Page 45 of A Sweet Chat for the Cowboy

Maybe people owed him favors.

Maybe he was blackmailing them.

Tucker interrupted her imagination’s story spinning to introduce a beautiful woman as his sister-in-law, and Wynona was surprised to learn a few seconds later that she was married to the brother with all of the scars. Then she silently scolded herself for judging a book by its cover.

Holden didnotintroduce the new assortment of wranglers he’d brought this time. She thanked him for coming back. He didn’t respond, but she wasn’t offended. He was usually a man of few words.

“Hey,” she said to Tucker, nudging him away from the crowd. “What would you think about putting one of my team members in charge of each station?”

His eyebrows went up. “You’re askingmewhat I think?”

She nodded. “I am.”

Concern was etched on his face. “Did one of my guys do something wrong?”

She quickly said no.

“Then what is it?”

She really didn’t want to tell him. He glanced up, and understanding dawned on his face. “That nincompoop giving you even more trouble?”

She sighed. “It’s not a big deal. I could just use a break from him.”

Tucker hesitated. “I’ll do whatever you want, but let me float another idea. We keep him for one more night, and let me just keep an eye on him.”

She was too embarrassed to admit that she didn’t know what that meant.

He took this as endorsement of his plan B. He picked up his pack. “Everybody ready? Got an even longer hike tonight.” Without waiting for them to answer, he turned and started up the trail.

Behind them, she could hear Craig grumbling. She tried not to let it bother her and failed. Yet another motivation to find this stupid toad.

But then he insulted her personally, and he used an Indian slur to do it.

Tucker stopped so suddenly that she bumped into his pack. Sundance stopped too, looked up at her with what she could have sworn was concern, and then spun around at the same time Tucker did. Together they faced the crowd stretched out in single or double file behind them. His eyes landed on something that made him grimace—it had to be Craig.

Wynona turned too and caught sight of Holden working his way through the crowd toward Craig. Oh boy. She didn’t think Holden had much of a temper, but he did not look happy.

“You think your ghost-pale skin makes you a tough guy?” Tucker called out.

Craig seemed to lose two inches in height.

“You really want to be harassing aLakotawoman in theBlack Hills? Boy, you don’t know your history.”

Holden was now right behind Craig, and the look on his face actually worried Wynona. He wasn’t going to do something rash, was he? She was already in trouble for all these volunteers. What would happen if her volunteer cousin beat up a fellow biologist? She’d probably get canned. Or worse.

But Holden didn’t lay a finger on Craig. He only leaned close to his ear and whispered something. She couldn’t make it out, but Craig’s face reddened. Absurdly, Wynona felt bad for him.

She looked at Tucker, hoping to see some clue as to what Holden had said, but he didn’t give her one. This made sense. It was unlikely he had heard it either. Craig was the only one reacting, so maybe he was the only one who had heard it.

“Let’s go, and let’s do it quietly, unless you’re actuallytryingto scare off the wildlife.” He turned and started uphill.

That was the first time this had occurred to her. Was Craig actually trying tosabotageher? For the next thousand feet, that thought completely occupied her mind, but after chewing on it for that long, she concluded that no, he wouldn’t sabotage her, not if it meant more nights out in the cold.

The crowd behind her sure was quiet now. Was Craig even with them anymore? She glanced back over her shoulder, and their eyes met. His were seething with hatred. Yep, he was still with them.

Too bad.

The stretched out team trudged past the first site from the night before. The ground was slightly trampled. Then they passed the next site and the next, and then they were sliding through the site where Wynona had spent the prior night. The site felt like a warm blanket wrapped around her, an awesome feeling that she didn’t understand. Why would this spot have such positive energy attached to it?

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