Brokedown Cowboy

“Not exactly. But Connor has a lot of empty rooms, and he’s agreed to let me stay with him until I can find a place.”

Jeanette arched a dark brow and looked to the left to make sure no one else was lingering nearby. Maria and Sandra were the only others in the office today, but the older women didn’t necessarily enjoy listening to her and Jeanette gossip. “Is this fine-ass Connor? The one with the bulging forearms and very delicious tattoo? Your friend? The one who’s been by to pick you up from work a few times?”

Jeanette had been in town for only a couple of years, so she didn’t know everyone’s life or life story in as much detail as most of the locals did.

Liss cleared her throat. “Yes, that Connor.”

“Get it, girl.”

Liss’s face burned, and she knew full well that she was blushing. “There will be no getting of it. He’s just helping me out. And he really is just a friend.”

Jeanette frowned. “Sorry. I did not imagine for one second that you were really only just friends with a man who looked like that. I just thought you were slow on the rebound after that jerk left.” Jeanette never remembered Marshall’s name, or at least, she pretended she didn’t remember his name. Because Jeanette was a goddess like that.

“It’s not like that with us. I was really good friends with his wife. Him, too. But Jessie and I were friends for...years and...well, that would be weird. And you know. Too much baggage.”

It was a refrain she had repeated to herself often.

“Yeah, that makes sense. That’s a lot of history.”

“A book full of it. That’s the problem with small towns,” Liss said, sighing heavily. “There’s history everywhere. That is perhaps why I’ve been single for so long.” Except she knew it wasn’t just that.

“Thankfully, I came with a man in tow.” Jeanette and her husband, Tom, had been married for five years, and Tom had come to Copper Ridge to work as a fisherman.

“It was a better plan than mine. Which was to grow up here, never leave and ensure every man in my age group knew me far too well to see me as anything other than a friend. I’m thinking Copper Ridge could almost single-handedly cause a boom in the mail-order-husband market. Maybe I could get myself a nice biddable Russian groom. One who would chop wood and open jars for me.”

“Let me know how that works out. I might sign up.” Jeanette winked and pushed a stack of papers beneath a hole punch, pressing it down firmly. “Not that I need another husband. It would just be nice to have someone around the house to do hard labor when Tom is out on the boat.”

“I could really start something here. A nice little secondary career.” Liss stuck the papers she was holding into a file. “Of course, I think living with Connor is going to be my secondary career.”

“If it’s rent-free...”

“It is.”

“And comes with a very handsome roommate,” Jeanette said, smiling.

“Yes. A cranky, high-maintenance, handsome roommate.”

“That’s what they call a fixer-upper.”

“I think when I put out my ad for my mail-order husband, I’m going to request a man who’s turnkey.”

Jeanette laughed. “Good luck with that. They all come with baggage. Even the good ones.” She pushed a couple buttons on her computer then paused. “Actually, especially the good ones. It’s the ones who have been through a lot and come out the other side that are really worth it in the end.”

Liss let Jeanette’s words hang there for a moment, willing them to just roll off, hoping they wouldn’t sink in. Because she didn’t need to harbor any more false hope where Connor was concerned.

Finally, she responded. “Great. I’ll let you know when he comes out the other side. Although, it still won’t be like that.”

“Whatever you say, Liss. Whatever you say.”

Liss’s cell phone vibrated against the surface of her desk. Her landlord’s number flashed over the screen and she frowned, answering the phone as quickly as possible. “Sorry,” she said to Jeanette, grabbing the phone and picking it up, answering quickly. “Hello?”

“Hi, Liss?” Marjorie asked, before plowing into the rest of her sentence. “Our buyer is very motivated to move. In fact, they really need a place to stay, so if we can’t clear out the house fast enough for them, they might look somewhere else. They’re able to pay cash, so they’re very mobile, and this is moving very quickly. I’m sorry to inconvenience you, but if you are able to move out as quickly as possible, I would really appreciate it. I know what your rights are legally, but I thought I would just talk to you personally.”

Of course, because this was Copper Ridge, and your landlord was never just your landlord; they became your friend, too. So when they overasked of you, it was impossible to say no. That was the economy of a small town. Everyone knew they could borrow help if need be, and interest was paid in small favors and homemade pies.

But then, her landlord had not become a good enough friend to refuse to ask something like this of Liss. Of course, she also knew Marjorie would never push or throw her out on the street or anything.

“It just so happens that I lined up a place to stay last night. And I can move in whenever.” She thought of Connor and his house, and her stomach did something weird. Kind of a twist and turn at the same time.

Marjorie breathed out an audible sigh of relief right into Liss’s ear. “If you could start moving out this weekend, it would be really helpful. I just don’t want the sale to fall through. Norm and I are much better off in Arizona, and the sooner we can cut ties with everything here, the better. It isn’t that I don’t love the town, but my joints don’t love the damp.”

“I understand.” Even though she didn’t, really.

“Thank you, Liss. You’ve been a great tenant.” Most especially since Marshall had moved out, but Liss didn’t say it. “Most especially since that boyfriend of yours moved out.” Oh, so Marjorie was going to go ahead and say it. “I hate to lose you, but I’m just too old to be managing properties and going back and forth between places. And if we have to hire a company...”

Liss let her mind wander. She’d heard Marjorie’s hand-wringing on the subject already. She was agreeing to move out; she didn’t know why she needed to subject herself to her landlord’s woes. Which was potentially a little bit unsympathetic, but she was the one who was being massively inconvenienced, so maybe not.

“Okay, sweetie, I’ve got to go,” Marjorie said.

“Okay, talk to you later.” Liss hung up and set her phone on the table. She looked up at Jeanette. “Is it okay if I make one more personal call?”

Jeanette waved a hand. “I’m not the warden. Do your business.”

Liss picked her phone up and dialed Connor’s cell phone number. He still had a flip phone, and half the time it didn’t ring, but it was still worth a try, because she knew he was out in the field right now, rather than at home.

Much to her very pleasant surprise, Connor answered on the second ring. “Liss?”

“Hi, Connor. I just wanted to say...I guess I’m moving in this weekend.”

“I guess I’ll be at your house early Saturday with a truck.” He sounded a little bit dazed, and she couldn’t blame him. She felt a little bit dazed.

“I’ll be waiting. With groceries. As per the agreement.”

“All right, then, Saturday.”

“Saturday,” she repeated, before hanging the phone up.

It wasn’t that big of a deal. It wasn’t a deal at all.

Maybe if she repeated that to herself a few more times she would start to believe it.

CHAPTER FOUR (#ulink_41de6532-f2e6-574d-acfd-55a3053f5148)

IT WAS MOVING DAY. Connor had to be at Liss’s house by nine. Which meant he’d been out on his horse by six. The morning air had a mean bite, but he didn’t mind. The needle pokes of wind against his skin, combined with the pounding of his horse’s hooves on the soft ground, went a long way in wiping his mind clean.

Connor rode through the empty field, clumps of mud and grass flying up behind him, hitting the back of his shirt. The clearing was flanked by a grove of trees on the left, and a steep, evergreen-covered pitch of rock on the right. The sky above was filled with gray, misty clouds that seemed to be rolling down toward earth, swallowing the tops of the mountains that surrounded the ranch.

This was morning here in Copper Ridge. All shades of deep green, blue and gray. Until the sun came out and burned the cloud cover away, flooding the ranch with golden light, drawing the scent of dirt, moss, pine out, then washing it all with an ocean breeze. For Connor this was as close to spiritual as it got. Being in this place, this town, where vast stretches of water met vast open land. Where all the essential sources of life were ready and available. This place was in his blood, in his soul.