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“There’s going to be a lot in your life that your sister missed.”
“I know,” she said nodding. “But she might have missed it even if she was alive. There was a point in our lives where we each chose our own path, but we loved each other. I always wondered if we hadn’t been sisters if we’d have even been friends.”
“Hard to say, but in the end, as you said, you loved each other and you’re hurting.”
Harper was still for a moment. “Shouldn’t I feel guilty about last night?”
“Because you chose not to remain frozen by grief and anger? No. Some people never have the courage to feel again. Others, like you, need to remind themselves that while they lost someone they love, they can still feel and that feeling is good for the soul. Would Dulcie have wanted you to hurt like that?”
Harper laughed quietly. “No. She would have told me to get off my butt, quit feeling sorry for myself, and fuck the hunky park ranger.”
He chuckled. “See? Now that’s something a background check wouldn’t have told me.”
“Shouldn’t you wait for your team? I should probably get back to my ranch. I need to tell Dusty.”
“Dusty?”
“My foreman. He lives on my place and works for me. He knew Dulcie and liked her. I don’t want him to hear what happened from anyone but me, but I don’t want you to feel like you have to babysit me. I need you to find Dulcie’s killer.”
“I will, and I don’t, but I think being back at home on your own routine will make it easier for you to tell me about her. I thought after we get everything squared away, we might take Mattie and Tank out for a ride.”
“That sounds good,” she said, turning herself around to face him. “Are you overly hungry?”
“Not necessarily.”
“Then let’s grab coffee and a muffin and head to my place. Once I talk to Dusty, I’ll make us some breakfast.”
“Don’t you work with firefighters?”
She nodded. “I run the fire camps for smokejumpers—the guys who fight wildfires.”
“I read about you in one of the articles that was written about you. I have a friend who’s a smokejumper. He says you are in high demand, and anybody fighting a wildfire hopes that you’re the one providing the food. He says he eats better in your fire camp than he does in most high-end restaurants.”
“I try to give them good nutrition and something tasty. Those guys work their asses off in dangerous conditions. The least I can do is see that they eat right.”
“All right, then, let’s get that coffee and a muffin and head out.”
When they arrived at her place, she couldn’t help but notice how normal everything looked. Without her saying a word, Spence rested his hand on her thigh. There was an easy and burgeoning intimacy between them. Everything might have looked normal, but Harper knew nothing would ever be the same as it had been before.
The sound of her truck pulling into the barnyard must have alerted Dusty, who stepped out of the barn with a surprised look on his face. He came up to greet them.
“Morning, boss lady, why are you here and not hiking in the wilds of Yellowstone with that sister of yours?” He must have recognized Spence, as he stepped forward to shake his hand. “Why is Spence with you? Has he come to get Tank so soon?” Shaking hands, he continued, “I’m a big admirer of your riding, cowboy.”
“Dusty, Dulcie was found murdered in the park on Sunday. That was the call Spence got while we were at the show. When Spence got her identified, he didn’t know she was my sister because of the different last names. When I got to the lodge he was waiting for her sister and found me.”
Disbelief and shock passed over Dusty’s face. “How? What happened? I don’t believe it.”
Not knowing how much Spence would want her to say, she decided to let Spence fill in any and all details. “I don’t know much; I only know she was murdered, and I know Spence will find out who did it and why.”
Sympathy showed on Dusty’s kind face. “You don’t need to talk about anything, Harper. You know if there’s anything at all...” His words trailed off as he wrapped her in his arms in a bear hug. “In the meantime, all the barn work is done for the morning and the horses are out. I was headed in to make something to eat.”
Harper smiled. “Great minds. We just grabbed coffee and a muffin in town. Since you have everything squared away, why don’t you take Spence down to the barn and let him say hello to Tank while I throw something together for us to eat?”
As they walked away, Harper overheard Dusty say to Spence, “Her thrown together is better than anyone else’s planned out and cooked by master chefs.” Spence chuckled; watching them, if Harper hadn’t known otherwise, she’d have thought they’d been friends for years.
Walking up to the farmhouse, she realized Dulcie would never be here again. Never again would they sit on the wide front porch drinking margaritas and watching the sunset. As she’d told Spence, Dulcie wouldn’t have put up with that kind of maudlin thinking. She would have wanted Harper to get it in gear and get back to life. Hard as it might be to do so, she intended to honor what she knew would have been Dulcie’s feelings.
Harper walked into the kitchen and got to work. When the food was almost ready to be served, she headed out onto the porch to call them in and ran into Spence’s chest. It was a very nice chest—all sculpted pecs with just the right amount of hair.
