Page 97 of Ironwood Ranch Cowboys

There’s a shaky exhale on the other end. “I messed up.”

My stomach knots. “How bad?”

Silence. “Bad.”

I close my eyes, pressing my fingers against my forehead. “Evan.”

“I didn’t mean for it to… I thought I had it under control, I thought I could fix it before it got…” He cracks. “I need money, Annie.”

Yep. I thought as much.

“How much?” I ask, even though part of me doesn’t want to know.

Another pause.

Then he says the number, and the world tilts.

“Evan,” I whisper. “That’s not… that’s not a small amount.”

“I know.”

“Do you have any idea what you’re asking?”

“I know,” he says again, more desperate this time. “I know, I just… I don’t have anyone else, Annie. Please.”

My chest tightens, because that’s the worst part. He doesn’t have anyone else. Not really.

Our parents are… not options. Not in any way that matters. Dad isn’t someone me or my brother can ever get hold of, and Mom doesn’t want to know because neither of us fit into the image she wants for us.

And Evan, sweet, reckless, endlessly trying Evan, has a talent for finding trouble and then trying to fix it himself until it spirals out of control.

Which is exactly what this feels like.

“What happened?” I ask again.

“It doesn’t matter,” he says quickly. “I just need to fix it before it gets worse.”

“That means it does matter.”

“Annie—”

“What did you do?”

Silence stretches between us. Then, barely audible, “I owe someone.”

Ice slides through my veins. “What kind of someone?”

Another pause.

“Evan,” I snap. “Who?”

“It’s not… it’s not like that⁠—”

“Who?”

His breath hitches. “Just… someone I shouldn’t have gotten involved with.”

That’s not reassuring at all.