4. Madeleine #2
“You okay?” He looked up at me, green eyes bright through the falling snow. “You two scared me.”
My heart continued to slam against my ribs. “I’m fine now. However, I thought I was going to die.”
“Well, let’s not be dramatic.” He chuckled. “Anyway, you stayed on like a boss. Well done.” He ran a hand down the mare’s neck again and smirked, which could also be interpreted as a smile. “That was decent riding for a newbie.”
It was then I realized how quiet it was. No hoofbeats. No voices drifting back. Just wind moving through the firs.
“Knox, where’s the group?”
He straightened and turned a slow circle, his eyes narrowed, clearly taking in the bend of the trail and ridgeline through the trees like he’d done it all his life.
“Around the bend and gone. They’ll miss us quick.
Like he said, once Soren notices we’re gone, he’ll turn them all around and head back to the ranch.
” He glanced up at the sky, then at me. “I can’t see any smoke from the ranch.
Not in this snowfall. But Cash knows the way back.
Soren said he knows every trail. We give him his head, he’ll walk us home. ”
“You want to trust the horse that should be in the old folks’ home?” I asked, only half joking.
“Cash won’t let us down.” He swung back up into the saddle. “Unless you’d rather have Duchess lead and end up somewhere with valet parking and an expensive glass of wine.”
“Don’t threaten me with a good time.”
His laugh rumbled out of him, loud in the silence and startling another bird out of a tree somewhere. Duchess flinched but didn’t bolt. Thank God.
“Please don’t let me die,” I said.
“You’re not going to die.”
“Good, because there are people who need me.” I let that slip before I realized what I’d said. “My clients, I mean.”
He gave me a quick once over, and I could tell he knew that wasn’t who I was thinking of in that moment. I looked away.
“Lead the way, Cash,” I said.
Cash shook his head and then began to walk.
Duchess and I followed. Lost in the Montana backcountry with Knox Hartley should have been a disaster, but it was kind of nice.
In this setting, I felt safe with him. I might be comfortable in a negotiation with suits, but this seemed to be his domain.
He’d taken on the role of protector, and I was surprised to find I didn’t mind.
Not at all. Odd and slightly alarming, I thought, before setting it aside to pay attention to what was going on around me.
The trail widened, allowing the horses to walk shoulder to shoulder.
“Why ‘River?’” Knox asked after a minute.
“What?”
“Your song choice last night. Why ‘River?’”
“I don’t know how to explain it exactly,” I said. “Especially to you.”
“Why me?”
My instinct was to deflect, but the fresh air must have been messing with my head. “Because you’re so immensely gifted. So good at your craft. Talking about music with you is intimidating.”
“Pretend it isn’t,” Knox said. “And answer my question.”
“First off, I know it’s not a Christmas song, if that’s what you’re saying.”
“I’m not,” he said.
“The ache of regret in the lyrics and the music speak to me.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Snow caught in Duchess’s mane, each flake holding its shape for a split second before it melted.
We continued down the trail, snow falling all around us.
For a moment I imagined us in a snow globe, the world outside of our bubble untouchable—just us and Cash and Duchess and this beautiful countryside.
“Why the music industry?” Knox asked. “You could’ve chosen anything. Why this?”
“Country music has been my solace since I was a kid. Listening to the radio was free, so no one could keep it from me. My mother had a record collection she’d inherited from my grandfather.
It was massive, with every record you could think of.
Waylon. Dolly. Haggard. Charlie and I spent a lot of afternoons that way. ”
“Charlie?”
“My little sister. She’s ten years younger than me. My mom worked a lot, so I looked after her a lot. She’s my everything.”
“Yeah?” He peered at me from under his black hat.
“After school, I’d rustle up a snack for us and then we’d put on a record and just sit on the floor to listen before starting homework. Those were some of the best moments of my life.”
“What did your mom do for a living?”
“Worked at the local factory. Dad ran off right after Charlie was born.”
“What’s Charlie up to now?”
I smiled, pride expanding my chest. “She’s finishing up law school. Patent law. She’s really smart.”
“Like her sister.”
“You think I’m smart?” I asked.
“Obviously. No one could say otherwise if they talked to you for like two seconds.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled.
“Why won’t you tell people where you grew up?” Knox asked.
I swallowed, thinking about how to answer that without giving away too much. But I’d already opened my big mouth and told him about Charlie and music and my mom working to support us all alone. “I left it behind. Don’t particularly like to think about it.”
“Your mom good?” Knox asked.
I smiled before I could stop myself. “Yes, she’s fine now. I make sure of that.”
“You send her money?”
“It’s not a big deal,” I said, hoping he’d move on to another subject.
“You putting Charlie through law school?” Knox asked.
I nodded, not wanting to get into all that.
“I tried to get my folks to let me buy them a new house or remodel their current one,” Knox said. “My dad refuses any help. Drives me nuts, but he’s proud. Worked with his hands his whole life. He doesn’t really get my world.”
“You work with your hands too,” I said.
He laughed, nodding. “Yeah, I guess I do.” He was quiet for a moment.
“I have a sister too. Sadie. She teaches kindergarten not far from where we grew up.” He touched a gloved fingertip to his scar.
The gesture told me something. However he’d gotten his scar, his sister was somehow involved.
“She let me buy her a house. Best feeling I’ve ever had. ”
“She’s lucky to have you.”
“Sadie’s the only one in my family that ever seems proud of me. My dad acts like I’m a drug dealer or something. Mama doesn’t understand why I travel all the time. And why I haven’t married.”
“Do they love music like you do?”
“Not really. When I was learning guitar, my dad used to send me out to the woodshed to practice.”
“No way,” I said.