“Your property?” Ed scowled. “Since when is this your property?”
Eve decided she wasn’t going to fall into the old trap of having him treat her like she was nothing more than a punching bag. She was stronger and in charge of her life. She took a step toward him and was surprised when he retreated. It was unusual for Ed to back away from anyone.
Words she wanted to say for a long time spewed from her mouth. Hands clenched to keep from striking out at him, she yelled, “Since you got drunk and left me to handle this place alone. Since you killed my mother, you bastard! Since I scrimped and saved and paid the back taxes. Since I worked my fingers to the bone cleaning up your mess and bought the ranch from the bank. Since I worked my way through college on my own and got this place running. This place is mine, not yours. Did you bother to look around while sneaking back? Did you even notice all your junk is gone, all the weeds are gone, and how the house is fixed up? Who the hell do you think did all this?”
Ed put a hand up to stop her tirade. “Hold up there a minute, girlie. I noticed, and the old place is real nice. Why, it’s so fancy, I could live in this barn.” He swept his arm out. “I wouldn’t want to with all those damn old horses in here. Why, I’d be like a millionaire living the house you fixed up so fancy.”
“I’ll have you know, Ed,” Eve said through clenched teeth, “these damn old horses are what are keeping this place alive, and you’ll never set foot in my house again.”
Ed chuckled. “Yeah, well, I’m back and things’ll be different around here. I never did see any use for horses.”
Eve planted her hands on her hips. “What the hell do you mean by that?”
Ed shook a finger in her face. “Don’t you be swearing at me like that, girlie. Show some respect.”
Eve slapped his hand away. “I show respect when respect is earned, which, old man, you certainly haven’t. Now get off my property and out of my life.”
Her stomach dropped as his face turned red and he clenched his hands into fists. His lips thinned. She prepared herself for the coming punch. In the past, no one, especially his worthless daughter, had dared defy him. To her amazement, he stepped back.
“You’ll be sorry, girlie. No matter what happened in the past, I’m still your father, and you have to do what I say.”
Eve gave a harsh laugh. “Maybe in the past, but while you were locked up like the slime you are, I grew up. I don’t have to obey you anymore.”
“Think you’re smart, don’t you?” He grabbed her arm. “You won’t be laughing when I get through with you. Now, what room will I be in at that fancy house? I need something nice, especially after living in that lousy cell for all these years.”
“There’s no room for you.”
Ed jerked his head back. “What do ya mean?”
“What part of ‘You won’t be living in my house’ don’t you get? You will never, ever live here again. You were so far behind in payments, the bank took it over and I bought it back. It’s mine.”
His eyes turned mean. “Where the hell am I supposed to live if not in my own home?”
Eve crossed her arms over her chest. “I keep telling you, Ed, this place is mine, lock, stock, and barrel.” Eve paused, trying to calm her racing heart. Would he ever understand what she went through to make this place her own? “How long have you been out of prison?”
Ed ran a thick-veined hand over his balding head. “A week.”
“Where are you living?”
“With Snook. He’s the one that picked me up seein’ as my own daughter wouldn’t.”
Eve narrowed her eyes. “First of all, I didn’t find out until this afternoon you were out of prison. Even if I had known, no way in hell would I have picked you up.” She studied him closer. “I’m not sure how you pulled off an early release. You didn’t break out, did you?”
Ed laughed. “Hell, no. I was on my best behavior and got out before my time was up.”
“Wisconsin needs to change their laws,” Eve commented. “If you’ve been staying with Snook for a week, you can go back to his place.”
“Why would I do that when you have plenty of room? Why, I could stay in one of those stupid little buildings you put all over the place. What a waste of good space.”
“No one asked your opinion, Ed. And like the horses, those stupid little buildings help pay the bills.” Eve pointed a finger at him. “How did you get here? I don’t see a car.” She paused and snapped her fingers. “I know, you rode a horse.”
“Huh. Very funny, girlie.” He pulled a bright red baseball cap out of his back pocket and twisted it in his hands. “Snook dropped me off, but he left. So now I’m stuck here.”
“You can just call Snook up and tell him to pick you back up. You’re not wanted here.”
“Well, see, the thing is, Snook’s wife doesn’t want me at their house, either. Seems she thinks I’m a bad influence on her kids.”
Eve didn’t remember her father ever whining. Yelling, screaming, swearing; his booming voice getting what he wanted. She snorted. “Go figure. Go call one of your cronies who were so in love with you before you killed my mother.”
“Quit saying that, Evie. I didn’t mean to crash the car.”
“Yeah, well, in Wisconsin, if you drink and drive and a passenger in the car dies from a crash, it’s called murder. The same as if one of those beatings you gave her had killed her.”
He took a step closer. “You’ve gotten hard, girlie.”
“I had no choice, thanks to you. Now go call Snook or someone to get you out of here.”
“Don’t have a cell phone.” He peered up at her from under his bushy white eyebrows. “Guess I could use the phone in the house.”
Eve pushed past Ed and closed the stall gate. “Guess again, old man. No way are you getting into my house. You need a phone, walk to town and find one.”
Ed followed her down the dim barn interior. “Need to use the john, too.”
“Use a tree on your way to town.”
Ed grabbed her elbow, digging his fingers into her skin, and swung her around to face him. “Listen here, girlie. I ain’t using no public facilities after being in prison. I need my privacy.”
His whining did nothing to soften her feelings toward him. She tried to yank her arm free. “Let go of me. I can have you arrested and sent back to prison so fast your buddies won’t realize you left.”
“You’re my daughter. I can do what I want. Besides, I know some things to change your mind.”
Eve jerked herself free and rubbed her elbow. “You don’t get it, do you? I am an adult. Your control over me is over.” She started toward the barn door. “With your record, it wouldn’t take much to convince a judge to send you back. Now get the hell out of my barn, my property, and my life!”
Ed chuckled. “Not until I’m damn good and ready, girlie.”
“I’d say you’re ready now, Ed.” A deep voice came from the shadows of the barn.
“Tom? Is that you, old buddy?”
Tom stepped into the light, a shotgun held to his side, his finger near the trigger. “Do as she says, or I will call the cops and have you arrested for trespassing.”
Ed pulled back his outstretched hand and wiped his palm on the side of his new jeans. “What, no welcome for an old pal?”
“You’re no pal of mine, Ed. Now get off this property.”
Ed slid his hands into his back pockets and rocked on his heels. “I kinda guessed we weren’t pals no more since you never once showed your face at the prison.”
Tom huffed out a breath. “You actually thought I would visit you in prison? You haven’t changed one bit. You’re still the same self-centered bastard you always were. Now, once again.” He lifted the shotgun. “Get off this property.”
Ed grinned. “Now, wher
e’s your authority, Tom?” He pointed a thumb at Eve. “I don’t think old Evie here has the guts.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Ed. I happen to own a share of this place and, believe me, when I say Eve has the guts to call the police. Since you just got out of prison, are you ready to take the chance you’ll get sent back?”
“You were always jealous of me, Tom,” Ed said, leaning against a stall door. “You can put the gun away.”
Tom rested the stock of the gun across his arms. “Jealous? Of you? You thought you were hot stuff in college as long as you were the football hero, but as soon as things didn’t go your way, you became nothing but a washed-up, whining, quarterback turned drunken wife beater.”
Ed chuckled, his eyes gleaming. “You always were in love with her, weren’t you? Didn’t think I knew, did you?”
Eve shot a glance her friend. “What’s he talking about?”
Tom never took his eyes off Ed. “He’s only blowing off steam, trying to make me out to be the bad guy. I was never anything but a friend to Linda.”
“Oh, but I think you wanted to be so much more, didn’t you? You wanted to sleep with Linda. Now you’re probably banging my daughter.”
Tom shook his head slowly and sighed. “You are one sick bastard, Ed. First, you think I slept with Linda. Now you think I’m sleeping with Eve? What the hell kind of crap did you learn in that joint?”
“You’d never believe what I learned.”
“From what I can tell, none of it any good,” Eve mumbled.
Tom moved to take Ed’s arm. “Well, we’re not going to stand here and discuss it. Your time is up, Ed.”
Eve stepped forward and put her hand on Tom’s arm. “Do you need to tell me something?” she whispered.
“Not now, Eve. We need to get rid of him.”
“Quit whispering about me.” Ed glared at them. “You going to convince Eve to let me stay at the house?” he whined.
Tom shifted the rifle into the crook of his arm. “Not hardly. What I will do, is give you a lift anywhere you want. Anywhere but here.”
“He can stay with Snook again. And if they don’t want him, Snook can find him a place,” Eve said, exiting the barn without a backward glance.
It seemed she’d been in the barn for hours, but when she glanced at her watch, only twenty minutes had passed since she’d entered the barn with Tilly. “Damn,” she muttered as she turned back into the barn to make sure Ed went with Tom. She met him coming out. “Where’s Ed?”
Tom frowned and lowered the gun. “He’s not out here with you? I told him I would give him a ride into town. He said ‘sure’. I went into the tack room to get my keys and when I came out, he was gone. I assumed he was out here harassing you some more.”
“Where did he go?”
He shook his head. “Damned if I know.”
Eve’s chest tightened. “We need to find him. I don’t want him hiding in the barn or any other building and sneaking into the house.”
“Stay here.” Tom ran back into the barn.
Keeping her back to the barn, she trained her eyes on the other buildings in the yard hoping to catch something of the man, a flash of his white shirt or maybe his red baseball cap. Nothing. “Where the hell did you go?” She jumped when a hand touched her shoulder.
“I don’t see him in the barn,” Tom said.
She pointed to his rifle. “Do you have any other guns?”
“Yes, but they’re at my house, locked in the gun safe.”
“Good. I can’t remember if he can use a gun, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. I didn’t see him while you were in the barn, but he has to be around here somewhere.” She paused, wrestling with her next thought. Finally she gave a curt nod.
“I’ll ask Dent to help. Three pairs of eyes are better than two.”
Chapter 13
With shaking hands, Eve knocked on Denton’s cabin door. “I need your help,” she said through rapid breaths when he opened the door.
His greeting smile slipped. “Shit, Eve. You’re white as a sheet. What’s wrong?”
She avoided his hands as he tried to pull her into the room. “My father was here.”
He frowned and looked past her into the yard. “When? Where is he?”
“That’s just it. We don’t know.” She clasped her hands together to keep them from shaking. “He came when I was in the barn. To make a long story short, I told him he couldn’t stay here. I left the barn and when Tom went to get his keys to take him into town, Ed was gone.”
Denton stepped from the cabin and yanked the door shut, making sure it locked behind him. “What can I do?”
“We need to find him before he does something stupid like steal from a cabin or get into my house.”
They stopped in front of Tom.
“Do you think we should get some help from the staff?” Denton asked.
Tom shook his head. “We can tell them to keep an eye out for him, but let’s just keep the search down to the three of us. If we have a bunch of people roaming around, looking for him, I’m afraid the guests might get nervous.”
“I agree,” Eve said, keeping her eyes moving to the land around the barn. “I don’t think he will hurt anyone, but I want him out of here.” Her voice shook. “Where should we start?”
“Do you keep your doors locked?” Denton asked, moving toward the house.
“The front and side ones are always locked. I’ve been outside since he disappeared and would have seen him if he went in through the porch door.”
“Just in case, let’s do a quick sweep of the inside.” Denton took her hand.
“I’ll search around the barn and up the trail, and when you two are done inside, look around the cabins and along the driveway.” He took a step from them and turned back. “And make sure your porch door is locked when you’re done.”
A frustrating hour later, Eve swiped the curry brush over Tilly’s neck then patted her tenderly. The horse nudged Eve and nickered. “I’m sorry it took so long, girl.” She went back to her brushing. “How on earth did he vanish like that, Tom?”
Tom picked out the hoof Eve hadn’t done and gently dropped it to the stall floor. “Damned if I know. It was like he snapped his fingers and, poof, he was gone.”
“Well, it’s bugging me knowing he was able to get into and out of the barn without anyone seeing him.” She moved to the other side of the mare’s head.
“I did find the trail leading from the door that used to go to the milk house, but I’ve seen Dennis and some of the other kids using it to go to the pasture.” He wiped the pick on a cloth from his back pocket. “I hate to say it, but from now on we’re going to have to be a lot more careful with securing things around here.”
“We’ve never had to worry about locking doors before. Besides, there are no locks on the barn and sheds.”
Tom patted Tilly’s back as he stepped around the horse and left the stall. Eve followed and latched the stall door, went into the tack room, hung up the curry brush, and sat on a metal folding chair.
“Why did he come back here? Why couldn’t he have gone somewhere else? Why now, when all these things are happening?” Her head snapped up. “Do you think he’s behind the vandalism?”
Tom sat on a chair across from her and leaned his elbows on his knees. “The idea crossed my mind, but I think his release came after the first incidents.”
“I wonder when he got out? He says a week ago, but it may have been before then. What if he told someone what to do from prison?”
“Something to think about. I’ve often thought more than one person is involved, someone who’s familiar with the ranch, like Snook or Ed.”
Eve stood and brushed off her pants. “We’ll need to check it out. Until then we have to keep our eyes ope
n.”
With creaking knees, Tom rose. “I think we should put motion lights on some of the buildings.”
“Another expense I can’t afford, but a good idea. But how do we keep customers from setting them off?”
Tom shuffled his boots through the loose hay on the floor. “Hadn’t thought of that. Short of hiring a guard, I’m not sure what to do. Hell, I don’t even get why this is all happening now.”
“Could be Ed’s way of trying to get the place back? What stake does Snook have? I’ll ask Denton if he has any ideas.” Eve stood by the window. “Where is he anyway?”
“Denton said he wanted to keep searching. He noticed some trails going into the woods.”
“I wish he hadn’t gone alone. I don’t trust either Snook or Ed.”
“You sound like you’re worried about him,” Tom said, speculation shining in his eyes.
“Well, of course I’m worried about him, just as I’m worried about you or anyone else who might encounter my father. The guy’s crazy, and Snook’s not much better.”
Tom smiled. “Anyone, eh? Don’t you think it’s time you were honest with yourself and admit you’re still in love with Denton?”
“For the record,” Eve said, crossing her arms under her breasts, “I’m not in love with Denton. But I would like to ask you something.”
“Ah, trying to change the subject.” Tom shrugged and sighed. “All right, ask away. Doesn’t mean I’ll answer.”
“Very funny, Tom.” Eve chuckled, then turned serious. “I need to know about what Ed said today.”
“Which part? He said an awful lot of shit today. Most of which isn’t true.”
Eve drew a piece of hay from a bale. “The part about you being in love with Mom and . . .” She kept her eyes on the hay she twisted between her fingers.
“I figured you’d ask about that.” Tom shoved his hands in his pockets. “Sure, I loved your mother, but so did a lot of people. She was a sweet, sweet, lady.”
Riding for Love (A Western Romance) Page 14