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Her mother wisely saw that Jessy had her heels dug in. There would be no talking her out of this. Reluctantly she gave in to Jessy’s wishes.
Ensconced in one of the high-backed rockers on the front porch, Jessy basked in the warmth of the sun. A glass and a pitcher of ice water sat on the table beside her, along with a bell to ring. A small neck roll pillow offered support for her throbbing head and another pillow cushioned her lower back. All that was missing was an afghan over her legs, Jessy thought with a faint smile.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the dining room curtain move and knew it was either her mother or Sally checking on her. She closed her eyes and savored the familiar scents and sounds of the ranch, a little surprised that she was content simply to sit and do nothing. She blamed it on the hard blow to her head that she had taken, which turned her thoughts to the accident that hadn’t been an accident at all and the confrontation between Ty and Buck Haskell that had either taken place already or was about to occur.
Catching the telltale crunch of gravel, Jessy opened her eyes to see Ballard making his way toward the front steps. He spotted her as well.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning,” she echoed his greeting.
“Seeing you sitting out here sure does make it a good morning,” Ballard declared, mounting the steps. “I was just comin’ to see how you were feelin’, but I sure didn’t expect to find you out here on the porch.”
“Just getting some air,” she told him.
“That’s the best way I know to get that hospital smell out of your nose.” He walked over and stretched out in the companion to her rocking chair, his gaze making a thorough examination of her. “You had us all good and worried, Jessy. How are you feeling?”
“Now you sound like a nurse,” she countered lightly, a little weary of answering the same old question.
“I guess I do.” The wry slant of his mouth gave his smile a rueful quality. He focused his attention on the bandaged area along the side of her temple, reaching into her scalp. “I’ll bet your head feels like there’s a bunch of carpenters inside poundin’ away.”
“They said I would have headaches for a while.” Reaching up, she absently felt the gauze. The wound itself was sore to the touch.
“When’s the bandage come off?” he asked.
“Tomorrow, as long it’s not draining anymore.”
“I’ll bet you’ll be glad to get rid of it. I never could stand having one on,” Ballard declared then let his focus drift away from her. “Ty sure didn’t hang around long after he brought you home.”
“He had some business to take care of.”
“I’m hearing talk that maybe it wasn’t an accident. That maybe someone deliberately shot out those tires. It’s just a rumor, mind you, but I was wondering if there was any truth in it.” He looked to her for an answer.
“It looks that way,” Jessy confirmed.
An unusual grimness hardened his features. “That’s what I figured. It was just too much of a coincidence for both of those tires to blow. And I’m bettin’ I know who’s behind it, too. And Ty takin’ off like that, headin’ east, I’d say he’s plannin’ on havin’ a little talk with her.”
“Her?” Jessy repeated, taken aback by the feminine pronoun. “You don’t seriously think Tara did the shooting?” The idea was ludicrous.
“No, but I’ll give you odds she gave the order,” he stated.
“Tara.” The possibility that Tara had anything at all to do with this had never crossed her mind. It struck Jessy as preposterous. “But why? What reason would she have?”
Ballard didn’t even hesitate over the answer.
“To get rid of you so she can have Ty all to herself. It’s what she’s been wantin’ ever since she showed up—only she’s got tired of waitin’ for him to come around. So she figured on hurryin’ things up a bit by tryin’ to get you out of the picture.”
“But Ty was in the truck, too,” Jessy argued. “Why would she risk having him hurt, possibly killed?”
“I’ve puzzled over that, too,” Ballard admitted. “I figure that was Buck’s doing. He probably liked the idea of taking out a Calder along with you. Don’t you know he felt the sharp edge of her tongue afterwards.”
Jessy struggled to wrap her mind around the conspiracy Ballard was painting. She had never liked or trusted Tara, but she still found it difficult to suspect her of this.
“Tara is good at scheming and manipulating, but I don’t think she is capable of what you’re suggesting,” she stated.
“You don’t, huh?” There was a kind of pity in the look Ballard gave her. “Then explain to me why she hired Haskell?”
“She said it was because he knew the Wolf Meadow range so well.” It was an explanation that had always seemed weak to Jessy.
