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“That’s between Dani and me.”
“Is it?” Chase walked over to a filing cabinet, withdrew a file and tossed an appraisal of Dani’s land onto the desk. “Is that the figure you’re talking about?”
Caleb’s countenance changed. His face whitened. “Not quite that much—”
“I didn’t think so,” Chase muttered.
“Just who the hell do you think you are, going through my files?”
“Your partner,” Chase said flatly as he walked out of the room, taking hold of Dani’s arm and pulling her with him.
“What was that all about?” she asked.
“I did some digging today,” he said. “And I’m not talking about the creek. Seems that Caleb might just be interested in your land for more than the resort.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll tell you later,” Chase said, looking over his shoulder to see Caleb, still red-faced, sitting at his desk. “Now I think you’ve made your point; you’d better leave before all hell breaks loose.”
“I’m not afraid of Johnson,” she said.
“Then maybe you’d better be.” With a look of cold determination, Chase let go of her arm and inclined his head to her pickup. “Leave Johnson to me,” he suggested.
“This isn’t your fight—”
“Oh, but it is,” Chase disagreed with a cynical smile. “More than you can guess.”
* * *
Chase’s enigmatic words were still echoing in Dani’s ears when she finally got home. What was he doing, putting himself between Caleb and her? A thousand questions flitted through her mind as she put the groceries away and managed stacking the sack of grain in a corner of the barn. By the time she was done, she still had no answers but felt hot and gritty and in desperate need of a shower. She wiped the sweat from her forehead with her hand and felt the dirt streak her skin.
“This is certainly no life for a prima donna,” she said to Runt as she headed inside.
The sun seemed hotter than it had been before the other night’s rainshower. Though it was late in the afternoon, shimmering waves of heat distorted Dani’s view of her acreage. She shaded her eyes and looked northwest, over the fence, to the banks of the creek on Caleb’s side. There was no activity. All of the men seemed to have taken off early.
So what was Chase doing? she thought idly and then frowned when she remembered the confrontation with Caleb. She went inside and stayed under the cool shower longer than she needed. After washing her hair and wrapping it in a threadbare towel, she slipped into a cool summer sundress and went downstairs to make a pitcher of lemonade.
“It’s too bad Cody isn’t here to share this with me,” she said to the dog who perked up his ears, cocked his head and resumed whining at the door. “For Pete’s sake, Runt, stop moping will ya? You’re giving me a case of the blues.”
After making the lemonade and watching the slices of lemon swirl in the glass pitcher, Dani poured herself a tall glass, pressed it against her forehead and closed her eyes. Already she was beginning to sweat.
She combed her hair and sat on the back porch sipping the cool liquid and thinking of Chase. She couldn’t forget nearly making love to him at the creek, or the way he’d come to her defense at Caleb’s house. But he’d said he was Johnson’s partner, not hers. His loyalty was with Caleb Johnson—or was it? And what had he hoped to accomplish by taking soil and water samples from her land? Evidence, he’d said. But evidence against whom?
“Stop it,” she said when the questions got too confusing. With a sigh, she tried to concentrate on a mystery novel she’d been reading long before Chase had stormed into her life, but the pages didn’t hold her interest and it was hard to see in the gathering twilight.
Disgusted with herself, she tossed the book aside, continued rocking in the chair and watched a vibrant sunset as the sun settled behind the Rocky Mountains and the sky turned from vivid magenta to dark purple.
She wiped the perspiration from her neck and throat with a handkerchief and turned, gazing over the darkened fields to the north, to Caleb Johnson’s property, to Chase...
Chapter Six
Chase walked briskly around the stable yard, as if with each stride he could shake the rage that burned in his gut. He felt as if he were on a tightwire and that no matter which way he turned, he was going to fall off into the black abyss of the future.
With an explicit oath, he headed back to the house—to face his partner. Partner. The word stuck in his throat. He’d been a fool to accept Caleb’s money in the first place and now he wondered just what his partner’s intentions were.
Walking through the open door and into Caleb’s study, he wasn’t surprised to
find the old man still sitting behind his desk, his face ruddy with alcohol, his blue eyes small and hard. A near empty bottle of Scotch sat on the corner of his desk and the glass he sipped from was full.
