Rugged Cowboy - Elana Johnson Page 0,44
the grass and put one foot on the bottom rung. He watched the house for a moment, then pulled his phone out and looked at it. He tapped and swiped and tapped some more, finally sending something. He lifted the phone and took a picture of it.
Jess’s feet finally touched the lawn. Over the summer, Emma had had some trouble with one of her ex-boyfriends, and Jess’s face grew hotter with every step she took. “Can I help you?” she asked.
The man finally looked her way, and he clearly didn’t mind being seen. “This is Hope Eternal Ranch, right?”
“Yes,” she said. “We don’t have any programs running on Sundays right now.”
“I’m looking for someone,” he said. “I heard he works here.”
“We have a lot of men who work here.” Jess stopped several paces away and folded her arms. “Who is it?”
“Dallas Dreyer,” the man said, and Jess’s heart somersaulted in her chest.
“He’s not here today,” Jess said, because she couldn’t deny that Dallas worked there. She hadn’t lied; Dallas wasn’t at the ranch today. He wouldn’t be tomorrow either. He’d told her about the phone calls with his ex-wife, and Jess narrowed her eyes at the man.
“If I can get your name and number, I’ll pass it along to him.”
“I don’t need you to do that,” he said. “When will he be back? Tomorrow?”
“He’s out of town for a day or two,” Jess said, evading the question. He was. He had been. He, Ted, and Nate were driving back to Sweet Water Falls tomorrow, and then Dallas had taken Tuesday off as well so he could manage whatever he might bring back from Houston.
The man nodded. “Well, then, I suppose you can tell him that Josh came to see him.”
“Will he know who you are?” she asked. “Were you in River Bay with him?”
The man’s eyebrows went up, and he cocked his head at Jess. An icy sensation flowed over her, and she suddenly had a bad feeling about this guy.
“No,” he said. “I’m a mutual friend of his wife’s.”
“Ex-wife,” Jess said automatically. “Dallas is divorced.” She realized how she sounded, so she quickly shrugged one shoulder. “At least that’s what he says.”
“She is his ex,” Josh said. “We just need to meet to settle a debt.”
Jess didn’t know what to say to that. Nate had had debts he’d had to take care of once he’d been released from prison too. Maybe Dallas had a similar situation. “I’ll tell him,” she said. “He has your number?”
“No, but I’ll get in touch with him.” Josh nodded and turned back to his truck. Jess watched as he got behind the wheel and backed away. He seemed perfectly at-ease, but something about him made Jess’s skin crawl. Maybe the way he was so in control of the situation, like nothing could ruffle him though he was the outsider here.
Dallas claimed to not know where his wife was, and yet Josh had showed up here, looking for him? Something wasn’t right here.
Jess had vowed not to text or call Dallas incessantly while he was out of town, dealing with something huge that he didn’t want to deal with. But she pulled out her phone and dialed him, thinking he needed to know about Josh as soon as possible.
Chapter Thirteen
Dallas had no idea how he and Martha had accumulated so much stuff. Why did they need three living rooms full of furniture? Couches, loveseats, armchairs, ottomans, rugs, lamps, entertainment centers, and decorations. Holy cow, the decorations.
Dallas hadn’t even realized how many Martha put out. She had little pillows for the Fourth of July, and rabbit figurines for Easter. The Christmas decorations took up an entire closet under the staircase, and with every door Dallas opened, he found more stuff he didn’t want.
He and the kids had been getting by for just over a month now, without any of this stuff. He didn’t need it. He didn’t want it.
Unfortunately, the house had to be cleaned out. Dallas was making quite a bit with the sale of the house, but his credit cards groaned at him every time he even took out his wallet. He needed to pay all of those down. He needed to get a new car. He needed to have some savings so he wasn’t living hand-to-mouth every two weeks.
Part of him wanted to throw everything away. Call a truck and have someone come pick it all up. But Dallas saw dollar signs everywhere in the house, and he knew the job he’d brought