Page 23 of The Cattleman’s Unforgettable Love: Ford and Amelia (MacFarland Ranch #11)

Subroutine: When?

Her hands stayed still as she waited for the reply.

Rootless2: May 26 last year.

A heavy ball of sadness settled in her chest, but there was something about the message that didn't sit right. Something was off. Eventually, she tapped out:

Subroutine: And who was Crystal to you?

She scanned the other windows while she waited for a reply.

Either this dude was good – good enough that he could block all her attempts to trace him – or this Hunter person was a noob who'd somehow found his way into TangentOps.

Everything pointed to him connecting through a standard commercial internet service from a residential address in central Florida.

Rootless2: I have to go now. Can I talk to you again next week? Like this? On Sunday?

Amelia stared at the message, wondering what the hell was going on. Why didn't he want to answer the question? And why had his reply been all rapid fire like that? It sounded off. It sounded like...

She stared at the words and nodded slowly to herself. He sounded like a kid. The next message that appeared only confirmed that assessment.

Rootless2: Can I?

Subroutin e: Sure. What time?

Rootless2: I can probably get on here about 1:30 again, but will you wait for me if I don't show up straight away?

Amelia frowned as she read the message.

Subroutine: What time is it now?

Rootless2: 2pm

Subroutine: Where are you?

Rootless2: Why?

Subroutine: Just curious.

Rootless2: Are you on the West Coast?

Subroutine: What makes you think that?

Rootless2: I gave away that I'm on Eastern time, and Danny grew up on the West Coast.

Subroutine: How old are you?

Rootless2: Shoot. I really have to go. Hope you're here next week.

Amelia continued to stare at the screen long after the green light next to Rootless2's username had turned red. He was a kid. There was no question in her mind now, but who he was and what he wanted still remained a mystery.

She inhaled deeply and blew it out slowly as she reread their brief conversation over and over. Then she pulled up the results of her searches. Everything there seemed to confirm the theory. Rootless2 was just a kid using the internet from home – and that home was in the Orlando area.

She shook her head. It didn't make sense, any of it. But she wasn't going to go hunting down a kid.

She looked up at the sound of the kitchen door closing and smiled when she heard Ford call out, "Amelia? It's just me. I'm back."

She deliberately left her laptop open on the coffee table and got up to go and meet him.

She'd only reached the great room door when he appeared in it, his broad shoulders filling the doorway and taking her breath away.

He smiled, but it didn't make his eyes crinkle in the way that she'd already come to love.

She had a feeling that she knew what was going on with him. She put her hands in the middle of his chest and rolled up on her tiptoes to press a quick kiss to his lips. Happiness buzzed in her chest when she noticed the way that brought the crinkles back.

"Hi," she said with a smile. "Are you okay?"

"I am," he said. "Are you?"

"Yes. And I think we've already established that I'm a straight shooter, so I'm going to guess that after Ty delivered taco makings, he came to see you and said that there's something strange going on with me. Right?"

"That's right." He shoved his hands in his pockets and dropped his gaze. "And, you know, if you have something going on that you don't want to talk to me about, that's fine. I just... if it's something that you need help with, then I want to know. But if it's something else..."

She caught hold of his hand and led him into the great room.

"It is something else," she began, but realized her mistake when he stiffened beside her.

She blew out a sigh. "Not that kind of something else.

I'm guessing Ty thought I was messaging some guy online.

And by the way, I'm not mad at him. I love the way he's trying to look out for you, but he got the wrong end of the stick. "

"I think he was more concerned that you might have a stalker or something, that someone might be harassing you. I don't know if you know what happened with Shayna..."

She met his gaze and held it. "Not only do I know what happened..."

"Oh, of course," said Ford. "You're the one who figured out who the stalker was, right?"

"I am. But never mind all that. We're getting further and further away from the point.

" She sat down on the sofa in front of the laptop and tugged him down beside her.

She wanted to show him the conversation, but when she saw her screen, she realized it was a bad idea.

Not that there was any issue in showing him the conversation with Hunter, but all the open windows on her screen put most people off.

She turned to him. "Do you want me to show you or tell you what I've got going on?"

She wanted to hug him when she noticed that he was determinedly looking anywhere in the room other than at her screen. She rested her hand on his arm. "It's okay. You can look. That's what I brought you over here for, but I love that you were trying not to."

He met her gaze. "I'd like you to tell me what's wrong, but only if you need my help. And for the record, I hate feeling as though you feel like you have to explain anything to me at all."

"It's okay. I know I don't have to explain anything.

In fact, if I thought you expected me to, then I wouldn't. I'm only doing this in the interest of full transparency between us.

I'm not the kind of woman who chats with several men at once – or even two men at once.

" She gave him a small smile. "Normally I wouldn't even chat with one man. .."

He smiled back at her. "Thanks for telling me. And for what it's worth, I’m the same."

She laughed. "Okay, so now that we're clear on that, all I want to do is put your mind at ease. I have a feeling that I may act a little strange about this over the next week while I wait to talk to him again. So, I want to show you the conversation I've been having."

~ ~ ~

Ford still didn't want to look at her screen.

He hated this whole deal and wished that Ty hadn't said anything to him in the first place.

He understood why he had, but if anything, that just made it worse.

Years ago, when Ty was still in high school, he'd heard rumors about Ford's girlfriend cheating on him and.

.. Ford brought himself back to the moment when Amelia continued.

"Here. I've closed everything else down, and after you read the conversation, I'll explain the rest to you. The first message came in the other day, and I'd put it out of my mind. It was only when I opened it today and saw him mention Danny that..." She shrugged. "It got my attention."

He could understand that.

She jerked her chin toward the screen. "Please, would you read it – the whole thing, and tell me what you make of it?"

"Okay."

She picked the laptop up and set it on his knee. "In fact, I'll leave you with it. Do you want more coffee or...?"

"I can..."

She laughed. "So can I – and it makes more sense for me to do it while you read."

He gave her a rueful smile. "Okay then, yeah. Thanks. I'll take a coffee."

He watched her walk away and she turned to smile at him before she left the room. Then he was alone with her messages, and he frowned, wondering if some asshole was harassing her.

Rootless2: Amelia?

Subroutine: Who wants to know?

He paused and reread the first couple of lines. Subroutine? What kind of username was that? It must mean something to her – must be computer speak, but he had no idea what significance it might hold for her.

Rootless2: I'm someone Danny used to know.

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

Rootless2: Hunter.

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

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

Subroutine: Why don't you tell me?

Rootless2: Do you know who Natalie is?

Subroutine: No.

Rootless2: Did you know Crystal?

Subroutine: I did.

Subroutine: What do you mean – did?

Rootless2: Crystal died.

Subroutine: When?

Rootless2: May 26 last year.

Subroutine: And who was Crystal to you?

Rootless2: I have to go now. Can I talk to you again next week? Like this? On Sunday?

Rootless2: Can I?

Subroutine: Sure. What time?

Rootless2: I can probably get on here about 1.30pm again, but will you wait for me if I don't show up straight away?

Subroutine: What time is it now?

Rootless2: 2pm

Subroutine: Where are you?

Rootless2: Why?

Subroutine: Just curious.

Rootless2: Are you on the West Coast?

Subroutine: What makes you think that?

Rootless2: I gave away that I'm on Eastern time, and Danny grew up on the West Coast.

Subroutine: How old are you?

Rootless2: Shoot. I really have to go. Hope you're here next week.

Ford read through the whole exchange a couple of times while Amelia was fixing the coffee. By the time he'd reached the end the first time, he felt more relaxed, but that had only sent him back to the beginning to make sure he hadn't missed anything.

Just as he was getting to his feet to go and give her a hand with the coffee, she came back carrying two mugs. As she set them down on the coffee table, she asked, "Well, what do you think?"

He smiled. "I don't think there's much to worry about, is there?"

She shook her head slowly. "Do you mind telling me what you think? What makes you say that?"

He gave her a puzzled look. "You think there might be something to worry about?"

She shook her head rapidly. "It's not that. It's just... before I say anything, I'd like to hear your take, to see if it matches mine."

"Right. Well, at first, I wondered who this dude was going to be, but by the end, it's obvious, isn't it?"

She raised her eyebrows and waited.

"I mean, he's a kid. From the way he talks. He has to be a kid." He let out a short laugh. "Now you've got me second-guessing myself. Am I missing something?"