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“The thought crossed my mind.”
“Hmm.”
“You’re deliberately being evasive.” Mike crossed his arms and leaned against a sturdy post. A twelve-inch pillar matching the ones in front.
“I took her home, put her to bed and left.”
Mike glanced at Shep, then looked toward the mountains. “Didn’t think otherwise. Short and simple.”
Shep dropped his feet and placed his mug on a small table to the side of his chair. “Nothing simple about it.”
Curious, Mike raised his brow. Silence stretched and he thought Shep wouldn’t say any more. The man stared out into the pasture beside the barn.
“Tammy is something else.”
Mike smiled. So, the redhead had kindled Shep’s interest? About time someone did. “Think I’ll get that cup of coffee.”
He shoved from the post and went inside. When he came back out to the deck, Shep had his feet resting on the railing again. Mike took the empty chair. “Looks like Tammy got your attention.”
“She’s pretty. And fun.” Shep shook his head. “When she forgets about that asshole husband of hers.”
“Ex,” Mike corrected.
“I’d like to make him an ex. As in extinct.”
“Cassie said he’s been giving Tammy some trouble. The latest is why they were in the bar last night.”
“Trying to take her kids,” Shep added then took another gulp of coffee. “I don’t cotton with a man trying to take kids away from their mother. Especially when the dad is a parasite.”
“You know him?”
“Nope.”
“She must have been pretty shaken up. She tell you about it?”
“Yeah. She talked a lot on the way to her place. A regular chatter box.”
“Alcohol will do that.” Mike snickered.
“She talked about her boys, too. Sounds like a great mom. You can tell how a woman is with her kids by the way she talks.”
Mike nodded, but had no idea since his mom had left when he was just a boy. He stared down his long legs at the toe of his boot. “Cassie said those boys were her life.”
“I got that impression.”
After another long silence, Mike asked, “Are you going to tell me or not?”
Shep knew exactly what he was asking. Hell, if Mike had to admit it, he was damn curious of the answer. Shep hadn’t dated in a long time. If he did, he’d never mentioned anyone special. Maybe Tammy could change all that.
“Not.”
Mike gawked at Shep while he stared out toward the field. “So that’s the way it’s going to be?”
“Are you asking for your girlfriend?”
Mike thought about that. Girlfriend. The idea pleased him. Relationship. Could he have a relationship with Cassie? He wanted one. Guess Cassie could be his girlfriend.
“One of the first things Cassie asked when she woke up was how Tammy got home.”
