Page 20 of Big Daddy Bull Riders

Her phone rang, pulling her from her thoughts, and she hoped it was one of the cowboys calling, even if it was just to say good morning. They’d exchanged numbers last night and she’d already resisted the urge to text them. She didn’t want to be too obvious.

But the lockscreen revealed it to be Sheriff Quinn Hardin. She had his number from when she’d gone through the interview and hiring process with the town council.

“Hello?”

“Good morning,” the sheriff said. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“No. I’m up,” she answered.

Though that wasn’t technically true, she realized. She was still lying in bed. But she was awake, and that was close enough. The last thing she was going to do was tell him that she’d laid there touching herself for a few minutes.

“Well, as I said yesterday, you’ll probably find out everything on your own so I might as well loop you in. We’re having a meeting at City Hall with Mr. Sparks, the town attorney, and some of the council members. It’s in an hour. You want to come?”

“Do I? I’ll be there!” she said excitedly.

That, combined with the horse running down Main Street, would make for a good, exciting first edition of the paper.

“Alright. We’ll see you then.”

She thanked him and ended the call. Springing from the bed, she looked at her new stuffies who sat atop the dresser and said, “I’ve got to hurry!” She looked at some of the new outfits that were sitting next to them. She’d been so tired last night that she hadn’t even hung them in the closet yet. “Hmm.” She tapped her lips as she thought about it. “I better dress professionally,” she decided.

She ran to the bathroom to start readying for the day.

It was time to hit the ground running as Big Cedar’s newest reporter!

* * *

An hour later, Mina was in City Hall along with the sheriff, Joe, Marsha, and a man who’d introduced himself as Doc Worden. The three full-time firefighters were there, too, though not in any official capacity. Walker, Cane, and Austin were all ridiculously hot and Mina wondered what their story was. She made a mental note to find out later.

The last person to arrive for the meeting was a woman who introduced herself as Alejandra Aguilar. She was a tall, gorgeous Hispanic woman who was dressed sharply and professionally.

Mina prided herself on being a good judge of people, a skill she honed during the course of her journalism career. She instantly liked Alejandra and could tell she was whip-smart. It made sense that she’d been hired as the town’s general counsel.

After introductions, they got down to business and Alejandra spent a few moments reviewing the documents she’d been presented with by Hugo Sparks.

“See! My claims are valid,” he said.

She cleared her throat, looked up from the papers she held, and shot him a sharp look that could have ripped into his flesh had she kept it aimed on him a second longer. “I’m still looking over this.”

He seemed to possess the good sense not to press it again, Mina noted, because he fell silent and waited for the attorney to read through everything.

Mina looked around, trying to read the mood of everyone. The overall sentiment seemed to be one of curiosity, if their expressions were any indication.

Finally, Alejandra put the papers down, took off her readers, and leveled a pointed gaze at Hugo.

“Of course, I will verify all this at the district court.”

“I would expect nothing less,” he replied. “And you’ll find that I’m on the up and up.”

“We need to discuss this,” she said next. “Privately.”

Hugo stood with his back against the wall for a moment. Finally, as if getting the hint, he pushed off and headed for the door. “Let’s set up another meeting for in the morning.”

“That should be enough time,” she said. “I can meet at ten if the town council can.”

The others agreed and the real estate developer left without another word. Once the door had closed behind him, Quin was the first to speak up.

“I’m at a loss as to what’s going on here.”

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