Page 40 of Wild, Wild Cowboy

Janie:

I’m already a registered volunteer at the library, so I offered to help out with the after-school programs while you’re gone. We’ve got you covered.

Essie:

All 5(!) cats are alive and accounted for. Brax is cuddling the little one and it’s so ridiculously cute I’ve decided to let him put a baby in me.

Chloe:

You know, as long as you’re out there saving one horse, you might as well ride a cowboy and save a few more.

The plan was to get in as many hours today as we could tolerate, eight hours being the minimum, and having a shorter drive tomorrow. Missing Hurricane Red by a mere half-hour had made Zack furious and determined to not let it happen again. Zack took the first shift. We’d switch when we needed gas.

We hadn’t been on the highway for more than fifteen minutes when my brother called. Dang it. I swallowed a groan. I should have called him already. “Do you mind if I answer it? Jeremiah gets worried if I don’t pick up.” Worried was an understatement.

“Nah, go ahead.”

My phone was plugged into the dashboard so we could use the map, so I hit accept on the screen and before I could get a single word out, Jeremiah’s voice boomed through the speakers.

“Where are you headed, Hannah?”

I rolled my eyes. “Hello to you, too, Jay.”

He sighed heavily and I had the feeling he was raking his hand through his hair and pulling on it. He tended to do that a lot in our conversations. “Hello, Hannah. Where are you headed?”

“Well…remember how I told you I’d be taking a road trip today to pick up that horse I told you about? It turns out, our road trip is going to take a little longer than I thought.”

“What happened?”

“He was gone when we got here. People say Reliable Trucking is taking him to Canada.”

For a moment, Jeremiah didn’t say anything, but I could hear him typing. Then he said, “Got him. He just left the weigh station on the border of Utah. You going after him?”

I glanced at Zack, who was looking back at me with raised eyebrows. “Yeah, we’re going after him.”

“I’ll see what I can hear on the CB radio, but my guess is he’s headed to Shelby, Montana.”

“That’s what I figured, too,” I said. “We should make it there tomorrow, early afternoon.”

There was another pause. “We meaning yourself and Mr. Zachary William Hale?” He said it pleasantly enough, but there was no mistaking the underlying threat. I cringed. I had never told Jeremiah Zack’s full name. I hadn’t known it myself.

Apparently Zack heard it, too, because his eyes narrowed on my phone. “That’s right. Hannah’s with me.” His voice was every bit as pleasant as Jeremiah’s, and every bit as dangerous.

I rolled my eyes so hard they nearly fell out the back of my head.Men. Honestly.

“You’re taking U.S. 191?” Jeremiah asked, like he hadn’t heard him.

“Yes,” I sighed, because he already knew that. “One ninety-one to I-15 North. It will take us through Utah and Idaho, then up into Montana. Fourteen hours, if everything goes all right.”

There was more typing. “Take MT-3 back to Aspen Springs. It’s the same mileage, give or take twenty. You’ll go through Wyoming. Stop at Mercy River, spend the night here at the ranch. I’ll see you then.”

He disconnected before I could agree…or argue.

I sighed and looked at Zack. “Do you mind? My brother’s place is in Wyoming. Mercy River Ranch.”

“I don’t have a problem with that. If you want to stop and visit your brother, that’s what we’ll do.”

I chewed my lip. “I do want to see my brother. But he’s…protective.”

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