Page 39 of Cheyenne

Nash grunted. “It’s okay. I’m doing an adoption case at the moment, so it should be worth it for the parents and the kid. But I’m looking forward to going to your graduation in a couple months. Are you excited?”

That ripped her out of her mindset of partying and playing with Micah. “Huh. Yeah.”

“You’re all ready to start law school in the fall, right? I’m glad you decided to go to Montana State. It’s a good school, and it won’t cost you a fortune.”

Sheesh, that was a reality check. “Yep.”

Her thoughts flitted to Micah. He would be a SEAL—well, he would be in training. How long would that take? Where would he be living?

“So what fun things have you been doing?”

“Oh.” She got out of bed and moved to the window, staring at the ocean. “We went snorkeling today, parasailing yesterday.”She would omit the other stuff. There was no way she would tell him they had stolen an amulet and now had to return it.

“Sweet. The ocean is nice.”

“It is.”

They were both quiet for a moment, and she realized why Nash had called her. “So you were the one assigned to check in on me?”

He was quiet for a second, then let out a soft laugh. “Can’t I just call my sister?”

“Hmm. Porter told you to grill me and report back to him, right?”

“Okay, sis, calm down.”

“I don’t know why you guys have to check on me all the time.”

“Because we love you.”

That stopped her for a minute.

“And we feel protective of you,” he continued. “Count yourself lucky. Porter wanted someone to actually go to South Port and check in on you because your friend bagged on you.”

“It wasn’t her fault,” Cheyenne shot back. “Her grandma was injured.”

“Oh, really? Shoot.” He paused. “So you said ‘we’ went snorkeling.”

Cheyenne winced. She should have found the right words for this ‘check-in’ so she wouldn’t set off any alarm bells. Nash had always been very astute. He paid attention. They hadn’t been close, per se, but he was a good brother to her, always trying to guide her. In fact, maybe he was the reason she wanted to go to law school. The way Nash talked about truth, justice, and the American way had always inspired her.

Her heart rate kicked up a notch. She didn’t want to divulge too much, but she needed to. “Well, Micah Jamison, Trey and Ava’s son, has been asked to be the Stone lackey that checks on me this week.”

For a second, Nash didn’t respond. Then he laughed. “Really? Trey’s stepson?” Of course he knew who Micah was; the Stones and the Cross family kept track of each other. “Isn’t he on track to become a Navy SEAL?”

“I think so.” She didn’t want to act like she was too excited about him. She had to be careful about how much information she gave out. “He’s a nice guy.”

There. She knew Nash would be waiting for an evaluation. ‘Nice guy’ was the kiss of death, in their brother’s eyes.

“Okay.” He went quiet.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Is everyone worried about me?” She could imagine the gossip going on about her and her solo trip.

“Naw. Well, yeah.”

Now she laughed. “Right.”

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