Once we get to the feed store, Jessa and I walk to a small stand nearby and grab some ice cream cones. Clay runs into the store to get our order while Jessa and I wait outside after we finish our treat. She has the notebook she’s always carrying around out and is fanning her face with it. Her eyes sparkle in the sunshine, and she looks so damn relaxed and happy.
What the hell are we going to do with ourselves when she leaves?
And then I see someone else familiar coming out of the feed store—Jed Burke.
“Jed!” I call out, to the man I once considered a friend.
Jed halts in his track then turns toward me. His whole body tenses, but he walks up to Jess and me. Around the side of the store, Clay comes out carrying the large bag of specialty feed that we ordered.
“Been out at our land lately?” I ask. I’m so angry I want to spit, but I refuse to lose it with this guy. Doubly so in front of Jessa.
Jed crosses his arms and glares at me. “Why the hell would I want to be on your land?”
But he doesn’t, I notice, answer the question. That might mean something, or it might mean nothing at all. But considering the fence, I think it means he’s evading the fucking question.
Clay tosses the feed into the back of the truck and turns around, slapping dust off his shirt. “Somebody was on our land. And that someone decided to take a chunk of our fencing with them.”
I’ll give Jed credit. He doesn’t blink. “Well, that’s a damn shame, boys. Seems like I’m the not the only one in town who thinks you all need to be taught a lesson, am I?”
“We know it was you!” Clay says, his voice getting louder with every word. “You’ve been a pain in the ass for the longest time. But I never thought I’d see the day you would resort to being a damn criminal.”
Jed’s face is bright red with rage. “Call me a criminal, boy? Maybe it’s time somebody kicked the shit out of you.”
“Guys,” Jessa says, staying safely back from the powder keg in front of her. “Maybe we should sit down and talk.”
“I’ve talked enough with you, I would say,” Jed says, loudly.
I step between Jed and Jessa. “Don’t you talk to her like that. Besides, there’s nobody else who would’ve—”
“Hey!” We all stop and turn to look at the store manager standing just outside of the door to the store. “You all get out of here with that bullshit. Knock it off or leave.”
Jed rolls his shoulders and gives us a last nasty look—like all of this is our fault.
“Sorry about that,” I call out to the store manager.
Without another word, Jed stalks away toward his truck. Clay looks like he wants to follow him, but when Jessa touches his arm, he settles. Then he wraps an arm around her and hugs her close.
“Let’s get back to the ranch,” I say.
We get back into the truck and head out.
“Maybe Jed didn’t damage the fence,” Jessa says as we pull out of the parking lot.
“It has to be him,” I say. “That’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“Damn straight,” Clay adds. “That guy’s always gotten under my skin.” He frowns. “His dad and our dad were friends, which is why we’ve tried to make things work with Jed. Hell, Jed even worked with our dad for a while after his old man retired. But he’s just too goddamn stubborn.”
Jessa leans back in her seat crosses her arms. “He just... I don’t know. I’m not saying he’s a good guy or that he didn’t do it, but he didn’t strike me as the kind of man who’d resort to destroying someone else’s property… at least when I talked to him.”
Clay starts and turns to look at her like she’s never seen her before. “When did you talk to Jed?”
I’m glad that he asked, so I didn’t have to.
Jessa shrugs, looking embarrassed. “That day you brought me to town to go to the drugstore. I wandered around and interviewed people so I could get other locals’ views on what you guys are doing out here at the ranch.” She shrugs. “Jed’s name came up a lot, so I crashed his lunch over at Amber’s and interviewed him.”
Oh lovely, she’d gotten to meet Amber. I wonder if Jed’s sister gave her a piece of her mind about me.
“How is the article coming?” I ask, if only to stop myself from asking her about Amber.