Page 22 of Wyoming Bodyguard
She frowned. “But this is a dude ranch. No one in Cloud Valley is going to pay money to do the same things they’re doing at their own ranches.”
He grinned. “Probably not, but what will they pay for?”
She squeezed her eyes shut for a beat and prayed for patience. “You’re talking in riddles, McKay.”
“Sorry,” he said, chuckling. “I’m no business expert. Hell, I’m still figuring out how to keep my office doors open. But what I have learned is you have to be willing to shift, to change, to look at things from a different perspective. You have a lot to offer people, and not just tourists. How can you use it?”
She thought back to the cozy cabin they’d just left. The handful of other cabins sitting empty, waiting to be used. “I did have one idea, but my dad brushed it aside.”
“Tell me.”
She scrunched her lips, unsure about opening up to him. But no one else in her life had actually listened to her ideas or made her feel she was capable of anything more than tending horses.
“Come on,” he said. “You’ve told me worse things than an idea or two.”
She winced. “Good point. Okay, I think we should offer our ranch as a wedding venue. That would appeal to people in town, the surrounding area and maybe even from other states. We have the cabins for the wedding party or out-of-town guests. The scenery is beautiful.” She swept her hand to the side to indicate the magnificent views all around them.
A slow smile spread on Madden’s face, barely visible beneath the shadow of his cowboy hat. “Sounds brilliant.”
Two simple words hacked at all the self-doubt clogging her mind. “You really think so?”
“I do. Makes perfect sense to me.”
“I wish my dad felt the same way. He won’t hear my ideas.” Guilt washed away all positive sentiments. “I’m horrible. The last thing I should be doing is complaining about my dad. Not when he’s fighting for his life in the hospital.”
“You’re not complaining. You’re discussing options that could help your family while showing me the property I need to protect. Now, this appears to be the last structure to search, right?”
She nodded, grateful for his knack of putting things into perspective and shifting her focus on what was important. “Yeah, we don’t really use this shed anymore. We stored things guests might need if they were out on the trails. Water, food, supplies for taking care of the horses. Now it’s probably full of dust.”
“Which will make it a quick search. Then I’ll see about setting up some cameras before we tackle the office.”
“Sounds good.” The shed was small, the siding worn from lack of maintenance and rough weather. She’d been inside a few times, but wasn’t in a rush to squeeze into the tight, probably dirty space with Madden. “I’ll wait out here. No reason for us both to go in there.”
The hinges to the rusty door squeaked as Madden stepped inside. “Holy hell, it’s hot in here. Will you keep the door open for me, so I don’t suffocate?”
She held the edge of the flimsy wood. “A couple days ago I would have jumped at the chance to nail this thing shut with you inside.”
His husky chuckle made her grin. Good. The tension from earlier had dissipated enough for him to find humor in her sarcasm again.
A few minutes ticked by. The old floorboards shifted under Madden’s footsteps until he marched to stand in front of her. “You need to see this.”
“What is it?” She followed him inside the stuffy space, the door slamming shut behind her. Beams of muted light filtered in through a dirty window.
Madden pointed to a shelf shoved against the far wall.
She leaned forward for a closer look and spied a clear bag with what looked like small, white crystals. “What is that?”
“You might not have been out here for a while, but someone’s using the shed. To store their drugs.”
Chapter 9
Anger heated Lily’s blood. She stormed passed Madden and forced her way out of the shed. Fresh air hit her face and she took two deep breaths through her nose, trying to calm her racing heart.
But her heart refused to slow.
Madden stepped out behind her.
She whirled around to face him. “I can’t believe someone is storing their drugs in our shed. And it’s not like it was a couple of kids sneaking out here for a joint or some booze. That was…well, to be totally honest I don’t know what it was, but it looked scary as hell to me.”
