Page 70 of Cowboys Next Door

He spins around to walk away as I dig into my purse to show Sera what MVP had left for my grandmother. My friend sets her drink down, and as she scans my crumpled letter, she shakes her head, grunting before she swallows her sip.

“Oh, no, this isn’t right,” she laughs. “They’re full of shit. This doesn’t even tell you what they’re taking the land for. This company is so shady. I’m fairly sure they’re some low-budget mob front, honestly.”

“That’s comforting,” I say dryly. “How do I get them to go away? My grandmother just had a stress stroke. We’re trying to fix up her ranch and let her enjoy her last years that she has there…” I trail off, hearing my voice rise with overwhelming emotion.

“We?” Sera asks, wriggling her eyebrows suggestively. “Who iswe?”

I flush and look down at the tablecloth.

“Have you met someone in Montana already, you slut?” Sera shrieks, catching the attention of everyone in the restaurant.

My face is cherry red now.

“Good for you.” She leans in and titters, lowering her voice to an almost whisper. “I’m fucking someone, too… which is why I thought you were really here.”

Confused, I gawk at her. “Why would I care who you’re fucking? You’ve been single long enough.” Still, I’m confused by her secrecy, and a thought hits me. “Oh, God, not Tony!”

She recoils like I’ve slapped her. “Ew! No. Do you really think that badly about me? I have enough kids, Rosie. I don’t need another one in the form of a man-child. No…” She lowers her voice to a whisper. “It’s Craig Stephens.”

The name tickles the recesses of my memory and then hits me fully in the face.

“In-house counsel at Galor?!” I choke, sitting back, my hands splaying over the table in shock.

Sera snickers and sits back properly. “I thought maybe HR recruited you or something. We haven’t told anyone and intend to keep it that way. But to answer your question, that’s how I know so much about these things now. Our bedroom holds more than one kind of brief.”

“Damn. Very nice, Sera,” I laugh. “Good for you.”

Sera shakes her straight, red bob and beams brilliantly at me, her eyes glowing like I’ve never seen them before. “No, Rosie. Good foryou.”

The connection hits me even harder than Craig’s name did, and I bury my face in my hands as a giddy laugh escapes my mouth.

Okay. Okay, now we’re getting somewhere.

CHAPTER24

Eli

The blaring alarm drives me crazy this morning, which is strange because I am typically up well before the alarm goes off.

But the weekend was too much, caring for Katherine Winterbourne between tending to my small farm, the renovations, and preparing for today. I just want five more minutes in my bed, but it feels unbearably cold today, as if knowing I won’t have the promise of Rose to warm it later dampers my will to get going.

I reach over to silence the phone’s irritating tinkling, and it stops under my touch. I long to stay in bed another minute, but just as the mild depression threatens to sink in, I remember that Rose is coming home today, and that inspires me to get out of my warm bed that much faster.

Finally!It feels like she’s been gone a year, not a few days.

Speeding through a shower, I fully wake myself with a cup of coffee. I put on my flannel shirt as I head out the door toward the Winterbourne’s house. I need to borrow Hudson’s truck to go to Helena since Rose has mine. Connor is still ignoring us, but I know better than to ask to borrow his ride, anyway. He would sooner donate a kidney to me.

Hudson’s pulling double duty at the Winterbournes’. I offered to stay last night, but he insisted I get my rest to be ready for the meetings today with the lawyers.

“If I can’t go and make you look good, you better be on your A game,” he teased.

I appreciate him picking up the slack, and I enter the house to find him doing the breakfast dishes.

“Keys are on the table,” he greets me. “Don’t scratch her.”

“No promises,” I joke, snatching the keys off the table. “I’ll let you know how it goes. Tell Miss Katherine I’ll see her later. And remind her that Rose is coming home today.”

“The stroke didn’t affect my hearing,” Katherine calls out from the living room. “I know she’s coming home today.”

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