LITMIR.BIZ

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her things and left with Rose.

      Shannon dried and brushed her hair, dressed swiftly in jeans, a T-shirt and a fleece sweatshirt, and carried her shoes down the kitchen stairs. The coffeepot on the gas stove was still warm. She poured herself a cup and carried it out onto the porch. Tess was sleeping at the top of the porch steps, letting the morning sun warm her old bones.

      Shannon sat beside Tess, drinking her coffee and letting the sun warm her bones, too, while she gently stroked the old dog. Yesterday she’d wondered if it had been a mistake to come back. Today she felt a little better about things. She had no idea how long she and Rose would stay, but right now she wasn’t going to worry about the future. She was going to fix breakfast for her little girl and then go to town and get some groceries.

      There was hay to make...and she had her own fences to mend.

      * * *

      THEY QUIT AT NOON, not because they wanted to, but because the cutter bar broke. The field was almost finished when the bolt sheared off. McTavish had gone back to the barn to get more gas when it happened. Billy heard the sudden disjointed clatter and disengaged the cutter bar. Diagnosing the problem was easy. The fix would be, too, as soon as he picked up a new bolt, but that meant another trip to town if he couldn’t find a replacement in the tractor shed.

      By the time he’d removed the sheared-off bolt, McTavish had returned with the gas. He climbed out of the cab, slammed the door of the truck, lifted the gas can from the back and turned to face Billy.

      “Shannon’s gone,” he said bluntly. “Took Rose and left. No note, nothing. I knew she wouldn’t be able to settle for this place.”

      Billy shook his head. “She’d have told you if she was leaving.”

      McTavish took his hat off and whipped it against his pant leg. His eyes narrowed as he looked across the vast expanse of newly cut grass. “Didn’t make a damn bit of difference, this morning’s work.”

      Billy didn’t know what to say. The wind had picked up and the sweet smell of fresh-cut hay filled the air. It had been a good start to a good day, but suddenly the sky didn’t look quite so blue. “We need a new bolt for the cutter bar,” he said, holding up the shorn piece.

      McTavish was still gazing across the big hay field. “I never could talk to her.” He shook his head. “Never could.”

      “There might be a spare bolt up in the tractor shed,” Billy said.

      McTavish didn’t respond. Just stood there, holding the gas can and staring off into the distance. Billy started walking back toward the ranch. He was about to duck inside the tractor shed when he heard a vehicle coming down the road. A rooster tail of dust plumed behind the dark-colored Mercedes as it emerged at the bottom of the steep grade and headed toward the ranch, pulling to a stop up by the house.

      Shannon was in the process of unloading boxes from the car when Billy reached her. She stopped at the bottom of the porch steps with a box in her arms and gave him a wide open smile. It was so beautiful and unexpected that he stopped and struggled to catch his breath while his heart did backflips.

      “Morning,” he said.

      “Good morning,” she said. “Rose and I went to town and picked up some real food, or as real as food gets at Willard’s. I’ll fix some sandwiches, so’s you and Daddy can eat quick and get at it again. Rose, honey, Tess’ll live without you for a few more minutes. Can you come here and give your momma a hand with these groceries?”

      The little girl jumped up from where she’d been crouched beside Tess on the shaded porch and raced to her mother’s side even as Billy closed the distance between them.

      “Here,” he said. “Better let me take that one, that looks heavy.” He lifted the big cardboard box from Shannon’s arms.

      “Thanks. I picked up enough to get us through the haying. No more canned beans and franks with stale bread, thank you very much. My mother was a good cook and she taught me a few things.”

      “Your father came back to get some gas for the tractor, saw your car was gone and figured you’d left for good.”

      Shannon was gathering another box of groceries into her arms. She glanced up with an exasperated expression. “I pinned a note beside the screen door. The wind must’ve blown it off. If he’d checked my room he’d have seen my things. He was probably happy to think I’d left so soon.”

      Billy climbed the steps one at a time, slowly, but he climbed them, carrying the heavy box of groceries. He set the box on the table and she set hers right beside it. Rose added the five-pound bag of russets she’d lugged up.

      “He’s hoping you stick around.”

      “Be nice if he showed it.” Shannon turned away to unpack the box she’d carried up from the car. “Thank you, Rose,” she said. “Why don’t you bring that bowl of water out for Tess, in case she’s thirsty.”

      When Rose had left the kitchen, carefully balancing the water bowl, Shannon continued unpacking. “I’ll get the last box,” Billy said, and descended the porch steps, wondering how Shannon and her father had ever drifted so far apart. Shannon was organizing the groceries as he reentered. Her expression had become introverted. Thoughtful.

      “Tuna sandwiches okay?” she asked.

      Billy nodded. “Sounds great. I came back to find another bolt for the cutter bar. I’ll go look for one in the shed, then get your father. He’s still out with the tractor.”

      The wall phone rang as he was heading for the kitchen door and Shannon set the cans of tuna on the counter and reached for it. “McTavish Ranch, Shannon speaking,” she said, and then Billy watched as her expression changed and her entire body went rigid. She listened in silence for a few moments before interrupting.

      “Don’t you dare come here, you hear me?” Her voice was low, taut with emotion. “I’ll have you arrested if you violate that restraining order. I mean it. You stay away from me, and you stay away from Rose.” She hung up without waiting for a reply. Her face was pale, and when she raised a hand to smooth the hair off her forehead, the tremble was noticeable. She cast a quick glance out the kitchen door to where Rose crouched beside the old dog, coaxing her to drink, then drew a shaky breath and crossed her arms around herself. “I’ll have lunch ready by the time you get back.”

      Billy paused with one hand on the doorknob. “Your father told me about your divorce.”

      “I bet he did,” she said bitterly.

      “You’re safe here, Shannon,” he said, ignoring her reaction. “If Travis Roy is stupid enough to show up, there won’t be much left for the sheriff to arrest.”

      * * *

      AFTER THE PHONE call from Travis, Shannon could barely focus on the simple task of making a stack of sandwiches and heating a pot of soup. She told herself that Travis wouldn’t come here, he wouldn’t dare, but he still had family in Lander. Lander was a ways from their valley, but it was still too close as far as Shannon was concerned. He’d said he just wanted to talk to her, to see Rose. Said he had something for her and swore he’d quit the drinking and the drugs, but he’d made every promise in the book these past few years and broken them all, over and over again. She was through believing his lies and living in fear. The divorce was final. She was done with him. The only thing left for the courts to decide was the custody of Rose, and she was confident she’d win that battle.

      She stirred the soup as it came to a simmer, cut the sandwiches and put them on a platter. Poured some tortilla chips into a bowl and put that on the table along with a pitcher of milk and four glasses. Finding four soup bowls proved a challenge, but she came up with three mismatched bowls and washed out the bowl she’d mixed the tuna in, filled an old mixing bowl with the fruit she’d bought, and put that on the table as well, dead center.

      The screen door squeaked open, banged shut and Rose burst into the kitchen. “Momma, can we go riding now?”

      “No,

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