Page 23 of The Cowboy’s Reckoning

By the time they reached the stretch of fence Lil had fixed the previous day, Dudley had relaxed to the point that she was riding him on a loose rein. It was only as they approached the area where the wires had been cut that Lil began to tense up and, because of that, Dudley did the same. At least he was attuned to her, which was a good step forward.

The wires were tight, the sun was shining, no reason to be tense. Lil forced herself to relax, only to be caught off guard when Dudley’s weight dropped from beneath her, then he launched himself sideways.

She fought to regain her balance, but it was useless because Dudley, either out of fear or a sense of advantage, began some serious bucking while she was off balance. Lil hit the ground still holding the reins that were then yanked out of her hand, burning her palm. Dudley took off across the pasture toward safety, leaving Lil sitting in damp grass.

She started to get up, then stopped as a cracking sound from the other side of the fence made her heart jump. Her gaze jerked around in time to see something largish moving through the thick brush before disappearing into the gulley where the creek ran.

A bear?

Head pounding, she got to her feet and walked backward for several yards before turning and heading for the small hill Dudley had disappeared over. A few steps later she stopped. Turned. There was no further movement in the brush. No sound that her straining ears could pick up. A bear would be long gone by now.

Screwing up her courage, she reversed course and approached the fence. Nothing seemed different from the day before, but as she traced a visual line from the area of the repair to the brush where the dark form had disappeared, she made out fresh boot prints in the soft soil.

Not a bear.

She put a hand on her chest to keep her heart from beating its way out.

The conservancy land was not wilderness. It could be accessed by the owner or people to whom they gave permission. Conservancy simply restricted use and allowed wildlife a refuge. Hiking was allowed.

Fine. It could be a hiker. But why would boot prints lead to the exact spot where she’d repaired the fence? And why had Jordan asked about other things happening on the ranch the day before? Did he know something she didn’t?

She needed to get out of there as badly as she needed answers.

Feeling like eyes were boring into her, Lil hurried to the top of the small hill, allowing herself the occasional glance over her shoulder to assure herself that she was indeed alone. When she crested the hill, she stopped, stunned by the sight of a bay gelding calmly eating grass in the swale.

Bless you, Dudley … if she could catch him.

Dudley sidestepped as she approached but held ground as she took hold of the loose reins, which were surprisingly still intact. Lil checked the horse for injuries, then remounted. Dudley had thoughts about the process, but after pulling his nose to his shoulder so that he could only move in a circle, he decided that, yes, she could come aboard and maybe he’d take her to the ranch.

“Dudley, I think I love you,” she muttered as the ranch came into view and she spotted Jordan’s truck parked next to the barn.

She hadn’t expected him until the following day, so she truly appreciated not arriving ten minutes after her horse and dealing with the questions that would follow. She also appreciated knowing that Jordan wasn’t the guy on Weston land. She didn’t know that she could trust him, but he wasn’t snipping fences.

Unless he’d hired that job out.

Shit.

“Let’s go see what the landlord is up to.”

Jordan was most of the way down the ladder by the time she rode through the pasture gate.

“I didn’t expect you until tomorrow,” she said as his boots hit the ground.

“I had a change of schedule. I have a meeting tomorrow, so I thought I’d put a couple of hours this afternoon. It won’t take much longer. I just need to nail the shingles into place.” He frowned as his gaze traveled over her and Lil looked down to find that she had small dry weeds sticking to the side of her shirt and a grass stain down the side of her jeans from where she’d hit the ground.

“Good ride?” he asked mildly.

“I’ve had better.” She coiled Dudley’s reins. “I guess I’ll leave you to it.”

Chapter Six

Jordan had only met Jess Connery face-to-face one time prior to their upcoming meeting. The wheels of the probate process had just started to grind when the broker cold-called Jordan, asking for a meeting concerning his upcoming inheritance. Curious, Jordan agreed. They’d discussed business over coffee in the almost empty Main Street Diner in Marietta that day, even though Connery’s offices were in Livingston. He’d made it easy for Jordan to meet with him that day. Today he’d chosen to have Jordan drive north to his place of business.

That first meet-up had felt like a godsend. An unnamed buyer had been trolling for property in the area, and for that reason, Connery had kept his ears open, looking for any opportunity. He’d never fessed up to how he’d learned that Jordan had inherited Carl Jordan’s property, but at that point, Jordan didn’t care. After checking Connery’s credentials, he’d agreed to start the process of selling the place. It was only later, after probate had concluded, that the condition of no tenant had been introduced. Not that Jordan would have been able to do anything about that stipulation prior to his actual inheritance.

“What’s going on that can’t be handled over the phone?” Connery asked after Jordan had taken the seat on the opposite side of the broker’s desk.

“There’s no legal way I can force the McAllens off the property.”