The thing that was even more unexpected than his clearing the space for no other reason than he remembered it was something she wanted to do, was how much she’d come to enjoy working at his side. And if she were honest with herself, dancing with the man. Everything about him was so… perfect. She knew there was no such thing as a perfect human, but danged if this man didn’t come close. She had to laugh to herself. The way he rescued her stripped self, and fretted over her when she’d been hurt on the fence all those months ago, and stepped up to save a ranch that wasn’t his—if ever there was a man worthy of a best-selling romance novel, Clint was it.
Of course, she had no business thinking of him as a hero, romantic or otherwise. For one thing, the man had to be a good ten years younger than her. And for another, she was his boss. Did thinking he’d make a perfect romantic hero qualify for sexual harassment? Of course not, at least not if it was just in her head. Maybe it was time she considered finding a new man.Maybe not to marry, but at least to go to a movie, or play a game of corn hole. Just… company. After all, it wouldn’t be long before she’d be living in an empty house.Empty house.Dang, that sounded awful. It had been so much fun having Kade back and his buddy Josh. Watching those two horse around took her back twenty years to a house full of raucous teens. And she realized how much she’d missed that. Maybe it was time she told Sarah Sue that she was ready to start fostering dogs. Not the same as children, but she couldn’t imagine life on this ranch without Brady.
“And what has you looking so distracted?” Clint appeared behind her. The tool belt clipped around his waist told her he had more work to do in her garden.
“Just contemplating the immortality of the crab.”
A deep hearty laugh erupted as his head tipped back a moment. “I really love your approach to life.”
She wondered if she was blushing, because she could feel heat rising from her toes to her cheeks. Straightening in place, her grip on the trowel tightened. “The only thing I’m approaching today is planting these seeds. What are you up to?”
His nose lifted toward the opposite side of the garden. “The old compost bin has seen better days. I just got back from town with fresh lumber. Was about to get started, but I can move on to something else if my hammering will bother you.”
She shook her head. “I can’t imagine a rancher in the world who the sound of hard work would disturb.” Besides, she liked knowing he was near. Made no sense, but it was what it was.
She’d barely dug up the first few seed holes when Cassie came hurrying up beside her. “Sheriff Boyd is here.”
“Here?”
“He said he was in the area and thought he’d stop by. Give you an update. Kade is inside with him and Carson is on his way over. Preston and Garret are tied up.”
Nodding her head, Alice set her tools aside and peeled off her gloves, slapping them along a sideboard to shake loose the dirt before shoving them into her back pocket. Taking a single step, she paused and looked to Clint. “If this is about Ray, as our new foreman, you should probably come too.”
His gaze leveled with hers and for a long moment he remained silent. She knew he was debating whether or not that was his place and saw the moment he made up his mind, then he removed his tool belt, set it aside, and followed them into the house.
Inside, she followed the sounds of men’s voices. Laughing voices. Well, that had to be a good sign. If something was truly wrong the tension should be thick as pea soup. Alice caught the tail end of some story about the sheriff catching Blake climbing in the window with Jillian holding a gun on him. Kade was laughing so hard, he was almost falling out of his seat. Of course, she knew that story, but Kade had been away and she guessed this was the first time he’d heard it.
As soon as they heard her cross the threshold, both men stood. Gotta love Texas chivalry. It made her right proud every time her sons or daughters did something, anything, to show her she and Charlie had raised them right. “Afternoon, sheriff.”
“Miss Alice.” He tipped his chin at her. No doubt if his hat had been on his head and not on the desk, he would have tipped it the way cowboys had done for generations before them.
“I hear you have news for me?” She waved for him to retake his seat.
Cassie moved to sit on the arm of the chair where her husband sat, and the sheriff plunked down in the comfortable easy chair at the same moment Carson came rushing into the room. “Got here as fast as I could.”
“That wasn’t necessary,” the sheriff said. “I don’t have much to report. Though we’ve caught two more of your former cohorts.”
“Where?” she asked quickly.
“Millers Creek. They were drunk as skunks and spewing about being gypped out of a fortune. When they got around to telling a couple of working girls that they were going to get even and get their due share, one of them got nervous that they might be dangerous and the bartender called in the police.”
“So Ray ripped them off too?” Carson asked.
“Looks like it. Unfortunately, the two lawyered up as soon as they sobered up. But we did learn that the reason they took off was because Ray got wind that you were going over the books. I guess he figured he needed to get out while the getting was good.”
“Rats,” Kade muttered.
“From what we gathered, he didn’t dare take any of the money they’d accrued in case the law caught up with him. Same with the hands. He promised them if they lay low for six months, he’d give them their money when the heat was off.”
“But he didn’t?” Alice asked, even though it wasn’t really a question.
The sheriff shrugged. “Doesn’t look like it.”
“So where does that leave us now?”
Clint stood along the back wall of what had once been Charles Sweet’s office. If the hands were found so close to home, the hackles rising on the back of his neck told him that Ray might not be far behind. Unless, of course, he’d lied through his teeth and had taken more than enough money with him and, sure he was safe, was very long gone.
“One of the two let it slip that Ray had hidden the loot here on the ranch. But by then they’d sobered up enough to ask for a lawyer and shut their mouths.”
