Under Threat by B.J. Daniels (reading the story of the .TXT) 📕

“What was that about?” Lucy asked, wide-eyed as they both watched the two men leave, Dillon in a hail of gravel as he spun out, and Chase limping a little as he headed for his truck.

“Nothing,” she said, and took a deep breath before letting it out. She was glad to have Lucy in the building tonight.

Lucy laughed. “Nothing? They were fighting over you. Two men were just fighting over you.” She was looking at her with awe.

Mary had to smile. “It had more to do with male ego than me, trust me.” She thought about saying something to Lucy about Dillon’s warning to Mary that he’d ask her out, but realized it was probably a hollow threat. Anyway, she was betting that Lucy could take care of herself.

Lucy tried to keep the glee out of her voice. She’d witnessed the whole thing. Poor Chase. What struck her as ironic was that she’d had nothing to do with any of it. This was all Mary’s own doing.

“Would you like to come up to my apartment for a drink? Sometimes I’ve found talking also helps.” She shrugged.

Mary hesitated only a moment before she gave Lucy an embarrassed smile. “Do you have beer?”

Lucy laughed. “Beer, vodka, ice cream. I’m prepared for every heartbreak.”

They climbed the stairs, Lucy opened the door and they entered her apartment. “I haven’t done much with the space,” Lucy said as she retrieved two beers from the refrigerator and handed one to Mary. “But I’m excited to pick up a few things to make it more mine. It really doesn’t need anything. You’ve done such a good job of appointing it.”

“Thank you,” Mary said, taking the chair in the living room. “I’m just glad you’re enjoying staying here. I’m happy to have you.” Mary took a sip of her beer, looking a little uneasy now that she was here.

Lucy curled her legs under her on the couch, getting comfortable, and broke the ice, first talking about decorating and finally getting to the good part. “I had to laugh earlier. I once had two men fight over me. It was in high school at a dance. At the time I’d been mortified with embarrassment.” She chuckled. “But my friends all thought it was cool.”

“That was high school. It’s different at this age,” Mary said, and took another drink of her beer.

Lucy cocked her head at her as she licked beer foam from her lips and got up to get them another. “But I’m betting there was one of those men who you wanted to win the fight for you.”

Mary looked surprised, then embarrassed.

“I wager it wasn’t the deputy.”

“You’re right,” her landlady admitted as she took the second beer. “Chase was my first love since the age of fifteen when he came to Montana to work on the ranch. We became best friends before...” Mary mugged a face. “Before we fell in love.”

“So what happened to your happy ending?” Lucy asked as she took her beer back to the couch. She leaned toward Mary expectantly.

“I caught him kissing another woman. He swore the woman kissed him, but I guess I realized then that maybe what my parents had been saying was true. We were too young to be that in love. Only twenty-four. I let Chase go. He left Montana to...find himself,” Mary said, and took another sip.

“Find himself? I’m guessing you didn’t know he was lost.”

Mary shook her head with a laugh. “We were too young to make any big decisions until we’d lived more. My father said that I had to let Chase sow some wild oats. But I didn’t want him to leave.”

Lucy groaned. “If he wanted to date other women, you didn’t really want him to do it here, did you?”

“I wanted him to tell me that he didn’t need to go see what else was out there. That all he wanted was me. But he didn’t.”

“And now it’s too late?”

Mary shook her head. “I still love him.”

Lucy traced her fingers around the top of her beer can for a moment. “Why do you think he came back now?”

Mary shook her head. “It’s my fault.” She sighed. “Have you ever had a weak moment when you did something stupid?”

She laughed. “Are you kidding? Especially when it comes to men.”

“I found his address online since I didn’t have his cell phone number or email, and he wasn’t anywhere on social media. I wrote him a letter, late at night in a nostalgic mood.” Mary shook her head. “Even as I wrote it, I knew I’d never mail it.”

This was news. “You didn’t mail it?”

“I did put it in an envelope with his address on it. I was staying out at the ranch because my horse was due to have her colt that night. I forgot about the letter—until I realized it was gone. My aunt Stacy saw it and thought I meant to mail it, so she did it for me.”

Lucy leaned back, almost too surprised to speak. “So if your aunt hadn’t done that...”

Mary nodded. “None of this would have probably happened, although Chase says he was planning to come back anyway. But who knows?”

The woman had no idea, Lucy thought. “So, he’s back and he’s ready to settle down finally?”

“I guess.”

She sipped her beer for a moment. “Is that what you want?”

“Yes, I still love him. But...”

“But there is that adorable deputy,” Lucy said with a laugh. “Sounds like a problem we should all have. And it’s driving Chase crazy with jealousy.”

“You’re right about that. He can hardly be civil to Dillon when they cross paths. He says there’s something about the guy that he doesn’t trust.”

“Obviously, he doesn’t want you dating the guy.”

“I’m not going out with Dillon again, and it has nothing to do with what Chase wants. I didn’t date for a long time after Chase left. I was too heartbroken. I finally felt ready to move on, and I wrote that stupid letter.” She drained her