Page 56 of Texas-Sized Secrets

“I need to get back to the ranch before long. Fernando can’t handle it all on his own, what with Jesse out of commission.”

“A quick drive down to Amarillo and we’ll head back to Rancho Linda to work that fence. Deal?”

“Absolutely. I want to nail whoever’s behind the rustling so I can get on with what I do best.”

Reed chuckled. “And what would that be?”

“Ranching.” Her voice was stern, but when she turned away, a smile played with the corners of her luscious lips. Lips Reed hadn’t been able to forget since the middle of last night’s storm.

* * *

BY THE TIMEthey reached Amarillo, Mona was uncomfortable in more ways than one. On more than one occasion, she caught herself staring at Reed’s hands, imagining them as they skimmed across her naked skin. The heat inside the air-conditioned truck had nothing to do with the outside temperature. She should have let Reed go by himself to Amarillo.

When the truck pulled to a stop in the gravel parking lot of the stockyard, Mona was out on the ground. “I’ll meet you in the office area. I have to see a man about a horse.”

Reed’s brow wrinkled. “A horse? I thought—” His face reddened. “Oh, yeah. For the moment, I’d forgotten. I’ll wait for you.”

“No, go ahead and see what you can find out from the office personnel. I’ll only be a minute.” With the baby pushing against her bladder so hard she thought she’d wet her pants, she hurried to find the facilities.

As she entered the bathroom, she glanced back at the door to the office. Reed stepped through, looking confident and strong. Two things she wasn’t feeling too much of lately. For the first time, the significance of her pregnancy hit her square in the gut. What would happen to her ranch when she couldn’t ride out to check the fences and cattle? How could she manage? Tears welled in her eyes. She stepped into the stall and stood for a moment gulping in air, fighting back a wave of fear and self-doubt. She wasn’t strong enough. She couldn’t do it all.

The baby moved inside her, rolling from left to right. That little bit of movement brought her back to earth and to herself. No matter what happened, she had to look out for this life growing inside. The baby hadn’t chosen its destiny, but she had and no matter what, this baby would know love and its heritage, like her father had shown her.

She completed her business and hurried out to find Reed exiting the sale-barn office followed by a rotund man in a dirt-stained blue shirt embroidered with Charlie’s Auction over the left breast pocket.

The man had to be Charlie. He wore a straw cowboy hat and had a chaw of tobacco big enough to choke a horse lodged between his bottom row of teeth and his lip. “No, sir. We don’t deal in stolen cattle here at Charlie’s Auction. We have the newfangled chip readers and scan every steer and cow that comes through. Now, not all of them have microchips in ’em, mind you. Not all the ranchers can afford the luxury.”

Mona joined them.

“Charlie Goodman, this is Mona Grainger, owner of the Rancho Linda.” Reed stared hard at the man. “We have reason to believe some of the Rancho Linda cattle are in this sale barn without Ms. Grainger’s permission. Some that are microchipped.”

“We would have checked the registry when they were brought in. I’m sure you’re mistaken.”

“Then you won’t mind if we have a look around using your chip reader, will you?”

“Not at all, as long as I don’t have a shipment coming in. I’ll even get my helper to assist.” Charlie lifted a paper coffee cup and spit a dark stream of tobacco into it. “Just a minute while I find Gil.” Charlie left them standing in the front entrance to the sale barn while he ducked through a door.

Mona stared after the man. “Do you trust him?”

“My instincts tell me he believes what he’s saying.”

“But the GPS said the cattle were here.” Mona paced the short length of concrete flooring and back. “What if the GPS was wrong?”

“It was right.” Reed stepped through the door Charlie had gone through, leaving Mona to stand there with her mouth open or follow.

She followed.

Charlie climbed down from the metal catwalk, a bead of sweat trickling down the side of his face. “Don’t know where Gil got to. I’ll get the backup chip reader and be right back.” He hurried past them, breathing hard.

When he returned with the device, he led them from pen to pen scanning several cattle from each lot and comparing them to the numbers Reed had in his pocket.

By the time they reached the last enclosure full of restless steers, Mona’s spirits and energy were flagging. Had the GPS program been faulty?

Charlie ran his scanner over two animals in the last pen, neither of which indicated the presence of microchips. On the third steer, the device beeped and the numbers displayed, exactly matching one of the numbers Reed had with him.

Charlie’s brows furrowed. “You say these numbers belong to the Rancho Linda?” He pulled a pen and pad from his pocket and jotted down the lot number. “Follow me.”

Back in his office, he sat at a computer, the keyboard covered with a plastic protective shield, yellowed and stained with grease and dirt. He punched a few keys, bringing up a screen with the national registry of microchips. “Let me see those numbers you got there.” He took the paper from Reed and keyed the numbers. “Ms. Mona Grainger,” he read out loud. “Of the Rancho Linda. Care to show me your driver’s license to make it all official?”

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