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Uh-oh. That was never a good sign.
“Your brother, he’s Wade Keagan?”
He gave a sharp nod. “That’s my oldest brother.”
Mr. Abrams grunted. “I bumped into him the other day.” When Mason didn’t respond, he continued. “I mentioned that I had some extra work to do on my property because my assistant went and got himself married and then moved away.”
Mason stared at him blankly. He had no idea where Abrams was going with this.
Mr. Abrams cleared his throat, his grey eyes drifting to the books in Mason’s hands. They lingered there for a few moments, then he nodded resolutely. “Wade seemed to think that one of his brothers might be willing to lend me a hand temporarily, seeing as I don’t have any children of my own. I would continue looking for a replacement, of course.”
Mason continued to stare, but when Abrams didn’t expand on what he was rambling about, Mason’s spine jolted with understanding. “I’m sorry, are you… offering me a job?”
“Out of all of your brothers, I would wager you’re the one I could trust.”
“But you don’t even know me.”
Abrams nodded to the books in his hand. The top one was a recent release by his favorite Sci-fi author. Then Abrams held up a matching copy from the stack he held. A small smile spread across his lips. “Take some time to think on it. You can stop by my place to see what the job would entail before you make a firm decision.”
Mason gaped at the man. He didn’t have a chance to respond before the gal behind the counter called out for the next customer. Abrams nodded sharply. “I’m available most of the day tomorrow.” He turned to go to the register, then stopped himself, turning slightly to meet Mason’s eyes. “It’s not gonna be your typical run-of-the-mill job. There are some additional… duties. But we can discuss them later.” He smiled, the bristles of his white mustache shifting once more. “I hope to see you then.”
2
Harley Pembrooke
Harley slogged through the tall grasses until she reached the trail she’d used to get to the edge of the property. The cowboy had been an easy target. Most of the men out here in Colorado were. They were all too sweet. Their lives had been too easy. They knew nothing of the real world.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t wanted to take the bait and it left her hungry for more interaction. What she wouldn’t give to see a cowboy blush.
She still couldn’t believe she was stuck in Copper Creek for the next several months. Getting kicked out of her university hardly seemed like a bad enough offense to be banished to the middle of nowhere.
Mosquitos flitted here and there and she swatted them away. It wasn’t just the fact that there was nothing to do out here. It was knowing that there would be no one of consequence to spend time with. Uncle Vern was as boring as they came, and from what she could tell, he didn’t have any friends.
With no means of transportation, and no way to call an uber, she was stuck.
With each step she took to get back to the house, her fury grew. She was twenty-one, for heaven’s sake. She was an adult and deserved to be treated like one—not have her car and her phone taken from her the second she arrived in this hillbilly town.
Her steps slowed and she reached for her back pocket. Ridiculous. Hadn’t her frustration over her missing phone been enough? When would the muscle memory leave? Yes, she’d been glued to all of her social media accounts. That was part of the problem, according to her parents. They didn’t like how she had aired the Pembrooke dirty laundry all over the internet.
Well, these days, there was no such thing as privacy. No one had to follow the rules when it came to sharing one’s life on the world wide web. And she was no exception. People wanted to see the heir to the Pembrooke fortune just as much as they wanted to see the current pop sensation.
If her inheritance wasn’t on the line, she wouldn’t have put up with any of this. She needed the money if she didn’t want to turn out like her uncle—out here, alone and unwanted. She slowed as she reached the edge of the property. The house was modest compared to what she was used to.
Okay, modest was putting it lightly. This place reminded her of a shack that wasn’t worth living in. Sure, it was probably about three-thousand square feet of house, which was big enough for a single cowboy, but it wasn’t what she wanted.
Besides being small, not on a beach somewhere, and completely isolated, his place smelled to high heaven when the breeze picked up just right. As if Mother Nature could hear her thoughts, the wind picked up and hit her square in the face. Harley wrinkled her nose and brought her upper arm up to her face. The smell from the cows in the barn downwind was atrocious, and that was only the start of the horrors she’d experienced since her arrival.
Harley groaned, then trudged forward. Her uncle’s truck wasn’t in front of the house, but there was no telling how long he’d be gone. He could come back at any moment, which meant she didn’t have time to go snooping for keys to any of the other vehicles on the premises. And she had no idea how to saddle a horse.
This was purgatory, and her parents should have been ashamed of themselves.
At least with her uncle gone, she could slip inside and take a nap. She didn’t think he’d be so terrible as to wake her up. If she was lucky, he’d let her sleep right through supper. Even better, when she woke up, she’d find out this was all a dream.
* * *
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Harley winced as she rolled over in her bed and peered through the darkness at the window on the far side of the bedroom. It was still dark out.
