back into place, and when he’d looked at her, Cactus’s eyes had gone back to the hard, nearly navy marbles they’d been before.
“I get the idea,” she said, because Bishop had stopped talking.
“Right.” He cleared his throat. “Each child got a different name, based on certain qualities or traits our grandmother saw in us.” He looked out his window, and Montana found his vulnerability more attractive than his confidence.
Too bad she didn’t have the confidence to tell him that.
“I got Bishop, because Grandmother said I needed something to live up to. A bishop is an overseer, I suppose, and she said by giving me the name, I’d rise to my birthright and become a great leader.”
“Wow,” Montana said.
Bishop scoffed. “I’m not sure my grandmother was all there when she said all of that, to be honest.”
“Overseer,” Montana said. “I think it fits, Bishop.”
“You do?” He turned to look at her. “I spent a lot of years wondering what she meant by giving me that name. I’m the youngest. I’m quite literally overlooked most of the time.”
“Not today,” she said. “I saw all of them looking at you. They asked you where Bear was. They looked to you for answers.”
“Only because I’d found the letters,” he said. “The cooking doesn’t hurt.”
“Cactus likes you.”
“Cactus and I have a unique friendship,” Bishop admitted. “Even when—” He shook his head. “Cactus is part of my soul.” He flashed her a smile. “Bear too, if you must know.”
A deep, yawning sadness pulled through Montana, and she found herself looking out her window now.
“I’ve made you upset,” Bishop said quietly. “I apologize. I didn’t mean to.”
“It’s not your fault,” Montana said, but she couldn’t face him. “I do not…my family is the polar opposite of yours.” She wasn’t sure how she could say more. She didn’t wish to speak unkindly about her sisters, so she simply said nothing at all. It was a good rule she’d abided by for a while now.
“Why don’t you speak to them?”
Montana drew in a deep breath and found her well of confidence. “I have two sisters. We’re all named after places—Georgia and Paris. I’m the oldest girl. I have an older brother named Dakota.”
“Interesting,” Bishop said.
“I think it’s weird,” Montana said. “But interesting is probably a nice way to say that, and you’re kind, so.”
He chuckled and made another turn, this one that would lead them to the trailhead. “Go on.”
Montana cleared her throat. “I dated a man in Dallas, where I used to live with my two sisters. We were getting serious, at least in my head, and the next thing I knew, Mason broke up with me. Literally, four days later, he and Paris started dating.”
“You’re joking.”
“I wish.” Montana crossed her arms, hoping to hold in the bitterness she didn’t like to let out. “They dated for a while, and Paris honestly couldn’t see the problem with what had happened. Then, when the exact same thing happened to her, she understood.”
“Georgia went out with him?” The level of incredulity in his voice mirrored the way Montana had felt. She could admit she’d felt fairly vindicated too, but she didn’t like to say so out loud.
“I tried to be sympathetic, but I’m not very nice. I decided I couldn’t stay in Dallas, and that’s when Aurora and I moved here.”
“You should not have to be sympathetic to that,” he said, and she appreciated his indignation.
“My mother has had her problems over the years,” Montana said, not wanting to get into the whole nine yards there. “Let’s just say I text her from time to time. She’s my aunt’s sister, and they talk regularly. I call my father on his birthday and on Father’s Day. Aurora sends him cards and letters. He’s still in Alabama.”
She looked at Bishop. “It’s just been me and Aurora for a while now. Ten years. We’ve been with Aunt Jackie and Uncle Bob for almost three years. I love it here, and I’m trying to save up enough to get my own place.” The familiar bubble of excitement buzzed through her. “But Aunt Jackie doesn’t want us to move out. She actually likes the teen drama and having someone to fuss over.” She grinned then, because she did love her aunt.
“Does she have children?” Bishop asked.
“No, sir. She and Uncle Bob were never able to have any.”
“Do you want more children?”
Montana’s voice dried up, and even when she tried to speak, she couldn’t.
“Cactus is going to love this,” Bishop said, saving her.
“What do you mean?’
“I