When we tired of work topics, Tag shifted the focus to Hollie.
“What will you do now that you know she’s single?” Tag lifted a water bottle to his lips.
“Nothing. I'll be lucky if she ever talks to me again.”
He gave a terse nod. “So that’s it? You’re not even gonna try?”
I huffed a confused laugh. “There’s nothing to try.”
“My mistake.” He rolled his eyes. “I thought you liked her.”
“I do like her. But she’s got a life in Colorado, and from everything I can gather, her situation is pretty complicated.”
He shrugged, a slight smile toying at his lips. “Bea had a life in Colorado.”
I laughed fully then. “That’s different and you know it. You two started as friends. I’ve got three weeks left with Hollie before I probably never see her again.”
“Plenty can happen in three weeks.” Tag’s grey eyes searched mine. “At the very least, you can try to be her friend and see where that takes you.”
I narrowed my gaze at him. “Why are you pushing for this? Last time we talked, you made me promise not to go anywhere near her.”
“Obviously, her bein’ divorced changes stuff.”
“It doesn’t change the amount of time we have.”
“You just gotta make use of it.”
The fact thatTagof all people was offering me relationship advice was nothing short of hilarious. Bea practically dropped into his lap—Tag’s pursuit had zero to do with his current marriage. I laughed again, couldn’t help it. “Alright then. What do you suggest?”
“Well—” His phone ringing cut him off. He pulled it out of his back pocket and frowned at the screen for a moment. Then he flashed the caller ID at me with a smirk. “It’s Hollie. Wanna answer?”
I held my hands up like he was handing me a bomb. “No thanks.”
He rolled his eyes again, dragging his thumb across the screen andtapping the speakerphone. “Hey, Hollie. I’m with Jesse and you’re on speaker. Everything alright?”
“Well, uh, not really?” Her voice sounded tense, maybe a little emotional.
Tag shot me a glance, a storm immediately brewing in his grey eyes. “Is Bea alright?”
“Bea is doing fine. She’s been sleeping most of the day and kept dinner down last night.”
His shoulders slacked with relief. “Good.”
“I’m actually calling about Cooper.”
Both of us froze. There was a laundry list of things that could go wrong with Cooper. Leaving him alone at Meadowbrook wasn’t ideal, but Harlan was overdue for a weekend off and the last time we left Cooper at the ranch while we hit the road, he did perfectly fine. When the broncs were gone, taking care of horses boiled down to mucking a few stalls, doing the feed rounds, and making sure the stalled horses got time in the pasture. Easy stuff.
She continued, “I haven’t seen him since six or so this morning, and he was acting really strange.”
“Strange?” Tag chimed. “How do you mean?”
“I sat with him while he ate breakfast and he got a weird phone call. He acted completely normal while we were talking, but then he turned pale when he picked up the phone like he was worried or maybe even afraid.”
“Did he say who it was?”
“He did say the man’s name, but I can’t remember it.”
“So it was a man?”
