Page 84 of Wyoming True

Mina’s breath caught. “Good Lord!”

“He put her in the hospital. Threw her over the wall of a parking garage and broke her hip and one of the long bones in her thigh.”

“I had no idea,” Mina said, recalling how angry she’d been at Ida.

“Nobody did. She’s living in fear of her life. Poor kid. Married to a man who didn’t want her for five years, then abused by her second husband. She was scared to death of men, so she reinvented herself as a seductress and talked about the men who’d disappointed her.” He shook his head. “Some reputation, when she can hardly walk when it rains or she does too much.”

Mina and Cort exchanged amused glances. Jake had been vocal about Ida’s reputation, and now he was married to her and, apparently, very worried about her.

“I knew all about that,” Cort said quietly. “I felt very sorry for her. She wasn’t at all what people thought she was.”

Mina moved closer to him, resting her cheek on his shoulder as his arm curved around her. “And I was so jealous I could barely manage two words to her. I’m sorry for that now.”

“She doesn’t hold grudges,” Jake said. He smiled. “She’s at home, sculpting animals.”

“What about her ex-husband?” Mina asked.

“I have good people working for me,” Jake said easily and laughed. “Nobody can touch her on my ranch. She’s very safe. Now. Where’s my godson?” he added with a grin.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

BUTIDAWASN’Tat home sculpting. She’d had an invitation from Pam Simpson to come to lunch. She was bored and miserable. Jake had phoned to see about her, idly mentioning that he was going to spend a couple of days with Cort and Mina and his godson.

The news had taken the wind out of Ida’s sails. She hadn’t expected that. She wondered how Cort felt, having his wife’s former suitor under his roof. Jake was still crazy about Mina. That was never going to change. He might want Ida physically, even be fond of her. But Mina still had his heart. Ida had never felt so depressed.

“Maude, Pam Simpson asked me over for lunch. You haven’t started cooking yet, have you?” Ida asked at the kitchen doorway.

“No, not yet,” Maude replied with a smile. “Will you be back for supper?”

“Yes. But let’s have something light,” she added with a sigh. “I’m feeling a little queasy.”

Maude, who had no idea that her employers were more than good friends, just nodded. “It may be that stomach virus that’s going around. You come home if you don’t feel better, okay?”

“Okay.” She smiled. “I won’t stay long. I just need to get out for a while.”

“Mr. McGuire isn’t coming back today?” Maude asked, because he’d said a couple of days, and this was the third day of his absence.

“He’s in El Paso. Near El Paso. He’s staying with Mina and Cort Grier,” she added reluctantly and was unaware that the deep sadness in her face was visible to the older woman.

“Oh. Probably went to see that little boy,” Maude replied, trying to be comforting, because she knew even better than Ida how much in love Jake had been with Mina. After Mina’s marriage, he’d stayed drunk for three days. Nobody knew about that. Just Maude.

“I guess so,” Ida said.

Maude almost said that the two of them ought to be thinking about a family of their own, but she didn’t dare. The boss was tight-lipped and so was Ida. It wasn’t worth her nice job to make such suggestions.

“Well, you have a good lunch at Mrs. Simpson’s house,” Maude said. “I’ll feed Butler for you,” she added.

Ida smiled. The cat slept with her. So did Wolf, in fact. It had shocked her when the big German shepherd jumped up on the foot of the bed and curled up with Butler. It had given her a feeling of security, as well. She loved both animals.

“We need to get somebody to take Wolf out for a run,” she added. “I’d try, but...”

“We’ll get one of the cowboys to do it,” Maude interrupted. “Don’t you worry. I’ll get Johnny to do it. He loves Wolf and he’ll make sure not to let him get hurt. Okay?”

“Okay. Thanks, Maude. I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

“I’ll see you then.”

IDAWALKEDOUTand got into the back of the limo. Fred held the door open for her, smiled politely and closed it.

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