Page 69 of Maverick

“I don’t think she’ll be back. Shay and I made it clear she wasn’t welcome in the shop again.” Parker let out a sigh. “She accused you of never being faithful.”

“That’s bullshit, Parker.”

“I know. I trust you.”

“Good. Well, I just wanted to check in and see how your day went. Sounds like it was more eventful than mine.”

Parker chuckled. “I hate confrontations, but she pushed me.”

“I’m glad you stood up for yourself. Alright, I better go now. Heading home and I need to warm up with a hot shower.”

“I wish I could join you.”

“Not as much as I wish you could. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Sweet dreams, baby. I love you.”

“I love you too. Goodnight.”

“Night.” Maverick ended the call.

Parker smiled as she placed the phone on the arm of the sofa and got back to her movie. Soon, she was heading to bed with Pumpkin following behind. After crawling into bed, she laughed when Pumpkin tried to jump onto the bed and ended up clawing her way to the top, then she curled into a ball and fell asleep. Parker wasn’t too far behind her.

****

Maverick strode through the barn, his boots crunching against the straw-covered floor. He made his way to the doors and pushed them open and stared out at the cold winter air. The snow was falling heavily, swirling in the wind like a flurry of white feathers. Maverick sighed at the sight.

“Well, we wanted cooler weather,” Grady said as he joined Maverick.

“Yeah, be careful what you wish for. The bad thing about the snow is, there’s not much for us to do.” Maverick glanced at him before turning his attention back to the snowy landscape. “Do you have any men out in this?”

Grady shook his head. “No. If that wind would die down, I’d send a few out to get some chores done, but no one needs to be out in this shit. What about you?”

“Yeah, a few are taking hay to the east pasture for the cattle.”

“I had the north pasture done yesterday. I knew this was going to get bad.”

Maverick nodded, his eyes scanning over the fields and fences covered in a thick blanket of snow. “I did too but didn’t get around to it.”

“They’ll be fine. They know this is part of the job.” Grady grinned. “It’s good to be the boss.”

“Hell, yeah, it is. I remember when we had to do it.”

“Been a long time since we did it.”

“Yep, but I can still feel that biting wind cutting through me.”

Grady folded his arms and leaned against the open door. He looked at Maverick with a knowing grin on his face.

“We’ve been friends a long time, Maverick.” He chuckled when Maverick groaned.

“You’re going to ask again, aren’t you?”

“Is there a reason you can’t tell me about this woman you’re seeing? Is she married or something?”

Maverick let out a sigh and a small cloud formed in front of him. “Come on, Grady. You know better than that.”

“Then why can’t you tell me?”

Maverick huffed, the frosty air turning his breath into visible puffs. “Her name is Parker Tisdale,” he finally admitted. “I’m in love with her.”

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