Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 109608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
“I’m in,” Patricia said immediately.
Jamie’s gaze went through our group, and getting nonverbal assents, he said, “We’ll follow you there.”
“Interested to know what that two hundred K comment was all about,” Patricia stated.
“Me too,” Reid added.
“We have a lot of catching up to do,” Jamie said.
They sure did.
CHAPTER 20
WRANGLER
Nora
Isat in a rocking chair on Reid’s front porch, a light breeze blowing at the silk of my skirt, looking out at a green lawn, a neat, attractive, flagstone path that led to another house in the distance (Greer’s), and a lot of land on the horizon.
I did this as the sun set.
Never in my life, not even to Jamie (unless under torture, I sensed I wouldn’t be good under torture) would I admit that I found beauty in the stark scrub, multitudinous cacti and dusty mountains of Arizona.
And the same could be said for this watercolor Texas sunset, with the rolling plain that stretched to the skyline having become the entire world before me, in the distance, cattle grazing lazily.
The door opened, and I looked that way, thinking it would be Jamie seeking some peace (much like why I was out on that porch) after he shared all he had to share with his family.
Including his paternity.
It wasn’t.
It was Reid coming out.
When we arrived, she changed into a shirt that had embroidery across the shoulders and a pair of Wranglers.
Something else I would only admit under torture: There was a small part of me that wanted to own one of those embroidered shirts.
She came to sit in the rocking chair beside me.
“If you want time alone…” I trailed off on my offer.
“Grieved that sumabitch years ago,” she replied and started rocking. She finished on a mumble, “Shitty way to go, though.”
No denying, it had been a shitty way to go.
“How’s Greer taking it?” I asked.
Reid blew out a long breath, before she answered, “I can say I’m glad you all came down, Patricia showed, and Jamie had a lot of big news to take her mind off things. She wasn’t close to her dad, but he was the only one she had.”
Poor Greer.
“Indeed,” I murmured.
Civilities over, she launched in.
“I know Jamie thinks he’s got things under control, and it isn’t like he doesn’t know this, but I’m gonna tell you. AJ seems like a snake, but he’s a cat. Sneaky. Lethal. And he’s got nine lives.”
Before I could say anything, her hazel gaze pinpointed on me.
“And yes, I’d put money down AJ put Jeff up to that arson shit, because Jeff would do anything for his dad. I also think AJ was genuinely hurting today. Jeff was the only kid who hadn’t turned his back on him. Now he’s very alone, because that woman with him doesn’t have her heart in it, and AJ isn’t dumb enough about women to think she does. But I also think he’s gutted Jeff bit it in that fire, and not because it might make things iffy about him collecting the insurance.”
Oh dear.
“Might make things iffy?” I asked.
She shrugged. “If AJ left any trail that fiasco was his idea, sure. His insurance companies are set to lose a shedload on that payout. They’re gonna be poking around to find anything that might let them off that hook. And the police are all over it. Jeff has been a pain in their ass for a long time, and AJ’s attitude about his kid being able to do whatever he wants on their patch or any other hasn’t been their favorite thing. Word I heard, they’re turning over every flake of ash on that ranch. So AJ better have covered his ass.”
Interesting.
“Another thing, Nora,” Reid went on. “I know Morgan Rawlins. Known him for years. He’s a good man. His sons are good guys. But my sense is, Jamie doesn’t think Morgan knows about him, when I can tell you, he does.”
My heart skipped a painful beat.
She kept talking.
“It isn’t that he told me. It’s that I already knew, or at least I suspected. I knew Morgan was foreman at Oakbilly, Jamie’s the spitting image of him, and Jamie looks a whole lot more like Boone and Cassidy than anything close to Andy or Jeff. And we both know, even if it wasn’t his doing, Jamie hasn’t stayed out of the spotlight. Boone and Cass might have missed it, because they wouldn’t be looking for it, but Morgan’s also quick as a whip, so I can guarantee he didn’t.”
Oh dear again.
Reid wasn’t done. “Since you’re here, and he’s got both his kids with him, I’d lean on Jamie to head out to Morgan’s place. If you want, I’ll act as go between so Morgan and Belle have a heads up.”
“We’re all leaving tomorrow.”
“I’d suggest you stay an extra day.”
“I’ll speak to him.”
“That’s good.”
“I’m very sorry for you and Greer, Reid,” I said quietly.