“He gave you—”
“So you tell him I did it, okay? When you see him? Please?”
I chuckle. “Why? You afraid of losing your employer if I don’t?”
“Nah.” The boy shrugs. “I mean, I like the money, but he’s also…”
“What?”
“Nice,” he says. “I’d hate to let him down.”
I frown, considering that. “Nice, huh?”
“Yeah,” he replies, but then seems to second-guess himself. “I mean, not that you ain’t…well, not that you are either. Main thing is I like him better.”
“Thanks for your honesty.”
“But maybe if you taught me how to shoo—”
“No.”
“Fine.” He lets out a truly aggrieved sigh. “If you ain’t gonna be dead and you ain’t gonna teach me to shoot, then can you at least move your horse? I want to go get Sally somethin’ with my dollar, but I can’t until I’m done with my chores.”
“Sure, I’ll move him,” I say, reaching for Cypress’s slip of paper along with a pencil from the pocket of my coat. “On one condition.”
I bite the inside of my cheek, battling a ridiculous grin as I look down and again read over the note I have hidden in my hand beneath the table.
I’d never expected him to write back and I’m so distracted trying to figure out what it means that I almost miss my turn to play when it comes around the table, quickly covering by tossing a few bills in the middle though I’m not sure if I’ve even really looked at my cards. And I reallyshouldbecause…
It’s a good sign, right? He’saskingto see me.Wantsme to be in the alley after tonight’s game, although, of course I will be. Where else would I want to be?
“Cypress?” Clayton gives me a friendly nudge. “You all right?”
“Fantastic,” I say, a bit too enthusiastically, because now that I actually do check my hand, it contains very little that deservesit. “Fantastic night, that is. Good weather. No rain.” I clear my throat, shocked at how truly terrible that explanation was. “Are we…who is…”
I trail off as Clayton starts laughing. “Find yourself a pretty distraction while you’re here?” He tips his head in the direction of the note, and I quickly tuck it out of sight in my pocket before giving him nothing more than a wry smile. He nods, then lowers his voice conspiratorially. “Who is she? I’ll bet you anything that I know her.”
“Not like I do,” I say, refusing to let my eyes drift toward the bar. To that broody cowboy, who unlike me is absent his usual hat tonight and had looked very unenthused about it when he’d placed it on the back of his chair along with his coat. Though I have to say, that full head of soft brown waves on display is also not making it very easy to focus.
“You won’t even give me a hint?” Clayton asks.
I shake my head. “Not a one.”
Clayton raises an eyebrow. “Married?”
“Not yet.”
“A secret?”
“For now.”
“And you’re in love?”
I sigh. “In a way that is life-altering.”
Clayton lets out another laugh. “The two of you had better slip out of town and run for it then before anyone can convince you otherwise.”
I eye the wedding band on his left hand. “That what you did?”