Page 85 of Roaring Fork Wrangler

I looked over at the cottage again, wishing I saw signs of life. Besides having no SUV parked out front, it didn’t look like any lights were on, and there was no smoke coming from the chimney.

“Someone would tell us if Cord was back in the hospital, right?” I asked.

“He’s with Pete.”

“How do you know?”

My brother rolled his eyes. “Because I pay attention. He said it last night before leaving.”

“What do you mean?”

“He said that he, Cord, and Decker were meeting this morning.”

I didn’t remember hearing him say that. “What about Buck?”

“I guess he had to leave last night.”

My eyes opened wide. Cord had been alone? Why hadn’t someone told me? Wait. Because I’d left after telling Cord to give me time; that’s why. Still, I wouldn’t have wanted him to be alone on his first night in the cottage. What if something had happened? What if he’d had one of the nightmares that he said only occurred on the nights I wasn’t with him?

“Juni?”

I glanced at my brother. “What?”

“I was just making sure you heard me.”

Had I? I guess it depended on what the last thing he’d said was. “What are they meeting about?”

Gray reached into his pocket, pulled out his cell, and tapped the screen. “Here. Ask him yourself.” He put the phone to my ear.

“Hey, Gray,” the voice answered. “How’s Juni?”

My mouth gaped, I pulled the phone out of his hand, and looked at the screen. “You calledCord?” I mouthed.

Gray smirked.

“Hello? You there?”

“Uh, hey, Cord.”

“Juni? Sorry. I thought it was your brother calling.”

“It was. He, um, dropped the phone, and I picked it up.” I cringed. Why was I lying?

“Where are you?”

“The Lilacs. I’m getting together with Sam this morning to read through more of Miss Cena’s journals.”

“How long will you be there?”

“We just pulled in, so…I’m not sure.”

“Decker, Buck, and I are on our way there now. I was hoping we could talk. You know, about us. Plus, there’s stuff Deck wants to talk to all of us about.”

I leaned against the seat and shut my eyes. “Yeah, sure,” I responded.

“Good. So, uh, see you soon.”

“Sure,” I repeated, ended the call, and tossed the phone at Gray. “You’re a jerk.”

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