“When a husky laugh echoed behind her, Lily’s stomach absolutely fell to her feet. She knew how a rattlesnake sounded in the brittlebush on the ranch and the raspy croak of a passing raven. She knew the trickling of water in a spring and the impatient huff of Bonnie when she was done for the day. And Lily knew – even after all this time – the deep, vibrating sound of Leo Grady’s voice in the morning, the way it warmed up slowly, from rocks to gravel to a smooth, polished stone.”
