Page 24 of Tempting Fate
He stopped digging and nudged his head several yards away, at a tree on the other side of her truck. “Knock yourself out.”
She crawled onto her front seat, found the map, shoved it in her pocket, and pretended to rifle through her purse.
“What are you doing?” he called.
“Looking for a tissue.” She climbed out of the cab and held up a mini pack of Kleenex. “Got it,” she said, and headed for the tree.
It was a towering oak with thick branches, and she had a sudden flash of a past Valentine’s Day. She searched the tree’s trunk, and, sure enough, it was still there. With her finger she traced the heart that Lucky had carved into the bark fifteen years ago with his penknife.Raylene + Lucky.
She shut her eyes for a second and let the memory wash over her. They’d snuck out here on horseback. Ray had forbidden her from seeing him, threatening to fire Cecelia if Raylene didn’t obey.
You stay away from that Mexican trash. He only wants two things from you: a piece of ass and your money. If I ever catch you with him, I’ll send his mama packing and make you and Lucky pay. You don’t want to test me on this, Raylene. You don’t know what I’m capable of. So find yourself an acceptable boy if you know what’s good for you.
That acceptable boy had been Butch, who, as it turned out, only wanted Raylene for her money.Not even a piece of ass, she thought, wryly. He’d gotten that from her best friend and anyone else willing to spread their legs for him. Remarkably, many women had been.
She sat on the ground with her back to Gabe and retrieved the map from her pocket. Flattening out the page with the palm of her hand, she studied it closely, even tried turning it upside down. As far as she knew, Levi hadn’t actually drawn the diagram. It had come from her great-great-grandfather, who knew where Levi buried the gold but was too fearful to dig it up, worried that people were watching the ranch. He died of cholera shortly after Levi was shot to death. The map had remained in the family over generations. Ray had made copies and had stashed them all over the house. Before he went to prison, he made sure Raylene and Butch found every last one of them before the new owner took possession of Rosser Ranch.
“Hey,” Gabe called. “You okay over there?”
She folded up the map and shoved it back into her pocket. “Coming.”
Gabe had taken off his jacket and stood surveying the hole he’d dug in a waffle-weave Henley that stretched across his chest. He rubbed his forehead against his shoulder to wipe away the sweat.
“This is insane, Ray. Let’s come up with a new plan, like grabbing lunch.”
She couldn’t blame him for wanting to throw in the towel. He was right: it was pretty insane. But she wasn’t giving up. Her father had been a lot of things, but naïve dreamer wasn’t one of them. He’d been a shrewd business man, making a fortune in the cattle industry while other ranchers scraped by. He’d always had an uncanny knack for reading the beef market, knowing when to cull his herd and when to add to it. Besides livestock, he’d profited mightily from real estate, mineral rights, and California oil. All this was to say: he wasn’t the type of guy to believe in a myth.
“But you’ll come back on Sunday, right?”
Gabe wiped his face again, pulled off the boonie hat, and scrubbed his hand through his hair. He stared out over the two hundred acres and let out a breath. “If it’ll keep you out of trouble…and we can go and have lunch.”
Just the mere mention of food made her stomach growl. She’d skipped breakfast to get an early start before Logan and Annie returned home. “Fine. But Sunday we’re renting that metal detector. Make sure the store’s open.”
He flipped out his cell and checked. “Yep. So, can we go now?”
She gathered the pickax off the ground and placed it into the bed of her truck. “As long as it’s not the Ponderosa. I’m getting sick of it.”
“That leaves the Bun Boy.” He grinned.
“There’s a good Mexican place in Clio. What do you say we go there?”
Gabe tossed the shovel next to the pickax. “I’m always game for Mexican. How about we drop your truck off at the farm and I drive?”
She had no problem with that, as it didn’t make sense for them to go in two vehicles. “You’re not afraid to be seen with me?” She smirked. “People around here might start getting the wrong idea. I wouldn’t want to hurt your reputation.”
“Too late for that.” He winked and got into her passenger seat. “Let’s bust a move, I’m hungry.”
“Where’s your SUV again?”
“Down the road about two miles.”
She started the engine and slid him a sideways glance. “You were spying on me, weren’t you?”
“Damn, Ray, you’ve got a suspicious nature.”
She sure the hell did, and for good reason.
Chapter 7
