Page 40 of Knox
It had beenherdecision to walk away from him. And why not? It wasn’t like they had a passionate, torrid romance.
Not with Safe, and Old, Knox.
Aw, that wasn’t fair. Hewasolder than her.
And safe.
Shoot, he needed coffee.
Knox was closing the computer when he heard a knock at the door.
His mother walked in, her curly brown hair pulled back in a headband, dressed in an oversized flannel shirt and a pair of yoga pants. She was carrying two mugs of coffee and set one on the desk.
“Early start,” she said, blowing on her coffee.
“You too.”
She slid into a leather cigar chair in front of the desk. “Your father couldn’t sleep, either, when he was worried.” She raised an eyebrow.
Tall, willowy, and strong, Gerri Marshall seemed to be able to see right through him. He always felt thirteen under her scrutiny.
“I’m not—”
“I heard you set up an appointment at the bank.” She took a sip of the coffee. “Are we in trouble?”
Seriously. He couldn’t jaywalk in the small ranching town of Geraldine without it getting back to his mother. “How did you hear that?”
She lifted a shoulder. Then, a smile. “Hardwin Colt is the bank president.”
Oh. Which, by the way, “Tate told me you two were seeing each other.” He ran his thumb along the handle of his mug. “When did that happen?”
She drew in a breath. “We’re not reallyseeingeach other. He came to one of my watercolor classes at the library, and we struck up a conversation. He took me out for dinner a couple times.”
A couple times— “Ma. Listen. We don’t know anything about Hardwin. He just moved here—”
“Don’t get your knickers in a knot, son. He’s lived here for five years, so he’s not exactly new in town. But he’s just a nice man who lost his wife a few years ago. We have a lot in common is all. Besides, I get lonely sometimes.”
Lonely. “You have me.”
She gave him a look.
And that felt a little weird, so he didn’t chase it.
She took another sip of coffee. “So, if it’s not the ranch, is it what happened in Texas? Tate called to tell me about it.”
Clearly Tate was trying to mend his demolished fences.
“No. I’m fine. I’m just…”
“Something is eating at you. A mother knows, and I hear you roaming around this house in the wee hours of the night.” She leaned forward. “Thank the Lord that no one other than the suspect was killed—” She held up her hand. “No other human being was killed. I know you’re upset about Hot Pete.”
“Hot Pete could have landed in the NBR-X championships. Again. He pays—paid—the mortgage on this ranch.”
She went silent. “And you raised him from a calf.”
He drew in a breath, looked out the window. The moon had fallen, leaving a gray-red wash upon their land, undulating over pasture, coulee, and ridge, all the way until it reached the Garnet Mountains, still snowcapped and jagged in the distance.
“I think you just need to put this horrible tragedy behind you.”