Chapter 8
It had been a long time since Cal had been at Ivy Ridge. The grand house always made him feel like he needed to take off his shoes and remain standing lest he dirty or scuff something.
While Hank had looked sincerely surprised by his appearance, Cal wasn’t fooled.
Hank had known that he was in the area. It was in the subtleties someone who didn’t know Hank wouldn’t catch.
Like how the shock didn’t quite reach his eyes, and his voice hadn’t risen.
Little things Cal would have probably missed himself if he hadn’t been looking.
But how much did Hank know about Cal’s association with Dillon? They had been extremely close at one time, but as Cal had gotten older, the phone calls and visits had decreased significantly.
“You should’ve told me you were in town,” Hank said as they walked through the house to a living area, where he motioned to the leather furniture for them to sit. “I would’ve come to see you at the rodeo.”
Dillon didn’t hesitate to take a seat.
Cal remained standing. He still had dirt on him from that morning and even more after his ride through the pastures while tracking. Since rodeos were usually where Cal and Hank caught up, his comment didn’t seem out of the ordinary. Cal shrugged. “I didn’t final, which gave me the time I wanted.”
“I see,” Hank said with a smile as he glanced at Dillon. “When did the two of you meet?”
“About six months ago,” Cal replied with a shrug. “I never expected to meet someone like her through internet dating.”
There was real surprise in Hank’s eyes—and something that looked a little like fear. “I never took you for someone who would turn to the internet for dates.”
“You know for yourself that rodeoing brings certain kinds of people. I was looking for something different. Once I met Dillon, we hit it off and have been seeing each other as often as my time allows.”
Cal felt Dillon’s eyes on him. He didn’t look her way. Instead, he held Hank’s gaze.
Finally, Hank nodded, his lips twisting. “What does this mean for your rodeo career?”
“We’ve not had that conversation,” Dillon said.
Cal hid his smile when Hank jerked his attention to her as if he had forgotten she was there.
“Of course. Of course,” Hank said with a nod.
Cal crossed his arms over his chest. “I wish our visit was a social one, but Dillon is here on business.”
“Oh?” Hank asked as he sat up, propping his forearms on his knees. “What might that be?”
Dillon lifted her chin and looked straight at Hank. “The theft of my stallion.”
“Theft? I hope you called the sheriff as well as the TSCRA. In case you didn’t know, they handle situations like these.”
Cal noted that Hank said all the right things and appeared affronted by Dillon’s news. Nothing showed that he might be behind it. It had been a longshot, but one Cal had counted on.
“I know about the TSCRA,” Dillon told him. “A sheriff’s deputy has already been out to the Bar 4 to take notes and pictures of evidence of my horse being taken right through to your property.”
Hank snorted and shook his head as he sat back. “I knew you would accuse me. Just because my land surrounds yours doesn’t mean I’m to blame for everything that happens to you.”
“Then who is?” Dillon demanded. “The fence was cut. The tracks lead right to your property.”
Hank threw up his hands in defeat. “I don’t know what to tell you.”
“Let us search the area where I found the tracks leading from the Bar 4,” Cal suggested.
Cal saw a flash of anger in Hank’s blue eyes when he looked his way. “I don’t take kindly to being called a thief.”
“Letting us search would clear your name. If you aren’t involved, that is,” Dillon said.
Hank got to his feet and smiled, though there wasn’t a shred of benevolence in it. “I think it’s time you two left. And, Cal, I’m disappointed. I thought your father taught you better than this.”
“My father—and mother—taught me to be a good man. I’m doing exactly that.”
Dillon stood and waited until Hank looked her way. “I hope you aren’t involved in the theft of my horse, but if you are, I will find out. And I’ll make sure charges are brought against you and anyone who helped.”
“Why would I steal your horse?” Hank demanded. “I have enough money to buy as many as I want.”
Dillon shrugged, her lips twisting. “Why do you want my ranch so badly that you made four attempts to buy it, offering twice as much as it’s worth.”
“I like land,” Hank replied.
Dillon’s blue eyes went hard. “There’s plenty of other land. Besides, don’t you have enough?”
“No.”
Cal walked to Dillon and put his hand on her lower back, giving her a little nudge.
Thankfully, she started walking. He guided her out of the house to the porch.
That’s when Cal paused and looked behind him.
Hank stood at the door. For the first time since Cal had met him, Hank no longer exuded an open, friendly demeanor.
Cal’s visit might have ruined a friendship, but if Hank had stolen a horse, he didn’t want Hank as a friend.
Dillon didn’t talk until they were in her truck, and she was driving away. She looked in the rearview mirror. “He’s still watching us.”
“I’d probably do the same.”
“Why did you tell him we were dating?”
Cal had known she would ask, and he didn’t have a good answer. “I don’t know. It just came to me.”
“He didn’t believe it.”
“Does it matter?” Cal looked her way to see her shake her head.
Dillon turned and started toward her ranch. “What did you think?”
“I think anyone being accused of theft would be upset.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Their gazes met briefly as she glanced his way. He sighed as he faced forward. “It’s difficult to say. I’ve known Hank for almost twenty years. Something was off.”
“Like?” she urged.
“He knew I was in town.”
Dillon propped her elbow on the door and leaned her head into her hand, steering with her other. “Hmm. You sure?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“So, he didn’t buy your story of us dating?”
Cal shrugged. “He might have. I can’t be sure.”
“What are you sure about?”
He ran a hand over his jaw. “That I saw a man I thought I knew, acting in ways I’ve never seen.”
“How often do you see Hank in a year?”
“Depends. I saw him a lot when I was younger. Even when I first started on the circuit--he came to a lot of rodeos. We each had a life, which meant we didn’t see each other as much as before. Why?”
She briefly looked his way. “Because people change. He isn’t the man you once knew. And you aren’t the man he once knew.”
“Why do you think he wants your land?”
Dillon let out a bark of laughter as she turned into the Bar 4 drive. “He told you why.”
“I think it’s more than that. Like you said, there is plenty of other land.”
“Not near his ranch. He’s bought everyone out that he can. He’s butting up against some housing developments now.”
Cal shook his head. “Land is land. Sure, it’s better if the ranch is all connected, but many large ranches are broken up into pieces. It’s nothing new.”
“Why do you think he wants it?” she asked as she parked the truck and turned off the ignition.
He looked into her eyes and lifted his shoulders in a shrug. “I don’t know.”
But he was determined to find out. Cal didn’t know why he felt such a need to help Dillon. She was a capable woman who was more than able to take care of herself. Yet, there was no denying he wanted to help her.
Dillon got out of the truck, and Cal followed. She walked slowly around to the front of the vehicle before looking at him. The way she stared told him that she had been studying his interaction with Hank.
“Well?” he asked.
Her brows snapped together. “Well, what?”
“Have you made your decision about me?”
She bit the left side of her lower lip as she looked toward the barn where Emmett and another ranch hand were talking. “I’ve not.”
“Fair enough.”
Powder blue eyes met his. “It’s after lunch. You had a tough night, and a pretty rough morning. Why don’t you take an hour and grab some lunch? Then see Emmett. He’ll tell you what to do.”
“You’re letting me stay?” He hadn’t expected her to give him the job.
She shrugged. “I need the help, and we made a deal. You fulfilled your end of the bargain. I’ll uphold mine.”
Cal nodded and watched as she walked into the house. Once she was out of sight, he walked to Emmett. As soon as the old man spotted him, he sent the young cowboy off and faced Cal, glancing toward the house.
“She inside?” Emmett asked.
Cal nodded.
“How did things go?”
Cal moved into the barn so Dillon wouldn’t see them. “As good as you could expect. Hank was affronted that we suspected him of stealing. I asked if he would let us check his property, but he refused.”
“Bastard,” Emmett murmured as he shook his head. “Dolly never had an easy go of things running this ranch by herself, but she persevered. Dillon has that same strength.”
“But?” Cal asked when Emmett paused.
The man sighed, shaking his head. “Dolly didn’t have anyone stealing her livestock or shooting at her.”
“We’re going to have to make sure Dillon is safe.”
Emmett’s smile was wide as he asked, “You stickin’ around?”
“I am. And I should let you know that I told Hank I met Dillon through an online dating service six months ago, and that we’ve been seeing each other off and on since.”
Emmett chuckled. “That should get the tongues wagging in town as well as give you a reason for always being with her. I wasn’t jokin’ this mornin’. I want you by her side constantly. Why aren’t you with her now?”
Cal couldn’t hold back his smile. “I’ll be with her as often as I can, but there will be times when I can’t. She needs some time alone, and she sent me to get food, which is perfect because I wanted to talk to you.”
“About?”
“What else has happened around the ranch that she didn’t tell me about?”
Emmett looked away and turned to pet one of the horses that stuck its head over the stall door. “Little things.”
“Yeah, she already told me that. I need specifics so I know what to look out for.”
Emmett sighed loudly. “The brake line was cut on the tractor she favors. She managed to turn it toward a tree to stop the tractor before it wrecked any fence or harmed anyone. Her tires were also slashed in town one night.”
“All four?” Cal asked, shocked.
Emmett nodded. “There was a letter in the mail threatening her. It didn’t go through the post office. Someone drove to the ranch and placed it in the mailbox.
“Damn. Financially, how is the ranch?”
“She doesn’t talk to me about that.”
“Dillon said she sank a lot of money into the stallion and that the loss could be detrimental.”
Emmett shrugged and hooked his thumbs into his belt loops. “The stallion is from prime stock up near Dallas. He cost a lot more than Dolly ever paid for any horse, but Dillon has a keen eye. She learned from Dolly, and Dillon knows where she wants to take the ranch.”
“But she needs that stallion to do it.”
“But she needs the stallion to do it,” Emmett agreed.
Cal looked at the house. All these years, he’d thought the hardest job in the world was bull riding. He was coming to realize that he might have had it easy. Because the mystery surrounding Dillon and her ranch would take everything he had—and probably mean calling in every favor he could.
Which wasn’t many.