Page 34 of Heart of Stone

“Sure.” Deke seemed to accept that reasoning. “We’re just havin’ a run of powerful bad luck. Happens sometimes. Been years I seen where ain’t nothin’ gone right and years where nothin’ gone wrong. Just happens that way.”

“Yeah, I just wish we weren’t havin’ the bad one this year,” Stone muttered. “Thanks, Deke. Ask Charlie to come here when you get back to the bunkhouse, will you? We want to talk to everyone. And thanks for your help in tryin’ to save the stable. Would’ve been worse if you and the other’s hadn’t worked so hard to save the horses.”

“Yes, sir.” Deke rose from the table, nodded to Stone and Luke, and left the kitchen.

Stone waited until the door closed behind him before turning his attention to Luke. “What do you think? Charlie, then Hendry? Or should we talk to a couple more first?”

“Just Charlie,” Luke replied, his expression turning grim. “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to get to the real questions.”

“Yeah.” Stone tilted his head to one side and rubbed his neck to relieve the knots of pure tension. He couldn’t believe that only a couple of hours ago, he thought maybe he was being too paranoid in believing someone could be sabotaging the ranch. Now, however, they were dealing with yet another disaster, and this time, Luke had seen who was behind it. Sure, maybe Hendry had a good reason for dragging the wood from the tank over to make sure it burned in the fire, but Stone wouldn’t bet a plug nickel on it.

The biggest questions were why he’d done it and who else might be in on it with him, and Stone had to admit he’d be just as happy to beat the information out of Hendry as ask him for it. He was feeling every bit the savage Nelson had called him, and he was struggling to keep his temper in check.

The losses themselves were bad enough, but Stone couldn’t figure out why anyone would want to do something so terrible not just to him, but to the people who depended on the ranch for their living. If someone held a grudge against Stone himself, why not just shoot him and be done with it? Why destroy a whole ranch? They needed answers, and he understood Luke’s impatience to get them. After all, Luke’s ties to the ranch ran far deeper than Stone’s did.

He looked at Luke, seeing the unhappiness on his face. Oh sure, he had no reason to jump with joy with all the recent disasters, but it was the root cause of why Luke had been so miserable for the last few months that made Stone ache. It was his fault, and he knew it, and he wanted so much to do something to make it better. But he wasn’t even sure if that was possible anymore. Had he hurt Luke so badly that Luke would just push him away if he reached out now?

And he did want to reach out. The ranch and his responsibility to it meant a lot to him, but so did Luke. Luke had stood by him through all this, helped him keep things together, even saved his life, and all Stone had done was keep him at a distance neither of them really wanted. He thought his reasons for doing it still mattered, because he couldn’t stand it if anything happened to Luke because of him or if Luke got tired of him and left. But life was short and fragile, as he’d been reminded today, and he felt like he was being unfair to Luke. Once they got this matter with Hendry cleared up, he was going to man up, and they were going to talk. He’d tell Luke how he felt, and if Luke didn’t want him any longer, he’d just have to take it and let Luke go. Somehow.

He pushed back his chair and stood. “You want some more coffee?” he asked, heading toward the stove. He didn’t want more, but he was going to drink it just to have something to do other than jumping up and pacing around the kitchen like a caged bear.

“No, thanks.” Luke shook his head and leaned back in his chair, his arms folded across his chest. “I’ve had enough.”

Somehow the words seemed to have an ominous ring to them, and Stone turned to look at Luke, but before he could say anything, there was a knock on the door.

“Come on in, Charlie.” Stone admitted the short, plump man and headed back to the table as the hands’ cook entered.

Five minutes later, they let Charlie go after he swore upside down and sideways that he hadn’t seen anything, not that Stone expected any different. As the cook closed the door behind him with instructions to send Hendry to the house, Stone began to tense up in anticipation.

He glanced at Luke. “A man can do some powerful stupid things when he feels cornered. I just hope he doesn’t. I want to kill him, but I’d just as soon he didn’t give me a reason to do it in the house.”

“He ain’t got a lot of gumption,” Luke said, shrugging. “I’ve had words with him before, and he backed down right quick, but I guess that could’ve been because he didn’t want to risk losin’ his job before he got up to all the mischief he wanted to.”

Stone nodded. “Just look out for yourself. I don’t want him to decide that takin’ one or both of us on is his only option. Whatever his beef is with me, I don’t want you gettin’ hurt because of it.”

Luke smiled, but it was a thin smile without any amusement behind it, and he patted the gun at his side. “Don’t worry, I ain’t got a hankerin’ to die young. If it comes down to me or him, I’m goin’ to make sure it’s him.”

“Good.” Stone would have to be satisfied with that, although it wouldn’t completely stop him from worrying. Then there was a knock on the door, and he found himself stiffening. “Come in.”

Hendry entered the kitchen, trying to look confident and unconcerned, but Stone could see from the set of his shoulders that he was on his guard.

“Have a seat, Hendry.” Stone managed to keep his voice even. “We’re just askin’ all the hands some questions to see if we can figure out how the fire started.”

Hendry shot a look at Luke as he took a seat at the table. “I don’t know nothin’,” he replied, shrugging carelessly. “I came runnin’ with everyone else.”

“Did you now? Did you notice if anyone was missin’, like maybe they went out for a smoke first thing?”

Hendry’s eyes narrowed, but Stone kept his face expressionless. Hendry couldn’t know what Charlie or Deke might have said, and since he hadn’t been in the bunkhouse, he didn’t know what the other hands had been up to. But he didn’t panic. “Not so’s I noticed,” he replied. “But I don’t notice much before I have my coffee.”

“I see.” Stone leaned back in his chair. “You don’t smoke yourself, I take it?”

“No.” Hendry began to relax a little bit, apparently getting the idea that they weren’t going to ask him any really tough questions. “Never got into the habit.”

“Yeah, I don’t care for it myself,” Stone replied. “So you didn’t notice anyone gone, and since you don’t smoke, you weren’t out there yourself.”

“Nope.” Hendry smiled smugly. “Is that all? Can I go now?”

“Just one more thing.” Stone kept his voice light. “Nobody saw you helpin’ get the horses out or helpin’ with the buckets. So exactly where were you?”

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