How to Rope a Real Man by Melissa Cutler

would be as if someone had reengineered the dominos she and Carson had tipped that fateful night and she was going to start a whole new chain reaction.
    “For the past four years, I’ve been going to college and I’m graduating next month,” she blurted before she could overthink it to death. She sucked in a breath and studied his reaction.
    His brows squeezed together and he hit the brakes, maneuvering his truck onto a turnout on the shoulder of the road. Jenna tensed, feeling confused and defensive.
    He unbuckled his seat belt and twisted, hitching a knee on the seat. Then he looked her square in the face with a huge smile. In the glow of the car’s instrument panel, she could just make out her favorite dimple. “I was trying to guess what you were going to say, but it sure wasn’t anything that cool. Where? When? Let’s hear some details.”
    His enthusiasm was irresistible. Her body instantly relaxed with relief. “The University of New Mexico has a correspondence program. For the most part, my classes have been online except for midterms and finals. Once a week, I have a computer lab on the UNM campus in Albuquerque.”
    “You’re getting a degree in something computer-related? That’s perfect for you. Let me think . . . graphic design?”
    Graphic design was a great guess. After she, Amy, and Rachel had transformed their farm into an inn and restaurant, Matt had asked for a referral to their website designer to help him create one for the legal clinic he was thinking of opening. Jenna would never forget the bold admiration on Matt’s face when he’d discovered it to be her. That had been a moment of clarity for Jenna, outside proof that she had marketable skills to go along with her passion for computer programming.
    “Close. Computer engineering.”
    He whistled, clearly impressed.
    “Why did you stop the car?”
    He gave her hand a squeeze. “News this extraordinary deserved my full attention.”
    Well, that was something. She’d been bending over backward for eight months trying to get his full attention. If she’d had any idea that her secret life as a college student would do the trick, she might’ve taken him into her confidences months ago.
    He rubbed his chin. “Let me get this straight. When you were twenty, you had a one-year-old son, a job as a waitress, a sick mom, and a farm to take care of—and you signed up for college on top of all that? And you’re graduating after only four years, even though you chose not to seek any support from your family or friends?”
    “Yes,” she answered breathlessly. What was he getting at?
    His eyes glittered with genuine admiration. “You’re a badass, Jenna. You know that, right?”
    “I . . .” She didn’t feel like a badass. She felt desperate to build a better life for her and Tommy somewhere away from Catcher Creek. But Matt’s praise felt good. Jenna wasn’t sure anyone had ever admired how hard she worked and how many hats she wore. “Thank you.”
    “Does UNM hold a ceremony for people who graduate in summer?”
    “A small one, along with an invitation to walk in the campus-wide one after the fall semester.”
    “Are you going to attend them?”
    She considered demurring, then decided against it. “Yes, I am. I think I’ve earned that.”
    “Absolutely.”
    She gestured out the windshield. “We’d better keep moving. I don’t want your sister waiting too long for us.”
    He nodded, reclipped his seat belt, and eased back onto the highway. “This doesn’t sound like it should be a secret, but something you should be shouting from the rooftops. Your sisters would be proud of you. Why haven’t you told them?”
    No wonder he was such a great lawyer. Always bringing the topic back to the main point, not letting anything slip past his radar. “Because it means I’m leaving the farm. I have a job lined up working for the state as a software developer in their Santa Fe office. It’s not my dream job, but it’s another step in