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Wiz nodded. “Sure. I can get some more stuff if you want.” Her back stiffened, but she made herself relax. Friends of friends were fine. Only one stranger, a woman. She could do that.
“Nah, we got it, Wiz.” Ryan shook his head. “And speaking of Deb, didn’t you say you had cupcakes?”
Erin snorted. “Of course you’d want those now.”
Wiz got the cupcakes, putting them on the coffee table with some plates. She absentmindedly nibbled on one. Two more women wouldn’t be a problem, but a big, tall, strong guy—no thanks. Well, baby steps, that’s what her therapist said. She’d bring it up in their next session.
They chatted about Erin and Ryan’s business and then on to more general subjects. After they left, Wiz cleaned up. Maybe she should stock some wine. She didn’t know anything about it, but Erin evidently did. If she was going to have people over, she should be able to offer them common hospitality. Well, she could think about all that tomorrow. If she was hosting a party soon, she’d have to get more work done tonight.
Chapter 5
Tom growled at his computer. He and Dad had collapsed on the couch after a very long day of getting hay from the fields to the elk-proof enclosures. Good thing it was mostly tractor work because even six weeks after the accident, his ankle still wasn’t 100%. At least he was off the crutches and out of the boot.
Dad let the magazine he was reading drop to his lap. “Now what?”
“Still no answer. She’s determined to ignore me.” He didn’t understand why.
“Well, son, maybe you should honor her wishes. Clearly, she’s said ‘go away,’ so I’m not sure why you’re pushing so hard.”
Tom rubbed his eyes and raked his hand through his hair. “I don’t know either. I just can’t seem to leave it alone.”
Dad smiled, a small, knowing smile. “For the same reason neither of us can leave a horse without a decent home. You take one look into those big hurt eyes that want to trust again, and you melt. My guess, from what you’ve said, is that this girl looks the same way.”
“Yeah, probably. Well, that and she is our neighbor. A full-time neighbor, not somebody who shows up for a week or two. We need to get to know her in case there’s an emergency or something. And she’s not from around here, so she might not fully understand the hazards.”
Dad nodded. “It would be best, but if she doesn’t want to, you can’t force it. A woman isn’t a horse, and this woman sounds pretty self-sufficient and smart.”
“Yeah, I know.” He might as well tell Dad the little he’d found out. “I heard from an IT guy I worked with back in NYC. Victory Cyber is considered one of the very best internet security companies in the US, but they’re very selective. They work for very few people and only on particularly difficult projects. He also said nobody knows who the company owner is or anything about them and that they only communicate through email and chat programs. There’s no face to face, ever, not even on video, so some people won’t use them because they can’t trust them. Could be Russian or Chinese or even some kid.”
Dad pursed his lips. “You didn’t tell this guy about our neighbor, did you? We don’t want to reveal any secrets.”
Tom didn’t roll his eyes, but it was hard. He’d worked with a lot of sensitive data and situations. But Dad never had understood what he did. Or didn’t want to understand. “No, I told him I’d run into the name doing some research for the ranch and was curious. I told him that some area ranchers had issues with modern-day rustlers and that we were trying to get ahead of the curve.”
“Good. Wouldn’t want to betray a trust, even if we don’t know that we are.”
He sighed. He wasn’t five. “No kidding. I was very cautious.” She was wary enough; he didn’t want to make it worse.
“Good.” He picked up his magazine.
While he had Dad’s attention, he should get his opinion. “There is one more route I could check, but I might do more harm than good.”
“Oh?” His gray, bushy brows rose.
“Wiz told me that Erin at Coffee and Cars did the work on her van. I could ask her.”
“Hmm. Don’t know if that’s a good idea or not. Although...” He stared at the far wall, then turned back to Tom. “You know I meet some of the guys there every week. Both Erin and Ryan are vets; sometimes Ryan joins us, if it’s not too busy.” He turned away.
Tom waited; he knew better than to interrupt his dad’s decision-making process.
Dad nodded and looked at him. “Tell you what. Next week, I’ll stick around after the meeting, and I’ll ask Ryan. If Erin did the work recently, Ryan will know her too. And he’ll ask Erin to talk to me if not. They were both Air Force; maybe they knew Wiz back then.” Dad’s eyes narrowed for a moment. “Actually, now that I think about it, they have to know her. I saw Erin’s hotrod roll up our road last week. I knew that car looked familiar. It’s not like we get cruisers risking our dirt road very often.”
“The big silver one that scared the horses?”
Dad grinned. “Yeah, it’s sweet. An Oldsmobile 442. She fired it up one day when I was leaving, and it sounds great. Ryan’s a lucky guy.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Erin Moore is a beauty.” Dad chuckled. “I tried to set you up with her, but she didn’t want anything to do with a man back then. She’d lost her husband in Afghanistan a couple of years before that. Guess it was still too soon.”
