Page 46 of In Honor’s Defense

She nodded. “There’s been another offer for the property. A significantly larger offer.”

“I don’t care how big the offer is. I ain’t selling.”

“I know. I tried to tell Mr. Mullins that, but he refused to take no for an answer. He insisted I take some time to think about it. But that’s not the important part of the conversation.”

Luke leaned forward in his chair. “The new offer wasn’t from Grimes, was it?”

Damaris shook her head. “No. It was from a company down in Austin. The Harbinger Land Development Company.”

A land development company? Luke sat back. This added a whole new level of complexity. Land development companies didn’t just buy up land willy-nilly. There was always a strategy. One calculated to earn profits. And if they were offering Damaris above market value for her property, there had to be something here they wanted.

“That still don’t mean it weren’t Grimes.” Nate huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest in a pouting motion.

“No,” Luke agreed, “but it does mean that we have more than one suspect. And we aren’t likely to find the truth if we don’t consider the whole picture. So we gotta get rid of any preconceived notions that are blockin’ our view. Think you can set yours aside long enough to look at things from a more objective angle?”

Nate glowered and shrugged.

Well, at least the kid was honest.

“Once I can sit a horse, I’ll pay the land office a visit. See if this Harbinger Company is buying up any other land in the area. That might give us a clue about why they’re so interested in this piece.”

“I still don’t see how that makes any difference,” Nate protested. “The company’s in Austin. Grimes is here. He might not be the only one who wanted Pa’s land, but he’s the only one around who coulda hurt him.”

“That we know about.” The kid had a point about opportunity. But if Matt had taught Luke anything in their years of bringing criminals to justice, it was to verify the facts you had and never assume there weren’t more out there to gather. “These companies have got to have people scouting out the land they want to buy, don’t they? Could be one of them tangled with yer pa.”

Nate just sat there, hunched and scowling. Then all at once, he jumped to his feet and strode to the back door, mumbling about having chores to do.

“Nathaniel?” Damaris started to rise, but Luke stopped her with a hand on her arm.

“Let him go. He’s been hangin’ on to that grudge too long to give it up easily. He needs time to sort his thoughts.”

Her shoulders dipped as a quiet sigh escaped. “I thought I’d sorted mine on the ride back from town, but I feel like I came home with more questions than answers.”

Since she hadn’t pulled away from his touch and his hand was still sitting on top of her arm, it seemed only natural to use the connection to try to offer a measure of comfort. Luke rubbed his thumb back and forth along the edge of her arm, then dipped down to her wrist where her skin emerged from her sleeve. So soft and delicate. Just like Damaris herself. A vivid contrast to his callused hands and rough ways.

She peered up at him, and he expected her to pull away. A coarse cowboy had no business pettin’ a fine lady’s wrist, after all. But when her eyes met his, he didn’t find unease or a lack of welcome in their depths. Nope. What he saw was longing. The kind one lonely soul recognized in another. His chest tightened.

“You’re not in this alone, Damaris. I’m here. I’ll stay as long as you need me.”

A touch of pink colored her cheeks a heartbeat before she dropped her chin.

As long as you need me? He’d meant that he’d stay until they found her brother’s killer. And the rustlers. And ensured she and Nate were safe. But that wasn’t what he’d said. He’d vowed to stay as long as she needed him. And now he couldn’t stop himself from the ridiculous hope that she might need him for more than her current troubles.

“You’re a good man, Luke Davenport.”

He shook his head. “You wouldn’t say that if you knew who I really was.”

Her head lifted, and something fiery sparked in her eyes. “Then tell me. Who are you? Really?”

His blood pumped hard at her challenge. She’d thrown down a gauntlet, and he’d never been able to resist a dare. Yet unlike the time he’d stripped down to his skivvies and run through the mayor’s garden howlin’ like a banshee to win two bits off Bobby Langren, taking up this gauntlet would mean stripping his soul bare in front of a woman whose opinion mattered. A woman who might take one look at the ugliness inside him and decide she and Nate were better off without him. Yet Luke was no coward. If she wanted to know the real him, he’d show her every gory inch.

Drawing his hand away from her wrist, he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.

“I’m a troublemaker who spent more time in school swingin’ his fists than opening books, an arsonist who nearly set an entire town on fire, and a bully who almost beat his own father to death.”

She didn’t flinch. Didn’t even blink.

Had he shocked her senseless? Maybe she needed another shock to snap out of it. He had plenty in his arsenal. He pulled out one he figured would do the trick.