by Leona Karr
“Sorry you’ve had such a rough go of it,” he said as he sat down on the leather couch beside her. “Beats me how you did it, delivering that baby all by yourself.”
“I didn’t do it all by myself.”
“Hal said you did.”
“He’s just being kind—and modest.” She remembered how the two of them had shared those long anxious hours and the strange bonding that developed between them. The explosive sexual attraction that had ignited when he drew her into his arms and kissed her had leveled all her defenses. She didn’t understand why she’d been drawn into such an emotional whirlwind. How had it happened? Had she completely taken leave of her senses? She couldn’t be in love, not when every strand of common sense denied it. Falling in love was for dewy-eyed romantics. She was a sensible woman with a son to raise.. She lowered her eyes so Larry wouldn’t see the emotions warring within her.
“We should be getting out of here by tomorrow,” Larry said as if trying to cheer her up. “Guess you’ll be glad?”
She nodded. These few days of bewildering emotions had made her a stranger to herself. “I’ll be happy to have things back to normal.”
“Getting snowbound like this has been the pits. Cost me money.”
“There’s no need for resort shuttle service in this weather,” she said puzzled, remembering that he’d told her that was one of his jobs.
“Oh, I’m not talking about that. What do you think of my belt?” he asked “And my hair tie?”
She hadn’t even noticed the intricately woven leather belt or hair tie before. The Indian design was quite detailed. “They’re very nice,” she murmured, wondering why he was beaming at her with such pride.
“I made them. And my brother and I have leased a shop at the resort to sell them. He’s the businessman but I’m the creative one. We’ve been working our butts off trying to make enough money to get started. Sometimes he pushes me a little too hard, you know what I mean?”
Jill wasn’t sure she did but she nodded sympathetically. “Well, I wish you luck with your venture.”
“Thanks.” He launched into a detailed account of the problems of a little guy trying to get into business.
More than ever, she wished she’d avoided this kind of one-on-one chitchat. She wasn’t up to it, but he didn’t seem to notice. At the first opportunity, she put down her half-finished sandwich and murmured her apology. “I really should go upstairs now.”
“But you haven’t eaten anything,” he protested, as Zack came into the den. “Here’s the troubadour now. Glad you showed up, cowboy. I’m sure Jill was thinking I’d lied to her. Where’s your guitar?”
“I left it in the bunkhouse. I reckon I’ll choose my own time to play it.”
“Oh, don’t be such a poor sport. Go get it. I promised Jill you’d play us some of them corny country songs. You know the tear-jerking kind I mean. Love gone wrong. Some good old boy’s horse up and dying.” He laughed. “Jill would get a kick out of hearing a cowboy strumming away and yodeling to the moon.”
One look at Zack’s thunderous expression, and Jill stood up quickly. “I don’t think this is the time for any entertainment. You’ll really have to excuse me.”
“See what you’ve done,” Larry lashed out at Zack.
Without looking at either of the men, she abruptly left the room. She wasn’t going to stay and be a witness to any confrontation that put Hal’s den in shambles.
IT SEEMED TO JILL that Hal and Scotty had been gone for hours, when she finally heard them returning to the house. A few minutes earlier she had sent Gary down to be with the other men. His anxious worrying only added to his wife’s stress, and Jill had better luck keeping Sue’s spirits up without him.
The slam of the front door vibrated up the stairs, and then Hal’s booming voice floated up from the hall below. A poignant stab of relief shot through Jill. She knew then how worried she’d been that they would lose their way and get lost in the storm. Every minute they’d been gone had been an agonizing eternity.
For a brief moment, her mind wouldn’t handle anything else. Then a legion of anxious questions whipped through her mind like frantic birds. Had they reached the truck? Was the telephone working? Had they been able to make the calls? Was help on the way?
She wanted to rush downstairs without a second’s delay, but she was in the process of helping Sue get the baby to take a bottle of water. Since Sue was taking aspirin and there was a chance she had an infection, it seemed wise not to let the baby try to nurse. Jill felt that she couldn’t leave until the infant was satisfied and she’d made Sue as comfortable as possible. She tried to be patient until the sleeping baby was tucked in the crib and she was free to leave.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” she promised and hurried out of the room. She’d only taken a few steps down the hall when she heard her name called.
“Jill, wait up.”
She jerked around just as Hal came out of his bedroom, obviously having changed into dry clothes. She rushed at him. “What happened? Did you make the call? What did they say?”
“Easy…easy, relax,” he soothed and then lowered his voice. “Yes, we got through. The weather’s supposed to clear by morning, and the pickup is set for noon,” he assured her. “A helicopter will set down just west of the house. The attendants will load her and the baby and have them to the county hospital in a few minutes.”
“You’re sure they’re coming?”
“Trust me, we’ve got everything under control.”
Trust him! She wanted to laugh hysterically. She was racked with feelings of doubt and suspicions about him to the point that she didn’t know what to believe. This man was at the center of a disaster that was tearing her apart.
“Jill, what is it? Talk to me!” He looked and sounded genuinely concerned.
Raising her eyes to his, she knew that she couldn’t pretend ignorance any longer. She had to know. This horrible thing between them was tearing her apart. She moistened her dry lips and took the plunge. “I think you know more than you’re telling me about the man in the car. I saw blood and a bullet hole in the barn.”
He dropped his hands from her shoulders as if an electrical shock had gone through him. The genuine bewilderment in his expression sent a rush of relief through her. He didn’t know! She was sure of it! Why had she been so stupid not to tell him about the discovery when she made it?
He pulled her back into his bedroom. “You saw what? Tell me! Now.”
She bit her lip and tried to steady her voice. “At the back of the barn. There’s blood on the ground. And a splintered bullet hole in the door frame. When I saw it, I thought…I thought…” she stammered.
She didn’t know whether his expression was one of utter disbelief or horrified acceptance. Before he could say anything, heavy steps sounded on the stairs.
“Sorry to interrupt, boss.” Kirby drawled an apology as he looked around the half-opened door. His narrowed eyes swept over Jill’s flushed face and Hal’s head bent close to hers. “I didn’t know you were…er…er…busy.”
Jill stiffened with the cook’s suggestive hesitation that he’d intruded upon some compromising situation. The crackling tension between her and Hal was not at all the kind that Kirby’s leer implied.
“Well, what is it?” snapped Hal.
“I was just thinking you might want to get out to the barn. It’s Calico’s foal. She’s down.”
“No! What in the hell happened?”
Kirby shrugged. “Zack just said you’d better take a look.”
Jill didn’t know what to do or say in this new crisis. She had seen the love and tenderness in Hal’s eyes as he’d stroked the foal. She winced just thinking about what the loss would mean to him.
“Could be she’s been hit like the others,” Kirby stated matter-of-factly.
Hal’s expression changed to one of black rage. “The bastards!”
“What is it?” Jill asked, her heart tightening. She didn’t understand the u
nspoken communication between the two men.
“I’ll explain later.”
She nodded. He looked torn between her and the crisis in the barn, so she gave him a slight push toward the door. “See to the foal.”
Kirby lingered in the doorway as Hal bounded down the stairs. His watchful eyes took in Jill’s slumped shoulders and lowered head. “You want me to tell the boss to lay off?”
“What do you mean?”
“Easy to see, he’s putting his spurs to you. I’ve seen it happen before. Some gal comes around and before you know it, Hal’s got a hackamore on her. You know what a hackamore is, don’t you?”
“No, and I really don’t care,” she answered tersely.
The cook just gave her one of his thin smiles. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Jill moved past him out into the hall. She wasn’t about to discuss her tangled emotions with Hal’s cook. It wasn’t any of his business. “I’m sorry about the foal.”
“There’ll be hell to pay if he loses her,” Kirby said, then added, “Hal doesn’t take kindly to disappointments, especially where horses and women are concerned.”
She decided to ignore his pointed warning.
HAL BENT HIS HEAD against the blowing snow and biting cold and slammed his way to the barn. Zack swung around at Hal’s entrance, stepping back from Calico’s stall and pointing to the foal lying listlessly on the straw. “Doesn’t look good, boss.”
Hal unlatched the stall gate and stepped in. “Easy, girl,” he soothed as he let his hand run down the mare’s neck. Then he knelt down beside the foal. “What’s the matter, baby?” he asked gently.
The filly raised her head but didn’t try to get up. Her dark brown eyes were clear and he was relieved that there was no distortion of the belly. That was a good sign. He let his hands move over her neck and withers, stroke her back, and then slip on down her long legs. She didn’t seem sensitive to his touch and there was no indication of pain.
“What do you think, boss?”
Hal sighed heavily. “Maybe she’s not getting enough nourishment. Our best bet is to give her the stuff the vet left the last time a mare had a foal. Fix a bottle.”
“Won’t do any good if she’s been poisoned,” Zack said flatly.
Poisoned. The word was like a dagger in his side. He clenched his fists as he stood up. His face a dark glower, he pushed by Zack and strode the length of the barn.
Then he stopped. For a long moment, he couldn’t get his breath. He just stood there, frozen. The evidence was all there, just as she had said.
Zack came up behind him. “What’s the matter, boss? You—” he broke off as his eyes fell on the splattered blood and bullet hole. “Well, I’ll be! Would you look at that?”
Hal drew in a long breath. “I should have figured it all out before now.”
“What you going to do now, boss?”
Hal straightened up. “I guess I’ll have to admit I shot the bastard.”
A sudden intake of breath warned Hal too late that, completely unnoticed, Jill had come into the barn and stood, appalled, a few feet behind them.
Chapter Seven
The expression on Jill’s face told Hal that she’d heard everything. The truth lay between them like odorous carrion. He would have done anything to spare her this moment. But it was too late. Everything he didn’t want to see was in her face. Horror. Repugnance. And fear.
“Uh-oh!” Zack said, hastily making a retreat from an atmosphere that was charged like a threatening hurricane.
“You don’t understand.” As he took a step toward her, she stepped back, defensive and guarded.
“Why did you kill him?” Her voice was thin and strangled, and he winced inwardly at her tone.
“I didn’t. I mean, I didn’t know I had.”
Disbelief was etched in every taut facial muscle as she stared at him. He hadn’t expected her to believe him. Even now he had a hard time believing it himself. He cursed himself for not having checked out the barn before. Not that it would have made a damn bit of difference. It had all happened too fast. Even now he had trouble putting everything into the right sequence. He could see her shock giving way to fiery emotion.
“You didn’t know that you shot a man?” she flared.
“I’ll try to explain.”
“Please do.” Her voice was as cold as the breath that formed clouds in front of her lips.
“Someone’s been poisoning my stock. Just this month I’ve lost a dozen head of cattle and a valuable Appaloosa stallion I had in the corral. We’ve been trying to catch whoever was doctoring the feed. I’ve kept a sharp eye out when I did my chores or rode out to check on the cattle, watching for anybody sneaking around the place. No sign of the sneaking bastards until the other morning. I came in to feed the horses and saw a shadowy figure hiding behind some bales at the back of the barn. I called out, but he didn’t show himself. I always keep a rifle in the tack room for predators—until that moment, the animal kind.
“When I came out with the gun, he took off, running toward the back door. I fired a couple of warning shots and you have to believe me, I didn’t know I’d wounded him. I fired two warnings shots, one over his head and one to the side. Neither bullet came anywhere close to hitting him. I didn’t intend to shoot him, and I wasn’t off on my aim.” He dropped his eyes to the bloodstains, his expression one of disbelief.
“Then how did the blood get there?”
For a moment he didn’t answer. He bent his head back and looked up at the bullet hole in the door frame, then turned his searching gaze to the side of the door where some metal feed troughs were stacked up on end. Slowly he reached out his hand and fingered an indentation in one of them. Then he let out a slow whistle. “So that explains it. I’ll be damned.”
“What? Tell me!” She couldn’t make any sense out of the attention he was giving to the feed trough.
His expression was grim. “See this indentation. The bullet must have ricocheted off this metal trough and hit him. And I didn’t know it. He didn’t stumble at all, just bounded out the door.”
“But you must have run after him.”
“Hell, yes, but I went out the side door because I saw him veer to the right when he fled the barn. I thought I’d intercept him as he came around the corner, but he must have fled into a thick stand of trees behind the building. Blowing snow was already falling fast, covering up his tracks. I ran back and forth and around the building, but he was gone. I didn’t see any sign of him. Now I realize he must have parked his car in a rutted road in the trees behind the barn and managed to drive as far as the highway—where you found him.” He took another step toward her, but she backed up farther.
“Why didn’t you tell me all of this when I told you about finding the dead man?”
“I didn’t see the connection between the two. Don’t you see? The man I’d caught sneaking around my barn hightailed it out of here. Until you told me about the blood at the back door, I didn’t know I’d hit him. Damn it, I wanted to catch him. Find out who in the hell he was and if he’d been hired to poison my stock.”
“But why would anyone do such a horrible thing?”
“Isn’t it plain enough? I told you before that more than one land grabber has been pressuring me to sell the ranch. My property is sitting in the right spot for development, and it’s no secret that if I keep the ranch, my profit margin is very thin. I can’t keep taking losses. Someone knows that. And killing off my animals is about as low as greed can get.” His jaw hardened. “If I hadn’t come to the barn when I did, every one of the horses could have been fed poisoned feed…including Calico and her foal.”
Jill’s stomach took a sickening plunge. She could only imagine the devastation of losing the mare and her beautiful foal, as well as the other horses, to the agonizing death of poison. “How could anyone be so heartless?” She couldn’t believe human selfishness could sink so low.
“Greed,” he muttered. “I was just trying to save my a
nimals. I put in a call about the poisonings to Sheriff Perkins a week ago, but he never called back. I’ll confess everything if he ever shows up. That ought to make you happy.”
Nothing about the ugly situation made her happy. She reached a hand out to him, but he stiffly ignored the gesture. His rejection was deserved, she thought helplessly. She’d hurt him. Believing the worst, she’d given him no quarter. How readily she had judged him. Even if the situation had been beyond her understanding, she should have had some faith in his integrity. The distrust she’d shown so pointedly was like barbed wire stretched between them, cutting them both, and she didn’t know how to remove it. Hal had every right to protect his livestock from such deliberate cruelty, but suddenly another fear stabbed at her. Would there be retaliation? Could Hal have put his own life in danger over the shooting? Afraid for his safety, she asked in a strained voice, “Where will it all end?” “I don’t know, but I’ll tell you one thing. It’ll be over my dead body before anyone gets his greedy hands on my ranch.”
Over my dead body. His words sent a chill of fear quivering up her spine. She wanted to plead with him not to jeopardize his own life in this situation, but she knew such pleas would be useless. He would never give in to harassment and threats.
“Because I had more immediate problems on my mind, I brushed aside a dead man in a car without giving the matter much thought,” he admitted.
She drew in a shaky breath. “Now that I know the whole story, I understand how the tragedy could have happened. A real fluke. You had every right to fire the warning shots. I’m sorry that I jumped to the wrong conclusion. But now I understand. Really I do.” The load he’d been carrying on his shoulders touched her heart and conscience.
He was staring at her, stiff and rigid, as if he couldn’t believe that she’d thought even for a moment that he was a killer. She wanted to slip her arms around his neck and draw his face down to hers, but she knew he would reject her feeble attempt to make things right. She had hurt him deeply and ruined the beginning of something tender and beautiful by her unfounded suspicions and quick judgment