“We’ll cover them. She can’t know you’re here.”
Aftyn nodded and sank onto the kitchen stool, watching through the narrow window as Connie made her way to Avery and Judd.
“Breathe,” Owen said quietly beside her.
“I’m trying.”
The door opened again and Peterson walked in. He scanned the room, settled onto a counter stool a few seats down from the couple, and picked up a menu. They were too absorbed in each other to notice him.
Aftyn sat on her hands to keep from going out there. She wanted to confront them, but not here. Notin Connie’s diner. Nobody deserved to witness that, least of all the people who’d been kind to her since the day she arrived.
She pulled out her phone and texted Cole. She needed something to hold onto.
****
Cole stood at the rail watching Landon try to stay on the mare, but she had other ideas. His phone vibrated and he pulled it out, saw Aftyn’s name, and smiled. Then he read the message and his blood ran cold.
My sister and ex are here in the diner. I’m hiding in the kitchen.
Do not confront them. Please.
I won’t. Not here. I wouldn’t want to upset Connie and Owen.
You should go home.
I can’t. I won’t leave Connie shorthanded. I’ll wait them out.
Did you call Slick?He grinned, knowing it would make her laugh.
A laughing emoji came back.He’s here. Not sure what he can do though.
Watch them. Isn’t she supposed to be at work?
Connie says they only ordered coffee. She must be on a break. The asshat took her out for coffee.
Cole chuckled.What a guy. Do you need me to come?
Not at all. She won’t be long. I’ll see you tonight.
Can’t wait. Call if you need me.
I will.
He shoved the phone back into his pocket and folded his arms on the top rail just in time to watchLandon hit the sawdust with a sickening thud. Every man around the corral winced.
“Landon! You alright?”
“Yep.” Landon grimaced, hauling himself upright. “She ain’t gonna stop me.” He limped back to the mare, grabbed the saddle horn, and pulled himself up, only to arc through the air and crash down again in a fresh billow of dust.
Cole’s lower back twinged in sympathy watching Landon go down again. Thank God those days were behind him. He had good men, though. From breaking horses to tending the fields, they gave him everything they had from dawn to dusk, and he made sure they were paid well for it.
“I’ll be in the office,” he called. “Paperwork and calls. You know where to find me.”
He strode to the house, wiped his boots on the mat, and stepped into the warm kitchen. The weather had turned hard in just a few days. Yesterday a T-shirt was enough. Today a knife-edge wind cut through layers and made a sheepskin coat feel thin. Nothing new. Montana liked to tease you with warmth and then snatch it back. Anyone who’d grown up here knew the temperature could drop twenty degrees overnight, turning breath to fog and puddles to ice.
He worked through the afternoon, shadows stretching across his cluttered desk, wondering how Aftyn had fared after her sister showed up. He’d find out soon enough.
After his shower and a quick shave, he loaded Ollie into the truck and drove to town, hoping to stop at Katie’s Florist before it closed. The darkened windows and the crooked closed sign told him he’d missed it.
