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“There’s some in the kitchen.” The woman rose from her chair, gathering a few plates to carry with her. “I’ll get it.”
“Thanks.” Cat pulled out an empty chair next to Jessy and sat down. “According to Logan, she is bringing in workers by the droves. I guess it’s absolute chaos in Blue Moon—even worse than when Dy-Corp opened its mining operation. Every time I think about her buying that land away from us, I get so mad I could personally strangle her.”
Jessy glimpsed some of that anger in Cat’s eyes. Truthfully she felt the same. Unfortunately it didn’t solve anything.
“Isn’t there some way we can stop her from building on it, Dad?” There was a hint of desperation mixed in with the frustration in Cat’s voice.
“As long as she has the necessary permits, which she does, she can do anything she likes. We can only step in if she attempts to cross our land to get to it,” Chase stated what they all already knew.
When the telephone rang, Ty excused himself from the table to answer it and crossed to the dining room extension. “Triple C Ranch, Ty speaking.”
“Ty. It’s Tara. You left an urgent message for me to call you. I—”
“Yes, I did.” He cut across her words, wasting no time with preliminaries. “It’s about your helicopters. They are flying so low over our range, they’re spooking our cattle.”
“Ty, I’m sorry. I had no idea,” Tara rushed in apology. “I’ll put a stop to it at once.”
“I’d appreciate it if you would.”
“As you pointed out, we are neighbors.” Her voice softened, all conciliatory. “If I had given it a moment’s thought, I would never have allowed it to happen in the first place, but it never crossed my mind that I would need to warn the pilots about flying too low. By the way,” Tara continued without a break, “would it be convenient if I came by the ranch tomorrow morning? I took the liberty of picking up the sale catalogs from the printers and thought I would drop them off.”
“What time?”
“Between ten-thirty and eleven. Would that suit you?”
“I’ll be here.”
“Good. I’ll see you tomorrow then,” she said and rang off.
Chase glanced at him expectantly. “Tara?”
“Yes.” Ty turned from the phone. “She said she would take care of the problem with the helicopters right away.”
“Let’s hope she does,” Chase grunted.
“She will,” Ty said.
“How can you be so sure of that?” Cat challenged, voicing Jessy’s very thought.
“Because I don’t think she wants to do anything more to cross us, at least not intentionally.” Ty resumed his seat at the table. “And all those helicopters indicate to me that she isn’t going to make an attempt to cross our land—and probably won’t for a good long while.”
“Just the same, I asked Uncle Culley to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary,” Cat stated. “He promised he would.”
Stars dusted the night sky, glittering brightly amid the darkness. Culley O’Rourke knew them all. They had been his companions on many an evening ride; they were as familiar to him as the gelding he rode. It was that familiarity with all things of the night that made him quick to notice the faint glow in the distance.
He reined his horse to study it. As dry as the land was, fire was Culley’s first thought. He tested the wind but detected no trace of smoke in it. The glow was steady, without the wane and leap of moving flames.
“That’s no fire,” he murmured to his horse. “Let’s go take a look-see.”
The decision was born out of his own curiosity reinforced by the remembered request from Cat to keep an eye out for anything unusual.
In no hurry, Culley swung the gelding’s head toward the distant glow and urged it forward at an easy shuffling trot. Culley and sleep had never been frequent companions. As he had gotten older, it seemed he needed less and less of it. A couple three catnaps a day seemed to do him just fine.
These night rambles had become a habit with him. Culley liked having the sky above him and a wide stretch of land on each side. Nothing made him restless quicker than being confined within four walls, shut away from the wild smell of the wind.
Over the years Culley had learned the slow and the fast way to just about anywhere on the Triple C. Tonight he chose the easy way, seeing no need to tire either himself or his mount.
It didn’t take him long to figure out the glow was coming from somewhere on the Wolf Meadow range. He couldn’t help smiling at the recollection that Tara had bought that land out from under Calder’s nose. He knew Cat had been mighty upset over it, but Culley figured Calder had been due for a comeuppance. Because of Cat, he didn’t take as much pleasure in it as he once might have. But he definitely didn’t lose any sleep over it.
