Chapter 24
maverick
Iwake up alone.
The sun hasn’t climbed up the mountains yet.
Its pale light spills in through the cracked curtains, soft and blush, casting lines across Aria’s bedroom—wood-paneled walls, white quilts, a pair of boots tossed by the door.
The house creaks like all ranch houses do, shifting its bones with the start of the day.
Aria’s side of the bed is empty, the sheets crumpled.
I hear her moving through the house, probably already dressed and halfway through her to-do list.
I stayed the night.
She was upset. I could see the start of a migraine in her eyes, one she curbed by taking her medication.
I asked if she wanted me to leave after dinner. She simply said, “No.”
So, we slept together—just that, comfort and warmth.
Not because we couldn’t keep our hands off each other—though God knows I came close—but because she asked me to stay.
Quietly.
Like it wasn’t a big deal.
But it was.
I’ve gotten to know her, and this is Aria telling me she trusts me.
Considering what that asshole Hudson pulled when they were kids, I doubt Aria has trusted anyone. I have the honor now, and I’m going to do everything I can to keep her…with me.
I rub a hand over my face and lie back against the pillows for a second, staring up at the ceiling.
We didn’t have sex, and yet I feel enormously satisfied. And smug.
She’s mine. And I’ve never wanted anyone the way I do her.
Age has a way of forcing clarity—of making me see what is real and what isn’t. My feelings for Aria are as real as they get.
Son of a bitch!
I’ve done gone fallen in love with her.
I’m smiling like a fool when I swing my legs out of bed, eager to see her, be with her.
As I pull on yesterday’s jeans and a clean shirt I’d stashed in the truck, I acknowledge that something isn’t right at Longhorn.
Someone is working hard to ensure she fails to get her cattle to the Gunnison Auction, where she’ll be able to generate revenue to buy more head and also pay the taxes.
She’s had three incidents that I suspect were all planned.
Ranching has bad days. But not like this.
When I walk into the kitchen at six in the morning, Aria’s pouring coffee into two chipped mugs, her braid loose, a soft smile brushing her lips.
She looks at me with eyes that are full of excitement. “Oh, I was going to bring you coffee in bed.”
I walk to her, kiss her lips. “Good morning, darlin’.”
She blushes. It’s adorable.
“You drink it black, right?” She holds up a mug toward me.
I take the mug from her, kiss her again, soft, no tongue, just a greeting.
“Black’s the only way to drink coffee, darlin’.”
We sit next to each other at the dining table, the mountains in front of us, still half in shadow.
She tilts her head to look at me. “Thanks for stayin’ the night.”
“How’s the head?”
“Good.”
I take a sip. “You need to get some cameras on the property.”
Her expression shifts. “I also need a spa day, Maverick, but I can’t afford either.”
I grin. “I can give you a massage anytime you want.”
She smirks, playfully elbows me.
I yank her braid and kiss her again.
I can’t stop kissing her.
I want her, yeah, but I want this, too. Easy intimacy. Comfortable companionship.
I’ve never been with a woman with whom I feel so much at ease. She’s not trying to push me to want more with her, and I’m not running away ‘cause I don’t want to hurt her feelings.
She accepts me the way I am. Hasn’t asked for one damn thing.
She gives. In small ways and big.
She gives with her smile.
A cup of coffee.
A touch on my shoulder.
A kiss.
Her silence.
My mornings have been better these past few days because I wake up to the promise of her.
“We have another three weeks before the auction,” she states.
“Yeah.”
“I’ve been thinkin’ what else can go wrong.”
I set my mug down and cup her cheeks so she’s looking at me. “I’m going to help you.”
Her lips lift, but it’s a fragile thing. “I don’t like depending on you.”
My lips curve, and I see a warmth enter her gaze, quickly replaced by despair.
“Why, darlin’?”
She exhales. “I…for a moment I wondered if you were….”
I close my eyes as the import of what she said pierces through me, wounds me.
No woman has been able to hurt me, and she just did with a few words.
If that isn’t a sign loud and clear that she means too much to me, I don’t know what is.
If I were younger, I’d have run from her, fast and furious.
But now, I know how precious this is—how incredible to find someone who holds your heart in their hands, who you trust to keep it safe.
I open my eyes and let her see me—really see me. Her gasp tells me she wasn’t expecting her words to cut that deep.
“I’ll never hurt you, not intentionally,” I promise.
She licks her lips. “I’m afraid.”
Tell me about it, darlin’!
“I know. Me, too.”
She raises both eyebrows in confusion.
“You have the power to cut me to pieces, darlin’.”
It’s more than I’ve given any woman, even Joy and Elena. I’ll die for them, but they can’t crush my soul like Aria can.
“I won’t hurt you…ever,” she vows.
We seal the deal with a kiss—slow, long, and potent.
The Wildflower Canyon County Sheriff’s office sits on Main Street, unassuming and solid. It’s been here longer than half the buildings around it.
I park out front and walk in.
“He there?” I ask Opal Hennessey. She’s the dispatcher and the town’s unofficial gossip channel. She can tell you who was arrested, why, and what they were wearing when it happened.
If I were murdered, the sheriff would start his investigation by talking to her.
“Yeah.” Opal’s eyes are dancing with curiosity.
“What?” I sigh.
“Hear that you been stayin’ nights at Longhorn.”
One fuckin’ night a few hours ago, and she already knows. I wish I were surprised, but I’m not.
“Is that what you hear?” I arch an eyebrow, feigning irritation.
Opal leans back and plays with her pen as she looks me over. She’s in her mid-thirties, sharp-tongued but kind as they come. At the sheriff’s office, she answers the phone, logs complaints, makes strong coffee, and gives anyone the side-eye if they walk in with an attitude.
“I also hear that Celine and that drunk husband of hers are in Aspen. Talkin’ up a storm about buyin’ a bar.”
I nod, taking the information in.
“Been tellin’ people that soon they’ll be sellin’ the ranch.” Opal leans in and drops her voice. “Hudson thinks he’s gonna get a share, but I have it on good authority that Celine’s plannin’ on divorcin’ his nasty ass.”
I flick my gaze toward her, humor tugging at my mouth. “On good authority?”
“The bartender at the Bad Harriett in Aspen is a cousin, and he heard her talk to those girls you cut to size at the Heritage Sale.”
Like I said, Opal knows everything.
I wait a beat because I know there’s more…the punchline.
Opal doesn’t disappoint. “And….” She pauses and gives me a wickedly pleased look. “I hear that you and Celine will be goin’ public about your affair soon.”
I give her a soft, contemplative glance. “Now, darlin’ Opal, I know you wouldn’t tell a soul what I’m about to tell you.”
Her eyes light up with mischief and joy. “As God is my witness, Mav.”
“Sure.” I give her a flat look, amusement curling low in my chest. “Now, see, the reason I’m stayin’ at Longhorn is to be with Aria.”
“You don’t say.” She puts a hand on her heart and gives me an exaggerated look.
“I got no interest in married women, you know that.”
“Oh, I do,” Opal agrees. “So, Aria?”
“She’s one hell of a woman.” I lean closer. “Between you and me…”—and everyone in Wildflower Canyon—“she’s the one for me.”
“It’s in the vault, Mav.” She makes a sign of zipping up her lips.
I tip my hat at her and walk into the sheriff’s office.
Sheriff Hugh Dillon looks up from behind his desk when I knock once and step inside. He’s in his uniform, which for Hugh means jeans, boots, a tan shirt with pearl snaps, and his ever-present Stetson sitting on a rack behind him. His badge shines from his belt, not a scuff on it.
“You done usin’ my dispatcher for whatever it is you’re cookin’ up?”
“Yeah. Thanks.” I sit across from him.
“Coffee?”
“Nah, I had mine…with Aria this morning.”
Hugh laughs, big and loud. He runs a hand over his shaved head. “You makin’ an announcement?”
“Yeah, for more reasons than her.”
He squints, already reading the trouble in my eyes. “This about Longhorn?”
“Fenceline went down. The feed was contaminated. Yesterday, Gemma Bishop shows up because of an anonymous call. They find a banned Class 2 pesticide in a locked storage shed.”
He whistles low. “You think someone’s sabotaging the place?”
“Don’t you?”
He nods.
“Something stinks, Hugh, and it’s not just rotting alfalfa.” I lean back in my chair, clenching my jaw because I’m angry as fuck. “She’s got a chance to turn the ranch around, and someone wants to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Hugh gives me a measured look. “You think this is Celine?”
I raise an eyebrow.
“Opal works here,” he drawls, amused. “I get her news first. Didn’t know you and Celine were an item.”
“We’re not.”
“I agree with your assessment. But I can’t see Celine doing somethin’ like this. I can’t see it. But Hudson’s dirty as hell and in deep with gambling debts.”
I don’t bother to argue about how Celine is not innocent. He’ll learn like I did.
“They’re both conveniently out of town while this happens. I’d bet my left boot more is comin’.”
Hugh looks at me for a long beat, then nods. He’s not arguing the point about Celine, but he’s also not going to ignore it. “Anyone new at Longhorn?”
“Wes Boone. Guy from Aspen. Comes recommended by Tate Pryor.”
That makes Hugh sit up. “I’ll talk to Pryor. The others?”
“Earl, Nadine, Tomas, and Vera.”
“They’d all cut their hands off before they’d hurt Longhorn.”
“Yeah.”
“Leaves Wes.”
I nod.
He sighs.
“Could also be someone from outside,” I add. “Ain’t that hard to slip in and out of Longhorn. She’s got zero security.”
He raises his furry brows. “No cameras?”
I shake my head.
“Alright. I’ll check it out. You see anything else, you come to me.”
“I will.” I shift my weight, then glance out the window at Main Street, thinking I’ll stop by Joy’s boutique for a minute. “Thanks, Hugh.”
He gives me a tight smile. “Don’t thank me yet. Let’s see what shakes loose.”
After a quick cup of coffee with Joy at Wild Coffee, I head back to Kincaid Farms.
My gut’s telling me the storm’s just getting started.
And I plan to be standing when it hits…with Aria.