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She walked across the yard and up the steps. Micah had disappeared inside.

“I sent him to get a jug of water from Mom. Real cowboys stay hydrated.”

“How very responsible,” Cora returned with a chuckle.

“You okay?”

It was then she realized she hadn’t fixed her makeup, and it was probably clear as day she’d had a teary moment there in the car. Oh well. She looked out over the mountains, taking some solace in their sturdy strength. Was she okay? “I’m still working on it,” she murmured.

She glanced at him then, noticing the shadows under his eyes and the hint of stubble on his chin. “Areyouokay?”

He raked a hand through his hair before pulling the cowboy hat onto his head. “You ever wanted to be a spy?”

She laughed, surprised by the odd question and maybe even a little charmed by it. By him.He won’t understand you. You swore off men.

But he grinned down at her, and she forgot all that. It was nice to forget, and nice to know good men existed somewhere in this world. Inherworld.

“I had some Nancy Drew fantasies. I guess that’s more sleuthing than spying.”

“It’ll do, Nancy. Call me Joe Hardy and come solve a mystery with me.”

* * *

Cora’s expression turned skeptical, but Shane noted she also didn’t stop smiling. There was probably something a little wrong with him given that he was still asking for her help after she’d been very clear she wasn’t looking for a romantic complication to her life.

And neither are you.

Except he couldn’t quite remember that in her general proximity. All he could think about when she was within viewing distance was the fact he liked being around her. He liked making her smile, and the way she studied him. She didn’t outright argue with him like his siblings always did. She listened, even when she didn’t agree.

When it came to this stuff with Ben and spying and investigators, siblings couldn’t be counted on to deal with it rationally. Gavin went too far, and the girls went not far enough. Boone’s being home only made it more complicated. There was too much going oninsideof his family, a family who didn’t understand what it was like to be used by someone for what you had.

He needed a little outside help. And if that was some kind of rationalization to be in Cora’s orbit more often than not, so be it.

“What exactly did you have in mind?” she asked, still skeptical, butlistening.

“So, I suggested hiring a private investigator to the kids last night.”

Cora wrinkled her nose. “The kids?”

Shane winced a little. “I’m the oldest. Old habits. Et cetera. Sometimes I call them kids.”

She pressed her lips together, but she couldn’t hide the smile. “Okay, Dad.” When he glared, she laughed. “But isn’t a private investigator kind of heavy-handed?”

“Maybe. Maybe it is, but I’ve been trying to get my mom to see the truth about Ben for a while now, and I can’t seem to.” He couldn’t let time run out. Couldn’t let this happen to Mom. “The suggestion of a private investigator was something of a last resort.”

“But your siblings don’t agree?”

“They can’t decide how they feel about it. The thing is, it would be an answer. If an investigation came back clean and there was truly nothing in Ben’s past that might make me think he’s a threat to my mother, I would drop this. I would find a way to get along with the guy. It would be ananswer. I need an answer, and neither Mom nor Ben will give it.”

“And, you, being you, you’ve asked in a hundred different ways.”

“I have. All I ever get is they love each other, and maybe they do, but that doesn’t mean he’s not dangerous.” God knew. “Cora, I don’t know how to let her make this mistake. And you said if there was any evidence that he might hurt her, you would help.”

“Yes. Yes, I would.” Her smile had died, and she looked so grave. Off in some other world. There was a heaviness about her that he’d thought he’d seen when she’d walked up, but she’d pushed it away. It was back now.

“Because someone hurt you once?” he asked gently, hoping to get to the bottom of her as much as he hoped to get to the bottom of Ben.

She didn’t meet his gaze. Instead she stared at the mountains like he so often did when he didn’t know what to say or do. When he was looking for answers that didn’t seem to appear anywhere in this world. He always hoped the mountains had the answers. They never did, but that never kept him from looking.