Page 11 of Killer on the Homestead
Or at least any trust in her judgment of it. Because Hart was okay, and so clearly in love with Vi. Maybe it wasn’t that she didn’t believe in love, but more that she didn’t trust her own take on it.
Either way. She wasn’t looking for anything, and she doubted Mr. Superstar was either. But even a flirtation was complicated with the ways their families overlapped, and the fact she was helping him look into some missing cows.
She didn’t mind some complications. A person couldn’t in a small community like Bent County. Not if she wanted to get laid on occasion. And shedid.
But Duncan? Nah, too complicated.
Really,reallyhot though.
She shoved away thoughts of Duncan, or tried to, and ate a delicious meal prepared by his mother with Audra and Franny. Most days, it felt like enough, but some days…usually after a night like last night when they’d had Vi, Hart, and Mags over, it felt a little lonely.
She refused to wallow in that though. She enjoyed her dinner, watched a terrible movie with Franny, then went to bed.
In the morning, she figured her first order of business once she got to work would be to look a little deeper into Owen Green, the ne’er-do-well cousin from North Dakota.
She headed downstairs, lured by the smell of coffee and the sound of voices. Audra was pouring her coffee into a thermos, while Franny rested her head against the table.
“What happened to you?”
She lifted her head. “I was up practically all night.”
“Writing?”
“In a matter of speaking,” she said around a yawn.
Which meant she’d likely spent her entire night either following some research rabbit trail, or watching Taylor Swift conspiracy-theory videos. Or both.
Rosalie grabbed her own thermos from the cupboard. She filled it, but before she could grab a power bar for breakfast, Audra was shoving a bag at her.
“On your way out, can you return all this Tupperware to Natalie?”
Rosalie looked down at it. She really didn’t want to, but that was childish. “I guess.”
“I was texting Chloe last night, and I mentioned how Duncan was back. She told me to invite him to the engagement party. So, if you see him, can you do that?”
“Invite him to our friend’s party?” Rosalie returned. Chloe was a friend of Audra’s going way back. Rosalie worked with Jack’s sister at Fool’s Gold. And a million other connections that happened in a small town.
“Duncan’s new to town, kind of, and it’ll give him an opportunity to meet, or remeet, people his age.”
“He was a famous professional athlete foryears, Audra. I’m sure he can meet people on his own.”
“Here? This is a different world than LA. He might feel out of place. A casual engagement party is the perfect place to reacquaint himself with old friends or meet new ones. I’m sure Duncan knows Jack.”
They were around the same age, so probably. But Rosalie didn’t know why it fell onherto do the inviting. She almost said it, but she saw the way Audra was moving around the kitchen. Too fast because she had too much to do.
“Everything okay, ranch-wise?”
Audra waved her off. “Sure thing. But it’d help me a lot if you took care of that.”
“Yeah. Sure.” She glanced at Franny, who was still lying on the table, possibly sleeping. “Why don’t I bring home a pizza tonight instead of having anyone cook?”
“Sounds good to me but let us know if you’re going to be late.”
Rosalie nodded, took a few steps toward the kitchen’s exit. Then turned to face her sister.
“You’re not like…trying to flirt with him, are you?”
Audra blinked, cocked her head. Her expression was blank enough Rosalie couldn’t tell what she felt about that question.
