Page 79 of The Cowboy's Unshakeable Love

“I know I just … I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I overheard him talking to Amelia. He was asking her about what it’d take to set up the kind of connectivity she needs.”

“I don’t get it.”

“I didn’t either at first, but it sounded as though he was asking if she’d be able to do what she does from the ranch. I don’t know enough about signals and connectivity to understand it all, but she said that she’d be able to set herself up with everything she needs – and what the team needs too.”

Travis blew out a low whistle. “He’s thinking about moving home base to the ranch?”

“It sounded that way to me.”

“Cash didn’t mention anything about it.”

“I don’t think he knows. From the way Mav was talking, he didn’t want anyone to know.”

“That sounds like Mav. He does his homework and makes sure he’s covered all the angles before he makes a proposal.” Travis had to laugh. “Or at least he does when it suits him. If he decides that’s what he wants to do, he’ll be more than ready for any arguments.”

“That’s it, though – do you think he’d get any?”

“Maybe. We both know that Cash would be glad to come home, but …” Travis shook his head. “I don’t know. There are a lot of guys to consider these days. Most of them spend more time out on jobs than at base but … I can’t even fathom it.” He smiled. “And lucky for me, I don’t need to. I’ll just wait and see.”

Bear laughed. “Do me a favor and act surprised if and when they start talking about it. I felt bad when I overheard. I feel even worse telling you when it’s not my business to share.”

“Nah. It’s all good. I won’t say a word to anyone. All you were doing was reassuring me that I might not have screwed things up too badly by letting Libby move her operations to my place.”

“We know that, but the last thing I want to do is to piss him off.”

“I think you’re safe. He needs you more than he needs the rest of us. He can’t fly anywhere without you. Is he the reason you don’t drink, even when you’re off duty?”

Bear gave him a rueful smile. “You know the answer to that. Can you imagine if he called me in a panic needing to get back here – to Libby – for some reason or another and I told him I couldn’t fly?”

“I don’t want to imagine how he’d react if that happened but damn, Bear. It doesn’t seem right to me. I love him to pieces, but …”

Bear laughed. “It’s fine. I never was much of a drinker anyway. If it bothered me, I’d do something about it, but after everything Mav’s done for me, being on standby for him seems like a small price to pay. And to be honest, it keeps me kind of hopeful. I like to think that the day he comes to his senses, I’ll be able to play a part in bringing him back to her.”

Travis chuckled. “Aww, are you a closet romantic?”

Bear made a noise that could only be described as a grunt. “I’ve never been accused of that before. It’s not so much about romance as …” He shrugged. “Mav and Libby not being together is like … like something’s not right with the world, you know? It’s as though the sun suddenly started rising in the west and setting in the east. Sure, we might have all gotten used to it over time, but we still know that it’s not right, it’s not the natural order of things.”

“Yeah. That’s a good description. I just hope that something will happen at some point to put things back as they should be.”

“We all do,” said Bear.

Travis stopped the truck in front of the FBO building and gave his friend a rueful smile. “Is there anything I can do? You need help with anything?”

“I’m good, thanks, bud. I’ll do my preflight, check the weather, and file my flight plan.”

“You have any idea when you’ll be back?”

“Cash said that he’ll want to come home again soon. He hasn’t said when yet though.”

“You know, if you want to use one of the cabins whenever you’re here, you’re welcome to.”

Bear smiled. “Thanks, I might just do that.”

“I hope you will.”

“Say thanks again to Retta for me.”

“Will do.”

---