Page 54 of The Cowboy’s Reckoning

“That is not forewarned. That’s hypervigilance and anxiety.”

“I’m not being hyper whatever.” She rested a hand on her horse’s back. “I’m enjoying my time with Jordan.”

Shit. She’d just confessed.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Lil untied Maya’s horse and handed her the rope. “Is that all?” she asked wearily, more than ready to leave the topic behind.

Her sister gave a slow nod. “I know you like the single life. I get it. No ties means no losses. It’s a good way to keep from getting hurt.”

Lil wanted to say she wasn’t doing that, but she couldn’t force the words out.

Instead, she said, “Fortunately, Jordan isn’t any more into commitment than I am. We’re on the same page in that regard.”

And that was why she could allow herself to let go with him. There would be no accidental broken hearts on either side.

*

Jordan had passed on the invitation to Maya’s farewell dinner, thinking that the sisters needed time together. Instead, he drove to town to meet Burke at what passed for happy hour at the Wolf Den on the off chance that his friend had run down some information about the cow shooter.

“I would have called if I heard anything,” Burke said as they sat at a table near the wall.

It was relatively early, so the bar was empty except for a few regulars. The perfect time to talk before the place started to get crowded.

“I know. But I owe you a drink.”

“You probably do,” Burke agreed. “After Grem got released, nobody gave him the cold shoulder or anything, so I guess no one took him seriously.”

Jordan lifted his beer. “Wonder what he’d say if I talked to him.”

“I’ll let you know when he surfaces and you can try. He and Joe Whitney got into it a couple days ago and Grem’s laying low. Helluva black eye.”

“Whitney is back in town?” Jordan’s former classmate was a talented pipefitter, but Jordan refused to hire him for any of his jobs due to the man’s well-known temper.

“He was.”

“Fired again?”

“Most probably,” Burkey said, draining a good quarter of his glass. “I guess skills don’t offset being an asshole.”

“What was the fight over?”

“I heard that Gremlin hit on Joe’s girlfriend.”

“Ah.”

Before he and Burke parted ways, Jordan asked him to let him know when Gremlin surfaced, then headed home knowing not that much more than he had before. That said, he had indeed owed Burke a beer.

When he pulled into the Willow Creek and parked next to the trailer, he could see through the window the three McAllen women sitting at the kitchen table. Meg was gesturing as the others listened. It kind of reminded him of how close he and his brothers were.

He went into the barn, checked the goats just because he needed something to do, then went back outside to lean on the fence and enjoy the warm night air as he wondered what the hell his next step would be, both in regard to Lil and attempting to purchase the Reed property while keeping the Willow Creek.

When footsteps sounded behind him, his nerves jumped. He hoped that Lil had found him, but when he glanced over his shoulder, he saw that it was Maya. His nerves still buzzed, but in a different way. Carl Jordan was a shadowy figure in Jordan’s brain. Maya had known the man in the flesh.

“Nice night,” she said as she leaned on the fence next to him.

“Enjoy your stay?”