Page 40 of Mateo & Nicole

The irony of his situation wasn’t lost on him. Nikki still tried to bring up Caroline. Sometimes outright, sometimes she’d ease into it.

Every single time, he’d shut her down. When he’d brought her up that one time, it had been the last. He’d promised himself as much. It was like Caroline had become a demon of some kind. Nikki had said her name too many times and now she was showing up.

Well, Mateo wasn’t going to let her steal his happiness a second time. He wasn’t going to allow her to slink into his life and claw apart the pieces he’d finally put back together after she’d cheated on him and moved on with another guy.

Why was she reaching out now? There wasn’t a good reason for it. She had no excuses. Like she’d said herself. It had been about ten years. What kind of monster waited for ten years to reconcile with the person they betrayed?

What makes you think she’s trying to reconcile?

The question was like a slap to the face.

She wanted to meet, and there would be no telling why unless he responded.

Heat filled his whole body, and he shook his head with disgust. He couldn’t believe he’d actually considered responding to her for a moment there.

He tapped his phone until he’d blocked the number and deleted it. He didn’t live under a rock. If she’d figured out her last number had been blocked, she’d figure out that this one had, too. Eventually, she’d message him again. And he’d do the same thing with that number until she got the hint.

For the rest of the day as he went through his usual work with the dogs and check-in with Daniel, Mateo kept going back to those messages he’d gotten from Caroline. Part of him knew it would be better just to hit this head-on. She wasn’t going to stop. He’d known Caroline well enough to figure that out.

She’d try with the messages, then phone calls, and then she’d probably track him down through social media. If she got that far, she’d likely get his address. His business was common knowledge. She’d figure out where he lived…

His whole body froze, hand on the gate of the corral he was just about to enter as he realized what that would mean. If Caroline showed up here, she’d realize that Nikki was here. There was no telling how that scenario would play out. She could lash out at Nikki… or her son.

Caroline was a terrible person, but she wouldn’t hurt a child, would she?

Mateo shrugged away from those thoughts and forced himself to think about better things. Caroline’s message had put him in a tailspin, and he needed to right himself before he saw Nikki later today. She’d be able to tell if something was wrong, and he was definitely not going to tell her that Caroline was trying to reach out.

Nothing would spell trouble like that news coming to the forefront of everyone’s notice.

He shoved himself into the corral and shut the gate behind him. Daniel and two of his other wranglers were getting some new horses ready for a trial run with the cattle and some of their freshly trained dogs. If everything went smoothly, the dogs would be sent off to their new families and the horses would be given a permanent home.

If not, they’d be working with the dogs some more and the horses would be evaluated as to whether they stayed or were auctioned off. Mateo didn’t have time for stubborn beasts, no matter how tender Sophia’s heart had become toward the animals.

“Ready?” Mateo ground out.

Daniel’s eyebrows rose as his head swiveled to look at him. Mateo grimaced inwardly at his sharp tone. Already, he was letting Caroline influence his work. This wasn’t good. If he couldn’t contain his fury around his friend, how on earth was he to do so around Nikki?

“Sorry,” Mateo muttered, gripping the saddle horn to launch himself into his seat. “It’s been a long day.”

“It’s not even lunch yet,” Daniel mused.

“Don’t remind me,” Mateo said, his eyes shifting to the building where Nikki worked. “You know the plan? We’re going to move the cattle to a new pasture that’s farther out and see how the dogs do. Then, in a few days, we’ll bring the cattle back.”

Daniel nodded curtly. “The guys know what they’re supposed to do. And we’re all set.”

Mateo stared down at the three dogs they were taking on this trip. Each one sat, waiting for them to get going. Roman beamed with pride. With how busy Mateo had been with Paxton’s riding lessons and spending time with Nikki, he’d delegated more responsibility to his brother in training the dogs. He wouldn’t be coming on this ride with them, but he’d brought the pups to the corral so Mateo didn’t have to track them down.

Offering his younger brother a nod and a smile, he jerked his chin toward the mess hall. “I’m going to be gone most of the day. Will you keep an eye on the kid for me? He’s got a knack for slipping away when his mother is busy. I really don’t want him breaking another bone now that the sling will be coming off next week.”

Roman nodded. “Sure. I’ll distract him with something. Or maybe I’ll get Sophia?—”

Mateo set him with a warning look. “Sophia is working with the horses today. We need to keep the kid away from the larger animals until we know he’s healed completely.”

Roman rolled his eyes. “You’ve become such a buzzkill. You know that?”

Grinning, Mateo couldn’t deny the joy he felt in knowing why his brother had that opinion of him. Mateo was settling down with a beautiful woman and her son. He was taking responsibility in a way he’d never done before. If that meant he was getting boring, he couldn’t think of a better reason.

The ride was uneventful. The dogs did their jobs with little to no mistakes. Even the horses seemed to be on their best behavior. It made Mateo wish it had been more difficult because then his mind couldn’t wander. He hated himself for allowing his thoughts to consistently drift to that woman.

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