Page 21 of Smokescreen

As soon as Hannah disappeared and the door was closed, Reid opened the crock. “May I get you some beef stew?”

“That sounds amazing.” Olive held out her hearty white bowl toward him.

Reid gave her a generous scoop before handing her the basket of biscuits. She took one and slathered it with butter.

If she wasn’t careful, she would come home from this assignment ten pounds heavier.

Once food steamed in front of both of them, Reid asked, “Do you mind if we say grace?”

Olive’s eyebrows rose with surprise. She’d seen the Bible in his office. Heard him mention this ranch being a slice of heaven. Maybe he really was a believer.

“Not at all,” she told him.

He took her hand and lifted up a prayer of thanks for God’s provision and for the safety He had provided today.

Hearing his prayer did something strange to Olive’s heart. An unknown emotion squeezed her chest so hard it hurt.

Was the reaction because of her dad? Because of his proclaimed faith before he died?

Olive had never been able to figure that one out. Had her dad truly been a believer, or had that all been some type of scam?

She might not ever know that answer. That reality caused a strange restlessness to jostle inside her. She liked answers, but she had to accept that they weren’t always possible to obtain.

Reid said Amen and released her hand.

Olive quickly grabbed her fork, desperate to take back control of her thoughts. She cut into a tender piece of savory roast beef.

Then she lowered her voice as she asked, “So what really happened out there? Do you think that fire was an accident?”

Reid’s gaze darkened. “I have trouble believing that. Not with everything else that’s happened. I’m just glad no one was hurt, including the animals.”

“Me too. I still need some information from you.”

He reached into his pocket and handed her an envelope. “I wrote out the names of all my most recent hires, and I included the information I had on them from their applications.”

“Color me impressed,” she murmured.

“I also included the name of two local ranchers who’ve been trying to buy me out. Not completely buy me out because there are very few people who would be able to do that.” He paused. “I don’t say that to sound boastful. But this ranch comes with a hefty price tag. So they were both simply trying to buy parcels off me, generally plots adjacent to their own property.”

“Makes sense. Do you think either of those people could be behind this? Besides the motive for getting the property, have there ever been any conflicts?”

He let out a thoughtful breath. “One of the men on the list is Bob Turro . . . the two of us got pretty heated with each other. He wanted to buy about a hundred acres from me. Said it was so he could more easily access his property. I told him I wasn’t interested in selling but I’d give him an easement to use. He didn’t think that was enough and vowed to do everything he could to get what he wanted.”

“What do you think he really wants?”

Reid clucked his tongue. “I’m not sure.”

“This is very helpful.” Olive held up the envelope before sliding it into her pants pocket. “What about that will Lucy gave you?”

“I can let you see that also, but it would have been more obvious to bring that with me tonight. The paperwork is thick and involved.”

“Agreed.” She took a bite of her beef, which was so tender it practically melted in her mouth. It had been a long time since she’d had a true home-cooked meal, and she hadn’t realized how much she’d missed them.

“Come by my office later, and we can look it over.” He broke off a piece of his biscuit but didn’t take a bite. “But the document is bogus. There’s no way my father wrote Lucy into his will. The two of them didn’t have a great relationship, and from the start it was obvious to me that Lucy’s mother was a gold digger. That might sound harsh, but it’s true. When you’re dealing with the amounts of money we have, it’s something you always have to keep your eyes open for.”

He finally took a bite of his food and chewed slowly.

“And, of course, there are those men who know they’re dating a gold digger, and they don’t mind. Not as long as she’s beautiful.” Olive tried to keep the judgment out of her voice but was unsuccessful. Shallow people weren’t her favorites.

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