Page 78 of Knot Her Cowboys
“Not with me,” I added in case that was what he was worried about.
I tried not to take it too personally when he relaxed a little more. I kicked the tip of my boot into the dust. Those fancy socks Courtney had made me buy were a fucking godsend. It still wasn’t totally comfortable breaking in new boots, but it spared me a lot of blisters.
“You guys have fun,” I said, looking away from all three. “I’m gonna go hang out with Buttons and Levi while you’re out.” I gave Ranger another cheek scratch. “You bring him back safe, okay? He means a lot to me, so no walking him into tree branches or bucking him into any creeks, got it?”
I got no acknowledgment out of the horse except his ears wiggling to listen intently.
Cooper was staring off into the middle distance when I glanced up at him. Dakota had better be able to get throughto him. I was determined to make it up to Cooper, whether he wanted me to or not.
Cooper didn’t say a word until we were well out of eyesight of the ranch and perched on a vista beyond where we took the trail rides. The fields were lit up like gold and emerald. I loved it out here so much, adored the sweetness in the air from the meadow flowers and the evergreens in the heat. These hills held history—my family’s, mine, my pack’s—and I felt the beautiful weight of that legacy every time I ventured into them.
“How long is this going to go on, Cooper?” I asked quietly.
He didn’t look at me, but his shoulders tensed. “How long is she staying?” He said it with a slight edge of humor in his tone, but the sheen of tears forming in his eyes betrayed him.
“Hopefully forever.”
“I can’t trust that’ll happen. I’ll never survive losing her if I let myself love her and she leaves again.”
“You love her anyway. It doesn’t have to be like this. You could have everything you’ve ever wanted.”
“Or she’ll run again, but this time she’ll take Cash with her, and I’ll lose both of them.” Cooper sighed, his grip tight on Ranger’s reins. “I know what she ran from, and I don’t blame her for that part. I just wish I could’ve run with her.”
I nudged my own horse—a beautiful paint mustang named Sky—closer so my leg tapped Cooper’s. “Give her a reason to stay.”
“I’ve never been enough for that.” Cooper swallowed hard.
“Riley told me a little bit about her situation growing up, so while I didn’t see it, I’m not totally ignorant. I also know why she stopped responding to everyone.”
“And why is that?”
“Her mom hijacked your email, and Cash’s. Sounds like she made a new one outright pretending to be Morgan. Riley didn’t feel safe responding to anyone.”
A muscle twitched in Cooper’s jaw. “Fucking Darlene. I understand why she might not have reached out that way, and why she wouldn’t have risked calling when I was still at the Harris ranch, but why not call Cash and say something?”
A valid question, and one I only sort of had an answer for. “She told me she tried to call Cash’s house but never got a reply from anyone. Maybe she assumed the same person who got access to the emails was able to clear voicemails.”
“What the fuck? Cash never told me she called.”
“Maybe he didn’t know?” I thought back through the timeline, what I knew of the three of them. Something danced in the back of my memory, trying to get my attention, but it took me a few more moments of silence before I figured out what it was. “Is the year that she left the same year Cash’s house burned down from those prairie fires?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I didn’t ask about specific timing, but if she tried to call before everything was repaired, maybe it simply got lost? I have to imagine if he saw a New York number on the call display he’d have tried to do something about it.”
Cooper’s blue eyes were sharp and grief-stricken when he focused them on me. My heart squeezed over the pain he carried.
“You believe her?” Cooper asked.
“She has no reason to lie to me about it. She seemed genuine when she poured all of it out.”
His gaze dropped again. “If I give in and she leaves again, I’m warning you now I’m going to need someone to watch me. It’s not hyperbole to say I wouldn’t survive it.”
I nodded solemnly, laying my palm on his shoulder. “I won’t tell you to do anything in particular, but we need to get to a point where you’re comfortable in your own home again. If that involves Cash and Riley taking over one of the cabins so they’re not in your face, we’ll discuss that. This place is yours as much as it is ours, and I would hate for your pain to steal all of it from you.”
Without another word, Cooper turned Ranger back onto the trail and I followed quickly, keeping us side by side.
“I like her,” I told him. “Levi does too. Cooper, she’s our scent match and anyone with eyes or a nose can tell she still carries a torch for you.”
