Page 14 of Tempting Fate
But finding the gold was. Ray had left detailed instructions, but Raylene had never been good at reading maps. And the only person she trusted enough with the information was Logan. But the timing was bad. If she signed off on the deal—and she’d be crazy not to—Moto Entertainment would send their environmental engineers to examine the land just as Logan was going on his honeymoon. She wouldn’t ruin it for Annie. Her soon-to-be sister-in-law had made enough concessions by accepting the dangers of Logan’s profession and the frequency in which he’d have to leave the country. No way would she ask them to put their Hawaii trip on hold.
And, hopefully, they’d return to a big pile of money. Annie could get that new living room set she wanted, and Logan that stupid hot tub he kept talking about. Best of all, the new baby would have a college fund.
She zipped her jacket up to her neck and scanned the land. It was a lot of earth to cover in a short amount of time. And God help her if it snowed. But she’d power through. What choice did she have? The money from the property wouldn’t be enough to get her business off the ground and honor her commitments. And she’d be damned if she let a motocross company find the gold after losing everything else to Butch. Just the image of her slimy ex-husband made her whack a tree with her handbag.
“Hey, ma’am, are you okay?”
Raylene spun around, startled, and found a young girl standing there, staring at her as if she were a lunatic. “You scared me.”
“Sorry.”
“Who are you?” The closest neighbors were the McCreedys, and Raylene had a sneaking suspicion who the girl was.
“Harper Matthews. You probably know me as Hope.”
Raylene didn’t know her at all, but she was Emily’s daughter, the one who had been kidnapped and rescued.
“Who are you?”
“Raylene Rosser. Does your mom and stepdad know you’re out here?” When she was the girl’s age, she used to run wild through these fields. But it was ten degrees out, and frankly the child looked lost. And dirty, like she’d been dragged through a mud puddle.
“No. I fell off my horse.”
Raylene looked past her but didn’t see a horse. “Where?”
Harper hunched her shoulders. “Back there somewhere.” She waved at a copse of trees near the McCreedy property line. “You’re not going to tell anyone, are you?”
“That you fell off your horse?” Raylene’s father, who’d been born in the saddle, had been a tyrant when it came to riding and having the perfect seat. But even he accepted that a person could get thrown from time to time.
Harper’s gaze fell to her pink cowboy boots, and Raylene instantly knew she was hiding something.
“You’re not supposed to be riding alone, are you?”
“My mother doesn’t let me do anything, not even walk to the mailbox by myself.”
Raylene could understand why.
“I just want to get better at it, and no one has time to help me. Justin’s always with Cynthia and Cody would rather play a video game. Clay’s got the ranch to run and my mother is afraid of horses.”
Raylene laughed. Last time she’d seen the boys was a few years ago. By now, they were young men. “How are your brothers?”
“They’re not my real brothers.”
“Are they nice?” Raylene asked.
“Very.”
“Then claim them, they come in handy.” Logan had been her savior.
“I have a half sister, too. Paige. She’s a baby.”
Raylene nodded. “Should we try to find your horse?” More than likely it had headed home.
“Yes, or I’m gonna be in big trouble.”
“How long have you been gone?” Raylene needed to call Clay, but she felt for the kid.
“I don’t know. I wasn’t keeping track of the time.”
