Page 35 of The Mountain Echoes

“No, thank you. I’m good.”

Very polite and prim.

Where Celine is cheerful, happy, and open, this woman is a dark vault.

“I’m assuming you talked about Longhorn’s finances with Amos.”

She doesn’t say anything, but there’s a tic in her jaw.

Ah, finally, I get a reaction!

“He tell you that you got few choices?”

She remains impassive. She’s listening, but she’s not responding.

“He tell you that?—”

“Maverick, I don’t want to talk business,” she whispers. It’s throaty, like it’s an effort for her to speak.

Something wavers in her eyes, but it’s only for a moment, and I’m not sure what I saw.

“Look,” I persist. “Longhorn is under so much debt that paying out the interest is goin’ to pull you under. Why not sell, get your share, and go have fun?”

Her eyes change. Go from unreadable to hard.

Yes!

Now, the tension rising between us is like smoke off a brand.

She lets out a long exhale. “If you’ve changed your mind about giving me a?—”

“You know we don’t got Uber here.”

She’s not as calm as she wants to be. I can see it in her face. She’s paler than she was just a few minutes ago.

I press my advantage.

“I’ll make it worth your while if you let the sale go through as soon as possible.”

She jerks her chin up. “What does that mean?”

“I can throw some extra money your way if you don’thold out. We’ll keep it off the books. Celine doesn’t need to know.”

I’m surprised by the fire in her eyes at that suggestion.

“Thank you for the offer, Maverick. I’ll take it into consideration,” she says tightly.

I expected her to jump at the offer, but maybe I should’ve been more specific.

“Give me a number.”

“Excuse me?”

“Give me a number,” I repeat. “How much to make sure you don’t cause me problems?”

“I don’t think you can afford that,” she snaps.

She’s paler now. Her brown skin looks almost papery.