Page 27 of Cowboys Next Door

There are two barns on the property, but I use them for storage, and once, my father held horses and cattle like everyone else in the region, but I sold them to Hudson when my parents moved to Florida.

The thought of outliving yet another thing I love is more than I can bear. It’s easier to live without them than to lose them the way I lost my partner in that terrible fire. It’s simpler alone. No funerals to attend that way.

Inevitably, my thoughts shift to Simone as they always do when I think of death.

Rose looks nothing like Simone now that I’ve seen them up close. I don’t know why I thought they looked so similar at first glance.

A familiar knife pierces my heart, and I quicken my steps through trees, the moon rising higher in the sky through the star-peppered blue. It will be pitch black out here soon, but that doesn’t bother me. I know this land like the back of my hand, every rock, tree, and dip.

I don’t need a flashlight. I can use the moon to guide me, and I do, pausing at the ridge that separates my property from Connor’s.

Here I stand for several minutes, lost in thought about my life and what led me to this place. Never did I expect to be running the small farm that my parents kept tucked away from the rest of the world. My calling has always been helping others, which is why I have such an affinity toward Katherine Winterbourne, despite the fact that her ranch is, in fact, a money trap.

But the loss of Simone made me reconsider everything, including what was really important to me. Running into a burning building, risking my life while my parents sat at home, unsure if they would ever hear my voice again? It wasn’t fair to put them through that when Dad had always just wanted me home, running the farm like all the men in my family have done for generations.

Standing on the brim of the property, I scan the darkening horizon, watching the fireflies zip playfully over the modest fields that have been in my family for three generations. A sweeping melancholy overtakes me, as I wonder if I’ve made a mistake in staying after I lost my partner. I’m still alone out here at the end of the day, after all.

Sighing, I head toward the unlit house down the low hill and see a flash of headlights coming up the driveway at the same time.

Connor isn’t finished with our conversation, it seems. Stifling a groan, I march toward the front of my house to meet him.

CHAPTER9

Connor

My heart thuds as I jump out of the driver’s seat and rush toward Eli.

Why didn’t I think of this before?

“What now?” my friend grumbles, striding toward me.

I don’t comment on how long it’s taken him to return to his house after I left him on the road. I’m too excited by my epiphany to focus on anything else.

“What if she’s working for MVP?” I blurt out without hesitation. “What if they sent her here?”

He blinks at me in the darkness, slowing his gait as he approaches. Coming to a full stop, his green eyes gleaming against the glow of my headlights, I catch his dubious expression, but it’s shadowed by a glimmer of concern. I’m onto something.

“What are you going on about now?” Eli folds his arms under his chest.

“Think about it!” I exclaim, slamming the open driver’s seat door shut and closing the short distance between us. “The timing fits. They’ve been poking around here harder than ever lately. I got a hand-delivered letter here?—”

“She’s Katherine’s granddaughter,” Eli interjects, not bothering to hear out my logic.

“What if she’s not, though? What if she’s infiltrating us on behalf of MVP and?—”

“Do you hear yourself right now?” Eli snaps, his irritation palpable. “You’re talking tinfoil-hat conspiracy theory now.”

“Not for a company like MVP, Eli. You have to admit that they’re shady and aren’t against using shitty tactics to get what they want.”

For the first time, he seems to be listening to me, but he raises an eyebrow and cocks his head to the side. He’s clearly still skeptical. “I still think it’s a stretch.”

“There’s only one way to find out.” I spin back toward my car. “Get in.” I throw myself into the driver’s seat as Eli pads toward the passenger side, cautiously opening the door.

“What are you doing?” he demands, exasperated.

“Let’s go to the house right now and confront her.” He laughs, but I already have my hand on the gear shifter, ready to reverse. “Are you coming or not?”

“Seriously, Con?” he groans, but he does climb in, shaking his head. “What’s your plan? You’re just going to ask her if she’s an MVP plant?”

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