“Duane?”
“Did you see whose brand was on those cattle?”
She tried to remember, but the only thing that surfaced was a mass of heaving bodies with the power to kill her.“No, I didn’t.”
“I didn’t either until the last two ran by me.They both carried the D-Bar on their left hip, Freddy.”
“My God, Duane will be furious that his cattle got out and stampeded like that.”
“Unless he stampeded them.”
“What?You are paranoid, Ry McGuinnes!”
“Am I?When I got to the corrals, Duane was on the phone, and I think he was talking to Leigh.We can assume Leigh told him about the subdivision thing.When I saddled up, he came out and asked where I was headed, and I told him over by the old homestead.”
She gasped.“Just what are you implying?”
“You’re the one who said Duane would do anything to protect his own.He could have figured you could handle yourself in a stampede if you happened to be around, but he may have reckoned I might not.”
“No.”She shook her head.“You’re definitely wrong about this.”
“Then what’s the explanation for all the accidents?The True Love curse?”
“I’d accept that before I’d accuse anyone I’ve known and trusted most of my life.”
He sighed.“I can understand that, but deep in your heart you know something’s wrong around here, and you’ll have to agree that several people have a motive for devaluing the property with these accidents.Besides, you don’t strike me as the superstitious type.”
“I refuse to be the suspicious type, either.”
“Not even when you almost died?”
Freddy shoved her hands in the back pockets of her jeans and gazed down at the ground.A short distance away was the tree she’d climbed.It lay broken at the base, toppled over, its leaves and branches crushed.Nearby was a flat, grayish blob that was probably what remained of her hat.She shivered.Was it possible that someone was sabotaging her beloved ranch?If so, she needed an ally she could trust.She leveled a look at Ry.“You’ve said you don’t want the ranch to disappear, but you haven’t said you’ll work to save it, either.Looks like I don’t have any good options.”
He rubbed the back of his neck.“It’s not an easy situation.I can’t buy it alone, and I’ve promised both partners we’ll sell to developers and make a huge profit.That’s why they’re coming in with me.”
Freddy’s first reaction was despair.But she took a deep breath and thought about the way Chase Lavette had arrived today, decked out in boots, jeans and hat, all dusty from a walk down the road.And hadn’t Ry said something about the third partner wanting to bring his son out to the True Love, to give him the experience of being a cowboy?She studied Ry and compared him to the man who had arrived in wing tips and tie.
“Are you sure that’s why they’re coming in with you on this deal?”she asked.“To make big money?”
“Sure.Why else?”
“You didn’t come here just for that.You’ve just confessed you wanted to test yourself.”
“Yeah, but?—”
“Ry, what if they’re both like you, needing the True Love for some personal reason but not quite ready to admit it?So they use an acceptable excuse, such as making money, to be a part of a ranch, to live a different sort of life.”
The corner of his mouth tilted up.“Are you saying we should get them out here and convert them to the idea of keeping the ranch?”
“It seems to have worked with you.”
“Yeah, but my case is a little different.”
“How?”
The smile left his face and he regarded her with an intensity that sent a quiver through her.“I fell in love.”
The earth seemed to drop away beneath her feet.
