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For a moment, knowing she’d been paying that much attention to him felt almost impossibly good.

Then he looked at the schedules again.

Wait.

His mind went immediately to the cooler in his truck the day before. She’d poured an electrolyte packet into his water but not bothered with hers and didn’t say a thing. She’d made sure the pop-up canopy was packed on top so he could set it up first.

Not me, us. She insisted on me waiting for her help.

His range times scheduled in the coolest part of the day. Outdoor work scheduled early whenever possible.

For one ugly second, all of it changed shape.

No.

Mac rubbed one hand over his face.

That’s not fair.

Jodie packed water for everybody. She’d spent half the morning watching the temperature because horses were about to be run across open country. She put up shade because people needed shade.

And at Watchdog, she organized work around weather because she was good at her job.

Besides, with the range he had always preferred mornings anyway and had told her that early on. She hadn’t created that habit for him; she’d accommodated what he wanted. But this⁠—

Mac looked down at the three schedules. His name had been removed from assignments.

Without Jodie asking me. Always an excuse instead. Did she think I was weak, that I couldn’t handle my job?

Does she still think that way?

“Find them?”

Mac looked up quickly.

Jodie was walking toward him with Willow, both carrying clipboards. Her face was flushed from the heat, tendrils of hair coming loose from a messy knot at the back of her head.

Mac slid the old schedules back into the pocket and pulled out the maps.

“Yeah,” he said. “Right where you said.”

“Perfect.” She smiled as she reached for one set. “Willow needs two copies, and Virgil asked for another in case somebody goes out of bounds.”

Mac smiled back as he handed them over.

What else did you change without telling me, Ranch Girl?

By late afternoon, Mac had found enough work to keep his hands busy.

One of the water tanks near the camp had developed a slow leak at the hose connection, so Mac tightened the fitting and replaced a cracked washer. After that, he helped Virgil move a couple of barricades they wouldn’t need until morning. None of it required much thought.

Unfortunately, his brain had decided to provide plenty.

She kept me out of the heat without telling me.

Across the yard, Jodie handed Sandra a bottle of sunscreen, then pointed toward the back of her neck until Sandra rolled her eyes and put some on.

She watches out for everybody.