Page 41 of Drifter’s Heart

“Took you long enough.”

My brother gives me a sheepish look. “It’s been a ride. I’d say there’s been a lot going on but… yeah. I’m overinvested in Lanie.”

“You think?” I snort. “Give her some credit. She put up with your bad habits already, and you haven’t scared her off yet.”

“Give it time.” Cord’s soft voice catches me off guard.

I dive into damage-control mode. “Has Lanie said anything to you that makes you think she’s going to leave Coyote? She loves you, Cord. More than anything. I know. I’ve seen her⁠—”

He holds up his hands. “Whoa, Winnie. These are my hang-ups.”

The penny drops. “You have foreman-level abandonment issues. After West left,” I guess.

“Pretty much.” He shrugs like it’s nothing. But the breach between my brother and his best friend isn’t nothing. This is the real elephant in the room.

“Spill,” I demand. Cordell will keep his secrets unless I pry them out of him. And I take that job seriously.

Breath hisses between his teeth, the softness in his face dissipating. “We were good, dammit. I swore we were. I was back up. The ranch was working again. Plans in place for this year’s rodeo. He even asked me about a project to put through Rand Enterprises. So we were good. Weren’t we?” Desperation laces his tone.

I wisely keep my mouth shut on that last one. He and West can duke that one out between them. “Okay… he asked for a project.” I want to close my eyes because from what West told me, my brother did not approach that request so well. And between them, it shouldn’t have been a request at all. More a collaboration. “And how did that go?”

Cord stares at me, wild-eyed. “It’s just… He disappears. One night, gone. No note, not a fucking word. For months I couldn’t even call him.” Cord grips the back of my sofa. His knuckles dig dimples into the worn surface so deep I expect the material to give at any second.

I twist my fingers in my lap. “Nothing, Cordell? Are you sure he said nothing?”

My brother closes his eyes. For a moment I don’t think he’ll answer me. “All my damn life.” Cord’s eyes open, the piercing blue that matches mine lancing through me. “That’s what he said. The night before. He meant⁠—”

“That he’d been there all that time.” I knew what it meant.

West had always been there. Not just for Cordell, but for us. My family, even when it fell apart. Before my brother became Cordell Rand, a four-letter name on the side of buildings the world around. Before I married a man all sorts of wrong for myself and my own family unit fell apart. He was there for all of that. And he was there for me too.

That same stoic man was there for all of us. And yet when his life shattered, quietly, on the inside, the people he held up didn’t hear it.

We let him break. Let him walk away in silence.

No. West’s secrets aren’t mine to tell, but I have plenty of my own truths to share. My tongue dries, and I remember to close my mouth. West’s country-boy scent of honesty and sunsets slams into me. I shouldn’t have told him to go.

I made a mistake and it burns my insides to admit it.

Sally’s room has gone quiet, and I know she’s listening. This won’t be the first Uncle Cord–and–Mom discussion she’s eavesdropped on, though we try to keep them few and far between. I hate that these happen, but Cord needs to know.

When my breaths regulate, I look up and hold his gaze. “Apart from looking after me when Brad invaded my house and tried to get back with me”—I hold up a hand to shut Cord up before he loses it—“and managing the fallout afterward, West told me he walked out on you. When I went on an anti-Cord tirade because I felt left out, just like he does, West defended you.” I lick my lips when Cord says nothing. “Do you hear that, Cordell? West defended you and made me believe it. And do you know what I did?” Tears shimmer the vision of my brother. “I—I⁠—”

The vision of West’s face as I closed the door on him fills my mind’s eyes. It felt good at the time. Victorious. But now…

I can’t complete the sentence, but Cord’s there, wrapping his arms around me. “It’s okay, Winnie. Fuck, I’m sorry I forgot to tell you. I’m so sorry. Life just got busy. That’s a shit excuse. But it’s true and I got lost⁠—”

“In your own damn ego out there at Hermit Clubhouse up at the top of Montana. Yeah, I know.” I hiccup.

Cord huffs a laugh. “You think I should get a new sign? That sounds like a better name than the one that I picked out.”

“It’d look good on a sign at the front of the drive. Put a crab in a shell on it,” I add helpfully.

Cord hugs me and I let him. It’s the first time we’ve done that in years. “Call him,” he says softly.

I shove at his chest, breaking the contact. “I never finished my story.”

“You don’t need to.” Cord leans back against the wall and nods to Sally’s room. “She’s here. He’s not. Call him, Winnie. It’s West. He’s not gonna ignore you.”