Debbi Rawlins - Texas Blaze

The old-timer obviously noticed Mitch’s surprise because he leaned over and whispered, “Them boys are in love.” Cackling to himself, he strode past Joe and Clint on his way out of the barn.

Joe saw Mitch first and extended his hand as he approached. “Clint told me you were here last night. Sorry I missed you, buddy.”

“I hit a lot of traffic outside of Dallas and got here late. But I’ll be staying awhile.” He shook Clint’s hand, too, even though he’d seen him briefly last night. “What are you two all gussied up for?”

“We just got back from the airport,” Joe said, glancing at Clint. “Kate’s friends had flights to catch.”

“They must be mighty-fine-looking friends.”

Clint grinned.

Joe rubbed his jaw, looking uncharacteristically sheepish.

Mitch guessed the old-timer was on to something. “Where’s Kate? Didn’t she go with you?”

Clint frowned. “Kate? No, why?”

Mitch tensed. “They are her friends.”

“We kind of wanted to see them off, and anyway she had a headache. Look, I’m going to go change.” Joe clapped him on the shoulder. “Have you eaten?”

“Thanks, but I have to run into town,” Mitch said absently, his mind on Kate. Clearly she hadn’t told her brothers about Dennis yet. Mitch hadn’t expected her to mention his role last night, but he was still relieved to know that her brothers had been kept in the dark. “Before I go I wanted to ask you about the new sheriff.”

“He’s not that new. Been in office over a year now. For the most part folks have been fairly happy with the job he’s done.” Clint poured himself a cup of coffee. “I expect you want to talk to him about the rustling.”

Mitch nodded, and Clint and Joe exchanged concerned looks.

“I can change later,” Joe said grimly. “Why don’t we go sit in the kitchen and talk?”

Something about the way Joe had lowered his voice made Mitch uneasy. There were a couple of cowhands working near the stalls. Did Joe suspect their own men of being involved? Or had the situation deteriorated to the point that no one knew who to trust? Then, too, Mitch wasn’t anxious to go to the house and run into Kate. Not in front of her brothers.

“I didn’t mean to ambush you. I’m going to be around awhile. This can wait.”

“Now is as good a time as any.” Joe passed a weary hand over his face. “I’m still tired from the weekend. It’s not like I’m gonna get much done today.”

“Amen.” Clint drained his coffee. “Let’s go.”

Mitch had little choice but to follow their lead, and hoped like hell Kate was locked away in her room. Though he had a feeling she’d do her best to stay clear of him, too.

After walking the modest distance under the broiling sun to the house, they all decided they’d had enough coffee. Clint got a pitcher of iced tea out of the refrigerator, while Joe brought out glasses and set them on the kitchen table. As he’d done hundreds of times before, Mitch sat at the familiar oak table with his two friends, and damn if it didn’t feel like only weeks had passed instead of years.

“Where’s Ben?” he asked. “He hasn’t left yet, has he?”

“He had some business in Dallas, and then he was going to head up to look at some land in the panhandle.” Clint removed his hat and hung it off the back of a spare chair. “He’ll be back in a couple of weeks.”

Mitch figured he hadn’t worn his Stetson in ten years. He hoped it was still in his closet. “How’s he doing? Having to quit rodeoing had to be quite a blow.”

“I think he’s still in shock.” Clint shook his head. “The dummy wanted to ride one last time yesterday. Good thing one of Kate’s friends talked him out of it.”

Mitch felt for Ben. Hard enough to be forced to give up something you love, worse when it happens when you’re at the top of your game. “I’m glad I’ll get to see him.”

“So you are sticking around for a while then?” Joe unsnapped his cuffs and rolled them back.

“For as long it takes to find out what’s going on with these rustlers.”

Clint snorted. “They’re sneaky cowards. After they strike they lie low long enough for everyone to think they’ve moved on, then bam, they move in again.”

“You guys haven’t had any trouble, have you?” Mitch asked.

“None.” Joe shook his head. “They only seem to be hitting the smaller, lower-tech ranches. Except for the Double R. Frank Reynolds got slammed twice by them. He lost so many cattle the second time that he had to let half his men go. Friday night he told me he might have to sell off his north pasture just to make payroll and supplement whatever herd he has left.”

A sickening thought occurred to Mitch. “Anything happen over the weekend?”

“No, Joe and I brought in extra security from Houston and made sure guards were posted at all the ranches,” Clint said. “We figured the long weekend would be open season with most folks attending the festivities here.”

The Mannings’ generosity didn’t surprise Mitch. They were busy running the second-largest ranch in the county, yet they’d always looked out for their neighbors. “Shouldn’t the sheriff have taken care of that?”

“It’s only him and two deputies,” Joe said, shrugging. “They can only do so much. As it was, neither Chuck Jackson or Lou Davis came with their families to the party this year. They were too afraid to leave their property even with the extra guards.”

Mitch grudgingly acknowledged that the sheriff could cover only so much territory. He still didn’t like the man.

Clint studied Mitch thoughtfully. “Have you met the sheriff yet?”

“No, I talked to him on the phone. But he sure was one uncooperative son of a gun.”

Clint frowned. “Can’t account for that. He seems to be a fairly straight shooter. Nobody’s complained about him, anyway.”

“Look how long this has been going on, and he has no leads?” Mitch grunted. “You’d think he would’ve asked for outside help by now.”

“You have a point,” Joe agreed. “Though there hasn’t been an incident since beef prices dropped. Which makes sense since typically that’s when rustling cools down.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t help the victims who’ve already been chased off their ranches.” Mitch’s bitterness rang through loud and clear. “Matter of fact, I just didn’t like the sheriff’s attitude when I called. I hope he’s not an ass in person.”

“Want me to go to town with you?” Clint offered.

Mitch half smiled and pushed back from the table. “I promise not to raise any hell.”

KATE WOULD HAVE MUCH preferred to shut herself in her room for the day, but from her bedroom window she saw Mitch’s truck coming down the driveway and knew she had to leave. Joe and Clint would probably invite him to dinner later, and she was far from ready to face him even then. Especially not in front of her brothers. For a minute she considered stretching out her headache excuse if they tried to get her to go downstairs, but eventually she concluded she’d be better off leaving.

After scribbling a note that she’d gone to town and leaving it in the den, she sneaked out the patio door near where she’d parked her car last night. If her brothers and Mitch heard her leave, she didn’t care, though she doubted they would be able to all the way from the barn.

As soon as she got to the highway she switched on her cell phone, annoyed to see that she had four messages from Dennis. She didn’t want to worry her brothers by being unreachable. Dennis, on the other hand, could get lost. She still hadn’t talked with him since last night, nor had she told Clint and Joe that the wedding was off. Naturally, they’d want to know what happened, and she doubted they’d settle for her claiming irreconcilable differences.