Page 15 of Roaring Fork Wrangler

All of a sudden, her expression changed, and she thrust the phone at me. “Ironic,” I heard her mutter as she walked over to the bins of candy.

I swiped the screen and cringed. Not only was there a text fromCrested ButteSandy, but she’d sent arevealingphoto with it. One I quickly deleted. “Hey, sorry.” I picked up a candy bar and held it out to her.

“What’s that for?”

“I don’t know. I feel like a jerk and thought chocolate might make up for it.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“She’s…” I took adeep breath.

Juniper thrummed her fingers on folded arms, and her eyes bored into mine.

“Someone from my past.”

“At least you know her.”

I laughed out loud and shook my head. “I guess you’re right. But, seriously, I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“Not sorrier than I am, considering I can’tunseeit.”

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and did what I should’ve done months ago. “There. She’s blocked.”

“I hope you didn’t do that for me.”

“More for me.”

She shrugged, and I followed her from the candy to the toy section.

“I can’t believe they still make some of these,” I said, picking up toy after toy I remembered from when I was a kid.

“It’s like the entire store is a time capsule.” She pointed to her boots. “Including the creaky wooden floorboards.”

“I could spend hours in here,” I mumbled, finding a lunch box I was pretty sure I had in third grade.

“This isn’t even a quarter of it. It goes three storefronts to the left and then there’s downstairs.”

“Damn.”

Juniper grabbed a T-shirt, held it up, and laughed out loud.

“Oh my God,” I said under my breath and scrubbed my face with my hand.

“What?” she asked with wide eyes and an infectious giggle.

“I rode Sandy.Seriously?”

“Well, you did, right?”

I grabbed the T-shirt from her hand, snaked my arm around her waist, and breathed in the scent of her. “You make me wanna…”

Juniper leaned into me instead of away. “You make me wanna, too.”

5

JUNIPER

Seeing the image of someone from Cord’s past pop up on his cell phone was like being doused with ice-cold water. It was an almost cruel reminder that he was a hot AF cowboy from Colorado who was in town to take a job at the Lilacs for what he’d told my mom was a period of one year.

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