"She needs a name," Sophia mused. "Don't you think?"

She kicked her legs aimlessly, munching on a piece of buttered toast. Across the stall, Ava looked up from where she was crouched next to the white horse. A stethoscope dangled around her neck, and she was wielding a very scary white instrument that she had reassured Sophia was only a thermometer.

"What about Snow?" Ava suggested.

Sophia wrinkled her nose. "Too literal."

"Tabby? After your friend?"

"I don't know," Sophia mused. "She'll probably insist on painting the horse's hooves different colours to match her nails. I don't want to put the poor animal through that."

Footsteps approached. The smell of clean lemon aftershave and hay filled the barn, and Sophia knew who it was before he spoke.

"How's the patient?" Finn asked.

"Alive," Ava said, climbing to her feet. "And it's a miracle that she is, by the way; I've never seen a horse in that condition survive." She shook her head. "She'll need surgery, though. Probably today."

"Can you do it now?" Sophia asked.

"Oh, not me," Ava said, looking horrified. "My boss will do it; I'm just the assistant." She consulted her phone. "You can bring her in later. How's two o'clock?"

Sophia glanced at Finn, who shrugged. "The rodeo doesn't start until later."

"That's great, then," Sophia said.

"The procedure will be expensive," Ava warned. "And you'll never be able to race her, either; she'll always be lame."

She glanced at the horse, who was breathing shallowly. Sophia had grown oddly attached to the animal; she was pretty sure that she would have sold all her designer handbags and her left kidney just to pay for the surgery.

It was quite concerning.

"Here," Finn muttered. "This is for you."

He passed Sophia a to-go cup, and it took her a moment to realize that it was a matcha latte from Southern Ireland. Her mouth felt dry.

"Thanks," she croaked.

She couldn't quite meet Finn's eyes as she took the latte. Technically, nothing had happened between them last night, but she still felt like everything had changed. She wasn't sure how tospeak to him anymore.

Thankfully, Ava took the lead.

"You're right on time," Ava told him. "Sophia was just saying her horse needs a name."

"Oh, that's easy," Finn said, smirking. "Name her after the best bareback rider in the world."

"Andrew?" Sophia asked innocently, and Finn gave her a withering look.

"Hilarious."

Sophia yawned slightly. It had been one hell of a night; she couldn't remember ever feeling more exhausted. And she had suffered through jet lag, pulling all-nighters to finish university papers, and marathon meetings for her job. And Sophia's work wasn't done yet; now, she was going to fight hard to make sure that this horse stayed alive.

An idea sparked.

"Opus," Sophia said confidently. "That's her name."

"Opus?"

"It means work," Sophia explained. "In Latin."

"You know what?" Finn said. "I think I actually like it."

He sounded so surprised that Sophia elbowed him in the ribs. Finn flicked the end of her ponytail, and Ava grinned at them.

"You're so sweet together," she said. "It melts my heart."

Sophia flushed. She'd been so busy worrying about last night— about whether Finn saw her drool, or if he resented her for dragging him into a raging storm — that she had almost forgotten it didn't matter.

They weren't actually together.

She stared at the matcha latte in her hand. Did Finn get her the drink just for show? To prove to Ava that he knew her well?

"Don't be fooled," Finn said. "Sophia's going to Toronto just to get away from me." He ruffled her hair. "Not that she'd admit it."

"You're going away?" Ava asked.

Sophia nodded. "For Christmas."

And the Estrella launch party. Callie had called last week to gleefully update Sophia on their progress. "Crisis averted," she'd said, her nails tap-tapping on a screen. "Nobody's talking about your ketamine scandal anymore, darling; they're all focused on your cowboy. Can you bring him to the launch party?"

Sophia had declined, of course. She'd made up some excuse — Finn was needed on the farm, there was an outbreak of cow disease, etc. — but truthfully, she just couldn't bear the idea of Finn seeing Sophia Huntington the Brand.™ The Christmas launch party would be everything Finn hated: surface-level chat, expensive brands, kissing up to reporters... and she'd be at the center of it all.

No.

Selfishly, Sophia wanted to keep Finn to herself. She wanted to leave Alberta unspoiled, a bubble of pastoral tranquility.

Was that so wrong?

"Well, you know what they say," Ava said, slinging her veterinary bag over her shoulder. "Distance makes the heart grow fonder, and all that."

Sophia forced a smile. Worryingly, she was already quite fond of Finn; if she grew any fonder of him, it was going to become a problem.

"I guess we'll see," she said.