Page 15 of Montana Silence

“Yeah,” I sighed. “Ours out at the ranch seems to be busted. Not exactly sure why, but we’re blaming Jude for it.”

Jeff chuckled. “Well, you’ve got some different options. We can go through them.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a figure I’d know anywhere. But what was Mara doing here? “Give me a second,” I said. “Pull them up? I’ll be right back.”

I ducked down the aisle, looking around until I saw her, arms full and loading things into a cart. “Mara?”

She looked up, startled, and then visibly relaxed when she saw me. Still, her eyes slid past me and back to her cart.

After yesterday and this morning, she wasn’t far from my thoughts. And with her standing in front of me right now, I was struggling to keep those thoughts in line.

Mara’s wild hair was long, loose, and hid her face as she picked another…security camera off the shelf and put it in the cart. One glance showed me she had several.

If she was here on an errand from Daniel, it wasn’t all that strange. But still, she seemed more skittish than normal. “I didn’t expect to see you here, of all places.”

“Yeah.” Her voice was quiet, but clear. “I just needed some things.”

She looked quickly up at me and then back down.

I cleared my throat. “Are you…” Her tone was throwing my instincts off, and after yesterday, I wasn’t sure where we stood or what was appropriate. “Are you all right? After yesterday.”

She turned and pulled some extension cords off the shelf, adding them to the cart with the cameras. No response came from her. “Mara?”

Freezing for a second, she shook her head. “Fine. I’m fine.”

I swallowed, fear compressing my chest. Trying to shove it aside, I cleared my throat. “The truck you use on the ranch. There’s something up with the engine belt in it. One of the reasons I’m here, actually.”

Mara straightened, throwing the last of her selections into the cart. “Daniel” —her voice was soft— “told me to take another one.”

She pushed the cart down the aisle right by me, and I got a breath of her gentle fragrance. Floral, like daisies, fresh and sweet. It hit me nearly as hard as the fact that she was basically ignoring me.

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. You’re worrying too much, Liam. Why do you always need so much?”

The words echoed in my head in a voice that was distinctly not Mara’s. I knew better than to assume Mara’s silence had anything to do with me, and yet I couldn’t erase the gnawing in my gut telling me I’d experienced this before. That I’d given away some part of myself to someone who didn’t really care and was only in it for motives I couldn’t count on.

I shook my head. Jeez, Liam. Get your head in the game.

Following her up to the front, I kept my distance so she didn’t feel like I was crowding her as she checked out with Jeff. Security cameras, extension cords, and what looked like a coded deadbolt lock. She kept glancing over her shoulder but not at me. Toward the plate-glass windows and doors and the parking lot outside.

Like she was afraid the windows were going to explode inward.

She was scrambling to get out of here quickly, and she was shaking. It wasn’t uncommon. I’d seen her shake before around the ranch, and given yesterday, it made sense she was jumpy. Still, something else felt wrong.

“I’ll see you later, Mara?” I asked as she was pushing her cart out the door.

She glanced behind her once, and her face was blank. Not terrified or devastated, just blank. Nodding once, she turned and left. I tried not to let it feel like a punch to the gut, but it did.

What I wanted was to follow her and turn her around. Get her tolookat me and tell me what was happening and if she was okay. Because she didn’t look okay. And yet, Mara wasn’t mine. As much as I wanted her to be, she wasn’t. I had no right to know about her emotions and thoughts, even after supporting her in a vulnerable moment.

“You ready?” Jeff asked, gesturing to the computer, where the details of the laser planes were up.

“Yeah.” I dragged my eyes away from Mara and looked at the screen, managing to focus long enough to order what we needed and put it on the ranch’s account. I grabbed the belt for the truck as well before heading out, but I couldn’t go straight back.

As fucked up as it might be, if I went straight back to the ranch, I wasn’t sure I could stop myself from going to Mara’s house and asking her if she was all right. Or wherever she was on the ranch. I needed to get myself together.

No better place to do that in town than Deja Brew.

After driving over, I scrubbed my hands over my face before I jumped out of the truck and went inside.

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