Page 21 of The Cattleman’s Unforgettable Love: Ford and Amelia (MacFarland Ranch #11)

She took her cake and coffee to the great room and set them down on the coffee table in front of the sofa, where she settled into his spot with her laptop. It was only when she logged in that she remembered about the message on the TangentOps forum. It was time to see if she'd received a reply.

She held her breath as she entered her login details – then caught herself doing it and consciously breathed normally for a few moments.

She didn’t know what the weird feeling she had about the message – and whoever had sent it – was, but she wasn’t going to deny it was there.

One of the guys … Wade, had said something about Spidey senses last night.

She’d laughed that a guy like him would use such a term – she hadn’t heard it since she was a kid.

But as she waited for her messages to load, she knew exactly what he’d meant.

Rootless2 : I’m someone Danny used to know.

She inhaled sharply and stared at the words.

Her mind filled with memories of her brother.

He’d been so full of life that it was hard to believe, even now, that he was dead.

She could see him as a teenager in his football uniform – helmet under his arm, big smile on his face, girls surrounding him.

In his early twenties: his hair a little longer, his eyes a little wiser.

His black leather jacket and motorcycle boots making him look more like a model than a biker.

Then later versions of him: older, thinner, paler, dark circles under his eyes.

She forced herself to breathe again and reread those six words over and over.

She hadn’t known Danny’s friends for a few years before he died.

She hadn’t wanted to – they were all addicts, and she’d tried to get him away from them, out of that world.

She’d been hopeful when she met Crystal, but Crystal had gone down the same road.

She was a sweet person, but not a strong one.

But of all Danny’s friends and peers, she’d never known one of them who she might expect to have even found TangentOps.

She was torn between proceeding cautiously and tearing into whoever this imposter was. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard until she finally nodded to herself and answered with her usual restraint.

Subroutine : That doesn’t tell me anything. Who are you?

It had been days since she’d sent her reply, and having spent yesterday with Ford, she hadn’t even thought to check if she’d had a response. She knew that she should log out and put it out of her mind again but …

Her heart leaped into her mouth when her laptop beeped with a notification – a new message.

Rootless2 : Hunter.

Subroutine : Is that your name or some kind of clue?

Rootless2 : My name. You don’t know who I am?

She took a moment, scanning her memory to see if she was missing something. But there was nothing.

Subroutine : Why don’t you tell me?

She watched the screen, but no new reply came in.

“Damn you, answer me,” she breathed. But the screen faded to black while she waited and watched.

She was still staring at the screen, willing whoever this Rootless2 person was to come back to her.

Her mind was reeling. She couldn't imagine who they were or what they wanted – and unfortunately, that was what she assumed – that they must want something.

She didn't expect that Rootless2 would turn out to be some long-lost friend who wanted to catch up with her and share fond memories of Danny.

She jumped and let out a little yelp when the door from the deck slammed closed.

"Shit. I'm sorry. I didn't see you were there," said Tyler. "Didn't mean to frighten you. Are you okay?"

"I am. Sorry, I'm not normally this jumpy. I'm fine." She glanced back at the screen, and it had lit up again, but she could hardly ignore Tyler to check if it was a new message.

He narrowed his eyes as he looked at her more closely. "Are you sure you're all right?" He looked at her screen suspiciously. "Is everything okay?"

"It is, honestly." She let out a short laugh. "Sometimes I just get so focused that I forget where I am, and when you came in... hearing you close the door... it brought me back to the moment a little too suddenly, that's all."

He nodded slowly, but she could tell that he didn't believe her and that he suspected something was wrong.

She scrambled to her feet. "Ford isn't here. Sorry, I..." She didn't know what else to say. She could hardly offer Tyler a drink or something – even though he didn't live here, this was his house, and she was the guest.

"That's okay. I wasn't after him. I brought these up for you guys. I was only planning to deliver them and be on my way." He held up a plastic bag containing what looked like several Tupperware boxes.

She gave him a puzzled look.

"It's some lunch – or dinner." He chuckled. "Probably both. There's enough of it."

"Oh, that's right. You're the chef in the family, aren't you?"

"I am. And normally we all get together here on Sundays, and I grill burgers or smoke a roast or something.

But me and Shay are heading out on a ride this afternoon, so I'm not cooking.

Everyone's doing their own thing. But then I remembered that you're here with Ford, so I thought I'd bring tacos over for you guys. "

"Thank you. That's kind of you."

He shrugged. "It's just what we do – we look out for each other around here."

She had to smile at that. "Yes, I had noticed."

He glanced back at her computer again. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"I am," she assured him. She was hardly about to start explaining what she'd been up to when he came in.

There was no reason to suspect there was anything untoward about Rootless2 – at least not anything she wouldn't be able to handle herself, and certainly nothing she'd want to make Tyler aware of.

He studied her for a moment. "I get the feeling you wouldn't say if you did have a problem, but I need you to know that you can tell any of us anything.

" He smiled. "I know you've worked with Cash for a while now, so I guess he'd be your go-to, but Ford's right here if you need him.

And every single one of us will be here within minutes if you need us. "

"Thank you, Tyler. I appreciate you saying that, and honestly, I'm okay." She glanced at her laptop again, and when she said, "Really, I am," she didn't know if she was reassuring him or herself.

"Okay. I'll leave these in the kitchen for you, then."

She followed him through and watched him unpack several Tupperware boxes. He pointed at each of them before putting them in the fridge. "Meat, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, salsa." Then he held up two bags and said, "Shells – soft, and hard."

He chuckled and added, "I should probably warn you that if you like the hard shells, you'll have to move fast. They're Ford's favorite, and he doesn't waste any time working his way through them."

She laughed with him. "Good to know. Thanks. And I'm happy to report that I much prefer the soft shells, so this should work out well."

He met her gaze and held it, and she got the impression that he was talking about more than tacos when he said, "I hope it will."

"Thanks, Tyler."

"You're welcome but call me Ty. It feels like we're strangers when you say Tyler."

"Okay, then. Thanks, Ty."

He checked his watch. "Not a problem, but I need to get going. Is Ford working today? I thought he’d be here."

"He wasn't planning to work the whole day, I don't think, but someone called him a little while ago, and he went over to the bunkhouse."

"And are you okay hanging out by yourself? I thought... but Tanner and Everly are..."

She held her hand up. "No, I'm good, thanks. In fact, I'm great. I usually spend most of my time by myself, so although I enjoyed last night..." She stopped, hoping that it wouldn't seem as though she wasn't grateful.

She was relieved when Ty laughed. "It's okay. Don't look so worried. I know what you mean. You enjoyed hanging out with everyone at Chico, but now you need some people-free time to recover, right?"

She relaxed as she nodded. "Yes, that. Exactly that. Are you the same?" She wouldn't have thought of Ty as an introvert, but...

Ty shook his head. "Sometimes, yeah, but I was thinking more of Ford. He's more like you. He can do the social thing and enjoy it, but he needs his alone time afterwards to recover. But no, that's wrong. I don't think he needs alone time..."

She didn't need him to spell out exactly what he meant – he wasn't trying to say that she should stay clear of Ford and give him his space. More like that they were well-suited.

He raised his eyebrows, and she smiled. "I tend to be a straight talker, so I'll say what you don't dare to – yes, we seem to be getting along quite well so far."

He chuckled. "Good to know you're a straight talker, because … you're right, I wouldn't have said anything. But if I had, I would have said something a lot stronger than 'getting along quite well.'"

His smile faded. "He seems happy around you. Just... I know it's none of my business, and I know he seems like a big, tough guy, but... don't mess him around, okay?"

"I promise you, I won't. Obviously, I can't tell you where this is going, but I won't mess him around. That much I can promise."

"Thanks. And I can't even say sorry for sticking my nose in." She loved the way he smiled when he added, "He's my big brother – I have to look out for him."

That hit her right in the heart. She knew the feeling – she'd tried to look out for her own big brother. She just hadn't been able to manage it.