Page 36 of The Lonely Road

“Yes.”

“And asking me out to dinner.”

“Yes.”

She nods slowly and lets out a long breath, and then we’re in a bubble, everything else is gone, and it’s just us.

The moment holds itself, taut and unhurried, and I am thinking—for the first time since Toledo, since the army, since any of it…absolutely nothing useful whatsoever.

“Taya,” a voice pops our bubble.

She turns and smiles. “Maiku, Elder Nokoni.”

I let go of her, and they hug.

Nokoni gives me a measured look.

“This is Mason⁠—”

“I know who he is,” Nokoni smoothly cuts her off, his eyes on me.

I hold out a hand and introduce myself all the same. “Mason Brooks.”

We shake. There’s nothing competitive about it. It’s also not warm.

“He’s working on the Feig rodeo project,” Taya supplies.

“Land surveyor.”

“Yes, sir.”

A pause that lasts exactly long enough.

“Good project for the valley,” he clips, then ignores me completely and with his whole body. “Taya, I will see you on Sunday?”

She puts a hand on his shoulder. “Yes. I’ll go straight to the offices, so we’re ready for Monday morning.”

“You’ve looked at the documentation?”

“No, I’m going to wing it,” she deadpans.

Nokoni laughs and pats her head with the familiarity of a long acquaintance. He’s known her since she was a child and came to Ignacio. He was good friends with the great Delia Morningstar.

“Mason,” he acknowledges before he moves away from us, his steps unhurried.

I wonder if we can dance again because I liked holding her, and I want to do it some more.

“I have to get home,” she tells me.

I frown. “Really?”

She makes a woe-is-me face. “I do. I have to work on a few things, and I leave for Ignacio tomorrow. There’s a water board meeting on Monday morning. I have to be there in person.”

“You work for the tribe?” I didn’t have this in my file.

“Just started…well, it’s not working like working and getting paid. Elder Nokoni wants me to help.”

“And you do whatever he says?” My words come out stiff, unplanned.