Page 57 of Maggie’s Match

Damn. He had never been this klutzy before. The cast on his arm and the bandages on his leg still made him walk like a mummy.

“Over here,” Bryson called to him when he reached a small clearing.

Rick joined him and looked down at the fresh tire tracks in the dirty. He knew instantly they had come from four-wheelers.

“ATVs,” Bryson said, then pointed. “Coming from…” He pointed back where they’d just been. “It’s someone on my own damn ranch.” He pushed his hands through his hair.

Just then Rick remembered the names that his uncle had sent him the night Maggie had been attacked.

“Shit,” he said, pulling out his phone again. “With all that’s gone on, I forgot that my uncle sent me a few names of people who work for you currently who have worked for the Tillersons.” He held out his phone and then found the message from his uncle. “Here, these are the ones. Frank Limon and Willy Stags.”

Bryson took the phone and cursed again under his breath. “These are the guys I’ve had watching the herd at night. They had plenty of time to poison the entire herd if they wanted to.”

“Are either of them with us now?” Rick motioned behind them, unsure if he’d seen either man in the group earlier.

“No,” Bryson said after a moment.

“What’s your next move?” Rick asked him.

The man shrugged. “For now, I guess we head back and do what we came to do. At least until we figure out a solid plan.” Bryson held out his arm. “Need help?”

Rick hated to admit it, but his leg was sore and just that short walk had tired him out. They made their way slowly back to where the men were now herding the cattle towards the corrals that would be used to separate the new calves from their mamas. For a while, Rick sat on the four-wheeler and watched the crew work.

They didn’t need him here. Sure, he was an experienced vet, but Bryson’s men, at least the ones working today, were very capable. Realizing this somehow made Rick very homesick.

He missed his work and home. Missed Fairplay and Saddleback Ranch. He wanted to start construction on his and Maggie’s new home together. To plan their wedding. Hell, he’d settle for just being able to tell everyone in town that he’d finally taken the leap and asked Maggie to marry him.

Then he remembered that his sister and family already knew about their engagement, which probably meant that the entire town of Fairplay knew already.

After he caught his breath and felt a little more energetic, he was able to help out a little. When they returned to the house later, Maggie’s Jeep was parked out front, signaling that they were done working at the shop for the day.

The moment he walked inside, Maggie rushed over to him and helped him into a chair.

“You’re hurt?” she said with concern.

“No, just tired.”

“I knew you’d push yourself too hard too soon.” She ran her eyes over him.

“I’m okay. Really.”

“I’ll get you some tea and some pain pills. Put your leg up.” She helped him lift it to another chair before rushing from the room.

“How did it go today?” he asked Becca, who was busy at the stove making dinner with her mother.

“Great.” Becca beamed at him. “Colton got two walls up. Well, the studs for the walls, at any rate. How did it go out there?”

“We lost two more calves,” Bryson said after returning from washing up for dinner.

“What?” Bridget turned around towards him. “More?”

“We might have stumbled on a little luck,” Bryson told them as he sat down at the table. “Grant did a background check and found out a few of our workers were on the Tillerson’s payroll up until a few months ago.”

“Seriously?” Becca asked. “Who?”

Bryson rattled off the names, and the room grew quiet.

“You have them working security,” Becca pointed out.