to help me prove that, so I can appeal.”
He leaned against his truck, trying to think, but his eyes kept dipping to her lovely face and those soft lips. Izzie’s hair was dark brown, and she often wore it pulled back to reveal her small, perfectly shaped ears and long, slender neck. She knew he liked her hair loose; it was loose now and had been recently combed. She wore pink lip gloss that made her full mouth look ripe and tempting.
Clay frowned.
She lifted her pointed chin, and her fine brows rose. She rested a hand on his chest. His heartbeat accelerated and his skin tingled. He had to force himself not to reach out and gather her in his arms.
He stared down at her hand, fingers splayed across his chest, the left ring finger still somehow bare. Then he followed the slim line of her arm to her narrow shoulders. Her soft hair brushed her collarbone, and she wore no jewelry except the gold crucifix about her neck, the one her father had given her at her first communion. Her face was heart-shaped and her upper lip more full than the bottom, giving the impression that she was forever freshly kissed. Her skin was soft brown, and her eyes sloped downward at the corners. He stared a moment at the light brown eyes that were flecked with gold, but it was like looking at the sun—dangerous and alluring all at once.
He knew what she wanted, and it wasn’t him. But his body still remembered her touch. And the memories of her threatened to make him do something stupid, like risk his job for this woman.
“You haven’t spoken to me in seven years,” he said. “Now you’re asking for my help?”
* * *
A STAB OF guilt spiked inside Izzie, and she couldn’t hold his gaze. He was right. She’d avoided him and the scorn she knew would come by association. This was a small community. A person’s place in the tribe depended on many things—character, family and who you chose to love. Loving Clay had cost too much. So she had let him go. Now she wanted a favor. She thought of her two little brothers and stiffened her spine. Then she met the accusation in his gaze.
“I’m asking,” she said.
He exhaled loudly through his nose. “Izzie, I need this job. I won’t do anything to jeopardize it.”
“And I’m not asking you to. Just take a look at the tracks.”
He was staring at her again, debating. She saw it now. The anger in his stance and the unwillingness.
“Call Gabe. He’s the chief of police.”
“I want someone who is working for me—not the tribe. Plus he made it very clear that I’m a suspect in whatever is going on up there.”
“You?” He laughed right in her face. The sound was hard. “Isabella Nosie? The girl with all As in high school. The good girl, sings in the choir, took over for her dad, helps raise her brothers and has never made a mistake in her life?”
That was just one step too far. She planted a fist on her hip.
“I made one.”
His laughter died and their eyes met. She read the hurt in his expression as her words hit their target. They both knew the mistake she meant. She had loved him.
Clay sagged back against the truck bed as if she’d slapped him. Izzie felt terrible.
“I’m sorry, Clay. I didn’t mean it.” Actually, going out with Clay had been the best thing that ever happened to her. Until she’d let her parents run him off. Why hadn’t she stood up for herself?
Because she’d been sixteen with dreams of college and a career, and, after his mom had been killed by that drunk driver, Clay was so angry and reckless, she barely recognized him. Then her father got sick and she’d made that promise. The next thing she knew, she had become responsible for her brothers and mother, and now she might lose it all.
“Will you help me?” she asked.
“No.”
“Fine. Then I’ll just do it myself.”
She turned to go, and he captured her wrist. She paused and he released her.
Clay removed his hat and struck it against his leg. His face went bright, with two streaks of color across his prominent cheekbones. Did that mean he did care what happened to her? Her heart fluttered at the possibility, and she cursed herself for a fool.
Clay regrouped, releasing her as he looked down his broad straight nose at her. He was scowling now and his nostrils flared. He’d never looked more handsome.
Clay didn’t wear his hair long, like his brothers Kino and Clyne. Neither did he wear it buzzed short like Gabe. Clay chose a length that was neither fashionable, functional nor traditional. His black hair ended bluntly at his strong jawline with bangs that he either swept back or let fall over his piercing eyes. His brow was prominent and his eyebrows thick. His black lashes were long and framed his deep brown eyes. She’d always wondered why he didn’t recognize his model good looks, but Clay seemed unaware of how he turned heads.
She met his hard stare, gnawing on her lower lip.
“If you are involved with anything illegal up there, you best tell me right now.”
She gaped as the shock hit her like a slap. He couldn’t really think she had anything to do with this. Could he?
He looked serious enough. “Because I will not be dragged into another mess.”
“I’m not involved with anything illegal.”
He continued to stare, lips pressed thin and colorless.
She threw up her hands in disgust. “Okay! I swear! I’m not involved in anything, and all I know is someone cut my fences, half my herd is gone, I’m missing cattle and now I owe a fine.”
“What is it you want me to do, exactly?” he asked.
“Check the fields for tracks. Tell me everything you can. Maybe poke around in the upper pasture.”
“The crime scene, you mean.”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Fifty bucks?”
He shook his head. “I want a cow for my sister’s Sunrise Ceremony.”
“Your sister?” Some of the fight drained out of her, replaced by shock. Izzie touched the gold crucifix, rubbing it between her thumb and index finger before letting it drop. “I thought Jovanna was...”
“So did we. She’s not. Just missing. We are going to find her.”
Izzie absorbed that bit of news. It was really none of her business, but she remembered the bright and happy little girl who left with her mother for her first contest and never came back. If they could find her, they’d need every bit of that cow to feed all the company and relatives who would attend. A homecoming and a Sunrise Ceremony. Goodness, there would be hundreds of people.
“She’s been gone a long time,” said Izzie.
Clay
