Dusty reread a short text exchange with Camille Ashwood that ended a week earlier and notes he has not heard from her since. He recalls their sporadic, minimal contact over the past decade and that she returned his boots and coat via Gus Ryder but kept the socks, which he found oddly pleasing. Dusty observes Cam’s car parked at Gus’s house all week, assuming she is staying there, and wishes he could be someone she leans on.

On Saturday, Dusty shortens his usual ranch work to keep plans with his mother. He rides past Gus’s place hoping to glimpse Cam but does not see her. In his truck, his sister Greer calls from Alaska to ask about Cam’s called-off wedding and whether Dusty plans to stay in Meadowlark. Greer mentions an Alaskan ranch job, possibly a manager role due to a recent death, and offers to send details; Dusty says he will look but is unsure about leaving, noting their mother likes having one of them nearby.

Dusty drives to their childhood home where Aggie Tucker still lives. The house is familiar and worn, with Aggie’s strong cinnamon coffee scent. After brief small talk about winter ranch work at Rebel Blue, Aggie immediately asks about Cam. Dusty deflects as they head to Aggie’s converted barn workshop with thermoses of coffee and firewood.

In the shop, Dusty lights a fire and prepares to cut wood for Aggie’s commissions: a mid-century credenza, custom bookshelves, and potentially a butcher block. He admires Aggie’s legal-pad sketches he has been saving since their father died. As he measures and cuts, Aggie presses him again about Cam and the night he helped Cam after the broken wedding.

Dusty insists it was “just helping a friend,” then admits the relationship is one-sided: Cam is his friend, but he is unsure he is hers. He says he feels bad she was hurt and wanted to be supportive, but he does not plan to pursue anything. He acknowledges he still has feelings for Cam, describing them like an earthquake with lingering aftershocks, yet he questions whether they are present feelings or the echo of the past.

Aggie urges him to see this as a chance to get to know Cam again, but Dusty hesitates, citing their shared baggage and his uncertainty about reopening it. Aggie jokingly threatens “blackmail” by using his full name in a newspaper ad to push him to ask Cam out after an appropriate time. They end the conversation with humor and return to work, with Dusty choosing to wait and focus on building and ranch duties.