Page 46 of The Cattleman's Unforgettable Love

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."