Page 76 of The Mountain Echoes

But what terrifies me is that I trust him, even though all my alarm bells are ringing loudly.

When I get home, Celine is waiting for me in the living room, looking like a woman in a country ballad—sweet, tragic, and just a little too perfect to be real.

“Heard that you made a deal with Mav.”

There’s something proprietary about the way she says his name. I don’t like it.

I want to snap at her and say,“Yeah, Imade a deal, and we sealed it with a kiss and made out like teenagers outside the Spur.”

But that would be revealing too much,andI’m still on shaky ground when it comes to Maverick Kincaid.

“Goodnight, Celine.”

“Wait,” she cries out.

“What?” I snap. I’m tired, a little tipsy, emotionally bruised, and in desperate need of sleep.

“Look. I’m okay with you selling to Mav. Honestly, thirty acres isn’t the end of the world. It’s smart to get some liquidity.” She pauses and preens, irritating the hell out of me. “I appreciate what you’re doing…for the family.”

Right! And look, a cow is flying in the air!

“I told Mac I’d be okay with this.”

Suspicion rears its ugly head. How did Maverick convince her? The way he did me by heating my blood?

“Great. I’ll check in with Mac and get the contracts for your signature and mine.” I walk toward the stairs.

“Aria, I’m trying,” she whispers.

I turn to look at her, and for a moment, I believe her, but it’s only for a nanosecond. I have a lot of history with Celine. I know who she is. This is a game she’s playing. My guess, she’s thinking let Aria try and fail, and then we’ll sell the ranch anyway. Everyone’s happy…except the loser Aria.

Bree asked me if I was tempted to sell, to have millions in the bank. I told her truthfully that not even a cell in my body was interested in the money, not unless it came from running a ranch. In the long run, we’d make awhole lot more money from the ranch than any investment could give us.

“Goodnight, Celine,” I repeat because I have nothing else to say to her.

I climb up the stairs, feeling uneasy. Something’s off. She’s too agreeable and supportive.

I chew over the conversation like gristle as I get ready for bed.

I should be relieved—hell, I want to be. But my gut is tight with anxiety. Because the thing is, when your instincts whisper, ‘Be careful,’ and you ignore them for the sake of peace or hope that someone’s changed, that’s when you end up blindsided.

It happened with Hudson.

It’s never going to happen to me again.

CHAPTER 18

maverick

“Who’s that?” I ask when I see a stranger walk beside Earl and Tomas.

“Wes Boone. Just hired him. Had to, ya know.”

We got all the paperwork squared away, and the money’s sitting in the Longhorn Ranch account from the 30 acres I bought—overpaid for, really. I didn’t ask for guarantees. Just gave her the option to repurchase it in five years because that land’s hers in spirit, and we both know it.

“Never seen him before.”

“He’s from Aspen, thereabouts. Comes highly recommended. Tate Pryor said he worked for a friend of his who had to sell when his cattle got Mad Cow.”