Page 28 of The Talk of Coyote Canyon

Hendrix had seen Jordan lead Ellen onto the dance floor. Ellen had smiled up into her date’s face and let him hold her tight, which—even though Hendrix would’ve denied it with his last breath—bothered him almost as much as it did Kurt. What was going on with her? He’d never seen her so open and accommodating.

“‘Tonight’s the Night’? Are you kidding me?” Kurt continued, complaining about what the band was playing. “This song’s so ancient it was old when my mother was a kid. Why are they playing Rod Stewart?”

“No clue,” Hendrix mumbled, but the lyrics conjured images of Ellen and Jordan he’d rather not see. Trying to ignore the song, he rounded the pool table, looking for his next shot. “Maybe it’s the only slow song they know.”

“If that’s all they know, they need to learn some new stuff.”

“Maybe they got a request.”

“If so, it was probably from Jordan. I have no doubt he’s hoping to get lucky tonight.” Kurt cast another disgruntled glance toward Ellen and her new friend. “How much do you think a dentist makes, anyway?”

“I have no idea,” Hendrix said. “I guess it would depend on the size of the practice.”

“A dentist in Libby couldn’t makethatmuch.”

Hendrix had finally decided on the angle he wanted, but instead of taking the shot, he straightened. “What makes you say that?”

“Have you ever been to Libby?”

“Not that I can remember.”

“Thanks to that whole asbestos nightmare, it hasn’t exactly been thriving over the past several decades.”

Hendrix knew what Kurt was referring to. Most people had heard about the asbestos problem in that part of the state. Home to one of the worst man-made environmental disasters in the country, the town had lost hundreds of residents to asbestos-related illnesses due to contaminated vermiculite mines in the area, which had stayed open and operated for years even though the company that owned them had been told they posed serious health risks. The EPA had finally come in to clean everything up, but that was back when Stuart was just marrying his aunt. And the work had taken forever. It was only a few years ago that the town had been deemed safe. “Maybe it’s bouncing back now that the EPA has done its job.”

“Maybe,” Kurt allowed. “I haven’t been there recently. Been meaning to go up and see my cousin, but with Brant getting married, I’ve had to do a lot more at the ranch than I ever did before. It’s been tough to get away.”

Brant, Kurt’s oldest brother, still worked at the ranch the four Elway boys had inherited when their parents retired. He just wasn’t there 24/7 anymore. Since he’d married Talulah and moved into her house, his younger brothers had had to grow up and take on more responsibility. “Has your cousin said if he likes living in Libby?”

“Hasn’t said he doesn’t,” Kurt responded.

“Maybe Ellen will marry this guy and move up there...”

Kurt gave him a wry look. “I bet that’s whatyou’rehoping. If she sells her place and heads north, all your problems will be solved.”

“Exactly. Let her drill in that part of the state. Or sell her equipment, have a couple of kids and live the bougie life of a dentist’s wife.”

A skeptical expression came over Kurt’s face. “I can’t see Ellen ever becoming a stay-at-home mom, can you?”

The answer to that question wasno. Hendrix couldn’t see it, either. But why would he care what she did in Libby—or anywhere else, for that matter—as long as she left Coyote Canyon? For the sake of Fetterman Well Services, he’d wanted her to move away since the day she arrived. But now that her strange appeal was beginning to act on him, too, the stakes were higher than ever.

“What’s wrong?” Jordan asked.

“Nothing.” Ellen upped the wattage of her smile for his benefit, but she could feel Kurt and Hendrix watching her at every opportunity, and it made her uncomfortable. A first date was awkward enough. Why couldn’t they just focus on their game?

Because they weren’t used to seeing her with anyone, she supposed. It didn’t help that Jordan was an outsider. Several of the other locals cast them curious glances, too.

“Are you getting bored? Would you like to leave?” she asked Jordan as they walked off the dance floor. She didn’t dare take him back to her house. She didn’t want him to expect to stay the night. But it’d probably been a long day for him, what with that dental emergency he’d had to handle early this morning. Maybe he was tired and ready to go to the motel.

“I’m not bored at all,” he said. “But I’d be happy to go somewhere else, if you’d rather do that than stay here.”

He didn’t sound as though he was ready to call it a night. So...what else could they do? It was too late to drive to the lookout to watch the sunset. The sun had gone down before he’d even arrived. And nothing else would be open. “I’m fine. I just...didn’t want to keep you out too late if you’re tired.”

He checked his watch as they reached their table. “It’s only ten fifteen. Let’s get another drink and hang out for an hour or so.”

That would mean an additional sixty minutes of feeling like she was swimming in a fish tank. But she nodded. She was trying to be congenial so she wouldn’t kill this relationship before it could even get started. Jordan seemed like a solid citizen. He worked hard and earned a decent living, and he treated her kindly and showed plenty of interest.

He certainly wasn’t someone to be passed over too quickly. They didn’t seem to have a lot in common, but...there were worse things to overcome in a relationship.

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