Page 48 of The Cattleman's Unforgettable Love

Ty made a face. "There may be nothing wrong at all. I may be overreacting, but it didn't sit right..."

"What didn't sit right? Just tell me already, would you?"

"I went up to the house just now. Went to deliver tacos for the two of you since I'm not making lunch for everyone today. I figured if I brought you over all the fixings, you can throw those together easy enough for you and Amelia later."

"Thanks. Appreciate it. But tell me what's going on."

"Maybe nothing, but I didn't think, and I let myself in – assuming that you'd be there – and at first I felt bad because I thought I’d scared the life out of her. But she was on her laptop, and I got the impression that whatever scared her was on there. She had a message flash up while we were talking, and she looked like she wanted to get rid of me so she could see what it was."

Ford pursed his lips.

"Maybe it's nothing," said Ty. "But... I don't know. Maybe I'm overreacting, like I said. It's just that I can never shake the memory of those messages that Shay got from that crazy bastard who was stalking her. It's probably nothing like that, but..."

Ford was already heading for the door. "I should go and make sure."

Ty jogged after him. "Maybe you should take a minute before you do. For one thing, she didn't say a word to me, so you can't just go barging in there demanding to know what's going on. And for another thing..." The way he said that last part made Ford pause.

"For another thing, what?"

Ty made a face. "Just because I jumped to conclusions about it maybe being a stalker, it could be..."

"Spit it out," said Ford. "You're thinking there's something else, so tell me what it is."

Ty blew out a sigh. "Maybe it's another guy. That's what I was thinking. If she's talking to some other guy, then she might look uncomfortable if I walked in on her, you know?"

Ford nodded slowly. That possibility hadn't occurred to him – he'd been too concerned that there might be something more sinister going on.

"Shit. I'm sorry," said Ty. "It might not be either of those. I might just be imagining things. She might be fine..."

"Yeah." Ford started walking toward the house again, more slowly this time. "She might be fine, and she knows how to handle herself. But I'm going to get back up there and make sure."

"Okay. Let me know how you get on," asked Ty.

"Sure. You should get back to Shay. Hope you guys enjoy your ride."

"We will, but I'm serious, Ford. Text me or something later. Let me know what the deal is."

Ford had to smile, even though his heart was pounding. Whatever was going on with Amelia, it felt good to know that Ty wanted to look out for him. "Sure thing, squirt. I'll talk to you later."

Ty gave him a rueful smile. "If you don't call me, I'll call you. Oh, and the smallest Tupperware tub in the fridge with your taco fixings – there's chopped onions and cilantro in there – I did them for you because I know you wouldn't bother to chop them up yourself – heathen."

"Thanks."

"Yeah. Talk to you later. Hope she's okay – and if she's got anything going on that she needs help with..."

Ford nodded. "Thanks, Ty."

He knew he could count on Ty to help if Amelia needed it – but he didn't know if there'd be any help for him if Amelia had another guy she was talking to – maybe seeing. It shouldn't be a problem – all they'd shared were a couple dances and a couple kisses – but... He turned to look up at the house, walking more slowly now. He'd lived through his share of disappointments in life; he just wasn't ready for Amelia to turn out to be one of them.

~ ~ ~

When the door closed behind Ty, Amelia wanted to get straight back to her laptop, but she forced herself to stand at the door and watch him go. It was obvious that he had wondered what was going on. He'd seemed concerned, but from the way she'd brushed him off, she wouldn't blame him one bit if he'd thought she was trying to hide something.

Well, she was trying to hide something. She just didn't want him to think that she was talking to another guy online. She blew out a sigh as she watched him walk straight past his truck and carry on down the path toward the stalls. If she were a betting woman, she'd put money on him heading down there to tell Ford that she was acting all suspicious.

She let out a short laugh, promising herself that when Ford came up to the house, she'd tell him exactly what was going on. She had nothing to hide. Whoever this Hunter person was, she wasn't worried. She doubted that they were an old friend of Danny's, but if they were, they'd no doubt be after money. She was more concerned that it might be someone trying to hunt her down and that they'd somehow uncovered her family history.

Once she was sure that Ty wasn't going to turn around and come back, she hurried over to her laptop and opened the screen again.