Page 4 of Some Cowboys Fight for Love

Isabelle all but swooned. “Oh, Ido.” She leaned over the railing of the porch where they stood and cupped her chin in her hand. “He’d never go for me, though.”

Aria smirked at Isabelle. “Oh? Why’s that? Is he stuck up or something?” Anything to give fuel to the fire she had in hating the guy would be welcome. Thankfully he wasn’t going to stick around for very long. One week. That was all the time Mateo hadinsisted they needed to get her father thrown back into prison—or rather prevent him from making parole.

“No,” Isabelle said with a sigh. “Charlie told me all about how upset Daniel was that his friend fell in love with her. He’s totally against an age-gap situation.”

Aria shifted her attention to Daniel again. The hat on his head shadowed his face enough that she couldn’t see his expression as he worked with a horse in the corral. He clicked his tongue and moved the horse through its exercises. Even though it was getting cooler, he was wearing a blue button-up, short-sleeved shirt. With how hard he worked, it wasn’t a surprise he preferred short sleeves, but soon those muscled arms would be covered up.

The guy didn’t want to date women who he considered too young. Interesting. Usually, the more controlling men went after younger, more impressionable women.

“I wonder why,” Aria mused.

“What?” Isabelle asked, tilting her head in Aria’s direction.

“Hmm?” Aria asked, still distracted by the way Daniel worked with the animal.

“What are you wondering about?”

For a moment, Aria couldn’t recall she’d said any such thing. Then it hit her, and she turned her attention to her cousin. “I wonder why he has a rule like that—not dating younger women. Usually men like younger women, right?”

Isabelle shrugged. “I dunno. It’s not like he tells people. And maybe it’s not even a rule. Charlie just said he was really upset when he found out that Ash liked her—or that he kissed her when she was still a minor.” Isabelle grinned like it was a juicy bit of gossip. Then she leaned forward. “It’s out in the open now, but he kissed her when she was still a teenager and he… wasn’t. Pretty sure Daniel knocked him off his feet over it.”

Aria lifted a brow. She didn’t condone violence in the slightest, but there was something to be said about a man who was willing to defend a woman’s honor rather than tear her down.

What was she thinking?

She had zero interest in dating—and not just Daniel.

No one was worth her time. No one would win her over. Because most men had issues, and she was tired of trying to figure them out before she had a chance of getting hurt.

Keeping her distance from Daniel would be the smart thing to do. Daniel was bigger, stronger, and more rugged than Cayden, and she’d barely managed to get out of that relationship unscathed.

Isabelle let out another sigh, and Aria bit back a smile. The girl was utterly heartsick over the guy. She’d get over it. Eventually, she’d find someone who was worthy of her love—and one who would get Mateo’s blessing.

He was one of the good ones. If she could find someone as good as Mateo, then maybe—maybeshe would consider dating the guy.

Her phone buzzed against her backside, and she reached into her pocket to pull it out. Sophia’s name populated the screen, and she turned away from Isabelle before heading down the steps and putting as much distance as possible between herself and her youngest cousin. Only Mateo and Sophia knew all the details regarding her criminal father. And she wanted to keep it that way. There was no reason for Isabelle to pity the Rivera family any more than she already did.

Paul had been sent to prison for something. That’s all the rest of the Palmer family knew. Beyond Mateo and Sophia, their parents had also been informed. Currently her uncle and aunt were living in Florida and wanted nothing to do with Aria’s father.

She sighed as she brought the phone to her ear. “If you’re calling right now when you should be in the courtroom, then something is clearly wrong.”

Silence met Aria’s statement.

Great. Something mustreallybe wrong.

“Aria, I don’t know how to tell you this, but…”

“Just tell me. I can take it.” She was surprised she hadn’t heard from her sister or her mother. Maybe they weren’t dealing with the problem very well. A pang of guilt racked Aria’s body. She should have gone home for this. She should have stood beside her mother and held her hand. Thankfully, Paul hadn’t touched Bella. Her younger sister had only witnessed his fury—not experienced it first-hand. Aria swallowed hard. “Sophia, what’s going on?”

Her cousin sighed. “They’re delaying the hearing. Something about having a new character witness.”

Aria’s blood ran cold. If her father found someone to vouch for him, then that instantly upped his chances of getting out on parole. She shook her head, the phone shaking as her hands trembled. “No.”

“I’m sorry, Aria. They said that they are going to reschedule for next week. There’s a lot of stuff I’m not sure about. Mateo isn’t happy.”

“My mom? Is she…”

“She’s hanging in there, but you know her best. She hasn’t been taking it well.”

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