Page 26 of The Roper & the Author

Downloading a few of her suspense novels, he planned to start one after he got settled in the room next door. He’d have to go home and grab a few things. Striding to the stairs, he came up short halfway down as he saw Mama waiting in the foyer.

“Mama? Everything okay?” He hurried down to her.

She peered up at him. “What’s going on with you and Marci?”

Mama was never one to waste words.

He pushed out a heavy breath. “I’m protecting her.”

“You’re doing a whole heck of a lot more than that with her.” Mama gave him a challenging look. “Are you over Lily already?”

“I believe I am, but …” He pushed a hand through his hair. “It’s not about me, Mama. Easton thinks Marci is the woman he’s been looking for, the one to help him get over Cassie.”

Mama’s eyes widened. “Oh! Well, my goodness.” She put a hand to her heart. “You think he’d finally settle down and stop chasing every girl?”

“That’s what he said.” He shrugged. He hoped Marci could help Easton. No. He really didn’t. Should he tell Mama the connection and draw he felt to the mesmerizing author? What would she say?

“Hmm.” She looked him over perceptively. “She seems to be obsessed with you.”

He swallowed even as his blood ran hotter. He wished. “She’s … whimsical.” It was as good a word as any, but nothing to describe his dream woman. “She’s using me as the inspiration for the cowboy in her next book. That’s why she looks at me so deeply.” It hurt to say the words even as he realized they were probably true. He was material for a book, not boyfriend material.

“Ah. That makes sense.” Her eyes lit up. “Wouldn’t that be something if Easton’s heart healed and he settled down?”

“It would,” he agreed. Just not with Marci.

Please not with Marci, he begged heaven above.Send another special angel for Easton and quick. Please.

“And you have no feelings for Marci?” Mama zoned in on him with that perceptive gaze of hers.

“She’s an incredible lady.” He chose his words carefully. “I told Easton I’d watch over her for him.”

“It would be miraculous if Easton could find love with someone like Marci.” Mama sighed. “But we saw what happened with Lily and Clint. Sometimes love sneaks up on you when you least expect it. Walker, you sweet boy, you are always willing to sacrifice your happiness for others. Maybe it’s your turn to find love and joy.”

Walker’s heart leapt and warmth filled his chest. Was Mama giving her approval for him to swoop in and steal Easton’s girl?

The warmth fled. He couldn’t do that. Not to his brother.

She studied him. “Come on into the kitchen, love. Let’s share some cookies before you go feed those horses one more time.”

Walker walked with Mama into the kitchen and enjoyed her delicious cookies, but his mind kept riddling out that sentence. Was love sneaking up on him? How could he let that happen if Marci was the right one for his brother?

Chapter

Nine

Marci tried to write,but the words wouldn’t come. She did get down some of the details of Walker-related inspiration, but she fretted about Abuelita and she was frustrated with herself for being such a wimp. Abuelita would be cussing her in Spanish for the missed opportunity. Walker had called her out about frowning and she’d admitted she was thinking about her cowboy hero. Then she’d gotten embarrassed and awkward. Why hadn’t she told him the vision she’d had with him and then asked him to help her make it happen? That was what she had to do tomorrow night. She just had to. She had never met a man like him and never would again. She couldn’t miss out on pushing the right man for her to fall in love with her.

Marci prayed for a long time, mostly tearful pleas for Abuelita not to be tortured or killed. The only reason they’d take the money but not the fake Marci was because Abuelita was already dead or they recognized Autumn wasn’t her and wanted to regroup and figure out how to capture her and get the information they thought she had about the spy.

Gah. The spy. How many times did she have to explain she had no spy in her back pocket? Why couldn’t those monsters accept she had an overactive imagination?

She finally felt peace and was able to fall asleep.

The next day, she was up early. A text was waiting from Aiden with disappointing news. The other trackers had been dumped in the middle of the ocean. The boat following the money ran low on fuel. None of the other boats were close enough to stay with the people who took the money. They were back to not knowing what was happening with Abuelita or where she was, besides the speculation that she was on a yacht in the Caribbean.

Praying for protection for Abuelita, she was surprised by the comfort she felt. There was nothing she could do but worry, so she turned it over to God and tried to focus on something else. She forced herself to pull out her computer and was able to write a thousand words. She must have been too tired and overwrought last night to write. Now with Walker as inspiration, it was decidedly easy to churn out words.

Noticing it was almost seven, she hurried to get dressed in a form fitting T-shirt and shorts. She brushed her teeth, fixed her long hair into a smooth ponytail, washed her face, and put on some tinted moisturizer. She may have put on a tiny bit of mascara and tinted lip gloss, but she wasn’t about to reveal that to anyone.

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