Love on the Range (Brothers in Arms #3)(4)

He sat up straight and ate half the bowl before he had to stop. “I want the rest, but I need to let this settle.”

“You’d have had room for more if you hadn’t gotten up and had all that water.” She arched her brows at him.

For just one second, he felt like a naughty schoolboy, and he remembered she’d been a schoolteacher. No doubt able to see through floors and walls and read minds, as well.

“Yes, I did. And used the . . . ahem . . . that is, I needed a necessary bit of privacy. I was cautious, made sure my head was clear before I stood.”

She smiled. “And you’re a strong man, an adult, fully capable of making such a decision for yourself. No need to sneak, and I appreciate it that you didn’t try and lie to me.”

“You’ve got a scolding tone that you use very well. It reminds me of the teacher I had.”

“Oh, you had a pretty young teacher who cared for you and watched over you? A woman you liked and respected?” Molly sounded doubtful.

“I had an old bat who never had a kind word to say and could tear the bark off a tree when she was correcting you.”

Molly looked a little hurt.

Which only made it more fun to go on. “I’m lucky I got through a single day without a whack or two with a ruler.”

“No doubt you deserved it.” She squared her shoulders. “Well, there’ll be no ruler whacking in this house, nor in my school.”

She leaned closer to him. “No matter how badly you deserve it.”

Wyatt lay back as Molly set the soup aside. “Can you tell me what’s been going on around here? Is Cheyenne really married?”

“They aren’t back from town yet, but they rode off with that intention. So I imagine by now they are.”

Wyatt’s hazel eyes met hers. “When did that happen? I know I’ve been busy with branding, but you’d think I’d’ve noticed my sister and a man becoming . . . attached to each other.” He shook his head.

“I never saw it coming with Kevin and Win.” Molly told him about the betrayal of RHR hired hand Jeff Wells. He didn’t remember that.

“He didn’t have good cowhand skills. But I gave him a chance. I thought I was doing a good thing.”

She talked about the Pinkerton agent and the search for Amelia Bishop.

“I missed all of that,” Wyatt said. “Who is Amelia Bishop, and what is a Pinkerton agent?”

Molly explained to the extent she knew. “I’ve spent a lot of time tending you. I’ve missed plenty of what’s going on, too. They’ve found more stolen cattle. Another whole pasture of them besides the ones that’d been stolen from the RHR and the Hawkins Ranch.”

“I’m starting to remember some of this.”

“Do you remember that a man from each of the area ranches was among the outlaw band?”

Wyatt thought hard but shook his head.

“It seems there were conspiratorial plans to kill the owners of each ranch and take possession of them. They had a decent chance with Oliver Hawkins, a man alone and no gunman. And possibly with Roger Hanson.”

Wyatt interrupted, “Hanson’s as tough as they come.”

“But one man alone, Cheyenne said. It would only work if his hired hands didn’t back him, and it sounds like his gunman was in on the plot.”

“And Judd Black Wolf? He’s as mean as a rabid badger and a knowing man. He wouldn’t have men on his ranch that would betray him.”

“It sounds like they were just conspiring to rustle cattle at first. But when all this turmoil happened on the RHR, they got ambitious. They thought if they struck hard and fast, they might pull it off. But they are fools, and now two of them are dead fools. Cheyenne and Falcon followed Percy Ralston, and he led them to his band of outlaws. The men had given up on taking the ranches and were making a break for it with their stolen cattle. Cheyenne and Falcon stopped them. They’re straightening this all up with the sheriff right now.”

“Before the wedding.”

Molly nodded.

Wyatt had plenty of questions, and Molly answered what she could. When Wyatt thought he was hearing things he already knew, he paused. “What else has happened around here?”

Molly shrugged. “I can’t think of anything more, but a lot of this has been going on with me too busy to pay it much mind.”

Wyatt reached his working right hand up and gently touched his left shoulder. “So then, who shot me? That’s about the end of what I remember. I think we were believing it to be Hobart before Cheyenne took off and captured all those outlaws.”

“Did you miss the part where Falcon caught Hobart sneaking into our house in the dark of night? It looked like she was coming to finish the killing she’d started.”

“I might’ve slept through that.”

“I came up and distracted you to keep you from noticing. Hobart convinced Cheyenne she hadn’t been the one to take the shot. She was spying on Hawkins because she’d been hired to find Amelia Bishop—who’d been missing for a long time. Hobart expected she was dead, but her father is a powerful man and wanted answers. And Ralston was tied up, so he’s not who shot you.”

“One of Ralston’s outlaw band must’ve done it.”

“Must have. But two of them are dead, Ralston one of them, and they haven’t got a confession out of anyone yet. Maybe Cheyenne will pound one out of someone before her wedding.”