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“That was Switch. He’s quite the character. You’re heading out now, right?”

“Yes, I am.”

“I’ll walk you out. Carl’s got a situation in the kitchen.”

Lori walked along with J.R. As they entered the parking lot, Sylvia was pulling out in her car.

“Pretty rowdy bunch of cowboys hanging around the bar tonight. I hope none of them were giving you a hard time?” J.R. asked, as Lori unlocked her car door.

“They were harmless. Sylvia said that there’s a rodeo going on nearby?”

“Sure is. Pretty fun event actually.”

“Well I’ve never seen a cowboy ride a bull, but some of the guys said that they’ll be there this Sunday.”

“It’s a sight to see.”

She smiled then opened the car door.

“Well, thank you for walking me out. You have a good night.”

“A good morning. I don’t know how you pull these doubles all week. Bet you can’t wait to get through tomorrow to be off on Sunday.”

“What, does everyone know my schedule?”

He gave her a wink. “Can’t lie about it. If a man’s going to go to a bar for a few drinks, he’s going to pick the nights when the prettiest bartenders are working. Careful driving, Lori.” He tipped his hat, gave her a wink, and walked toward his truck.

Lori felt a little bit guilty inside. Not that it meant anything with J.R. walking her out of Carl’s or that he gave her a compliment. She felt like she hadn’t seen her men in so long and with all the cowboys flirting with her and then the sheriff walking her out, she missed them.

Lori climbed into her car, locked the doors, then texted the three of them so they would get it in the morning.

Miss you…Love you…Good night.

Chapter 17

“Do you believe this shit?” Trevor asked as he ran his fingers through his wet hair.

“Three fucking thirty in the morning. She can’t go on working like this and not there,” Dante added as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

“I know. It pissed me off, too, but she did say she missed us and loved us. She’s trying real hard to handle things on her own. Maybe we can talk to her about it this morning?” Charlie said as he cleaned off his plate and prepared to meet the construction crew on site with Tom Cantrell.

“How can you be so calm?” Dante asked in annoyance, taking his plate and cleaning it off.

“I’m not going to freak out and start making crazy demands on her. She’s working and trying to save money for college.”

“We can give her the Goddamn money,” Trevor barked at them.

“No, we can’t. She would never allow that,” Charlie whispered as he stared off toward the door as if thinking about the possibility as well.

“Well we need to think of something. I heard the damn rodeo guys are hitting up Carl’s big-time. I got three texts last night before Lori’s text about how the guys were totally hitting on her,” Trevor stated.

“From who? Jackass Will? He’s always trying to get you going. He knows that Lori belongs to us. Most of the fucking town does by now,” Dante added with attitude.

“Either way, it pisses me off. I want her here. Where I can keep an eye on her and keep her safe.” Trevor raised his voice.

“You need to calm down. She’s ours. We’ll see her tonight. We need to get out to the property before the bulldozers start digging up the land,” Charlie said, but even his heart felt heavy. He was worried just like Trevor was.

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