Read Montana Darling (Big Sky Mavericks Book 3) for Free Online

“Just goes to prove love can work miracles on even the biggest P.I.T.A around.”
    “Pitta?”
    A pretty touch of rose colored her cheeks. “Pain in the…um…arse.”
    “Got it. I’ve been away from society too long.”
    She reached across the desk to touch his arm. “Don’t say that. You’ve been following your passion. I see it in every photo. This is beauty, Ryker. Doing something you love to do is much better than Facebook, TV and all the other distractions we call normal life. Don’t apologize for taking a road less traveled.”
    Her words sounded like something his father would have said. Ryker swallowed hard as emotion swelled in his chest. While he’d been actively mourning Colette, his father had slipped to the back of his mind. Ryker hadn’t thought of Dad in a long time…until Mia Zabrinski brought up the issue of land ownership.
    “I need to use the library’s Internet,” he said. “Seems hiding my head in the sandy, less-traveled roadbed might have created a problem only my brother can help me sort out.”
    “Your brother the firefighter?”
    Ryker nodded.
    “Since you mentioned him the other day, I started paying attention to the news about the fires in California. Bailey didn’t live too far from a couple of the worst spots. The whole state is suffering from a drought, so everything is super dry.”
    “That means I probably won’t be able to reach him, but I’ll try leaving a message.”
    She held up the camera. “May I finish looking at these before I give it back?”
    He trusted her more than he would his own mother. “Sure. You know where to find me.”
    He settled into the sturdy, metal and plastic chair at one of the computer stations. He quickly logged into the account he’d signed up for right after arriving in Marietta. Since he was from out-of-state, he’d had to pay an extra fee to get a library card, but Louise had assured him the money would be refunded when he left.
    “Holy crap,” he muttered, his heart thudding unpleasantly in against his chest the moment he spotted his bank balance.
    His bank account was nearly empty. A cursory review pointed to the fact his monthly stipends from his trust account hadn’t been deposited in three months. Since he’d been spending so little, he hadn’t bothered to check his balance, but all the normal, automatic withdrawals for health insurance, rent on the storage unit in Pittsburgh, and his retirement fund had continued—even without new money coming in.
    “What the hell?”
    He emailed his stepfather. “What’s up with my trust? No $ for 3 mos.?! What’s going on?”
    He dug around the bottom of his backpack for the cheap, low-tech phone he’d bought for emergencies. The battery was dead, of course, so he plugged it in.
    He didn’t waste his time calling his mother. Mom had abdicated any free will she might once have possessed while married to his father when she married Howard Margolis. In truth, Ryker had blocked the majority of his memories of his mother from his conscious mind. Occasionally, she’d wander through his dreams, especially when Ryker was thinking about Dad. But his mother’s defection—desertion—after Martin Bensen’s death, and her sudden, jolting defection to Camp Margolis, had caused a Grand Canyon-size rift between them. A void neither seemed inclined to acknowledge, much less heal.
    He scrolled backwards through his email and found two old messages from his brother.
    Headed to California. Sounds ugly. Will keep you posted.
    The second was even shorter. Sucks 2 b me.
    Flynn didn’t take shortcuts.
    He’d just opened his phone to try Flynn’s number when an email came in from his stepfather. “Yes. Sorry about that. Ran into some problems. Better not use that acct for awhile.”
    “What account would you have me use, asshat?” Ryker muttered under his breath. He looked around, hoping no kids were nearby.
    He jotted off a furious reply, demanding a full accounting today. Like that’ll