Chapter Seven
There was one quick knock on the trailer door, then Wade pulled it open, sticking his head inside. “You’ve got a call on the landline. She’s waiting.”
Jordan, who’d been deep into calculations on his laptop, trying to figure out a way to buy the Reed place, frowned. “Who’s she?”
“Your tenant.”
“Tell her I’ll be right there.”
“Like I’m going to beat you across the driveway,” Wade muttered as he turned to go.
He had a point. Jordan pulled on his boots then passed Wade a moment later as he strode across the gravel. He and Lil had exchanged cell phone numbers, so he had no idea why she was calling the ranch phone.
The landline receiver was lying on the table, and he picked it up. “This is Jordan.”
“Someone shot one of our cows.”
His heart rate spiked. Fuck. “Tell me what happened.”
“During supper we noticed that one of the cows was down and when we checked, it was pretty obvious that she had a bullet wound in her foreleg.”
“You’re sure it’s a bullet wound?”
“Ninety percent sure. She’s still alive. A deputy and a vet are on the way.”
“Stay in the house until they get there. I’m heading over too.”
“Good.” The word was barely audible.
“Lil—”
She ended the call as Wade came in through the mudroom.
“Trouble on the Willow Creek. A cow got shot. I’m heading over.”
“See if Hayes or Trev will go with you,” Wade said.
“I don’t think so.” His brothers were in the barn putting the baler back together.
Jordan had been invited to join in the fun but had passed in favor of a shower. He’d torn the thing down for them earlier that day and identified the problem and figured they could put it back together.
“Maybe I should go with you,” Wade said with sudden determination.
Estelle, who’d come into the kitchen, put a hand on Wade’s arm. “Let the boys take care of this.”
Boys.
Wade frowned down at her then grudgingly said, “Fine.”
At another time, Jordan would have been astounded at Wade’s easy acquiescence. Right now, he needed to find out what was happening on his ranch.
“I’ll keep you updated.” He brushed past Wade and Estelle, headed out the door and down the walk.
What the fuck was going on?
He shoved open the man door of the barn, and two heads came up from where they’d been hunched over the haying equipment. He explained the situation and his brothers dropped tools and started wiping grime off their hands. Obviously, he had backup.
Less than two minutes later, they were tearing down the driveway.
His brothers remained silent, as he headed toward the gravel, their expressions as grim as his own.
The truck bounced over the ruts he wasn’t even trying to miss.
Trev grabbed the oh-shit handle but didn’t so much as look Jordan’s way.
It wasn’t hard to guess why Lil had called him on the landline instead of on his cell.
It was the best way to ascertain that he was on the Tree Fork where he was supposed to be and not escaping the scene of the shooting with a rifle in his hand.
He couldn’t help but applaud her caution even as a part of him hated that she still didn’t trust him.
But trust was earned and he had basically marched into their lives and announced that he wanted things to change.
When they arrived at the ranch, Jordan was glad to see the sheriff’s office SUV, a blue pickup that he recognized as the brand inspector’s rig, and a white panel vet truck parked at various angles near the grain sheds.
It was going on ten o’clock, but they could easily make out the group of people standing in the pasture near what had to be the injured cow.
Lil broke away from the group as they approached, her expression so taut that Jordan had to stop himself from touching her, reassuring her that friends were there.
“We had to put her down.” She pushed hair back from her forehead as she spoke in the same matter-of-fact tone of voice that doctors used when they explained to family and friends what was happening in the ER.
“The deputy knows a guy with a rendering truck. He’s on his way so that the animal doesn’t go to waste.
” She drew in a shaky breath. “I think we’re going to donate it to the food bank.
I can’t—” She broke off and swallowed, and Jordan gave up trying not to touch her.
He pulled her against him, running his hand over her back as she let out a shuddering breath and melted into him. An overwhelming need to protect this woman gripped him. Hard.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured against her hair, and felt another hitch of her breath.
Then Lil seemed to remember herself and pulled out of his embrace, meeting his gaze briefly before turning and heading back to the small group. Jordan watched her for a moment, then he and his brothers followed.
He kept his eyes on Lil as she strode ahead of them. Had he brought this upon the McAllens by challenging Connery? The thought chilled him in addition to pissing him off.
Jordan didn’t know the young vet who’d already packed his equipment and was about to leave, but he did know the deputy, Dane Webster, in passing, having rodeoed with his older brother, and he knew the brand inspector who was walking toward them.
“I can’t see any disturbed areas,” he said, stopping a few feet from the cow. “Maybe tomorrow in daylight.”
“Any idea what happened?” Jordan asked.
“Someone might have been target shooting or hunting coyotes,” the brand inspector said. “But if so, they were trespassing.”
“Or someone shot the cow on purpose,” Hayes stated, echoing Jordan’s thoughts.
“People are assholes sometimes,” Dane agreed.
“Did you tell them about the fences?” Jordan asked Lil.
She nodded stonily. Gone was the woman who’d allowed him to comfort her for all of a nanosecond.
“She said that you were going to sell, but the buyer didn’t want tenants,” Dane said.
“I backed out of the sale.” Both brothers gave him sharp looks. “I planned to tell you when you got done with the baler.”
“What’s the buyer’s name?”
“I only have the name of their rep, Jess Connery. He has an office in Livingston.”
“When did you back out?”
“Earlier today.”
“Do you have any enemies?” Dane asked Lil, but it was Meg, who’d been hovering nearby, who answered, drawing the everyone’s attention.
“I have an ex who stalked me for a few months. He’s in Alaska.”
Jordan’s gaze sharpened. “You’re sure?” he asked before the deputy could speak.
“I keep tabs on him.” Meg took a step closer to her sister. “I called his work after the fence was cut. They said he was on shift but couldn’t come to the phone. Anyway, I thought you should know about him. Just in case.”
“Better give me his name,” Dane said.
They started back across the pasture to the parked trucks, following the vet who’d hung around to listen. Jordan couldn’t say he blamed the guy. High drama on the Willow Creek Ranch with unfortunate consequences.
The brand inspector went to his truck after a short conversation with Dane, who was also in no hurry to leave.
He and Trev and Hayes waited near his SUV while Jordan continued to the house with Lil and Meg.
They stopped at the gate while Meg continued on up the walk, accompanied by the big white dog who’d been waiting in the yard.
“Why didn’t you tell me that your sister had a stalker?”
Lil shifted her weight, pulled in a short breath. “It’s been over a year without a word.”
“What did he do?”
“Stalker stuff. He kept showing up wherever Meg was. Approaching her in odd places. Leaving evidence that he’d been to our ranch when we were gone.
He visited my dad at the care center, but fortunately, Dad didn’t recognize him.
The staff told us, which creeped us out.
Nothing he did was overt enough to report, but it was wildly uncomfortable. Threatening, yet not.”
Kind of like what had been going on here.
“It was just one more thing to deal with.”
“You’re not alone, Lil. This is my business too.”
She looked like she wanted to argue, but she couldn’t.
Jordan pushed his hands deep in his pockets as he regarded her.
His protective instincts were in overdrive, but it was clear that he was dealing with a woman who didn’t want to need anyone.
Not yet anyway. He understood the logic of being safer on one’s own.
He also thought it was flawed. “I take it that you two are staying here tonight?”
She responded with a quick lift of her chin. “Where would we go?” She shook her head as the obvious answer popped into her mind. “We’re not going to your ranch.” Not yet anyway.
“I have a different idea.”
“Yeah?” She folded her arms across her chest as the wary answer slipped from her lips.
“Let me stay here. For a few days anyway.” She opened her mouth, but he raised his hand before she could protest. “I have a trailer. I’m living in it now. I just need a plugin. I’d feel better if I were here on the property with you.”
She started to shake her head again, then stopped. Closed her eyes. She wasn’t quite managing the stoic thing, so she changed the subject.
“I have to send my clients’ horses home to their owners. Can you imagine what would happen to my income, to my reputation, if one of the horses got killed on my watch?”
Jordan shot a quick look at Hayes and Trev; he knew they’d agree. “Bring them to the Tree Fork. Work them there.”
Her forehead furrowed. “How would I explain that to my clients?”
“Tell them the truth. A cow got shot and you’ve decided to move all your training to a different facility until the deputy gets to the bottom of things. It was probably an accident, but you won’t take chances with their horses.”
She squeezed her forehead with one hand. “That’s not going to help my reputation.”
Jordan had a strong idea that that was the goal of whoever was behind this. Vandalism hadn’t worked. And as the owner of the property, this was very much his business, no matter what the lease stated.
The rendering truck rumbled in. A man jumped out, and judging from the conversation, he was the deputy’s close friend. Jordan turned back to Lil, whose gaze was locked on the truck.