Page 52 of The Soldier and the Cowboy

“I don’t know. Maybe you’re shy and particularly modest,” she said.

“I very much look forward to proving to you I’m not. But I can’t do that if you’re dead,” he said.

“Better hurry. My plane leaves Friday.”

He scowled at his oatmeal. “I haven’t enjoyed this whole conversation.”

“Not even the part where I was picturing you shirtless which, by the way, still going on.”

“Woman, you’re making me flustered,” he said.

“Am I?” she asked, imitating his soft southern twang as she gave his thigh a light squeeze.

“Is this what they teach in the marines these days?” he asked.

“Oh, no, baby, this is all natural,” she said.

“To think what I’ve been missing out on all these weeks,” he said, shaking his head.

“You still have a smidge of time,” she said, leaning forward to kiss the little spot behind his ear.

“Girl, that’s not nearly enough,” he said. He cupped her chin with his hand and kissed her, but he didn’t mention asking her to stay.

Later that day,Maggie made supper and they invited Sully to eat with them. Sully and Cam had played football together when Sully was a freshman and Cam a senior and remained friends in the way only former teammates can.

“When are your parents coming back?” Sully asked the two brothers.

“Their cruise ends Saturday,” Cam said.

“You didn’t try to contact them to tell them?” Sully asked.

Cal shook his head. “There was nothing they could do. It’s not like there’s going to be a service, and they’re pretty much stuck on the boat until Saturday. It seemed like it would needlessly upset them.”

“Let’s hope they don’t get the news or TV,” Cam said. Isabel’s death had made national news, both because it was so gruesome and because she was a former Miss America, married to a former professional football player. Reporters had started to call almost immediately, but Bailey disconnected the landline. The remoteness of the ranch made it an unlikely spot for all but the most intrepid newshounds. So far none of those had shown up. As for Cal, his agent gave a statement on his behalf, and that seemed to stem the rising tide of curiosity seekers and ghouls.

They finished supper and pushed back from the table while Maggie cut the pie she’d made that day. Bailey could see why his dad liked her so much. She was sweet and soft and domestic but also sharp and wickedly funny. She reminded Bailey a lot of her mom.

“I got some news today,” Sully said, his tone grim. “They matched some DNA found on Isabel to Rodriguez, the head of the Cartel. It could only have been left by her killer, meaning he probably did it himself. There’s a warrant out and a request for extradition, but you know how that goes. It’s likely we’ll never get him. I’m sorry, Cal. That’s an extra blow, one I didn’t want to have to deliver.”

“It’s about what I expected, Sully. It’s not your fault,” Cal said. Maggie set a piece of pie in front of him and squeezed his shoulders. He almost laughed at her unerring belief that food would make anything better. His mind flashed to aconversation Cam relayed to him when he and Maggie were engaged. They’d been in the middle of an argument when Maggie insisted on stopping to taste test their wedding cake.You think cake can make everything better,Cam had snapped.Because it can. Cake can cure anything. Except diabetes,Maggie had returned, making Cam laugh so hard he forgot what they were fighting about in the first place. He wanted a love like that. Bailey touched his knee, and he realized he was staring at his pie in silence. So he stared at her instead, his heart filling with dreams and possibilities that by all rights should seem impossible at the moment.

“Someone needs to stop them,” Sully said, drawing his attention back to the conversation. Except the conversation came to a standstill as everyone suddenly seemed unable to make eye contact with anyone else. “What?” Sully asked, as clueless as Cal, apparently.

“I think someone already has a plan to,” Cal said, looking between Bailey and his brother. “You too, Cam?”

“Bailey made some good points on the phone,” Cam said, scraping his fork across his empty plate.

“Look me in the eye and tell me you won’t do it,” Cal said. If his brother made the promise, he’d keep faith. He was that sort of man; they both were.

“Don’t make him do that,” Bailey said.

“You stay out of it. This is between me and him,” Cal said, turning his anger on Bailey.

“No, it’s not. This is war. That means it’s between me and him.” She motioned to Cam.

“Just stop. This is not Afghanistan,” Cal said.

“No, it’s not. You know why? Because there we had air and ground support. Here we have nothing. We’re on our own, and it’s only going to get worse,” Bailey said.

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