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She hopped off the fence and wandered toward him, her hands in her back pockets. “I mean, I love books as much as the next girl, but the fact that you didn’t even hear me coming has me curious.” Without even asking, she leaned down and plucked the book from his fingers.
Her nose wrinkled, and her eyes darted to meet his.
Green like the fields. Green like the freshly growing grass. This woman had eyes that would put the Emerald City to shame. And there she stood, watching him and waiting for a response.
A response.
What was it that she’d asked?
He scrambled to his feet and lunged for the book, but she held it out of reach. For Pete’s sake! What had she asked him?
She smirked, tucking the book beneath her folded arms. “Fine, don’t tell me. I’ll find out eventually.” The woman backed up one step and leaned against the fence. “When I went for this walk, I didn’t think I’d run into anyone. But I guess if you go far enough, you’ll bump into someone eventually, right?” Her green eyes locked onto his, then swept over his body from head to toe before she retrieved the book and flipped it over to read the back.
Mason lunged forward and snatched it from her grasp. He clenched it tightly in his hand so that it wouldn’t be grabbed from him for a third time today. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave. This isn’t your property.”
Her laughter threw him off. Her eyes danced, and she didn’t look bothered in the slightest by his request. “This land doesn’t belong to anyone. It was here a lot longer than either one of us.”
Mason bristled. She was one of those people. While there was a need for the open-minded, he had never gotten to the point where he’d actually liked one of them. They all had these ideas on how the world should work, and the problem was… they were wrong.
It didn’t matter how many rules there were.
Land could still be owned. Water would always get polluted. His parents would never come home. And even if they did, well, they were probably better off without them.
Her laughter died down and she gazed at him with a look that said she wasn’t going to let him push her around. “This land only belongs to you because somewhere down the line, your great-great-great grandfather took it from some helpless person.”
Mason’s eyes narrowed. Their family would have lost their property if his grandparents hadn’t paid for it in full. Even then, several companies had tried to steal it from his family, and they would have, too, if Wade hadn’t come to their rescue.
The whole place had nearly been condemned at one point.
He gritted his teeth. There was no sense in arguing with this woman. He didn’t even know who she was or where she’d come from. For all he knew, she could even be a tourist who thought she had the right to go traipsing all over the town because land couldn’t be owned. She was lucky she hadn’t been shot already.
A heavy breath left his body and he turned away from her to get his horse’s reins. He wasn’t about to get into an argument he knew he couldn’t win. He could tell it would be a pointless waste of breath to try and reason with her. Besides, he had a few things he needed to pick up in town—anything to get away from this current situation.
“Wait, where are you going?”
“Away from you,” he called back.
“Seriously?”
He chuckled. The locals weren’t going to take kindly to her attitude. It was probably good for her to learn it now before she had to interact with people who might not be so patient.
“You don’t even want to know my name?”
Mason pulled the reins from Stone’s shoulders, grabbed onto the saddle horn, and pulled himself up. He couldn’t believe she was still talking.
“It’s Harley.”
He didn’t bother looking in her direction as he urged his horse forward. Knowing her name wouldn’t do him any good. He probably would never see her again.
* * *
Mason moved to the front of the bookstore with two books he’d found in the discounted pile. This was where he felt most at home. It was nice to be in a place with like-minded folks. Granted, most of the visitors were women, but there were a handful of men.
Mr. Abrams shot him a respectful smile. He was one of the quieter men in this town. He kept his cards close to his chest when it came to his family and his property, but no one seemed to mind. Those who wanted to be left alone got their wish.
Mason smiled back, then glanced away. Mr. Abrams faced him once more.
“You’re a Keagan, aren’t you?”
