Page 30 of The Talk of Coyote Canyon

Bottom line, he needed to stay out of her life. He typically managed to do that; he wasn’t sure why he was letting circumstances get the better of him lately. Maybe it was because they’d been thrown together more often than usual.

Or...maybe it wasn’t that at all. If he was being honest, it’d been a bumpy ride from the beginning, and there were certain times she got to him more than others.

When Ellen first came to town, Stuart wouldn’t say much, but Lynn had gone on and on, mostly to Stuart, about every sighting of her, what she was doing, saying, had tattooed on her body—and every new well-drilling application she filed.Why’d she have to come here of all places?

There was nothing Lynn could do, nothing any of them could do. He figured she was venting, and he could understand why she’d feel the need. He resented Ellen’s intrusion into their lives almost as much as she did. There were just a lot of other emotions mixed up with the resentment. The more he’d watched Ellen, the more he’d come to respect and admire her independence, resilience and determination.

He’d tried to adopt a “live and let live” approach—and ignore what she was doing the way Stuart did. But after a while, even neutral tolerance had given way to something else, and it was that something else that frightened him.

He should never have started to sympathize with her. That was partly what had whittled away his defenses. But most people had family to support them. She hadn’t had anyone, from the age of ten, except a mother who was more of a liability. Even with all the things she had going against her, she’d managed to pull through what had to be a difficult adolescence to graduate from high school, earn a college degree and start her own business in a challenging field.Theirfield. And he was keenly aware that his aunt was part of the reason she’d been left to do it on her own. Shouldn’t someone have done more to stand by her and make sure she received the love and attention she deserved?

Yes.Her father should’ve done more. And Lynn should’ve supported him in it. If they had, maybe Ellen wouldn’t be so angry and determined to put them out of business.

It wasn’t Hendrix who’d let her down. He shouldn’t feel partly responsible for the damage that’d been done—and yet he did. So how did he resolve that?

He could try to establish a friendship with Ellen. But if all he felt was friendship, it wouldn’t have bothered him to learn that Kurt was interested in her, because Kurt was a good guy. It wouldn’t have bothered him to see her dancing so close to that dentist, either. As much as he hated to admit it, he was attracted to Ellen, which just made the whole situation weirder and more difficult.

He knew what he had to do. He would acknowledge that Lynn and Stuart were wrong to do what they’d done and offer her his friendship.

If he knew the boundaries going in, he could certainly respect them—couldn’t he? he thought and turned his truck around.

Tightly gripping the steering wheel of her truck, Ellen glanced into the rearview mirror. She was fairly certain the headlights she saw behind her belonged to the Audi Jordan Forbes had driven to Coyote Canyon. Was he following her? If so, why? What did he hope to achieve? After they left Hank’s and were standing in the parking lot she’d told him that she didn’t want to pursue a relationship with him. He should be heading to his motel to get some sleep before driving back to Libby in the morning.

The last of the streetlights faded behind her as she drove out of town, and another glance in the rearview mirror—and then another—showed the same pair of headlights. If it was Jordan, she was leading him right to her house. But what else could she do? Pull over and confront him on the side of the road? Call Talulah and have her wake up Brant? Go to the police?

Those seemed to be her only options. But she didn’t want to be standing in the dark on the side of the road arguing with a man who was little more than a stranger to her. She hated to disturb Talulah and Brant, especially so late, for something that probably wouldn’t amount to more than a few final remarks. And going to the police seemed extreme. What could they do? Jordan hadn’t threatened her, and she didn’t feel she was in serious danger. She just wanted to be rid of him.

How ironic, she thought as she passed Talulah and Brant’s house. She’d thought Jordan Forbes would be different—better—than most of the men she’d dated in the past, only to find that he wasn’t. He seemed to think—just because she had tattoos and a few piercings—that he was superior and she owed him more than she’d given him so far.

“You had me drive all the way to this piece-of-shit town just to get a few drinks at a local bar?” he’d said when she’d first suggested they call off the rest of the weekend.

Self-conscious, she’d glanced around, hoping there was no one in the parking lot to overhear them. “You’re the one who offered to come.”

“Because I wanted to meet you—badly enough that I rearranged my whole schedule. I could’ve worked today!”

“I told you it would be fine to come tomorrow, but you insisted on driving down tonight,” she’d argued.

“Because I thought we were going to spend the whole weekend together!”

She’d tried to explain that she already knew they weren’t compatible. But he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“You don’t even know me!” he’d cried. “How can you say we won’t be any good together when we’ve spent only a few hours eating and playing pool?”

“I can just...tell,” she’d insisted. She could’ve said she felt no attraction to him, but she wasn’t out to hurt him.

“Wait, wait, wait.” He’d put up his hands. “You’re pulling the plug too soon. Why don’t we just calm down and go to the motel—or your place—where we can talk?”

She knew there was no point. She’d realized as soon as Hendrix had spoken that she’d been forcing the relationship, pushing herself to accept something she didn’t really want. She’d tried to tell Jordan that if he needed to discuss anything they could talk on the phone another time—but putting him off only made him angrier.

“Who do you think you are? You’re damn lucky a man like me would take an interest in you.”

“A man like you?” she’d echoed.

“Yeah. What doyouhave to offer? You’re just a...physical laborer with no prospects in some out-of-the-way place. I can’t believe you’re already blowing things up between us. You’ve caused me to drive five fucking hours—ten if you count the return—and ruined my weekend.”

“I didn’t offer you any guarantees when you decided to visit Coyote Canyon!” she’d said. “With dating, sometimes there’s attraction and sometimes there’s not. I was hoping things would go better, so I’m disappointed, too.”

“Inme? You’re not attracted to me?”

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