Page 11 of Savage Secrets

“No problem.”

He watched her take the little girl out of her booster seat, and they made a hasty dash for the house and the bathroom.

A minute later, Opal stepped onto the porch.

In slow strides, he approached her. When she looked him in the eyes, emotion thickened his throat. Her eyes were rimmed with red.

She’d been crying.

A friend would ask if she was all right. But he was her ranch hand.

“I need to run over to the Gracey for a post hole digger.”

“I’m not entirely sure what one looks like but the name sounds familiar. I thought Dad had one around here somewhere.” The breeze caught a wisp of dark hair and blew it across her face.

“Handle broke.”

“I see.”

“Will you be okay while I’m gone?”

They hadn’t set rules about her being alone on the ranch, but the last couple days he’d been here, she disappeared into the house—and he guessed behind locked doors—when he needed to leave.

She nodded. “I’ll just go back inside for a while. I’ve got plenty to keep me busy.”

Automatically, he reached to thumb his hat. She turned for the house and he went to the truck. The few miles it took to drive to the Gracey Ranch, his thoughts lingered on Opal.

When he pulled into the ranch, the guys were all standing outside in a knot, talking. As he neared them, he heard snippets of their conversation. “Springvale” came up several times.

How annoying. He was on the Springvale. He of all people should know what was going on there. Yet they were purposely excluding him, maybe even keeping him in the dark about what was going on.

Stiffening, he took a detour to the shed, but Colton called out to him.

“Hey, Webb!”

He changed directions and crossed to meet him. “What’s up?”

“WEST Protection provided us with some cameras for the Springvale. We were headed up there now to install them. Is it a good time?”

His mind shot to Opal as he’d last seen her, standing on her porch looking so lost and alone, eyes red from crying.

“There won’t be a better time,” he answered with all honesty.

Colton nodded. “What were you here for?”

“I’m borrowing a post hole digger. I’m setting some new fence around the paddock.” He shot a look behind Colton towhere the other men stood. Was it his imagination or were they giving him suspicious looks? He felt that old anger creep up the back of his neck and fought to keep from curling his fists.

Colton followed his gaze. When he swung back to Zach, he said, “Take what you need.”

He noted how Colton raised his voice so the others could hear.

Zach let out a grunt and took off to the shed. By the time he retrieved what he needed, the others were loaded up in the truck and headed to the Springvale. He climbed into the borrowed truck with the borrowed tool in the back.

As he drove away, he glanced in the rearview mirror. He no longer belonged on the Gracey. He didn’t belong anywhere.

But he didn’t need anybody. Being alone wasn’t so bad. Hadn’t he operated as a solo act for years?

He had the best person in the world to rely on.

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