Chapter 12 #2
“Oliver, what the hell are you doing on my land!” she shouted more than asked, the anger vibrating off her almost palpable.
Hudson hadn’t been sure she could even get mad, but he liked this side of her.
“Oh, darlin’, don’t be mad.” The man—apparently named Oliver—slid off his horse and looped the reins over one of the fence posts before holding up his palms.
“You’re trespassing.” Scout’s voice was ice-cold, but she wasn’t scared of the guy. That much was clear.
So Hudson tucked his pistol away. For now.
“I know, I know. I just thought you wouldn’t mind if I ran the trails a little. I’m training Zack’s horses now and your land is right next to his.”
“You thought I wouldn’t mind?” Her tone was incredulous.
“I thought we were good, that all that nonsense was water under the bridge.”
“You thought that you fucking my lawyer while you and I were engaged is…water under the bridge?”
Oh, hell no. Hudson stepped forward, not caring if she liked him taking over or not. “It’s time for you to go. And don’t come back. This is private property and she or I would be within our rights to shoot you.”
“Yeah, if threatened, and I’m not threatening you.” Oliver looked ridiculously offended.
Hudson looked around. “Who’s gonna tell?” he whispered, knowing his tone was menacing.
“What the hell, man? I was just riding horses.”
“And now you’re going to ride your horse right back to where you came from. And don’t come back.” He didn’t bother pulling out his weapon. He wasn’t going to use it on this loser. Probably.
Not now anyway.
This guy had hurt Scout and the most primal part of Hudson wanted to bash his face in. To make him hurt the way he’d hurt her. But he simply stood his ground, watched as the man got back on his horse.
“This is messed up, Scout,” Oliver called.
“No, what’s messed up is you trespassing on my property.”
When Hudson glanced over his shoulder he realized that she was recording Oliver. Good. He made sure to stay out of the shot, but was glad she’d made a record of this.
Once Oliver was out of sight, he motioned back to the ATV. “Want to follow him and make sure he leaves?”
“Yeah, I really do.” Her body language was tight, angry, as she jumped back into the driver’s seat.
“So…you were engaged to that asshole?” he asked as she zoomed after him.
She grunted. “His name is Oliver Michaels.” There was nothing but pure disgust in her voice.
Hudson eyed the guy as he continued riding, imagining viewing his head through his scope. Okay, he had to stop. This guy was an asshole, but not one of his targets. “Stupid name,” he murmured, waving when Oliver turned around again.
The man’s body language was rigid now, clearly annoyed that they were following him to the property line.
Fuck around and find out.
She snickered. “Yeah, it is.” When he didn’t say anything, she glanced sideways at him. “Not going to ask any more questions?”
“I’m obviously curious. Do you think this guy is a threat? Is he capable of vandalizing your property?”
“Oh… I was thinking more along the lines of…” She cleared her throat. “No, I can’t imagine him doing any of that stuff. I don’t want to give him much credit, but he loves animals and he’s really good with horses. It’s hard to imagine him doing anything that would hurt any animals.”
“And you didn’t know he was working for the Willman Ranch?”
Her jaw was tight as she shook her head. “No, but to be fair, I go out of my way to avoid hearing anything about him. I haven’t seen him in almost a year.”
“Really?”
“Yep. Candy Cane is small but not that small. And I work on the farm a lot anyway. I’m in a book club, mahjong group, and a couple other things in town but he’s not part of any of them.”
Mahjong? Interesting. “I’m sorry he hurt you,” he finally said, because he wasn’t sure what else to say. He wasn’t good with words. And he was pretty sure offering to knock the guy out would get a big fat no. Good thing she couldn’t read his mind and know what he really wanted to do to her ex.
“Thank you.” She turned the ATV around as her ex disappeared into a cluster of woods.
There were enough markings along a fence line that he could tell the property boundary even if he hadn’t already looked at the map and aerial views.
“So…” she continued, a little haltingly.
“The reason I don’t have a will or trust drawn up is because my lawyer, who was also a friend, was screwing my fiancé behind my back.
I just…didn’t want to find someone else.
It was too much of a reminder of what I’d lost. After my grandpa died, I was so grateful that he’d been so organized.
I know I need to take care of things, but all that legal stuff is a lot to deal with. I just haven’t had the time.”
“Maybe you make time. I’m at the ranch now for a while and so is Sarah. I’m sure one of your mahjong friends or book club friends can recommend someone… Or I can, if you want someone outside of Candy Cane.”
“Thank you. I do have a couple people I can call,” she admitted. “And I’m putting it on my mental to-do list.”
He laughed lightly, even though he was still reeling from the effect of kissing her, tasting her.
It didn’t matter how short it had been—now he knew exactly how she would melt into him and he wanted more.
“All right. Then let’s get a couple cameras up around here.
I want to put some up on that trail where we ran into Oliver. ”
She snickered at the way he said her ex’s name. “I honestly can’t believe I ever fell for him.”
“Me neither.”
“Hey!” She laughed again, nudged his arm. “He’s good-looking and stupidly charming.”
Hudson could change the good-looking thing real fast, but kept that thought to himself. The asshole was on his radar now at least. And if he was working with Zack Willman to terrorize Scout, he was in for a big surprise.