Page 52 of All in with the Maverick Montana

“Been there, done that?” Josh asked.

Mike winced, his mouth pulling into a tight line. “It’s really hard to find the right person, isn’t it?”

“It sucks.” Josh drained his beer. “Can I get another when you get a chance?”

“You can. But you’re gonna trade it for your keys,” Mike said, holding out his hand.

“Ah, right,” Josh said. If he was going to keep drinking, then he wasn’t going to be driving. He took the ring out of his pocket, slipped his key fob free and passed it across the bar. Mike dropped it in an empty glass fishbowl that sat on the counter behind him.

“You have someone you want me to call to come pick you up when you’re done with this one?” he asked, uncapping another bottle and sliding it to Josh. “Or with however many drinks you need to drown out your thoughts?”

Josh’s first thought was to call Amy, and he almost said as much. But that was selfish of him. He’d practically run out on her when he didn’t know what to say, and now what? He was going to ask her to come and get him? To drive him home because he’d drunk a few too many instead of talking to her? How pathetic.

“You know what, I’ll just call a taxi,” Josh said, rethinking his plan. The service, affectionately called the Tenacity Shuttler by locals, was operated by a few ranchers who moonlighted on the side for extra cash. And though Josh knew he still shouldn’t be behind the wheel, he could at least stay sober enough to call his own ride. “Do me a favor, and brew me a coffee too?”

Mike nodded. “Sure thing.”

Josh took out his phone. He was confused enough about how he felt about Amy, he didn’t need to leave here drunk. He opened his contacts and called the local taxi company. They picked up on the third ring. “Yeah, hi, this is Josh Aventura. I’m at the Tenacity Social Club and need a lift to 100 Juniper Road.”

Mike looked up when he ended the call. “Hey, how long have you lived out on Juniper Road?”

Josh laughed and shrugged. “My whole life.”

“Are there any rocks on Juniper Road?”

Josh looked at him funny. He’d just asked about rocks, right? He hadn’t had that much to drink. “Plenty of them. Why?”

Mike shrugged. “It’s probably nothing, but… When you were a kid, did you know Barrett Deroy?”

“Yeah, I knew of him.” Barrett had left town about fifteen years ago with his family under a cloud of suspicion following the ‘incident’. He was accused of stealing the thousands of dollars from Tenacity Town Hall meant to restore the Tenacity Trail. Town was never the same, and most people still blamed him for how rundown Tenacity had become in recent years. “Barrett was friends with Brent Woodson, who lived on one of the neighboring ranches.”

Mike frowned. “Brent Woodson, as in Mayor Woodson’s son?”

Josh nodded. He was very confused. Why were they talking about rocks and Barrett Deroy? As far as he remembered, when Barrett’s family fled, they were persona non grata, and no one had heard hide nor hair from them since.

Mike leaned closer to him. “Does ‘Look Juniper Rock’ mean anything to you?”

Josh frowned. “Is that a real question or just something you do to mess with the customers?”

“Yeah, it’s a real question. ‘Look Juniper Rock,’” he repeated. “Is it ringing any bells?”

Josh thought about it for a minute and then said, “The Woodsons had a bunch of boulders at the edge of their property. The Stoolers live there now. Hasn’t changed much in that time, but I don’t remember the rocks being anything special. I couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to look at them.”

Mike took in his words, nodding along like everything Josh was saying was important. “Do you mind if I take a moment and call Diego Sanchez? Diego’s great-uncle has been doing some private investigating for Diego’s sister. She’s trying to track down the Deroy family. I think this might be a clue!”

“Huh… Well, be my guest,” Josh said. If Mike wanted to call Diego about some rocks, who the hell was Josh to stand in his way? Who the hell was he to anyone? He certainly wasn’t Amy’s husband or this baby’s father. He reached into his pocket for some money and paid his tab. “I’m gonna go catch my ride.”

Josh got to his feet as Mike turned away to make the call. No, he wasn’t a husband or a father, but in that moment, it shocked him just how much he wished he were.

Chapter Fourteen

Amy paced the length of the kitchen, half a sandwich in one hand, and her phone in the other. She’d been staring down at Tru’s contact info for the better part of an hour. It was funny. When Tru had broken things off with her to spontaneously marry his costar, she’d been devastated and heartbroken, but in the midst of all that she’d never gotten around to deleting his contact info. Now she wondered if that was fate’s little way of saying they weren’t quite done with each other yet. Okay, so it actually wasn’t very funny at all. Amy would have much preferred never to speak to the man again.

“Do you want another sandwich?” Faith asked, standing at the counter next to Caleb. They’d been puttering around with dinner, but Faith had stopped to make Amy a sandwich when she realized she hadn’t eaten anything but toast and banana bread. Amy didn’t know how to tell her she wasn’t all that hungry. She was full of dread and doubt, and she didn’t know what to think about Josh, and with all that swirling around inside her there couldn’t possibly be any room left for food.

She shook her head. “I’ve still got this half.”

“But are you still hungry? You must be hungry. You’ve hardly eaten today.”