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“Trey?” Lau
ra said with some surprise. “Why did he call you?”
“Evidently he has been trying to reach you, but you haven’t answered your phone, so he called to see if I knew where you were,” Tara explained. “He wants you to call him right away. He said it was important, but he wouldn’t tell me why.” Which clearly irritated her.
Laura dismissed the possibility his reason was anything earthshaking. “Knowing Trey, he probably took first place at some roping contest. I might as well call him, though. Thanks,” she said and closed the door before Tara could invite herself in. As she started back to the bedroom, the telephone rang. Laura picked up the extension in the sitting room. “Hello.”
“Where the hell have you been?” Trey’s familiar voice responded. “I’ve been trying to reach you for over an hour. I couldn’t even get you on your cell phone.”
“I didn’t take it with me tonight.” Aware that Trey had absolutely no understanding of fashion, Laura didn’t even attempt to explain that the cell phone added too much bulk to her evening bag, ruining its line. “Why are you calling at this hour? Do you have any idea what time it is here?”
“I don’t know. Maybe two or three o’clock.” His tone made it clear that he didn’t know and didn’t care. He had something else on his mind. “Mom will call you tomorrow, I imagine, but . . .”
He paused, and in that hesitation, Laura knew immediately that something bad happened. “Trey, what’s wrong? It’s Granddad, isn’t it,” she guessed, tension knotting her stomach muscles.
“No. No, he’s fine. It’s Quint,” he said, referring to their older cousin, Quint Echohawk, who had followed in his father’s footsteps and become a Treasury agent right out of college.
“What about Quint?” She clutched the receiver a little tighter, bracing herself for bad news.
“He got shot in the leg. It broke one of the bones.” After a barely perceptible pause, Trey added, “He’s going to be worthless as a team-roping partner for a while.”
Laura sensed his attempt to make light of the incident, but she knew this had hit him hard. He and Quint had always been as close as brothers. Taking Trey’s cue, Laura searched for a light retort.
“What do you want to bet that when they hauled him off in the ambulance, the only thing he wanted to know was whether they got the bad guys.”
“Yeah, that would be Quint,” Trey agreed with a smile in his voice. “He always wants to finish anything he starts. It makes him real mule-headed sometimes.”
“Where is he now?” She heard faint stirrings of movement coming from the bedroom.
“In a Detroit hospital.”
“Aunt Cat must be worried sick about him.”
“She and Logan took off about an hour ago to fly there. According to Logan, Quint and his partner had gone to a farmhouse, following a lead they had on some guy suspected of illegally selling firearms. I guess they no more than got out of the car when somebody in the house opened fire on them.”
“At least he’s going to be all right.” Laura chose to dwell on the positive aspect.
“Yeah.” But the flatness of his voice revealed the apparent lack of comfort he took in that.
Sebastian emerged from the bedroom, fully clothed. “Just a sec,” Laura said into the phone and promptly covered the mouthpiece with her hand. “It’s my brother,” she said to Sebastian as he moved toward her.
“I suspected as much,” he murmured and caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger, lifting it to press a warm kiss on her lips. “See you in England,” he said and crossed to the door.
The life seemed to go out of the room when he went, leaving it feeling empty and alien—something Laura had never experienced before. Suddenly she was very, very glad Trey was on the other end of the phone.
“Sorry,” she said into it.
“I guess Tara was there,” Trey guessed. “I should have known she’d hang around to find out why I was calling.”
Laura chose not to correct him. “Phone calls in the middle of the night generally bring bad news. Where’s Mother?”
“She and Laredo went into town for supper. Did I tell you Harry’s is up for sale?” Harry’s was the sole eating and drinking establishment in the small town of Blue Moon, located some fifty miles from the headquarters of the Triple C Ranch.
“I can’t imagine anyone buying that old place.” Laura sank onto a nearby chair and curled her legs under her, oddly eager to hear a bit of local gossip; gossip she wouldn’t have cared a whit about an hour ago.
“Neither can I,” Trey agreed. “Ever since Dy-Corp shut down the coal mine, Blue Moon has practically become a ghost town.” They talked a while longer, with Trey filling her in on the latest happenings in and around the ranch. “When are you coming home, Laura?” he asked at last.
“Not for a while yet. We’re flying to England the end of this week.” Laura smiled, anticipating seeing Sebastian again and launched into an explanation of meeting Sebastian, his acquaintance with the earl of Crawford and subsequent invitation to visit the manor house.
