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Mallory thought this was. One initiated by her mother, perhaps, but clearly with the universe’s approval: to get up off her duff—in a manner of speaking—and actually move forward with something instead of only talking about it. A bad habit she’d slipped into over the last little while.
    But the move to Whispering Pines had been Mallory’s idea, so there was that. Even though her decision had clearly flummoxed her poor Realtor. Why not Jackson Hole? Or Vail? Or even Taos, if she had her heart set on New Mexico?
    Mallory hadn’t gone into details. Her reasons were her own. Not that she couldn’t see the woman’s point, that here was pretty much nowhere . Only, what no one understood, was that nowhere was exactly where Mallory needed to be right now. As in, somewhere where no one could find her. Watch her. Pity her.
    Somewhere where she could truly start over. Some thing she’d avoided doing until now, even if she hadn’t fully realized that. And some times starting over really did mean starting from scratch. From nothing—
    And good Lord, she’d wandered off again, hadn’t she?
    “You know how much your brother’s asking for... What’s the horse’s name, anyway?”
    That got a low, rumbly chuckle. “Waffles.”
    “You’re kidding? That’s adorable.”
    “That’s one way of looking at it. And Josh usually only asks for enough to cover his costs. We’re not talking prize stud here or anything. The two of you can hash that out, if you decide to take him.” Another chuckle. “The horse, I mean.”
    “Would tomorrow work?” Mallory pushed out of her mouth, surprised how hard her heart was beating. “I know it’s Sunday, but—”
    “No, tomorrow would be fine,” Dr. Talbot said, sounding a little surprised himself. “I’ll probably have my kids with me, though.”
    “Not a problem.” Then she smiled, even as her heart twanged with missing Landon. “Boys? Girls?”
    “Boys. Two of them. Loud. Constantly moving. Fight every five minutes. You’ve been warned.”
    At that, a laugh burst from Mallory’s chest. “How about early afternoon, if that works for you?”
    “One-thirty? That’ll give us time to get home from church, get them fed.”
    Church. Sunday dinners. An ordinary life she dimly remembered. Missed more than she’d realized. “Sounds good.” Sounds wonderful...
    “Buzz at the gate, somebody’ll let you in.”
    “Will do,” she said, then ended the call, holding the phone to her chest as she heard the front door open. If she wasn’t mistaken, that weird, tingly feeling in her chest was...excitement. Lord, she was in a worse way than she thought. Because damned if she wasn’t looking forward to meeting this forthright-to-a-fault dude with the low, rumbly voice.
    “Hey, honeybunch,” her mother called out. “We’re home!”
    And no way on God’s green earth was she sharing that tidbit with her mother.
    Edgar’s little nails scritched across the tile as he scurried over to Mallory, then stood on his hind legs so she could scoop him into her lap. Because she loved the scrawny little bugger beyond all reason. Mama followed shortly, fluffing her hair and wearing that look in her eyes that Mallory wished she could figure out how to banish once and for all. Not that she had anything against her mother’s chronic optimism—heaven knows she wouldn’t have made it this far without it—but all that cheerfulness did get tiring.
    “So your Dr. Talbot called,” she said, and Mama—who’d been unloading grocery bags onto the city-block-sized quartz counter in the kitchen—jerked up her head. Surprised, maybe, but not in the least bit guilty.
    “My goodness, he works fast,” she said, grabbing two jars of peanut butter and carting them over to the pantry. “I didn’t expect to hear from him so soon.” Shoving up her sweater sleeves, she returned to the counter, scooped up a half dozen boxes of pasta. “I assume he was calling about the horse?”
    “He was. And thanks