“You’re welcome to stay.”Daisy gives me a warning glance.“Right, cowboy?”
I raise a brow.“Sure.”
“Thank you, ma’am, it’s a long time since I’ve had a home cooked meal.”
“Well, you’re welcome to join us any time you like.”
He nods.“I appreciate it.”
Daisy heads inside, and I glare at Rhett, “Staying for supper?Really?”
“What?”He shrugs half-heartedly.“She offered.”
“Still cockblocking after all this time, I see?”
“Oh, I’m sorry.Is this still the honeymoon phase?My bad.”
“No phase about it.It’s true love.”I grab two bottled beers from the mini fridge, pop the caps, and hand Rhett one.
“Oh, true love, is it?How exactly did this happen, didn’t she just have Buchannan’s kid?”
“You’ve been away too long.He left her, and I stepped up.”
A genuine smile tips the corners of his lips.“Well, I’m happy for you both.”
“Appreciate it.Where you stayin’ in town?”
“Why?You thinkin’ about asking me to become a throuple?”
“Funny, shithead.You making house calls at supper time is a dead giveaway you’re eating out of the vending machine at The Stagger-Inn, outside of town.Why aren’t you staying here at the B&B?”
“And live beside my little brother?”
“Why the hell not?”
“You of all people should not be asking me that.Why don’t you live in your old room in the ranch house?”
“Fair point.Well, listen.It ain’t much, but there’s an abandoned log cabin in the west pasture, about twenty minutes’ drive from Lemon and Colt’s.It took a pretty big hit from the last tornado that rolled through here.”I take a sip of my beer, and continue, “There are some holes in the roof.Electricity is on, but it’s dicey.You can forget cell reception or running water for the moment, but something tells me that won’t bother you, because a creek bed runs right through the yard behind it.”
“It’s making the Stagger-Inn sound like a five-star retreat.”
I grin smugly.“Now I know you’ve laid your head on worse.”
“You’re right, though there ain’t a lot of laying going on these days.At least not for me.”
“Well, it’s yours if you want it.Maybe not forever.I imagine Wyatt will eventually let go of Mama’s apron strings, though probably not ’til the cabin gets a high-speed internet strong enough to support his Pornhub addiction.”
“Glad to see you’re all still busting each other’s balls around here.”
“Wouldn’t dream of stopping.Only now, I get paid for it.”
“As fun as this trip down memory lane has been, we do need to talk about your herd.I don’t have refutable evidence, no leads, or actual proof given every cattle rancher in the state uses those supplements, but I’d bet money on Caleb Thornton being all over this.”
“I’m gonna fucking kill them.”
“Maybe not the brightest thing to say to a federal agent.We’ve already questioned Old Man Thornton.He’s a shifty bastard, and there is no love lost between the two of you.They stand the most to gain, and Buck was a fidgety mess the whole time we were on the property, but we have no proof.”
My blood runs hot and I seethe.Those assholes killed our cattle, cost us half a million, and there’s not enough fucking evidence to condemn them?“Caleb didn’t do this by himself.”
