Page 37 of Wild Mustang Security Firm

“Why, yes, I do, and I’ll be conducting a much more thorough inspection once we’re home.”

He closed her door, joined her in the truck, and headed out onto the highway.

“So, are you going to tell me why you had to go back East?”

“I was going to wait until we were home, but I’m afraid if I make you wait much longer, you’ll become antsy.”

“What is it? Bad news?”

“Not exactly.”

“Okay, now you’re starting to worry me.”

Mac took a deep breath. “They want me to head up the Special Operations Group.”

“Oh my God, Mac. That’s a huge promotion, isn’t it?”

He nodded. “It is, and it’s something I think I’d really enjoy and be good at.”

“I’m so happy for you.” She leaned over and kissed him. “And, of course, I think they picked the right man for the job. When do you start?”

“As soon as possible. There is one small, possible fly in the ointment.”

“What’s that?”

“The position heads up a small cadre of highly trained and specialized field operations guys who are truly the best in the world. The hiccup is the SOG is stationed in Louisiana. It’s about two hundred miles northwest of New Orleans and about thirteen hundred miles southeast of Sedona.”

Willa felt as though someone had delivered a sharp, violent blow to her abdomen and found it difficult to breathe. Suddenly Mac’s unwillingness to talk came into sharp focus—he wasleaving her. There could be no other explanation. She wondered briefly if telling him how she felt might have made a difference. Probably not, so perhaps never having said it might not make it hurt so bad. And it was going to hurt… bad.

Gathering herself, she tried to ask nonchalantly, “So, we’d have a long-distance relationship? How often could you come home? Could you continue to work from the house a couple of days a week?”

“No. I’m afraid the job doesn’t lend itself to that. I’d need to be with my team in Louisiana.”

“Could they be relocated to Scottsdale or Flagstaff?”

“No. The SOG operates out of the base there.”

He reached over to take her hand, but Willa shrank into the corner of the cab.

“You’re leaving me?”

“God, Willa, how can you even ask me that? Of course not. I love you.”

“Then what are you saying? I don’t understand.”

“We’re going to have to move to Louisiana.”

“Have to? Your job has nothing to do with me. I have a business here, Mac. A life. You can’t expect me to pick up and move for you.”

“For us, Cowgirl. We’d be making the change for us, and I’m not asking you to give up your business. I am asking you to build a life with me. I figured Gus could run the farm, and Mandy already runs a lot of your operational stuff. Anything Mandy can’t handle, you could do from Louisiana. Then, when you had a trip, you could fly in a few days before you were set to leave and supervise all the last-minute stuff. We can make it work.”

“For you, sure. For me, not so much. You’d have your life and your career, and I’d be what? The little woman waiting at home? Do you know what it took to build my business? I can’t just leave it in the hands of others. Gus and Mandy are great, butit’s been the three of us from the beginning… and frankly, I am my business. People don’t fly in from all over, year after year, to see Gus or Mandy. They come to ride the Superstitions or the canyons with me.”

“It would still be the three of you…” he interrupted.

“No, Mac, it would be the two of them here, trying to do it for me, and me sitting in some swamp in Louisiana while you’re off doing what you want—chasing down fugitives. I’ve never been all that comfortable with what you do.”

“You never said anything,” he said quietly.

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