Page 15 of A Reckless Memory

“I thought you knew all that, or I wouldn’t be here.” Confusion lined his brow. “Wait—why am I here if you know? Aren’t you afraid I’ll beat your rescues? Shoot a horse if you piss me off?”

The bitterness dripping from his words and the hostility aimed at the situation and not at me would’ve convinced me I was right if I wasn’t already sure. I snorted. “Please. You’ve always treated horses better than women. Since I’m not planning to crawl into your bed, what happened between you and Miss Rodeo isn’t my concern.”

“Miss Kansas.”

Of course she was. “Don’t care. Did you hurt animals?”

“You know I fucking didn’t.”

“Did you make mistakes that got animals hurt?”

“Only ’cause I trusted the wrong people.”

“I know how that goes.” We stared at each other for a beat before I gestured behind the barn to the other side of the property. “All right, then. The trailer is your lodging. We can drop your things there when we go to the co-op in Coal Haven.”

“You can’t get feed on your own?”

“Not when I’m paying you.” The pulse of power was heady. Yes, I’d needed this after the way he’d devastated me. Our history was a long time ago, but with him here, I was aware the wound wasn’t as healed as it should’ve been.

One-sided love did that to a person.

The muscles in the corners of his granite jaw flexed. “Right.” He glanced around, taking in the run-down condition of the place. I used to think he hid his feelings behind a jovial attitude, but the cheerfulness I knew was gone. A storm raged quietly in his eyes. This job had to be a rusty nail in the heel of his foot for him. “How are your brothers?”

Was he stalling? Was buying chicken feed that far beneath him? But I’d answer. I could stall too. That trailer was going to sour his already dark mood. “Cody’s wife passed away a month ago.”

“Meg?”

“Yep. Brain tumor.”

“Shit. How are his kids doing?”

I shrugged and went to stuff my hands in my pockets, forgetting I was wearing a long coat. I didn’t dress like I used to, in an old gray Carhartt jacket. I hadn’t needed to for so long, and many of my old clothes no longer fit. I smoothed over my hips instead. “He wouldn’t tell me if there were issues.”

“In true Alcott Knight form.” His bitterness seemed out of place until I remembered Cody was the one who’d confronted him. The memory made this moment, facing Ansen and catching up, surreal.

“Wilder and Sutton finally got married and live in Buffalo Gully.” That sadly summed them up. “Austen’s still in the army, and Eliot works for Daddy.”

“Still raisin’ horses?” His twang was subtler since I’d last talked to him. He’d never had a full southern drawl, claiming it was because his dad had been raised not far from here.

“Yes.”

“Your daddy?”

“He’s sick. Lung cancer.” My voice didn’t shake. The few times I had called, he hadn’t wanted to talk about me. I was a breeding mare to him. I had already mourned what I wished our relationship would’ve been. “According to Eliot, Daddy’s fucking his home nurse, so he can’t be that bad off.”

“Sounds like Barns.”

“Yep.”

He nodded. I nodded.

“We can take my pickup.” The co-op was closing soon. I meant to go earlier, but I’d had to field some work calls this morning. I’d hoped to run the errand before Ansen arrived. Anticipating a shared ride with him sent a thrum through my veins.

“You work at the refinery full time?”

Was he still stalling? We weren’t old friends running through a who’s who. Yet here we were. “I work at the refinery outside of Coal Haven. For your uncle,” I explained as I walked toward the house, giving him a wide berth. I didn’t have to know if he still smelled like horse sweat and soap—a mix that shouldn’t work but was apparently designed for my DNA.

He pivoted to face me but didn’t follow. “Cameron?”

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