MacKenzie Fire(70)

I pause, my hand on the door ready to open it. “Why not?”

“Because. You’re the only girl he’s had any interest in since he was thirteen years old, and he needs a reason to change. You could be that reason. I think he needs you.”

My jaw drops open. Is this really Mack sitting next to me or has some alien who’s watched too many soap operas from the eighties invaded his body?

“I have to go,” I say, opening the door and sliding down to the snow. I only slip a little when my feet hit the ground, but since I’ve learned to hang onto doors and seats until I have a steady grip I’m okay. My jeans stay dry.

“Think about it!” Mack yells as I slam the door shut.

I trot across the ground, anxious to put some distance between us. There’s no way I can respond intelligently to his ideas because my head is just a giant tornado inside.

Around and around the thoughts and emotions go, getting all tangled together. Could I help Ian without falling in love with him? And if I did fall in love with him, could I leave him behind and go back to my old life? I’m afraid the answer to both questions is no, so as I mount the stairs to my temporary room, I try to think of another way I can help him move on while not destroying myself in the process.





Chapter Thirty-Two





SUNDAY MORNING DAWNS BRIGHT AND ass-biting cold. My brilliant plan to open my bedroom window to check the temperature results in me getting frozen nostril hairs before I’m even out of my pajamas. I layer myself in half the clothes I brought from Florida just trying to keep my nipples from breaking off, before heading downstairs.

“Where are you off to so early?” Maeve asks me as I walk into the kitchen, my boots making clomping noises on the wood floor.

“Breakfast with Tate Montgomery.” I grin big, trying not to reveal the fact that I’m on a very specific mission to fix Andie’s life. “Can I borrow one of the trucks outside?”

Maeve’s smile slips a little. “I could get Ian to drive you into town if you’d like.”

I heard him come in several hours after me last night, but I haven’t seen him since he started wrestling all over the floor, nor do I want to. I’m not ready to face him and my confused feelings yet. I have to get this business about Andie taken care of first. One disaster at a time.

“No, that’s okay,” I say. “I know he’s busy.”

“He said to tell you that he’d meet you in the barn when you get up, to feed the calf.”

My heart pretty much gets a crack in it at that little statement, but I keep up the strong front. I’m not abandoning my cow baby or allowing her to starve. I know Ian’s there for her. And I’ll pick up where we left off when I return from breakfast.

“I’ll just text him and tell him to start without me. I’ll be back in a couple hours.”

Maeve shuffles over in slippers to her purse. “Okay, that’s fine by me. Here. You can take the smaller S-10 out there. The green one.”

I take the keys from her and give her a hug, trying to express the fact that I mean her family no harm without words. “Thanks, Maeve. Can I get you anything while I’m in town?”

“No, that’s all right, dear. I have to go in later for several things myself, so I’ll wait.”

“Okee dokee. Tell Andie when she’s up that I’ll be home in time for lunch.”

“Will do. Mack stopped by and said they had a long night, so I don’t expect her up much before then.”

“Okay, good. That works out perfectly. See ya.”

I leave the house, relieved that I don’t need to stop in and see Andie just yet. I’m anxious to hold Sarah again and get her imprinting on me, but I have this not-a-date to keep, and I have a feeling I’m going to get a lot of good intel from Tate. He definitely knows something. Maybe I’ll come back with everything already worked out for her and we can celebrate over some tea and backwoods cappuccino.

The Chevy is pretty easy to drive, even though the back end of it likes to fishtail around sometimes. I make it into town in forty-five minutes, which puts me exactly ten minutes late for breakfast.

Walking into the steamy diner, I scan the room. It’s packed, but there’s no Tate anywhere that I can see.

“Meeting someone?” asks a girl to my left. I recognize her voice immediately.

“Hello, Hannah Banana,” I say, my tone full of sugary sweetness. I really just want to squeeze her until her silly head pops off, certain she’s the root of a lot of Andie’s problems.

She loses her smile. “It’s just Hannah.”

I ignore her and scan the room once more. “I’m supposed to meet Tate Montgomery here but I’m a little late.”

She cocks her hip, a coffee pot dangling from her hand. “He was here, but he left.”

“Dammit.” I bite my lip, wishing I had his number or a way to get in touch with him. Now what am I supposed to do? Buy another gun? More boots? I scratch at the stitches on my arm, trying to ease the itch that’s settled in. I wince when I accidentally bump the stitches. Damn mountain lions, ruining my perfectly unblemished arm skin.

“I could call him for ya,” Hannah says. She’s smiling way too much for me to feel comfortable.

“Okaaay…” I want to ask what’s the catch, but she pretty much fills me in on that particular catch when she whips out her phone, presses some buttons and starts talking.