Page 69 of Cowboys Next Door

“Something like that.” I lean in and touch her arm. “Which is why I wanted to see you, Sera. You’re still with Galor, right?”

Sera lowers her menu and stares at me. A college-age kid approaches to take our drink orders, and she opts for a margarita.

“What? It’s Saturday!” she says, even though I didn’t react in the slightest to her drink choice.

“You’ll get no judgment from me. Order shots, too, if you want. If I had three kids, I’d have a flask in my purse.”

Sera snickers as the waiter saunters away. She doesn’t answer my original question, so I ask it again. “Are you still with the company, Sera?”

She offers me a furtive look over the menu and darts her eyes back down. “Yes, I’m with Galor. Why?” Suddenly, she’s nervous, her eyelashes fluttering, eyes darting nervously. “What’s this about, Rose?”

Her entire tone has changed now, and she’s eying me like she’s suspicious of me.

“I need your help,” I explain frankly.

“Okay… with what?”

“My grandmother’s ranch is in trouble—as well as all the other ranches around it. There’s a company, MVP Development, who’s been stirring up shit in the area for years.”

“Oh, yeah, good old MVP. They’re like the cockroaches of developers,” she says with a nod.

I sit back. “You’ve heard of them? And what do you mean?”

Sera shrugs and also settles in her chair, but she’s still apprehensive. Her demeanor tells me I’m making her uncomfortable for reasons I can’t understand. She’s never been this uneasy around me before.

“There’s an MVP development on every corner, but they’re absolutely terrible. And yet they keep popping up.”

“Because they harass the landowners to no end,” I growl.

“That’s probably one of their tactics,” Sera agrees. “But big corporations like theirs have many tricks up their sleeves.”

I purse my lips and cock my head. “You know a lot about this,” I muse, my pulse quickening. I honestly was not sure Sera was the best place to start. She is only a designer like I was, but she still has a job at Galor.

I’ve just said the wrong thing, apparently, because Sera clams up again.

“I know just as much as anyone else,” she says, looking around the half-empty restaurant. She crosses and uncrosses her legs, and I’m again perplexed by her behavior.

“Will they do anything illegal?” I press. “I mean, have you heard anything about that?”

“How would I know? Why are you askingmethat, Rose? What is this really about?” The questions fire out at me, one after the other, and I gape at her, taken aback.

“Why are you so defensive, Sera?” I ask, setting my menu aside. “You’re acting like I’m attacking you. I just told you what I’m doing here. I’m trying to find all the resources I can, and you were my first thought.”

“Yeah, but why me?”

“Whynotyou? You’re my friend. Who the hell else would I ask? Charlotte? It’s not like I know anyone higher up the food chain than you—seeing as they canned me a couple of months ago.”

She tries to smile, but it’s a full-on grimace. “I just haven’t seen you in months and you pop up out of nowhere asking really random questions. So really, who’s acting weird, hm?”

“I’m trying to tell you what’s going on and enlist your help,” I laugh. “MVP has served eminent domain notices to my grandmother and everyone in the surrounding area. They’ve already managed to convince some of the neighbors to sell their property under the threat of losing it for pennies once the government comes in to take it over. My neighbors don’t have the money to fight MVP, Sera. They just want to live their lives. None of us want trouble, but I will protect my grandmother’s land.”

Sera’s face relaxes as her eyes enlarge in surprise. “What, really? Eminent domain for what?”

The waiter returns at that moment and sets our drinks down. Sera reaches for hers immediately and takes a huge sip.

“Need another minute to look at the menu?” he asks.

“Please,” Sera and I chorus in unison.

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