Page 22 of Deadly Evidence
And after her ride, she wanted time with Mom. Strangers here to buy or sell livestock would just take up Mom’s time when Laceyreallyneeded her.
“That’s Mia,” the guy said. “I’m Brady Coleman. Your mom hired me on Saturday.”
A guy who looked like he did oughta be in the movies. Lacey’s mouth fell open, and then she snapped it shut.
He must have read the surprise on her face, because he laughed. A nice, deep, gentle laugh, not the catty kind that she’d heard all week at camp.
“I knew your mom long ago. I called her because I needed a job for a few months. She said she needed help, so this works out for both of us.”
Her great-grandfather Jonah’s words came back to her...words that had been meant only for her mother’s ears.Those young bucks from town keep sniffin’ around, but they’re after this ranch, m’girl. You be mighty careful.
Was this one of those guys? Seemed likely, because he sure didn’t look like the sort of dirt-poor cowboy who usually turned up at the Triple R looking for work.
The thought of some lowlife trying to slither his way into her mom’s life made Lacey’s teeth clench.
“When Mom gets home, tell her I’ve gone up to the mesa,” she said. “I’ll be back before supper.”
Beneath the brim of his hat, she could see him frown.
“Hey—wait a minute—”
With a light touch of her boot at Loco’s shoulder, she spun the gelding into a neat one-eighty and loped off in the opposite direction, leaving Mr. Hollywood in the dust.
Once she passed the barns and corrals and willows clustered by the creek running through the home place, she slowed to a walk and kicked her feet out of the stirrups.
“Yeah, right—like I’m gonnawait a minutefor you, you creep,” she muttered, glancing over her shoulder toward home.
The last guy who’d started hanging around her mom had thought he could play “daddy” and had started bossing her around.
He’d even tried to tell Vicente what to do, too, but at least Mom had caught on and put an end tothat.
Maybe this time Mom wouldn’t catch on.
One of these times, Mom might even think she was falling in love with someone and want him to stick around.
But everything was perfect just the way it was, and no one was going to move in and take over if Lacey had anything to do about it. Not this man and not the pretty girl on the steps.
No one.
“We need to talk,” Brady said.
Anna looked up from her pile of bills and receipts and glanced at the old Big Ben clock on her desk, then surveyed the man silhouetted in the doorway.
Yesterday she’d been gone all day hauling cattle to auction in El Paso, determined to be home this afternoon when Lacey arrived.
Then, because she’d had to run to town to restock her supply of tetanus vaccine because of an injured calf, she’d missed her daughter’s return.
Interruptions now would mean less time with Lacey after supper. “I’m busy,” she said.
“It’s important.”
He walked into the room, shut the door, tossed his hat on an empty chair, and settled into a hide-covered chair across the desk from her. “First of all, your daughter is out alone on that horse of hers, and it isn’t safe.”
“She doesn’t go far.” Anna swiveled her desk chair toward the window and tugged on the miniblind cord.
Outside, a light breeze kicked up a cloud of dust in front of the barn. Late afternoon sunshine pierced the willows, throwing black lace shadows across the empty yard.
“That doesn’t matter. She needs to stay close to home, at least until this investigation is over.”
