to get the knots out of his tongue before she thought he’d gone daft. He’d almost stepped over that precipice without even thinking about it. He’d been going to say that maybe she could have a job in Dry Creek long-term. He might have even asked about them having a future together.
    He was a fool sometimes, but he hoped he had enough sense to know that a woman like Maegan didn’t make a snap judgment when it came to her future. They’d known each other a week now. People didn’t fall in love in that little time, did they?
    When he didn’t say anything, Maegan looked at her watch.
    â€œShouldn’t we go get Lilly?” she asked and the moment was gone.
    Clint thought he’d be relieved. He’d avoided the plunge into embarrassment. But it didn’t feel as good as he thought it would.
    Of course, Maegan was right. It was time to head into town and get Lilly.
    Clint had picked Maegan up when he’d taken Lilly to the bus this morning so they both rode in his pickup to meet the bus at the café.
    The gravel road leading into town was packed solid now that the rain had stopped. The sun had been bright for most of the day, but it was still chilly. Maegan wasquiet for most of the ride and Clint had let his cautious nature guide him.
    Driving into the small town of Dry Creek though, he remembered other times—all those times as a boy when he hadn’t reached out and asked someone to help him and Joe have a better life. He knew the town here didn’t look like much, but people took risks every day. The old men who gathered in the hardware store could swap tales about times when they planted crops that had been wiped out by drought or hordes of grasshoppers. They’d suffered loss. But he knew that, if he asked them, they’d tell him there were times in a man’s life when he needed to risk everything on the chance that he would find something precious.
    Clint pulled his pickup to a stop near the café and looked over at Maegan. A strand of her hair was escaping the bandana she still wore. She had a smudge of lavender paint on her cheekbone. She had none of the makeup she’d worn when they first met and she looked tired. Yet, she was more beautiful than he had ever seen her.
    All of a sudden the precipice he thought he was facing turned into a gentle hillside, the kind he used to roll down as a boy. Those times had been refreshing and sweet. He reached out and tucked Maegan’s hair behind her bandana. He left his thumb there, resting on her cheek. She was so still he thought he could feel her pulse.
    And then she looked up at him. Her eyes shimmered with emotions. He didn’t suppose she liked being shut out any more than he would have liked it if she was holding back.
    He smiled and softly moved his thumb down hercheek until he rested it beneath her chin. “What I meant to say earlier was that I would like it very much if you came to live here in Dry Creek. I know the job might take some doing, but people here have legal problems, too. Between that and the work you’re getting from your current firm, you could have a practice.”
    She blinked and he knew he couldn’t stop there. “It’s about you and me, too. I want us to have a future together.” He could feel her pulse quicken. “I don’t want to pressure you. There’s nothing to worry about. I just want you to know the thought of being with you doesn’t make me worry that I’m jumping off a cliff.”
    She blinked again and her eyes crinkled with amusement. Her pulse steadied and she put her hand up to his