Page 7 of Billionaire Lumberjack's Bargain

My stomach twists violently, threatening to make me heave right out here in front of this man. Tears burn my eyes, but I can’t wipe them away as they finally fall without lowering my only weapon.

“I’m sorry…I didn’t know”—he glances down at Davey and seems to consider his words—”about what happened until today, or I would’ve come sooner to check on you, make sure you didn’t need anything.”

He sounds sincere, but if I learned one thing living up here, it’s that letting down my guard can get me killed. Just like it did Dave.

“We’re fine.” I motion toward the path that leads through the forest to the James homestead. “You can go.”

His gaze narrows on me, hands still raised. “I smelled it as soon as I got near the property. What died?”

Hell.

He isfartoo observant.

I swallow thickly, trying to ignore the very smell he’s referring to that has done nothing to ease my nausea this morning. Breathing through my mouth, I manage to form a reply around the acidic taste on my tongue. “One of the cows. She gave birth this morning but didn’t make it.”

Dalton winces slightly. “I’m sorry. The calf?”

Davey squeezes my leg, peeking his head from around my thigh. “Rocky!”

I glance down at him, then back at Dalton. “Yes. Rocky. He’s in the barn. Seems to be doing fine. We bottle fed him…”

“Where isshe?”

Her body.

That’s what he’s asking without saying the words in front of Davey.

I incline my head toward the right to the fenced enclosure near the barn, where she collapsed shortly after giving birth.

He follows my gaze. “Inside or out?”

It isn’t hard to see where he’s going with this line of questioning.

“Out.”

A muscle in his jaw tics, and he tightens his grip on the reins in his raised hand. “Has it drawn in any predators yet?”

My arms start to ache, and I adjust my stance, ensuring the gun stays squarely on him.

Besides you?

The words sit on the tip of my tongue. Because I know what people are capable of. I’ve seen it firsthand. It’s the entire reason we moved up here in the first place. But the flash of black moving in the trees I saw early this morning, just after dawn, draws a vise tight around my ribs. “I think I saw a bear earlier, but I can’t be sure… It didn’t come onto the property, just along the edge.”

Dalton winces. “The longer it stays here, the more danger you’re going to be drawing right to you.”

Like I don’t know that already.

Biting back my annoyance, I consider my options.

There aren’t many.

I’m in a shitty position, something I knew the moment Winny died.

Dalton raises a dark-blond brow at me. “Can I put my hands down?”

I nod, but I don’t lower the gun.

Not yet…

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