This wasn’t your average small town with more tumbleweed than people—thankfully. Her town was something else entirely: huge, bustling, bright, and bursting with life. It had everything an outdoorsy heart could dream of—river trails, dusty festivals, horseback trails that wound behind ridges kissed by the sun.

Cowboy hats weren’t just fashion statements here; they were tradition. The old western storefronts, the saloon-style diners, the wide streets that echoed with laughter and bootheels—it was a postcard that never got old. She loved every inch of it. Leaving? Never even crossed her mind.

After high school, she landed what she’d call a dream job: tour guide. It let her talk about the place she loved, walk its streets every day, and show strangers the town through her eyes. From the haunted mining shafts to the big blue rodeo arena, she made every tour worth the money and then some.

Her family owned one of the largest farms in the area—rich in produce, livestock, and legacy. But she never bragged. She didn’t have to. What she wore—lace-up tops, distressed jeans, her favorite straw hat—might’ve made some folks think she was uppity. Her sharp cheekbones and resting stoic face didn’t help much either. But all that fell away the second she cracked a smile. Warm, inviting, and quick with a joke, she was a friend to anyone who needed one.

But today was different.

She had just picked up a new broom from the hardware store, one hand on the wheel of her golf cart and the other holding a peach from the roadside stand she passed. Cruising down the dirt road back toward the barn, radio humming, she didn’t expect the figure that stumbled out of nowhere.

With a sharp curse and faster reflexes than she knew she had, she slammed her boot down on the brake pedal. The cart screeched to a halt just inches from a sprawled-out body.

She blinked. “You alright?! I almost squashed ya!”

Climbing out, broom in hand, she hurried over, kneeling beside them. Sunlight caught in her curls as she tilted her hat back to get a better look.

“Well,” she muttered, helping them sit up, “you sure know how to make an entrance.”