Page 38 of Savage Heart

“Love you more than anything.”

I stand there, looking down at my phone, and Vera walks by.

“What’s the matter?” she asks.

“Just . . . missin’ my boy.”

She points at me. “We are getting you out tonight.”

“What? No. I’m tired. I need to be catching up on sleep while he’s gone.”

“You need to be catching up on a girls’ night out. Listen to some music . . . dance with a cowboy . . .” Her eyes light up. “Better still, ride a cowboy.”

I snort. “And I thought you knew me.”

She snorts right back. “I do. That’s exactly how I know what’s been missing.” She leans in and whispers, even though we’re the only ones left in the restaurant. “How long has it been now?”

I sigh. “Do we have to talk about my pathetic sex life? It’s been at least a year and a half.”

“Cheyenne Frontier Days was the last time, right? That’s two years.” She gives me a pointed look. “Unless there’s been someone you haven’t told me about.”

“No, you’re right. Two years.”

“That guy would’ve made that six-hour trek through town weekly if you had let him. What was his name? Petey,” she says, laughing.

“I just couldn’t take an adult man named Petey seriously.” I start laughing when she rolls her eyes. “And you shouldn’t trust a guy you meet at a rodeo.”

“Right. You find something ridiculous about each of them.”

“It’s not like there have been that many,” I argue.

“I think the rodeo is an amazing place to meet a guy. In fact, I meet a great one every time I go.” She winks. “Petey was cute and sweet . . . and it sounded like he knew what he was doing in bed—if you’d given him a chance to prove himself over more than one night.”

“He was fine. But I was okay with the one night. Didn’t really need to see him again.”

She sighs. “Well, Spencer was more than fine. There was not one single thing wrong with that man.”

I point at her. “Exactly. Didn’t that seem suspicious to you?”

She shakes her head and groans. And then her expression changes, and I brace myself, because she looks sad. “No one is going to compare to him, Iris.”

I frown, wondering why she’d bring up Maverick. She knows it always brings me down.

“From what I’ve always heard about Lincoln, he was one of a kind.” She comes over and puts her hands on my cheeks, looking at me with concern. “I’m so sorry he’s gone, but he’d want you to move on and be happy, beautiful.”

My face burns. What is wrong with me? Of course, she’s talking about Lincoln.

“How about we find a man for you?” I put my hands over hers.

“Girl, you’ve known me since we were twenty-one. Your hot divorcée bestie is happy staying that way.”

Vera moved here at twenty-one to start over, got a job at Prairie Rose, and we became instant friends. She didn’t know my history around here, which was a gift to me at that time. I so desperately needed a friend. I had Kell, but Vera was my age and single—it was different. And when I told her a little bit about what had happened the night of the accident—not everything, but enough—she hurt along with me.

She claims she learned her lesson and will never get married again. At thirty, she’s still far more adventurous than I am.

Men here don’t date me.

But that’s not the same thing as not wanting me.