Fifty miles. Hour and a half drive with the way the roads were up our way. Very doable. Something clenched tight inside me relaxed a little.
“So how are things on the Star & Bar?” Austin asked. “How’s Ebony doing? And Olive?”
“They’re both great. No more problems. We’re supplementing Ebony’s feed…”
We talked ranching for a while, basic stuff. I told Austin about me tripping and almost knocking myself out to make him laugh, which he did. But he added, “No maiming yourself before I can get back there. Promise.”
“I promise,” I agreed, my voice a little hoarse. “I’ll wait till you get back for any maiming.”
That lame attempt at humor got me a laugh. “Well, I should let you go.” Austin sighed. “We’re open seven to nine all month for the holiday shoppers, and seven till ten the three days before Christmas Eve. Long hours but better money.”
“You get time off, though?”
“Mondays and Tuesdays, yeah.”
“I could come down there,” I suggested. “Trade a day off with Colby.”
Austin hesitated, then said, “Please don’t take this wrong, but I don’t want you to come here. Not yet. This place is a dump, and I need to find my feet.”
“Maybe we could meet somewhere. I could take you to dinner.”
“Maybe. I’ll think about it. I hate goodbyes.”
Desperately, I suggested, “I could make you like hellos, though.”
Austin chuckled damply. “Yeah, I bet you could. You can text me anytime, or even voice call like an old person.”
“I wanted to hear you,” I admitted.
“I didn’t hate it. Now we both should get some sleep. Later, dude.”
I waited, my voice caught in my throat, and after a few seconds, the call cut out. “Later,” I repeated to the silent phone, then slipped it safely into my pocket.
Relief, sadness, and frustration pulsed through me, followed by a welcome flash of anger.John fucking knew where Austin was.I shoved my feet into my boots, wrapped myself in my parka, and tramped through the snow to John’s cabin.
Tiffany yanked open the door on my second demanding knock. “What’s wrong?”
“Oh, uh, nothing. I just need to talk to John.”
“Come on in.” She pulled the door wide.
I wasn’t going to stay, but leaving my boots on the mat was courtesy. They had the cabin so warm, with a fire in their woodstove, that I took off the parka as well.
John glanced my way from the couch, heaved his big body upright, and came over to me. “Hey, Seth. What’s up?”
Ramble bounded to us and put his paws on my leg, his tail whipping back and forth, while Patch blinked lazily at me from a dog bed by the stove. I rubbed Ramble’s ears and convinced him to get off me with added butt scratching. By the time I looked up, some of the fire in my belly had cooled.
My voice sounded reasonable as I asked, “Why didn’t you tell me Austin had called you for a reference in Blue Vista?”
“Huh? He asked for a reference three times. I thought he’d have told you. Did he get the job?”
“Yeah. I— Fuck.”
John narrowed his eyes under bushy brows. “What?”
I was embarrassed to admit Austin had shut me out, but I’d stomped over here. “Um, I hadn’t heard from him. Not since he left. I was kind of imagining him in a ditch somewhere.”
“Oh, fuck,” Tiffany put in. “No wonder you’ve been half-useless for four days.”
