Page 40 of The Cowboy’s Reckoning

Lil’s impression of the man during their brief meeting the night before had been one of stoic concern. The concern was still evident as he gave her a nod of greeting, but there was also an edge of steel, similar to that of his son.

“You’ll be coming here to train for a while, I understand.”

“I appreciate you letting me do that.”

Wade made a dismissive gesture. “Glad to help out. You just go ahead and keep your horses here as long as you need to.”

“I’ll bring my own hay when I come tomorrow. Hopefully, this is only temporary.”

“Best not to take chances,” he said. He turned to Jordan. “There’s a couple of things—”

“Sure.” Jordan turned to Lil. “Be right back.”

*

The couple of things turned out to be Wade worried about Jordan and the cow shooting.

After filling Wade in on everything the deputy and brand inspector had revealed, he said, “I told Connery the sale is off. I’m keeping the place.”

“You are?” It was hard to miss Wade’s glance toward the Reed property on the far side of the fields.

“I’m not getting strong-armed or scared into doing something that’s not right. I’m going to mortgage the Willow Creek. I have another bank meeting this coming Monday.”

“You sure about this?” Wade said gruffly.

He was a lot like Lil in that he had a hard time accepting help, even from his sons.

“We can’t risk a mortgage on the Tree Fork; we want the land, so yes. I can still sell the Willow Creek later. Right now, I want it known that I’m keeping it.” In fact, he’d planned to tell Burke to spread the word.

“How serious do you think this situation is?”

“I’m hoping things cool down once word gets out that I’m not looking to sell.”

“Who in the hell would want the place so badly that they’d shoot a cow?”

It was more than shooting the cow. Lil was right that once word of the incident got out, people might be hesitant to hire her to take on their horses. Of course, with Meg working at the school, things might not be as tight, but for all he knew, they’d already factored that into their budget. Things like fences and culverts added up.

“I think the idea was to make the sisters so jumpy and uncomfortable that they’d reconsider leaving. I’m kind of wondering if Connery might not have produced a perfect lease property for them a few days after the shooting.”

“Asshole.” Wade twisted his mouth sideways. “What if it wasn’t Connery? What if it was just some jerk who shot a cow, either by accident or on purpose?”

Jordan blew out a breath. “Yeah. I’m going to talk with Tom Baxter as soon as I run him down.”

“Why Tom?”

“Closest neighbor. Least likely to shoot a cow. Maybe someone approached him about his land the same as they approached me. Maybe he could give me a name if they did. Or maybe he’s aware of trespassers. Anyway, he’s the only neighbor, so I’ll start with him.”

Wade rubbed his chin. “Good thought. And I’ll see what I can find out from the coffee guys.” The coffee guys being the rancher coffee klatch that Wade took part in a couple times a week.

“Don’t go giving them any theories, okay? Just see if they’ve heard anything about the shooting.”

“I’ll be smooth.”

Jordan managed to keep a straight face. So what if he peppered the gossip community with rumors? Maybe, like Lil had pointed out, it was a way to get whoever shot the cow to know that they were on the lookout and they’d better not try it again.

Wade glanced to where Estelle was shaking a rug off the porch. “I need to get back to the house. I’m helping roll the living room rugs.”

Wade was becoming quite the domestic under Estelle’s tutelage.