Page 72 of River Justice

He pulled back a little to raise a brow.

“I think she’s going to tell me the truth,” Birdie said. “If Boyle Wilson really does have something on your mother about Dixon’s death, he made it clear that he planned to talk. So why didn’t your mother seem more worried about that—if she was the murderer and Boyle can prove it?”

Brand shook his head. He hated to see her get her hopes up. “For your sake, I hope the truth comes out, but are you sure you want to hear it?”

“My grandmother warned me that I might find out things I won’t like about my father, but yes, I want the truth. Then I can finally put my father to rest.”

He drew her close again. “I want that for you, Birdie.” Even if it meant that she would leave the Powder River Basin, her job here done.

HOLLYJOHADN’Twanted to see a doctor, but HH had insisted. She’d been reminded of her promise to not cause trouble if she made it back home. So she’d gone. She liked Yvonne Shepherd, the young woman psychologist. Yvonne let her talk about anything she wanted. Most of the time, Holly Jo wanted to talk about her horse and her trick-riding ambitions to be the best.

But they also talked about other things that had been bothering her—like getting herself kidnapped. Yvonne said she understood how Holly Jo might feel guilty, but that she shouldn’t. “If they hadn’t grabbed you that day, they would have some other day. You did nothing wrong.”

She wasn’t completely sure that was true and told Yvonne how it seemed like everyone in the Powder River Basin knew her, but she didn’t know them. It was why she’d walked up to that pickup to talk to the woman. How could she trust anyone now?

“You will in time,” Yvonne promised. “The majority of people can be trusted.”

She’d even had the nightmare about a burning Darius Reed chasing her less often. She felt herself getting stronger.

After one session, she had the courage to ask HH something. “That man who kidnapped me,” she said, her voice breaking, “was he my father?”

HH looked upset. “No, of course not. He was a man who felt I had wronged him and his family. I had. It was many years ago, when I was just sixteen, not that age is an excuse.”

“Then who is my father?” Holly Jo had seen the way people around Powder Crossing looked at her, wondering who she was, what she was doing on the McKenna Ranch, wondering if she was HH’s daughter. She’d heard the whispers behind her back.

She’d told herself that it hadn’t bothered her. Let them all wonder. She wondered too, but HH swore he wasn’t her father. Not that she’d ever known her father. Her mother had only told her that he was gone, which she’d accepted until she was older. Then she’d wanted her mom to tell her whatgonemeant. “Dead?”

“Just gone, okay?”

“Gone where?”

“Holly Jo, stop asking me about him. It makes me sad.”

“Because he isn’t coming back?”

“Exactly.”

HH looked sad now. “I honestly don’t know who your father was. Your mother never told me. It wasn’t Bobby Robinson, the man who married her after she became pregnant. She never told him either. I’m sorry. But you don’t have to worry. I’m going to legally adopt you as my own.”

“Adopt me? But what if he tries to kidnap me, too?”

“No,” he said hurriedly. “I’m so sorry this happened to you. I’m never going to let anything like that happen to you again.”

She knew he meant well. Just as she knew that was something he couldn’t promise. She still blamed herself for walking over to talk to the lady in the pickup.

“I learned something from all this,” HH said. “The way you treat other people...it matters. Be kind, do the right thing. I know you will.”

She wanted to ask,What if they are mean to you?She couldn’t believe he was telling her to just take it. She thought of Gus, who was afraid of his own shadow. She didn’t want to be like that. “Can I go ride my horse?”

HH looked relieved and then concerned. “You aren’t planning to leave the ranch, are you?”

She shook her head. “I never want to leave.” That made him smile, but there was still sadness in his eyes. “Maybe tomorrow we can ride together, but today I just want it to be me and Honey.” She wanted to feel the wind in her hair, experience that feeling of flying. Honey made her feel safe. Honey made her believe that one day she wouldn’t be afraid anymore.

“Go, have fun,” HH said, though she could tell it was hard for him. Would he worry now every time she left the house? “Elaine said she’s still going to take you to Billings to buy what you want for your room when you’re ready.”

“Okay, thanks.” But decorating her new room when the house was finished was the last thing on her mind. Which reminded her how much she wasn’t that girl anymore.

“Holly Jo?”

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