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As she brought her gaze back to the man before her, she identified the strange feeling she’d been trying to place for weeks. Confidence. As if waiting for her acknowledgment to take its rightful place, it sank into her bones and spread its strength through her body until it reached her voice. She smiled and looked down the road to town. “You tell Old Sam I’m going hunting and I’ll not be coming back empty-handed.”
Clint went absolutely still, another first, as he stared at her intently. “And who’d be doing the hunting, ma’am?”
“Why myself, Mr. Clint.” She snapped the reins and clucked Willoughby into motion. “Who else would you be expecting?”
He resettled his hat on his head. As she passed by, he gave her a slight smile and a nod. “I’ll be happy to pass that message along, ma’am.”
“Thank you.”
* * * * *
Her confidence lasted until she got to town and saw the crowd in front of the saloon. Then it transformed into exasperation. What had those fools done now?
She pulled the buggy up in front of the bank. Everyone was so intent on the confrontation going on, they took no notice of her. Deciding if she waited for someone to lend her a hand, she’d be frozen to the seat until spring, she gathered her skirts and hopped down from the buggy. Her right foot twisted in a frozen rut as she hit the ground. She righted herself, checked the angle of her hat and marched through the crowd in time to hear the sheriff say, “Those are mighty harsh accusations, MacIntyre. You got any proof?”
“You’ve got my word.”
That was Asa’s voice. Hard, rigid, and packed with enough conviction to set tongues wagging. A large set of shoulders in a black coat blocked her view. She jabbed the man in the back with her finger. He shifted but didn’t move.
“I’m sorry you’re not able to pull the ranch out of trouble, but I assure you, I have nothing to do with any of this.” Aaron’s voice was equally easy to recognize. It was also as confident as Asa’s.
“Uh-huh.” The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end in warning. The men had left the range as tight as coons at a garbage pile, and now Asa was tossing out those provoking “Uh-huh’s” like a man with a twelve-prong buck in his sights. What could have happened?
“Tell me, Aaron.” Asa continued. “When are you planning on driving your cattle over to the railroad?”
“You surely can’t blame me for making a profit?” Aaron asked. “The rail crew has to eat. If the Rocking C isn’t going to make the profit, I don’t see why the Bar B shouldn’t.”
“Seems funny that you’re right there ready to fill the hole.”
That low drawl belonged to McKinnely. She knew he had to be here somewhere. Had he and Asa hatched a plot against Aaron between them? She poked the man in front of her again. She might as well be poking a wall for all the attention he paid her.
“I gotta agree, Aaron,” the sheriff muttered uncomfortably. “It’s mighty convenient that MacIntyre’s been having these problems and the one picking up the profit is you.”
Elizabeth took out her hat pin and applied it to the man in front of her. On a howl, he got the point. She broke through to the center of the crowd in time to see Aaron hold his hands up in a helpless gesture.
“The Bar B is the second biggest ranch in these parts. We’ve worked closely with the Rocking C in the past. Who better to step in and fill the hole? Would you rather have an outsider profit?”
He had a point. A very, very good point.
“Elizabeth!” She winced at Asa’s bellow. As one, all eyes fell upon her.
Mustering all the calm she could manage, she re-secured her hat with the pin and gave Asa her best wifely smile. “Hello, Mr. MacIntyre.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I told you I’d be along.” She smiled at the other ladies present. “You know how men are. Always in such a rush, there’s never enough time for a woman to get herself properly together.”
Several of the ladies nodded in sympathy. A couple of the spinsters reserved their opinions. From the frowns on their faces, she suspected they’d seen her apply the hat pin to the undertaker’s posterior. Rats!
“What in the heck are you up to?” Asa asked.
He needn’t sound so suspicious, she thought. “I was just checking out the commotion.”
“Check it out from the ranch.”
She smiled at him patiently. “But then I’d miss it all.”
His response was a growl. Aaron stepped to her side protectively. “I, for one, am glad you’re here, Elizabeth. Your husband is operating under a misunderstanding.”
She looked into Aaron’s handsome face and kept her expression to simple curiosity. “He is?”
