Hunter.”
He turned back, wondering why she’d want to know that.
His brothers were both following the rodeo circuit, taking more risks than they should as they won all their prize money. Cash, the one next closest in age to him, rode broncos and Kurt, the youngest, took his chances on the back of raging bulls. Hunter worried about them both. He should have done more to convince them to stay home. They had both tired of their grandfather’s behavior and had left the ranch a couple of years ago. They’d said they had wanted to live someplace where they could hold their heads up high and not wonder what the problem was every time the phone rang. Hunter hadn’t blamed them for leaving once he’d heard that. He was the oldest, though; he had an obligation to the man who had raised them. Besides, he loved his grandfather.
The woman nodded then as if she understood something. A small self-satisfied smile grew on the sides of her lips as she stood straight. Not a full smile, just the hint of one forming. “You’re the one who helps him with the ranch work?”
He nodded. It was more than he could do himself, but he couldn’t afford to pay an experienced hired hand. If his brothers came back, they’d be able to make a go of it. They’d all grown up working the land and he suspected from their letters that they were almost ready to return. The shine had worn off the rodeo belt buckles and his grandfather had been well behaved lately. His brothers missed ranching. Of course, this latest scheme might change everything.
“Well,” the woman said, her voice as melodious as a bell, “I can see what the problem is then.”
Hunter’s mind snapped back to the present. “Really?”
Tiny drops of moisture were falling, but it wasn’t enough to count as rain.
She nodded. “Your grandfather thought you might be opposed to him giving my family the old place.”
Hunter frowned. “The old place? You mean the land my grandfather bought when he came down from Alaska?”
That’s what they had always called it—the old place. Where they lived now was the new place. But Scarlett Murphy wouldn’t know that.
Hunter knew for sure something was going on now. First the anniversary date and then this. His grandfather loved that piece of land. That was the house he’d brought him and his brothers to after the accident. He’d never give it up. Most of the eighty acres was currently leased to Mr. Cleary who ran a herd of sheep on it. But Cleary was retiring this fall and Hunter had plans to plow the fields and get them ready to plant into wheat next spring. That was the crop he was counting on to keep the ranch out of debt.
Hunter walked closer until he was almost at the woman’s car. He bent and let the cat go. He knew the animal wouldn’t leave his side. Not now. He took a deep breath to try to reassure the feline. When he looked up, the woman was talking.
“I’m sure that’s the land he meant.” She pressed her lips together slightly, as though she was thinking. Then her eyes flashed. “It’s what he bought after stealing the gold mine from us sixty years ago. He wrote my grandmother last month and said he would deed it all over to our family if we came and signed for it. ‘Clearing his conscience’ is what he called it—his land for us saying he didn’t steal the gold mine. Switching the deeds. So here I am.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Hunter said. The windows were dark on the woman’s car, but he thought he saw some movement inside. Maybe it was just a raindrop sliding down the glass. “My grandfather had legal claim to that mine. He didn’t steal anything.”
“Is that what he told you?” Scarlett asked, her smile tight now as she walked around the car and stood facing him. “My grandfather would turn over in his grave if he could hear him saying that. Grandma always knew Colin Jacobson was a no-good, low-down thief. Now it seems he’s a liar, as well.”
“My grandfather is a