Page 11 of The Cowboy’s Reckoning

“By the time they prove their extraordinary circumstance, your lease will be up.”

Her sister had been less helpful when it came to answering questions about the new owner, although she’d been fascinated by Aubrey’s information.

“He’s the adopted son of a local rancher. Lost both parents young. His father died in jail. He’s an engineer.” Lil could picture her sister taking notes as she recited back the information. “What’s his connection to Carl Jordan?” she mused aloud before saying to Lil, “I’ll see what I can find out.”

Lil had not heard back and she, too, was curious about the connection with Maya’s former employer. Montana cowboy and Chicago entrepreneur. Strange.

Jordan Matthews stepped out of his truck, and Lil squared her shoulders as gravel crunched under his boots.

“You’re back.”

“Sorry for showing up without notice, but no one answered the phone.”

“I was working my horses and Meg’s fixing fence. The cows got out.” For the third time in three weeks.

She left that part unsaid.

“Maybe I could get your cell number before I go.”

“Sure.” She cocked her head. “Why are you back?”

“Repairs.” He must have read her dubious expression because he added, “We have a contract. You want to show me the hole in the barn roof?”

Swallowing her suspicions, Lil led the way to the barn, where she opened the man door and pointed to where sunlight lit a circular area on the west side of the interior.

Jordan walked over to the splotch of light and looked up. “How’d it happen?”

“A windstorm brought down a cottonwood branch. We had a time getting it out of the hole.” They’d worked from the inside of the building, standing in the raised tractor bucket and sawing the spear-like branch into sections. She was certain that OSHA would have disapproved, but the branch was gone.

“I didn’t see a tree outside.”

“We hired a guy to take it down.” That had cost a pretty penny. She’d taken an extra horse into her training program because of it. “There’s a good-sized stump outside. Root system was too extensive to remove it without messing with the barn.”

As if needing to see the evidence himself, he walked out of the barn to the side where the giant tree had once shaded the building. The ground-level remnants of the tree were almost three feet wide.

“Must have been old.”

“It was. I miss it, but it was getting dangerous.”

“You paid for the removal?”

“I discussed it with the management company before they went dark. They said it was a gray area, and the tree guy had to be paid, so yes. I did.”

“Where do you keep your ladder?”

A few minutes later, she watched him climb, glad it was him and not her. Her aversion to heights was legendary. Had she not had such an aversion, she would have worked out some kind of fix for the roof. Instead, she’d changed where she stacked the hay, even though it led to overcrowding on one side of the barn and wasted space on the other.

Jordan climbed onto the roof and made his way to the hole. He studied the jagged opening, then took a moment to study the view before heading back to the ladder.

Once he reached the ground, he took down the ladder, collapsed it, and laid it on its side next to the barn. “What else?”

She led the way to a standpipe. “This one has been turned off at the main because it leaks and was flooding that side of the barn.”

“How long has it been this way?”

“A while. Like I said, the management company made promises.” Actually, they’d stalled, and she had a feeling they were waiting to see what happened with the property.

“What else is a priority fix?”