She studied Indie. “You’re not dating anyone?”
Something flashed over her face. Regret? “No, my separation from Colt is still new…too new.” She almost looked pained when she said the word separation.
Sky gently touched her arm. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too.” Indie smiled, but it didn’t come close to reaching her eyes.
Whatever had happened between Indie and her husband, the woman was still hurting.
* * *
“Tellme you found something on the boyfriend.”
“I found something on the boyfriend.”
Becket’s fingers tightened around his beer. He shot a glance at Sky across the lawn, then looked back at his brother. “Tell me.”
“I called the fire station in Cheyenne…told them I needed to speak to Mateo Flores about official sheriff business. They said he quit two months after a fire that had killed his girlfriend, then he left town.”
“That would line up with when Sky moved home.”
“Yeah, doesn’t look good for him.” Jesse pulled out his cell and searched for something before handing it over to Becket. “A photo of him.”
Becket studied the guy’s brown eyes, hair and fair skin. “I haven’t seen him around town.”
“Neither have I, and neither have any of my deputies. But we’ll keep an eye out for him and also keep digging. I’ll see if I can find a trail for his whereabouts after leaving Cheyenne.”
“Thank you, brother.”
“Has everything been quiet for Sky?”
“Too quiet. Makes me nervous that whoever’s after her is busy planning something big.” So fucking nervous that he didn’t want to be apart from her.
He watched as she stood talking to both his mother and hers. Her smile was huge, and for a moment, he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“You need anything from me or Holden, even if it’s just extra eyes on your street, you let us know,” Jesse said quietly.
“Thanks. I might take you up on that. Everything going well with you and Aspen?”
An immediate softness entered Jesse’s eyes as he looked at her across the lawn. “I love her so damn much. I didn’t even know it was possible to love a person like this until I met her. And the knowledge that she’s safe and her ex is gone means I can sleep at night.”
Yeah, her ex had been a huge problem.
“I’m glad she’s okay.”
“You and me both.”
“Okay, everyone,” his mother called. “Food’s ready.”
Becket crossed straight over to Sky and slipped an arm around her waist.Thiswas how close he needed to be to her to feel okay.
She leaned into him with a sigh.
They moved to the table, and over the next couple of hours, both their families ate and laughed and smiled. It felt good to be surrounded by everyone he loved. Even Roger cracked a couple grins. Maybe the old man was finally warming up to them as a couple.
And fuck, it was good to see Sky relaxed. She’d been on edge all week. She hadn’t said it aloud, but he’d felt it.
He wanted to take that burden from her, but he couldn’t.
