Cardwell Ranch Trespasser(10)
“You can’t stay,” she whispered. “You’ll mess up everything.”
He smiled at her. “I can’t tell you how good it is to see you, Dee.”
“Stop doing that.”
“I set another place for you, Rick,” Dana called from the dining room doorway. “Come join us and I’ll introduce you to everyone.”
Dee had indigestion by the time the meal wound down. Dana had introduced Rick, and he’d seemed to be enjoying himself, which made it worse. She couldn’t wait until dinner was over so she could get him out of here. The trick would be getting him out of town.
Rick could smell a con a mile off. The fact that she was going by Dee Anna Justice had been a dead giveaway. He knew she was up to something. He would want something out of this.
She couldn’t have been more relieved when dinner was finally over. Fortunately, because of her re-“sprained” ankle, she didn’t have to help with the dishes. Rick helped clear the table. She heard him chatting in the kitchen with Hud and Dana.
She was going to kill him.
Finally, Rick said he was leaving and asked Dee if she felt up to walking him out to his rental car. She wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
“You have to leave,” she told him outside.
He glanced at the stars sparkling in the velvet canopy overhead and took a deep breath. “This is nice here. A little too hick for me, but the food was good,” he said, finally looking at her. “I’ve missed you. I thought you would have at least left me a note.”
“What do you want?”
“You always were good at cutting right to the heart of it. Isn’t it possible I really did miss you?”
“No.” He hadn’t come here for a reunion. If anything, he’d come to blackmail her.
“Look,” she said. “I will cut you in, but I need time. I don’t even know what there is here yet.”
He laughed. “You can call yourself Dee or anything else you like, but remember, I know you. You’ve staked out something here or you would be gone by now. Is it the land? Is it worth something? Or is there family money I’m just not seeing?”
“There isn’t any hidden wealth,” she said. “I’m just spending a few days here like a tourist while my cousin shows me a good time. She’s picking up my little vacation. That’s it.”
“You’re such a good liar. Usually. But I don’t get what you could possibly be thinking here. Does Hud have a rich brother I haven’t met yet?”
“Rick—”
“You’d better get back into the house,” he said, glancing past her. “You really shouldn’t be on that bad ankle too long.” He chuckled. “Don’t forget to limp or you’re going to be doing dishes with the women in the kitchen the rest of your little vacation.”
With that, he climbed into his rental car and slammed the door. She slapped the window, trying to get him to roll it down, but he merely made a face at her, started the engine and drove off.
She stood in the faint moonlight mentally kicking herself. Rick was going to ruin everything.
* * *
“ARE YOU FEELING BETTER?” Colt asked, as Hilde came out of his bathroom dressed in the sweatpants and T-shirt he’d given her.
She nodded. He’d changed into jeans and a T-shirt that molded his muscled body. She’d never seen him in anything but his uniform before. No wonder he was so popular with women.
He handed her a mug of hot chocolate with tiny marshmallows floating in it. He must have seen her surprise.
“My mother used to always make me hot chocolate when I had a hard day in school,” Colt said, and grinned shyly. “I thought it might help.”
She curled her fingers around the mug, soaking in the warmth, and took a sip. She couldn’t help smiling. “It’s perfect.” She was touched at his thoughtfulness. “I don’t believe I thanked you for saving my life earlier.”
He waved her apology away. “I’m just glad you’re okay. Would you like to sit down?” he asked, motioning to his couch.
She glanced around his cabin. It was simply but comfortably furnished. He’d made a fire in the small fireplace. This time of year it cooled down quickly in the canyon.
The fire crackled invitingly as she took a seat at one end of the couch, curling her feet under her. She’d finally quit shaking. Now she just felt scared. Scared that she was right about Dee. Even more scared that she wasn’t. Had she wrongly accused the woman?
Colt seemed to relax as he joined her at the opposite end of the couch. “Why don’t you tell me about Dee?”
She hesitated, upset with herself for the scene she’d made earlier. It was so unlike her. No wonder Dana had looked so shocked. She shouldn’t have confronted Dee in front of everyone, but she’d been so upset, so scared. She’d almost drowned. If Colt hadn’t pulled her out when he had...
“You can tell me how you really feel,” he said quietly.
She took a breath. “I don’t know anymore.”
“Sure you do,” he said and smiled. “Follow your instincts. I have a feeling your instincts are pretty good.”
Hilde laughed. “After seeing that hysterical woman on the river a while ago?”
“Almost drowning does that to a person.”
She studied him for a moment. He was way too handsome, but he was also very nice. He’d saved her life and now he was willing to listen to her side of it. “What if my instincts are wrong?”
“You know they aren’t.”
Did she? She took another sip of the hot chocolate. It did help. Bracing herself, she said, “There’s something...off about Dee.”
He nodded, urging her to continue.
“I admit I was worried when Dana told me that she’d asked a cousin she’d never met to come visit. She’s paying for all Dee’s expenses. That seemed odd to me. But according to Dana, Dee recently quit her job. Add to that, no one knows how long she plans to stay.”
“So you thought right away she might be taking advantage of your friend.”
Hilde nodded. “After we picked her up at the airport, Dana was telling her all about this area. I noticed that she didn’t seem interested. It wasn’t until we reached the ranch and she met Hud that Dee perked up.”
He nodded but said nothing.
“I know this all sounds so...small and petty.”
“Tell me about the day at the falls.”
She finished the hot chocolate and put her mug on the table next to her elbow, noticing the bestseller lying open, his place marked halfway through the book. It was one she’d been wanting to read, and she was momentarily distracted to know that Colt was a reader.
“I didn’t want to go on the hike, but Dana insisted. I was probably rude. I asked how long Dee planned to stay. Shortly after that I was standing at the edge of the falls. Dana had gone over to the picnic spot to look for her camera, and all of a sudden I felt a hand on my back and a hard shove. Then Dee grabbed me and warned me to be careful, that it was dangerous around here.”
“You believed it was a threat.”
“I did.”
“But you didn’t say anything to Dana.”
“I was too shocked and—”
“You talked yourself out of believing it.”
She nodded. “Also, Dana was enjoying her cousin so much, I didn’t have the heart to tell her.”
“You feared she wouldn’t believe you.”
Hilde let out a laugh. “With good reason. She didn’t believe that Dee tried to drown me today.”
“But you do.”
She swallowed, then slowly nodded. “She wasn’t trying to save me. I know you find that hard to believe because I tried to fight you off moments later, when you were only trying to save me.”
“Why do you think she pushed you at the falls and yet saved you, then today tried to drown you and maybe really did try to save you?”
“I don’t know. It makes one of us seem crazy, doesn’t it?”
He smiled. “What is it you think she wants? Dana and Hud don’t have a lot money. She can’t possibly think she can get her hands on the ranch. She’s going to wear out her welcome within a week or so.”
“That’s just it, I don’t know. I just can’t get over the feeling that she wants something from Dana. But the more I think about it, the more I feel I must be wrong. What if I’m overreacting? Maybe she was trying to save me in the river today.”
“Maybe she didn’t push you at the falls?”
She looked away. “Dana thinks I’m jealous.” She turned to meet his gaze. “Maybe I am.” She got to her feet. “I should go home.”
Colt rose, too. “What are you going to do?”
“Stay away from Dee,” she said with a laugh. “Like you said, she’ll wear out her welcome and leave.”