Page 61 of Cowboy Don't Go

“Kendall?”

“The espresso machine. Unisex name for a beautiful workhorse.”

“Good call,” he said, glancing at his watch and setting down his drink. “Speaking of which, Liam wants me to start the round barn demo today, so I’d better go. Your mom was supposed to meet me out there at one to go over some design ideas.”

“Really?” She tugged him toward her by the front of his shirt. “You sure you have to go right now?”

“Well.” He kissed her briefly on the lips. “I do work for you. I am at your disposal.”

“Oh, in that case, you’d better go. Or Liam will never let me hear the end of it.”

He brushed a finger against her cheek. “See you later?”

“You’d better!”

After he’d left, she unpacked several boxes of books, including a raft of notebooks and old accounting folders. She sighed. All of those were mostly outdated taxes which would need a file cabinet to store until the IRS didn’t require them to save them anymore. Her father had diligently saved everything, which was good, but exhausting when doing this kind of a move.

She picked up a few books and put them onto the shelf. The number of books surprised her because he wasn’t a reader. But there were novels and nonfiction books alike looking for space.

She heard the ding of a text and reached for her phone, only to realize the sound had not come from her phone. A few seconds later, it dinged again. This time, she searched underneath a pile of papers and found Cooper’s phone! He must have put it down while they were working, and it had gotten buried there.

Trey Reyes was the name on the text message. Nothing more.

Trey Reyes?

She knew that name. Wasn’t he the private investigator for the Canaday Law firm?

Why would a private investigator be calling Cooper? Confused, she stood there for a moment staring at his screen. Until a second text came in from Trey Reyes.

Whatever it was, it was no business of hers. She put his phone down and decided to run the cell out to him later when she finished up here.

She picked up several more books and slid them into place. But with the next book she selected—a small black, leatherbound family bible—a small, folded piece of paper fell out to the floor. Frowning, she reached for it and slowly unfolded it. The hand-written note appeared to be in her father’s hand.

TO THE FOUR OF YOU,

THE PRICE OF YOUR MOTHER’S INFIDELITY IS WITHIN THE WALLS OF THE PLACE WHERE I PROPOSED TO HER MANY YEARS AGO. I THOUGHT IT WAS FITTING.

USE IT WELL. IT’S ALL I HAVE TO LEAVE YOU.

YOUR FATHER, TOM HARDESTY.

What in the world? Shay stared at the note and reread it four times. As if rereading it would make it make any more sense. The price of your mother’s infidelity? What did that mean? Her mother had never been unfaithful to her father. Of that she felt certain. Oh, they’d had issues, but certainly not that. What did he mean by the price being within the walls of the place where he proposed to her? It sounded sinister. And terrifying. Where was that? He’d always said he asked her to marry him in the loft. It was a kind of family joke.

But not the barn here. The old round barn. A chill ran through her.

Cooper’s phone dinged again. Twice. With two more texts. Then the phone rang. Trey again.

Oh, for heaven’s sake. She reached for it and answered it.

“Hello? This is Shay Hardesty. Mr. Reyes?”

“Yes?” The deep voice on the other end hesitated. “This is Trey Reyes. Is . . . is Cooper there?”

“I’m sorry. I answered his phone. I thought it might be important since you’d left so many texts. He left his phone behind accidentally.”

“It is very important that I speak with him. I’m returning his call. I was flying in from California this morning and unable to answer.”

She’d only met Reyes once or twice with the Canaday sisters, so she didn’t know him well. But there seemed to be an urgency in his voice.

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