Page 1 of River Justice

CHAPTER ONE

THEENVELOPELOOKEDharmless enough. Plain, white, legal-size, with rancher Holden McKenna’s name and address printed neatly in the center. No forwarding address. No stamp or postmark. But Holden didn’t notice. His mind wasn’t on the mail that Elaine, the family housekeeper, had picked up from the large mailbox a half mile up on the county road from the McKenna Ranch and brought unopened to the house as she did every weekday.

He’d found the pile stacked on his desk when he’d come back from his morning horseback ride. As usual, there was a lot of mail to deal with, all part of running a ranch the size of the McKenna spread in the Powder River Basin.

As he sliced through the envelope with his letter opener, he thought about the woman he’d lost but still loved, Charlotte Stafford, his neighboring rancher. The two of them had been estranged for years and often involved in all-out war. Still, this morning he felt something he hadn’t in a very long time—hope. Because of that, he wasn’t feeling his fifty-five years. He felt like that young buck who’d fallen head over heels for her when they were teenagers. The thought made him smile.

Part of his good mood could also have had something to do with the fact that it was finally summer in Montana after a long, cold, snowy winter. An array of wildflowers bobbed in the breeze, birds warbled from the tops of the dark-leafed cottonwoods, and sunshine poured in the ranch house windows with a promise of warmth—at least for a while. After all, this was Montana, and summer was the shortest season of all.

But he knew that the main reason he was smiling was Lottie, as he’d always called Charlotte. The last time he’d seen her, she hadn’t gone for her bullwhip or her gun when she saw him. True, she’d been grieving over her eldest son’s arrest, but she’d let him hold her. He saw that as progress.

He wasn’t completely delusional. He knew it was improbable that he and Lottie could ever find their way back to each other, but he could dream, couldn’t he? Not that anyone in the town of Powder Crossing would bet on the two of them ever finding peace, let alone some kind of romantic bliss. Their rivalry was now carved deep in the basin’s history because of his betrayal and Lottie’s determination to hate him until she died.

“I’m going to pick up Holly Jo from school since they’re getting out early today,” his housekeeper said, sticking her head into his den and startling him out of his reverie. “Last day of school for the summer.”

He blinked, uncomprehending for a moment. He’d been so lost in thought that he’d forgotten even the envelope he was holding in his hand—not to mention the stack of mail still sitting unopened.

“Holden?” Elaine said as she dropped her hand to her hip and gave him that chastising look he knew so well. A few years younger than him, she’d been with the ranch as far back as he could remember. Her mother had originally been in the ranch’s employ, so Elaine had grown up here on the McKenna spread. She was much more than the housekeeper. He didn’t know what he would do without her.

“Holden, seriously? You don’t remember last night, the conversation at dinner about the big birthday trip? The one Holly Jo has been talking about for weeks? I guess you also don’t remember that I’m picking her up from school and we’re going shopping in Billings, staying at the Northern Hotel, making a weekend of it?”

“Right,” he said as it came back to him. “Her promised thirteenth birthday present. She’s redecorating her room.” Before he’d brought the girl to the ranch, Elaine had done the then-twelve-year-old Holly Jo’s room in pinks. A mistake. She’d hated it even more than the ranch. “I’d forgotten it was this weekend. Any idea what she’s planning to do with the room? Given the way she dresses, I hate to think what her idea of decorating will be.”

“She’s thirteen going on thirty. You told her she could do anything she wanted,” Elaine reminded him.

“I did, didn’t I.” He nodded, aware that he had no business raising a teenage girl at his age. But years ago, he’d promised her mother that if anything happened to her, he would take care of her daughter. Neither thought it would come to that. But after a bout with cancer, Holly Jo’s mother had died, and he’d brought the city girl back to the ranch. She hadn’t been happy about it any more than his grown children had.

Fortunately, Holly Jo had taken to the horses—at first planning to run away once she’d learned to ride. But later his son Cooper and friend and ranch hand Pickett Hanson had introduced her to trick riding, something even he could see she was excelling in. He hoped her wanting to redecorate her room was an indication that she was here to stay.

Elaine looked at the pile of mail he hadn’t gotten through. “Is everything all right?”

“Just got caught up woolgathering,” he said, not about to admit that he’d been thinking about Lottie. She was seldom far from his thoughts, but this morning more than ever.

“Uh-huh,” Elaine said. Unfortunately, she knew him too well, so she’d probably guessed the path his thoughts had taken. She’d always encouraged him to try to mend his relationship with Lottie. He had tried over the years but to no avail. If Charlotte Stafford was anything, it was stubborn to a fault.

What he hated most was that because of him, his Lottie had become bitter, resentful and outright vindictive—not just about him but his entire family. Recently his son Cooper had fallen in love and married Lottie’s eldest daughter, Tilly, throwing even more fuel on the fire.

Still standing in the doorway, Elaine looked worried about leaving him. “If you’re sure you’ll be all right without us.”

“I’ll be fine. It isn’t like I’m here alone.” The house was bursting at the seams right now. Cooper and Tilly were living in the huge, sprawling house while their home on the ranch was being finished. His sons Treyton and Duffy and daughter Bailey also lived in the house—though he hardly ever saw them—along with himself, Holly Jo and Elaine. As his children had grown, he’d added on, giving them all room to grow. The ranch manager had his own place closer to the stables and shop. The half-dozen ranch hands also living on the spread had a series of bunkhouses and cabins even farther from the house.

“We’ll be back Sunday evening. You can call if you need me,” Elaine said.

He would always need her. He’d often gone to her for advice as well as a good chewing out for something he’d done wrong. He loved Elaine in his way and suspected she did him as well. But for him, there had only been Lottie. There was only one woman he wanted. The one he might never have again.

“Go, have fun. And do your best to guide her choices,” he said.

Elaine laughed at that. “Have you met this young woman?” Her expression turned serious again, as if still hesitant about leaving him, before she said, “Okay. See you Sunday, then.”

Over the years, he’d given Elaine and his family cause for concern, he thought as he heard her drive away. He’d brought Holly Jo into their home with no real explanation, causing his eldest son, Treyton, to resent the girl and Bailey to simply ignore her. He’d done so many things wrong in his life, handled things poorly, and continued to make mistakes.

Glancing out the window at the beautiful early summer day, he felt a little of his hope slip away as he felt a chill. Like someone was walking across a grave? His second wife, Lulabelle, would have said it was an omen. But then again, if Lulabelle really could see the future like she claimed, then she would have never married him.

Still, he was eerily aware of how quiet this side of the big house was with his family all busy living their own lives. With a sigh, he returned to the envelope in his hand.

His thoughts scattered, he absently withdrew a sheet of paper. Unfolding it, he felt a jolt as he saw what was on it. For a moment, he could only stare in confusion. The words had been made from letters cut from a magazine and were all different sizes, shapes and colors.

Was this some kind of joke?

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