Click almost argued. Almost. “I’ll hit the shower.” He nodded, heading toward the guest room he’d always stayed in when he visited Lynnie. It didn’t feel right to stay in her room. He stood under the hot water and closed his eyes. He half expected her to bang on the bathroom door to remind him to get behind his ears—like she’d always done. Like he could get filthy behind his ears. He hadn’t minded, though. It’d been nice to know someone cared if he was clean or not.
The last week he’d showered with the curtain and bathroom door wide open—in case Pearl had needed him. He was terrified she’d climb out of her bed or get out of their hotel room or pull something dangerous into her crib. None of which made sense since he went a little overboard baby-proofing wherever they went. He had one job, keeping her safe. The money he’d saved up on the rodeo circuit, first riding pickup then scouting stock, was enough to get by on for now. He planned on staying at Lynnie’s place for a while, until he had to leave. He hoped he had some regrouping time before that happened.
He climbed out of the shower and dried off. He ran a hand over his tattoo, a barbed-wire band circling his upper left arm. Tandy’s name was forever inked on his skin. With a sigh, he wrapped a towel around his waist and headed into his bedroom. But lying on the bed, staring at the spinning ceiling fan overhead, wasn’t relaxing. His brain was too caught up in sifting through the events of the day.
He ran a hand through his wet hair and sat up.
He should stay put. Miss Francis was giving him time to sleep, without jumping up every time Pearl squeaked or fussed. If he lay there long enough, his mind would shut off and he’d get some sleep. That’s what he should do.
He should not get up, drive his sorry ass into Fort Kyle and straight to the Tumbleweed. He should not make this day worse than it already was. She didn’t want him there. Hell, she’d all but run from the house when Brody mentioned it. Going would do nothing but make him hurt worse.
He snorted, doubting that was possible. Besides, pain was part of his daily life. It reminded him he was alive and breathing. His mind wandered immediately to her.
Tandy.
The three seconds she’d looked at him... His heart had thumped in his chest, every nerve alive and firing. He swallowed, remembering every detail of her face. Eyes so deep and rich he’d happily drown in their hazel-green depths. Golden hair thick and soft, silk beneath the fingers, he knew. Her smile, for Pearl, had been so bright. That’s what Tandy was—the light in his otherwise dark life.
“Are you sure you don’t want another one?” Renata was already waving down the bartender.
“I’m sure.” Tandy covered Renata’s hand with her own. “How many fingers am I holding up?” She held up four fingers and waited.
Renata frowned, her eyes narrowing then going wide. “Three? Four? I’m so not drunk.”
Tandy gripped her cousin’s arm to keep her from slipping off the bar stool. “Right.”
“But this is the last one,” their cousin Scarlett joined in, giggling. “Here’s to a long-overdue cousin reunion.”
It had been a long time since they’d been together. Since the summer between junior and senior year. Uncle Woodrow sent her home—so ashamed of her behavior she wondered if she’d ever be welcome at Fire Gorge again. Since then, life and distance got in the way. Renata lived in Stonewall Crossing with her father—Uncle Teddy—and her brothers. Scarlett called Fort Kyle home, helping her parents run their dude ranch: Fire Gorge. Unlike her cousins, Tandy wanted to stay as far away from her mother and her childhood home in Montana as possible.
“Too long.” Tandy lifted her almost-empty beer bottle. “To cousins.” Her bottle clinked against Scarlett’s bottle and Renata’s refilled shot glass. They might be cousins, but Tandy had always considered them more like sisters. And best friends.
“Looks like I’ll have to move here, too,” Renata said, downing her shot and slamming it against the bar.
Tandy winced. “I’m still considering this a trial run. No roots are being planted, not yet.” Especially now that Click was in town. Not thinking about Click.
“Have you ever planted roots?” Scarlett asked, her large blue eyes clear. She had yet to finish her first beer.
Tandy shrugged. “Guess not. Not in ground I’d picked anyway.”
“Here’s to picking your own ground,” Renata said, raising her empty shot glass. “Hey,” she murmured, looking inside.
“You just drank it.” Tandy nudged Scarlett. Renata had definitely exceeded her limit.
Scarlett nodded, giggling again. “Yep, good toast.”
Renata smiled a wobbly smile.
“Now it’s time to head out.” Scarlett’s giggles came from an even mix of amusement and worry. Amusement over Renata’s state and worry over being caught, out so late and drinking.
Scarlett’s father, Uncle Woodrow, tended to keep a ridiculously tight rein on his kids—on all of them—even if they were all grown. Unlike her beloved uncle Teddy, Woodrow Boone had always been an overbearing pain in the rear, and some things never changed.
Tandy was willing to overlook his control issues since he’d helped her get this job. A good-paying job, doing something she loved to do, in a place she had some of her very best memories in. Fort Kyle held a special place in her heart. Moving here to help Uncle Woodrow’s buddy out at the local vet clinic was the best offer she’d received in a long time. And since Tandy had received her second thanks-but-no-thanks letter from the veterinary school in Stonewall Crossing, she took Uncle Woodrow’s offer as a sign.
Until today. Today had made everything topsy-turvy in her head.
“Guess the drinking didn’t help?” Scarlett asked, studying her.
Tandy sighed, smiling. “Sorry.” Relaxing just wasn’t in the cards for tonight.
Renata sniffed. “Maybe one more?”
Tandy shook her head. One more drink would give her a hangover—one more thing to deal with. Her sadness wasn’t going anywhere. It pressed, cold and heavy, into her bones. Lynnie Hale was gone. Even though it had been years since she’d sat in the dear woman’s kitchen, she was devastated. Lynnie had been more of a mother to her than the woman who had birthed her.
“It’s getting late. Lynnie wouldn’t approve of you being hungover because of her passing.” Scarlett’s attempt to guilt Renata into action failed.
They all knew the older woman would find it hilarious. Lynnie had had a wonderful sense of humor and a laugh that rolled over you like warm sunshine.
“You’d rather, what, go to bed? We’re young...attractive... Let’s live a little.” Renata hiccuped, all rosy cheeked and adorable.
Tandy wasn’t the only one hurting, but she didn’t know how to make it better. Aside from Lynnie’s passing, Renata was nursing a broken heart. Well, maybe not broken, but sore. She’d been dating rodeo emcee Mitchell Lee on and off for a few months now. He’d called the night before to tell her he wasn’t going to be in town for a while so she was free to date whomever she wanted. Renata wasn’t taking it well. Her six shots of tequila were proof of that.
“Fort Kyle isn’t exactly a late-night hot spot.” Tandy pointed around the dwindling crowd at the one and only bar in forty miles. The Tumbleweed sat right outside Fort Kyle’s city limits. It wasn’t officially a dry county, but the locals didn’t approve of excessive social drinking. If you were out drinking late, everyone in town knew about it the next day.
Another reason Scarlett was probably getting nervous. “And we still have to drive back.”