Read Online Canyon Shadows by Harper Vonna - Free Book Online

reliability didn’t come up. Just your concern that she’s damn feminine for the job she’s taken on.”
    “What are you talking about? All I did was tell you what happened at her place.”
    “I’m talking about subtext, bro. The below-the-surface stuff.”
    “You’re no psychic. Don’t pretend you are.”
    “Just answer me one thing. Did she or did she not turn you on?”
    “Go to hell.”
    “That’s what I thought.”
    A half-dozen workmen operated the backhoes, skid steer, and wheel loaders where the cofferdam would begin. Massive haulers lumbered under the weight of the dirt, rocks, and gravel that had been loaded into them. It took each hauler a good twenty minutes to crawl up the slope on the canyon’s far side and then another ten or so minutes to reach the offloading spot. All told, the dam site covered some twenty acres. No way could a pair of dogs patrol all that. However, after hours, almost all of the machinery was locked within cyclone fencing as a deterrent against vandalism. The operant word was deterrent because a determined vandal or vandals wouldn’t let fencing stop them.
    “What are you thinking?” Jason asked, nudging him with his shoulder.
    Instead of sidestepping the question, Maco opted for honesty. What he didn’t mention was how just speaking Shari’s name caught his cock’s attention. “She’s a one-woman operation. As far as I know, she’s never been involved in something like this.” He waved his hand at the activity. “Supplying a guard dog for a mama-papa grocery store isn’t the same as a multi-million-dollar controversial construction project. Once she sees what’s entailed, she might decide she doesn’t want anything to do with it. Her dogs’ safety will mean too much.” He paused. “If she makes that decision, I don’t blame her.”
    “But you won’t like it.”
    “I just said I understand—”
    “That’s not what I’m talking about.”
    Alerted by his brother’s tone, he again turned toward him. Jason’s eyes had darkened as they did when he was deep in thought. “Spit it out,” Maco said.
    “Okay, maybe I have it wrong. Like you said, I’m not psychic. But when you say her name, you use a tone I haven’t heard in years, not since long before your divorce.”
    “Tone?”
    Jason shrugged. “Caring. Concerned. Yeah, that’s what it is. Crystal got under your skin, and you fell in love with her. Stayed that way for a long time. Now, however, you’re over her and finally ready to move on. Take a chance with another woman.”
    “I thought we were talking about security and damn fools who think they’re saving the planet by kicking us out.”
    “Were talking. Now we’ve changed subjects. Being in love isn’t a fatal disease. I’m willing to bet you’d like it more and longer the next time.”
    He didn’t need to hear this. Damn it, he didn’t want his kid brother psychoanalyzing him! Putting Crystal out of his life had torn him into little pieces, but he’d had no choice. Their marriage had become dysfunctional at the core. If Crystal was ever going to stand on her own two feet, which she needed to, he had to stop propping her up.
    No more playing the big protector with a woman or thinking of her as a newborn calf or foal. Particularly one with the ability to, as Jason would say, get under his skin.
    “I’ve pissed you off?” Jason asked.
    “What? No. I’m just thinking about what you said.”
    “No shitting. You are?” Jason rubbed the back of his neck. “My sunburn’s getting a sunburn. What I wouldn’t give for a few clouds. So do you think there’s something to my attempt at pop psychology?”
    Working up a smile, Maco punched his brother’s shoulder. “I think you need to get a life so you’ll stop trying to mess around in mine.”
    “I’ve got a life.”
    “Do you?”
    As he suspected, Jason didn’t answer. Instead his brother turned away and headed for the travel trailer that served as their on-site office.