Page 43 of The Cowboy's Second Chance Bride

My heart skittered when I heard someone come down the hall but sighed with relief when Brynna came around the corner. She swiped a biscuit as she poured coffee into a mug.

“Hey, thought I’d come by today and see how your work’s going.” I smiled at my sister.

“Nope. I am in the middle of a project, and I don’t want any interruptions. If you interrupt me, I will scar you with a hot iron.” She gave me the stink eye.

“Ano, thank youwould have sufficed.” I stabbed my fork into a biscuit.

My mom stopped in front of me, wiping her hands with a towel. “What’s going on here? Is your arm bugging you?” She eyed where the bullet had grazed me.

“Nothing is going on, and no, my arm is fine. It’s practically healed. I’m just ready to get out there and do some work.”

My mother narrowed her eyes. “So if your arm is fine, then what was keeping you up last night? You took several showers. I assumed you were working out some aches.”

“What are you talking about?” I feigned innocence.

“This house has old pipes. I heard them rumbling off and on all night.” She quirked a brow.

Brynna snickered. “I bet I can guess what’s going on.” She wiggled her brows at me.

“I’m still stiff and sore from Peru.” I shrugged. My face, my arm, and even the road rash were healing nicely. The bruises were fading.

“Yeah, that’s it. Stiff from Peru.” Brynna snorted and raised her coffee mug to me.

Mom returned her attention to me. “Why don’t you just take it easy today?”

“Because I can’t just be idle. I need to be doing something, and weren’t you the one always asking me to come home? I think even once you said there were things I could do here that needed attention. Well, here I am. And I want to do something.” I turned to Rod. “What are you doing today?”

He placed his fork on the table next to his clean plate and wiped his mouth. “I’m going to school. You can come with me if you want, but I’m not sure how that would fly with the other adults.” He took a drink of something that looked suspiciously like coffee. “But you should probably stay here with people your own age.” He got up and put his dishes in the sink, then snatched up a backpack by the door before exiting.

“He’ll be back at four if you want to play then,” Brynna said with a laugh. “You are so pathetic.”

“Don’t I know it,” I said sourly. “I’m going to ride out to the herd and help with the heifers.” I returned my focus to breakfast.

“Nope,” Paul said, coming into the kitchen, carrying his laptop. “Looks like the second wave of attacks has been launched.” He put the laptop on the counter and swiveled it so I could see the screen:

“Security CEO Jeopardizes Client’s Life.”

The article proceeded to break down what had happened in Peru. Logically, I knew I hadn’t put the asset in danger, and things could go sideways when assets didn’t always follow the rules. I’d taken a bullet to the shoulder as proof. And the asset had come out unscathed.

I looked up at Paul. “Okay, we figured the Peru stuff would get some attention. Put out the press release like we talked about, and let’s move on.”

“Already did that.” Paul pointed at the laptop. “Click on another one of the open tabs.”

Four were open. The first was the article I was looking at. I clicked the second.

“Early Reviews of Optium’s Safety App ProtectedLove Are Positive. Is It Because They’re Bought and They’re Bots?”

“Wow, I bet that writer thinks he’s clever with his play on words.” That headline required an eye roll. I clicked the third tab.

Optium’s Matchmaker Ruse Exposed.

If they are dating, then why is Sabrina Holloway trying to adopt a child and be a single parent?

I pointed at the screen. “Utter lies. Let’s see if we can sue or something.”

Paul shook his head. “I was just talking with Sabrina. While some of the information isn’t correct, most of the article is factual. The article names the agency she’s working with and even shows some of the private documents Sabrina completed with them. Which we can totally go after them for because of HIPPA and privacy laws. But the adoption agency has already put out a statement they were hacked, and now lots of their customers are scared and panicking. This article might have single-handedly put them out of business.”

“You meant the hack did that.” Sabrina is trying to adopt a kid? I wasn’t sure what to make of that.

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