He stooped to pick up a stick, then walked to the edge of the cottage porch and sat. He quickly sketched a crude map in the dirt. Mallory bent down on one knee, his gaze intent.
“The raids look random,” Brendan said, “unless ya plot it out from a bird’s-eye view. Then it makes sense.”
“So far Avery’s come off lookin’ like a real saint, savin’ the poor, desperate and terrified from complete ruin.” Mallory nodded.
Brendan drew in the dust as he spoke. “And in the meantime, he’s picked off targets here, here and there. He tried to get hold of the Harkens’ place here,” he said, and drew an F on another square he’d drawn. “But he failed, thanks to Joshua Wheaton and Alex Reynolds protecting young Billy’s interests. Avery offered for the Oliver place, too, but all he got was the sharp side of that young lady’s tongue.”
Another F, for failed attempt, joined the first, but that property was in the opposite end of the county. “Then these three fell. No survivors usually means family back East mourn and sell.” Those squares got an X.
“Lump together all these places we think he moved on, now add Belleza. Look at this. They all fall in a horseshoe around the town. Which is why I’m here. The Rocking R and Shamrock stand in his way. Shamrock is either the next to be moved on or he’s planning to acquire it another way.
“I’ve heard he’s trying to get to Helena’s heart.” Brendan hesitated, but decided to hell with what the foreman thought. “I couldn’t let that happen. So now that I’m here, he’ll move on us eventually. Probably before he thinks I can get Shamrock fortified. What safety measures have you taken?”
Mallory outlined a comprehensive plan of misdirection with regard to the number of men at Shamrock, the quality of their firearms and careful round-the-clock lookouts.
“Do you think Helena would tell Avery what she’s armed you all with?”
“She has no idea she bought the best. She lets me order what I want. No use getting outmoded equipment. As far as the wife tells me, Helena and Avery don’t talk about ranching.
“And about the boss, let me tell you something. She comes off brave, but she’s scared. We can’t station anyone inside the house, but we try to see she’s safe by posting guards near to it. Woman alone. Folks would talk if someone saw one of us was too close.”
Brendan winced. Helena had lied. No man had ever warmed her bed. Mallory wouldn’t worry for her reputation, were that the case. Why had Brendan believed her? Clearly, she’d been no more unfaithful than he had.
Because he’d wanted to believe she’d been, that’s why. It had eased his conscience. Made him feel justified in remaining apart from her. But the truth was, she finally needed him, and he intended to be here to protect her.
Chapter Two
Brendan put down the currycomb and gave Harry a pat on his neck. The gelding knocked him backward with a head butt to the chest. “Oh, it’s like that now, is it?” Brendan crooned. “You see herself again for a few days and right away I’m playin’ second fiddle. And who is it that feeds and brushes you till that black hide of yours shines like satin?”
Harry whinnied and lipped Brendan’s cheek. “Ah, but aren’t you the sweet talker.” Then the big black nuzzled his bulging pocket. “I see how the wind blows, you great phony. Just lovin’ me up for a treat.”
“I see you still talk to him more like a friend than just a horse,” Helena said from outside the stall.
Brendan gave Harry a carrot from his pocket, then stepped out into the aisle, saying, “Hear that? It’s ‘just a horse,’ she called you. Remember that and who it is that butters your bread, Harry m’ boy.” Then Brendan said, “He is a friend. And it was you who named him after your da, and spoiled him with apples all the way West. Do ya know the ribbin’ I’ve taken over a horse named for my father-in-law?” Even prepared to look at her loveliness, Brendan felt his heart speed up when their eyes met.
Helena’s smile faded and she sighed. “Were we ever that young and foolish? Where did all the love go?” She shook her head. “No. Never mind. It doesn’t matter anymore. We’re who we are and they were who they were.”
Brendan desperately needed to change the subject before he confessed that he still loved her more than life itself. “Is there something I could be doin’ for you?”
She blinked, clearly surprised by his offer. “Have you seen Jimmy about?” she asked. “Oh. Forget it. I asked him to help Al build a fence around the garden. I have to remember to order some of the wire Rhia Varga uses around her chicken coop. If it keeps her chickens safe from predators, it should do the same for ours, and keep animals out of Shamrock’s vegetable garden.”
She wants to order the wire. Brendan stared at her. He’d quickly come to see that Helena knew what she was doing around the ranch. And had to admit how little credit he’d given her. She knew what it meant to work. And it was damn hard work she’d done and still did.
“I’m sorry for that remark I made about you not knowin’ the meanin’ of work. It’s clear the men respect you and that you often work alongside them.”
“Don’t be sorry. You’d have been right once. The girl who came here didn’t know what hard work meant.” Her eyes glittered in the sunlight—with tears, he feared. “I’m not that naive, sheltered girl any longer. The truth is, you don’t know me and I don’t know you. Maybe we never did.”
He nearly protested that of course he knew her, but she turned away and went to her mare’s stall. Paint Box. The silly name made him smile.
He moved to pat the mare’s blaze at the same time Helena did, and his hand landed atop hers. She gasped and pulled away. Sadness nearly overwhelmed him. Once upon a time she wouldn’t have shied away. And he’d have never left her alone in her bed, either.
No one understood why he and Helena had gone their separate ways after banding together as they made their way to freedom. It had caused a rift in his family he’d yet to fully repair. Worse of all, Brendan was getting to a place where even he didn’t understand what kept them apart. And now it was too late.
He’d thrown away her love in a snit—one he still felt had been justified. But he wasn’t sure if feeling justified had been worth what he’d lost. Putting the thought away, Brendan realized he stood with his hand on the mare, staring straight ahead. And Helena was staring at him. “What was it you wanted Jimmy for?” he asked, to cover his discomfort.
“I wanted him to harness the gig. Elizabeth and Farrah Varga decided to bury Don Alejandro privately. Farrah’s note said they didn’t want to hear a lot of insincere platitudes. I can’t blame them. Some of the men at my father’s funeral were really more like rivals than friends. It made it so much more difficult sorting out who could be trusted and who couldn’t.”
Brendan frowned. He’d never met Helena’s father, who’d already been killed when she’d stumbled upon Brendan’s favorite fishing hole. Putting aside the precious memory of their first meeting, he brought his mind back to what she was saying.
“We decided to give them a tea to see them off. They’re going to visit family.”
That meant a trip into town. “Who are you takin’ with you?”
“With
