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Her stomach dropped.

No asking for anything specific. Kyle was normally direct to the point of blunt force trauma. If he wanted something fixed, he told her what had broken.

So what broke while I was gone?

Jodie stared at the message.

No nothing bad.

No call me when you get a chance.

Not even a damn smiley face.

Her chest tightened as another thought came.

What if nothing broke while I was gone? What if things are actually going better than when I’m there?

That shouldn’t have felt worse than if the ceiling caved in. But it did.

Mac noticed her face immediately. “What?”

Old habit told her to lock the phone and put it away, to hide it from him and pretend.

Oh nothing. It’s fine.

Her thumb actually moved toward the button. Then she stopped. Last night had been too hard-earned for that.

“Kyle sent me a message. It just says we need to talk when I get back.”

“That’s it?”

“Yup.”

“Kinda vague even for Kyle, eh?”

She scrunched down in her seat. “Painfully.”

“Could be anything, Ranch Girl.”

“That isn’t helping.”

“Hey, I know.” Mac smiled as he rubbed his thumb over the steering wheel. “Maybe Kyle finally realized he doesn’t pay you enough.”

She frowned. “Nice thought, but he already gave me a big bonus and a raise this spring.”

“Then…maybe he’ll give you another raise.”

Jodie looked at him.

He smiled faintly, but she could see the concern behind it. “We’ve got some time. Try calling him or texting back.”

She nodded, trying to ignore the cannonball of fear now sitting in her stomach. She looked down at the screen.

One bar. Then none. The message screen refused to refresh.

Mac glanced at the phone. “No signal?”

Jodie shook her head as she tucked her phone away. “Nope. Kyle will have to wait.”