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“Yes, does that bother you, Blackwell?” I heard from the end of the hall.
Ethan stood, leaning against the wall, his eyes boring through me. He wanted a fight, I could feel it, but I’d already decided not in the Hunt house, not when they’d been so kind to us.
“Yes, it does,” I told him.
“Finally, some honesty for a change,” he said, standing to his full height but leaving his arms crossed. He walked closer to me and I found my fists naturally tightening. “You better watch yourself,” he continued.
“Oh yeah? Why?”
“Because I’ll catch you when you least expect it.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I asked him.
“It means I see right through your shit and you don’t want to provoke me.”
“Is that a threat?”
“Damn straight,” he said, lingering a moment before rounding me.
He knocked on Cricket’s door.
“Who is it?” she asked.
“It’s Ethan,” he said, eyeing me.
“Come in,” she invited.
He opened the door but before he went inside, gave me a triumphant smile.
“Asshole,” I muttered and headed back downstairs to get my jacket and head back to the trailer, but the dining hall was unusually full.
I found Bridge sitting next to Jonah talking so I joined them.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Emmett’s on the phone with the McAllen family a town over,” Jonah explained.
“Friends of the family or something?”
“Not really, but apparently something major happened. Pop Pop’s asked us to stick around for a minute.”
“Okay,” I said just as Emmett walked in.
He sat at the front of the table. “Well, that was Amos McAllen’s son. He’s flown into Yellow Creek. Amos was in an accident last week and they’ve had to amputate his leg.”
“Poor man,” Jonah said, shaking his head.
“He’s in pretty serious condition and his wife is suffering without him. As you know, calving season is in full swing and their ranch is small.” Lots of hands started nodding. “She relied on Amos for a lot.”
“I can go over and help them,” Jonah offered quickly, shocking me.
“I was hoping you would say as much,” Emmett said.
“Can we afford to lose Jonah?” I asked Bridge under my breath.
She shrugged. We were strapped for hands as it was. Jonah nudged my shoulder and I looked at him like he was crazy. The death look he gave me confirmed it.
I raised my hand like a fifth grader. “Uh, I can go too,” I volunteered.
