Page 105 of The Cowboy's Unshakeable Love

“Okay, I’m glad she’s still coming. I wasn’t sure that she would.”

“Why?” asked Ari.

“Oh … I … Nothing, no reason.”

Ari laughed. “Tell us that you know something but don’t want to say anything, why don’t you?”

“No. I don’t know anything. I just … I suppose I jumped to a conclusion, that’s all.”

“Let me guess,” said Candy. “She or Trip said something about the fundraiser dinner, and you didn’t know if she would go alone.”

“Exactly. Obviously, I don’t know you guys all that well, but I’ve picked up on a lot from what Trip says. I figured out thather ex is one of that group of friends, but he doesn’t live here anymore. I wasn’t sure if he would be coming to this dinner.”

“No. Mav won’t be there. Although, I don’t know if Libby is coming alone or if she’ll bring a date,” said Candy.

“I think she usually teams up with Trip,” said Ari. “You’re the first real date I’ve known him to bring.”

Candy turned and grinned at them from the passenger seat. “Don’t think that Ari means anything by that – at least not anything about you costing Libby a date.”

“No!” Ari said. “If I meant anything, it was that I’m excited about you and Trip, Shelly.”

Retta was content to sit and listen, while she watched the conversation bounce around between the women like a pinball.

The sound of her phone ringing in her purse made her smile. It was bound to be Travis checking in on her already.

“You’d better get that,” said Candy. “He’ll only worry if you don’t answer.”

She fished her phone out and clicked to answer without even checking the screen.

“I’m fine, honestly. We’re not even there yet.”

“Is this Retta?”

She frowned. It was a man’s voice, but it wasn’t Travis.

“Yes. Who’s this?”

“Hi. This is Marty – Marty Hoffman, Adriana’s dad, from school.”

“Oh. Hi. I … What can I do for you?”

“First of all, I left you a message about getting your address. The girls wanted to send you a gift.”

“Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry. I did get your message, but it completely slipped my mind to call you back.”

“That’s alright. As it turns out, we might be able to deliver your gift in person.”

Retta frowned. “I don’t understand. What do you mean?”

“You’ve moved to Montana, haven’t you? You’re just outside of Yellowstone National Park?”

“That’s right.” Even as she answered, she wondered how the hell he knew that.

He gave an embarrassed sounding laugh. “I promise you that we’re not stalking you or anything. Adriana and the other girls put two and two together when they heard that you’d moved to Montana. You know that they all adore your daughter, Callie. They followed her story in the news, and they know that she lives just outside the park. When we started talking about taking this trip to Yellowstone, they figured that you must live somewhere close enough that we’d be able to come and pay you a quick visit.

“I know this is out of the blue, and please don’t think that we’d expect to take up much of your time. It’d just be a case of meeting you somewhere – a coffee shop maybe? If you can spare us half an hour, the girls can give you their gift and we’ll be on our way.”

“I …” Retta wasn’t sure what to make of it. It sounded plausible enough, but the whole idea didn’t sit well with her.

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