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“What we’ve been waiting for. Yeah, that could be it. Vance is out of funds. I can’t see him looking for this heiress on his own. It’s not in his skillset. The lawyer has an investigator on the case, but according to Bobby, she’s been on the case since before the old woman croaked.”
“We can find her. You and me, we can find that heiress.”
“I do believe we could, if we really applied ourselves.” Brody nodded. “We’ll have ourselves a nice evening with Brenda. Then tomorrow, we’ll handpick a couple of guys for our team and go after this Marissa Jayne Featherstone.”
“No one can make plans the way you do, boss. No one.”
Brody knew it. That was the secret to his longevity in a business that chewed up most men after a decade.
Chapter Twelve
Parker considered himself a man of integrity, and he took pride in the knowledge that he always worked hard. He generally enjoyed summer, mostly because it wasn’t winter. Texas in summer was a heck of a lot hotter than Montana. What continued to surprise him, though, was the amount of humidity.
For some reason, he’d always pictured Texas as hot, dry, and dusty. Hot with breath-stealing humidity was going to take some getting used to. Still, he couldn’t even consider that as an entry on the “con” side of his mental “pros and cons” list for setting down roots right here in Lusty.
He took a moment on the back of Rio to drink from his canteen and let his gaze wander the view before him. It had only been a few weeks, but he was settling into the rhythm of the work and the rhythm of the life here.
Texas had much to recommend it, even above and beyond that it was the home of the woman he’d fallen in love with.
A sound drew Parker’s attention to his left. He watched as Jackson approached on horseback.
“I came to give you a hand checking the fence line. Not that you need the help, but we’d like to get everyone together around two for a quick planning meeting back at Chase’s place.”
“Always appreciate the company, cousin.”
“I was also going to nag you about keeping hydrated.” Jackson grinned. “But I see I don’t have to.”
“I’m drinking my water, Ma, honest.” Parker took another small sip to prove it. A huge entry on the plus side of my list is the working atmosphere here. The difference between family dynamics here and back in Montana was like the difference between night and day.
“Smartass.”
The two men laughed then rode east and picked up the fence in this sector of the combined ranch—the area that left Cord and Jackson’s property and headed toward the Benedict North Ranch.
Dale had headed out in the other direction that morning, working on the line between Jackson’s place and heading over and ending at the far reaches of Jesse and Barry’s land. Probably Cord was riding with his brother.
“So, things going okay?” Jackson looked up from where he was holding the piece of fence wire tight while Parker used a hammer on the fence nail to anchor it in place. With only the odd bit of repair here and there, the old-fashioned way worked best. If they were stringing new fence, they’d be using nail guns and working in a team of three.
Parker whacked the u-shaped nail one last time then met his cousin’s gaze. “Things are great. Seriously. We’re all three grateful to find ourselves sharing a house.”
“Good. We were pretty certain that Jenny would be fine with the change. Ari claims Jenny can sometimes overthink things, which tends to leave her in limbo. She thought moving you in with her would be just the nudge she needed.”
“Yeah, she does overthink things. But make no mistake. If she hadn’t wanted this, if she hadn’t wanted to be with us, she would have dug in her heels and said no, and not even Grandma Kate could have changed her mind. Our woman is no push-over. Plus, you can’t bullshit her, period.” He straightened up and leaned against the fence post. He folded his arms over his chest. “For an example, she’s already figured out that it was the news of a second party looking for her—not the first one that we learned about from her parents—that’s got all y’all worried.”
