Page 110 of The Talk of Coyote Canyon

“Yes. It’s only a matter of time before everyone hears the latest.”

“Damn.”

Talulah used her forearm to adjust her hairnet. “Would it really be so bad to have your name linked to his?”

Ellen started to scrub a pan. “Not for me.”

“You’re worried about him?”

“Of course I’m worried about him. Dating me could destroy his relationship with his aunt and...uncle.”

“Dating you? You’re saying it’s not just about sex?”

“I don’t know what it’s about,” she admitted. “It’s too new. But... I know I like him.”

“I’m so glad, Ellen,” Talulah said, grinning widely. “I hope he knows what he’s getting in you. Instead of feeling smug for being able to get Hendrix to defect and risk what he’s risking, you’re concerned for him.”

“I don’t want to see him hurt,” Ellen said. Nothing else mattered quite so much.

Talulah set the finished cake aside. “Boy, have things changed.”

“I was never out to hurt him.”

“No, but you certainly didn’t like him.”

Ellen couldn’t argue with that statement. “I guess I can just...finally understand what my father sees in him.”

“He’s no better than you are, Ellen,” Talulah said. “Your father had no reason not to love you. That’s on him and his nasty, hard-hearted wife.”

A knock at the back door interrupted, causing Ellen to look at Talulah expectantly. “Is that a delivery?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Maybe it’s Rocko.” Ellen had asked for him when she was at the burger place. It was possible they’d sent him over. “I’ll get it,” she said, drying her hands. Talulah was busy emptying the pastry bags, so it would be harder for her.

But after Ellen walked over and opened the door, she took a step back.

The man at the door wasn’t Rocko, it was her father.

Twenty-Seven

Hendrix hadn’t called Ellen all day. He was afraid of what she’d ask him and didn’t want her to know about the argument he’d had with his aunt this morning. Losing his job was something he’d never truly anticipated. He’d known it was a possibility, of course. Although they’d mostly been joking, he and Ellen had discussed it just that morning. He’d also been aware of his aunt’s temper and her animosity toward Ellen—how possessive she was of all the men in her life when it came to Stuart’s daughter. But he’d never truly believed she’d cut him out of their lives the way she had Ellen.

What she’d done had come as a blow to Leo, too. Leo had been calling continually, and despite the fact that Hendrix answered each and every time and tried to calm him down, he’d call back twenty or thirty minutes later, and they’d have what was essentially the same conversation. Yes, Hendrix was still his cousin. Yes, they’d still see each other. Yes, Hendrix would take him out for donuts when he could.

Hendrix had never seen the poor guy so upset. Leo also kept asking Hendrix to come get him. “You said I could go with you today... I was supposed to go to work with you,” he kept saying. “I’m all ready.”

Hendrix would’ve been happy to have him around, but he knew Lynn would never allow him to take Leo. Not now. She’d try to use her son as a weapon against him—like she had his job—and he didn’t see the point of subjecting his cousin to another big scene.

He didn’t see the point of subjecting himself to a repeat of this morning, either. And it wasn’t as though he could simply reach out to Stuart and Stuart would step in and solve everything. His uncle would never oppose Lynn, or he’d have hell to pay for it. And since Hendrix was Lynn’s nephew and technically no relation to Stuart, Stuart would be even less inclined to get involved. If he wouldn’t stand up to Lynn for the sake of his own daughter, Hendrix knew better than to expect any help to come from that direction. He hadn’t even tried to call him, had no idea what he was thinking about what was going on.

After taking care of several details for the business in spite of being fired, he’d been on a mission to find out who’d sabotaged the Haslem well. If he could prove it wasn’t Ellen, he felt Lynn would have to acknowledge she’d been wrong aboutthat, at least.

Or...maybe she’d never admit it.

Slowing as he reached the clearing where Ben lived with his girlfriend—a woman named Delia from what Seth, one of Kurt’s brothers, told him, and he should know since they used to date—Hendrix studied the surrounding area. It wasn’t cool to sneak onto someone’s property and start snooping around. But he had to get a look at the tires on Ben’s truck. His girlfriend’s SUV, too. Since both vehicles were sitting out front, it wouldn’t be hard. The only problem was that Ben and Delia were most likely home, and they might not appreciate what he was doing.

Turning his own truck around so that he could get out of there quickly if Ben came charging from the trailer with a gun or a baseball bat, Hendrix cut his engine. He hoped no one had heard him pull in, but the trailer door opened as soon as he started toward Ben’s truck.

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