Beth Cornelison - Rancher's Covert Christmas

“Boys,” Piper said, rolling her eyes, “you’re wasting the nice lady’s time.”

Erin wanted to say that the interplay between family members and the ranch employees was exactly what she wanted to observe. She needed to get a sense of hidden tensions, jealousies or competition that could shape her investigation.

She honed in on an element of Zane’s jab at Josh. “You were alone with your fiancée for two days after the accident at the zip line?”

Josh nodded. “That’s right. Two crazy, drama-filled, brush-with-death days.” He curled up a corner of his mouth again, and his eyes—the same shade of startling blue as Zane’s—twinkled. “It was great,” he said without irony.

Erin was busy comparing how bright and full of life Josh’s countenance looked compared to Zane’s harsher, more serious expression, and she almost missed the seemingly contradictory postscript.

“Great?”

“Well, maybe not at the time. But in hindsight, I wouldn’t change any of it. Except the parts where Kate was in danger.” He inhaled deeply, his nostrils flaring and his brow creasing. “That part still gives me nightmares.”

“Understandable.” She paused, taking mental note of how each of the McCall triplets reacted to the mention of the danger Josh and Kate had experienced.

Piper watched her brother with a knitted brow and a tighter grip on the arm of her chair. Concern .

Zane gave his brother a look of disgust...or was it anger? She focused on him. “Zane, Josh’s experience seems to irritate you. Why?”

He jerked his gaze to her, clearly startled by her question. “What?”

“He’s still ticked off because I didn’t do what he wanted,” Josh said.

With a peevish side glance to his brother, Zane sat forward in his chair, propping his arms on the desk as he narrowed his eyes on Erin. “My brother has no one to blame for what happened after the zip line fell but himself.”

Josh groaned and shook his head.

“He took unnecessary risks, like he often does,” Zane continued, ignoring Josh’s noises of disagreement, “and put Kate in danger.”

“With a guarantee of the same end result, I’d do exactly the same again, too.”

Josh and Zane exchanged hard stares, as if challenging the other to be the first to blink.

Erin was following the tense standoff when she felt a hand on her arm. She turned to Piper, whose mouth was twisted in a lopsided moue. “That smell you smell,” she said, waving her hand as if stirring a scent in the air, “is testosterone and the reek of McCall stubbornness.” With a quick glance at her brothers, she added, “They actually do love each other. They’re best friends. Two peas in a pod.” She cleared her throat. “Right, guys?”

After a beat, Josh cut a side glance to Erin and cracked a grin. “It’s true. Zane and I are like this.” He held up crossed fingers. “But lately my twin has been in a perpetual bad mood.”

Zane made a rumbling noise in his throat and firmed his mouth as he broke his stare at his brother. “If you hadn’t noticed, our family’s legacy is about to go down the toilet. We’re under attack from some unknown vandal, and our planned adventure business nearly got someone killed. We’ll be lucky if we can find the cash to make repairs and reopen in the spring. I’d say I’ve got good reason to be in a bad mood.”

“Fa-la-la-la-la. La-la. La-la!” Josh sang, mocking his brother.

“It’s not a joke!” Zane groused. Then, as if remembering Erin was watching them, he jerked his gaze to hers and schooled his expression.

Interesting...

Erin took mental notes, not wanting the siblings to know their interaction was of key interest to her. She wanted them to be as natural as possible, not stifling reactions to put on a good face.

“This pessimistic version of you is getting old, Zane.” Piper tipped her head as she considered her brother. “We may have troubles, but we have plenty to be thankful for, too. Lots to be happy about. My reunion with Brady and Connor. Josh’s wedding plans. Roy’s sobriety. A roof over our heads. Christmas...”

“Yeah, yeah,” Zane said, shrugging a shoulder. “I just get the feeling sometimes that I’m the only one with my eye on the ball. We do have a business to run and financial issues to deal with. Not to mention this other unknown threat looming over us.” He sat taller in his chair and squared his shoulders as he centered his cerulean gaze on Erin. “But that’s not what you came to write about, nor is what we need to be talking about now. Am I right?”

Erin chewed the end of her pen. “Well, maybe not specifically. But getting the lay of the land, so to speak, will help fill in details for a richer story, one with heart and depth.”

“‘Heart and depth,’” Josh repeated, nodding approvingly. “There you go. I like that.”

At almost the same moment, pings and buzzes sounded in the office. The instant tension was palpable, and the siblings exchanged meaningful looks as they all pulled out their cell phones.

“Crap,” Zane and Josh said at the same time.

Erin’s gaze darted from one face to another.

“Hoo-boy,” their sister added.

While Piper’s and Josh’s faces reflected frustration and mild concern, Zane’s expression seemed almost...relieved. Curious .

Erin couldn’t wait to get back to the guesthouse and begin making notes on her observations. “What’s wrong?”

Josh swung his leg back over the saddle on the sawhorse. “Gotta go.”

Piper pushed to her feet. “Roy found a place where the fence is out and some of the herd got loose. Shorthanded as we are, it’s all hands on deck to get the strays rounded up and fix the fencing.” She shoved her phone in her back pocket and extended a hand to Erin. “Nice to meet you. I’m sure we’ll talk again soon.”

Josh replaced his hat and nodded to her as he hurried out. “Sorry to have to bolt. Catch you later?”

“Sure.” Erin turned to Piper. “You’re going out to round up cows, too?”

Piper grinned. “I did in the old days, but now I’m headed back to the house to stay with Connor while my husband goes out in the pasture.”

Zane tapped a few keys on his computer, closing programs, and turned off his monitor. When he faced her, he turned up his palms and shrugged. “This is life on a ranch. We’re all on call 24/7.”

Erin stood and flipped her notepad closed. “Understood. No worries. We’ll continue this some other time.” She studied Zane as he stacked and straightened files on his desk, put away his pen and calculator in a drawer and pushed his chair under the desk. So orderly and neat. Her brother, Sean, an engineering student at the time of his death, had been the same way. She could still hear Sean saying, “A place for everything, and everything in its place.”

“Question?” she said as Zane took his gray cowboy hat from a hook made from bull horns by the office door.

“Okay.” He motioned with his hand for her to precede him out the door.

“When the call—or should I say the text?—came in just now about the trouble with the fence, I felt the mood shift in the room. Everyone tensed.”

He nodded, his expression flat. “For all of us to get a text at the same time is a bad sign. It means there’s trouble.” After a slight hesitation, he amended, “Usually.”

“I get that,” she said as they walked down the hall together. His broad shoulders filled the space between the walls where family pictures and shadow boxes with ribbons and medals had been hung. She wanted to spend more time in this hall with the old photos and awards, but Zane ushered her forward. “My question is this—when you read the text, instead of worry or frustration, like I saw on your siblings’ faces, you looked...relieved.”