Page 67 of The Cowboy’s Reckoning

What did she want with the property?

He was about to give up and go with sentimentality, for want of anything else, when he noted a strange date on one of the records. He followed the link, squinted at the screen, then leaned back in his chair, keeping his eyes on the date, as if it would change if he looked away.

Holy shit.

*

“Not so many cowboys tonight.” Aubrey leaned back to allow the server to set the drinks on the table.

Indeed, the bar at the Graff was quieter than it had been the night Aubrey had pointed out Jordan to her, insisting that he couldn’t possibly have anything to do with her ranch. So much had happened since then.

“Do you consider that a good thing or bad?” Meg asked as she pulled her drink closer and stirred it with the plastic straw.

“I’ll get back to you on that,” Aubrey said as a hunk of a guy wearing a vintage-style cowboy hat and pants tucked into his colorful zillion-dollar boots sauntered through the door.

Lil grinned at Meg, then feigned innocence when Aubrey gave her a sharp look. “Some of us prefer the drugstore variety of cowboy.” She took hold of her drink. “Speaking of cowboys, how is yours?”

“My cowboy?” Lil asked automatically thinking of Dakota, whom she hadn’t seen since the day after the cow shooting.

“Jordan.”

“Who?” she asked innocently as a telltale flush warmed her skin.

“Good for you.” Aubrey grinned delightedly as she immediately and accurately read the situation.

“You have no idea.” Lil sipped her drink as she waited for the Jordan effect to dissipate. “It won’t last forever, but he’s exactly what I need right now.”

“Many women would echo that sentiment,” Aubrey said dryly, glancing up as the hunky guy in the wild boots approached their table.

“Ladies.”

Aubrey tilted her head. “Cowboy.”

He laughed, a pleasant sound that had Aubrey sitting a little straighter in her chair. “You haven’t recently seen a guy with a bright purple shirt, have you?”

They shook their heads in unison.

“We might have lost our fiddle player.”

“You’re with a band?” Aubrey asked.

“Old-time country music. Starts in ten minutes.” He touched his hat and after a word with the bartender, left the bar.

“At least he has an excuse for the outfit,” Meg murmured. “Want to go listen?”

Aubrey was already pushing her chair back as was Lil. They grabbed their drinks and headed through the lobby to the ballroom where the band was tuning up and a crowd was beginning to form. A guy with a bright purple shirt appeared through the door to the kitchen and hurried across the room.

The crowd grew and the dancing began. Lil, Meg, and Aubrey did not lack for partners, the only difference being that Aubrey knew many of hers, having grown up in Marietta before leaving for the bright lights of Dillon. They left relatively early, well before the last number, laughing as they climbed into the truck. They dropped Aubrey at her small house, then headed down the highway toward home.

Meg let her head loll on the headrest and Lil glanced over to see her smiling.

“What?” Lil asked.

“Aubrey’s right. Dancing is good for the soul.” She folded her skirt over her legs and her expression sobered. “Do you think we should have taken Jordan’s offer when he made it? Taken the buyout, found another property?”

“No.”

“Just checking.”