eyes. Pierce was okay-looking and mostly genial, but perhaps not as hard a worker as he should be.
Melody took a seat on the similar sofa section, while the deputy sat on the larger one and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. He looked toward her as if encouraging her to begin the description.
But Pierce took over. Pointing toward the rear of the house, he described the five-hundred-acre ranch and about how many cattle there were—quite a few more than those that were stolen, fortunately. “Our main range is out that way. It’s divided into sections because of the terrain. Dry sand in some areas, grass and higher growth in others, lots of hillsides, small mountains, all that kind of thing.”
“Interesting,” the deputy said. “I’ll want to see it soon, or as much of it as possible. Now, tell me more about who discovered the problem and how.”
Again he looked toward Melody. Pierce attempted to answer, never mind that Deputy Colton seemed to be addressing her. But as much as she liked Pierce and the way he mostly helped her learn about this ranch, Melody disliked being ignored. She spoke up, talking over Pierce.
“As it turns out, I probably should have been the one to discover the problem, but I wasn’t.” She described how she and some ranch hands, including Pierce, resided in apartments in the bunkhouse behind this house and slightly west of the stables. The fenced-in ranch land began behind them, and the several herds of cattle ranged in different fenced areas within it.
Last night, she hadn’t slept well, although she wasn’t sure why. “Now, though, I believe I might have heard something in the distance while asleep that disturbed me, though I didn’t fully awaken.”
“I’ll want to see the location of your residences, particularly yours,” the lawman said.
“Of course, Deputy Colton.” From what she’d learned, the name Colton was an important one in many areas. Whether or not he was a lawman, though, she didn’t particularly like his knowing where she lived.
“Just call me Casey,” the law-enforcement official said with a small grin on that good-looking face. As uncomfortable as she felt, she knew that getting along with him, including being on a first-name basis, was probably going to be helpful in the long run as they worked with him to find the missing cattle.
“Okay, Casey. And as you know, I’m Melody.”
“And I’m Pierce,” the other man said. “Are we all going to head to bed together now?”
Melody found herself laughing, even as the discomfort within her eased a bit. “Not I,” she said.
“Only if the missing cattle are there,” Casey retorted. “So, okay, tell me more about how you discovered that those cattle were missing.” He smiled at Pierce first, then her. “And we’ll keep our minds on the range, not in the bedroom.”
“Fine with me,” Melody said with a shake of her head. Although the idea of combining Casey and a bedroom… She forced the thought out of her head.
“Well, if that’s the case,” Pierce said, “I’m out of here. I’m supposed to be out in the east pasture with a couple of the other hands but thought I was needed here.” He stood, nodded toward Casey and said, “Hope you find those missing cows soon. Real soon.” And then he left.
So, no matter what Clarence said, apparently Pierce wasn’t staying involved.
“I second what he said,” Melody told Casey. “And though I can tell you a lot more about this place, I think it’ll be more productive if we go outside and I show you around.”
“Fine,” Casey said. “I’ll want to see everything you and the others have found so far before I really dig into the investigation.”
“Sure,” Melody said. “I’ve only worked here for about six months, but I’ve learned a lot about this great ranch. And although I haven’t gone chasing those missing cattle yet, we can go to the place they got past the OverHerd fencing and start our real investigation there.”
They both stood and she looked at Casey. He had an odd expression on his face. A scowl, she thought, and it seemed to mar his good looks.
What was he thinking? she wondered. Good thing he was scowling, though. He clearly wasn’t having the same kinds of thoughts about her as she had about him.
Although… Well, not going to happen.
It was better that way.
Our real investigation? Casey didn’t want to contradict Melody, not when he needed her to show him what she and the others had found so far, but she wasn’t going to be part of his investigation.
He was the deputy assigned here. This was his job.
And besides…well, he was finding it a bit uncomfortable to be around Melody, especially now, when they were alone.
Problem was, she seemed much too beautiful to be a ranch hand. Her long, dark hair was secured behind her head in a ponytail, and she had a gorgeous face, with deep brown eyes above high cheekbones and below attractively curved, dark eyebrows. Those eyes showed what she appeared to be feeling—sometimes infuriated by the rustling that had gone on here, sometimes amused, or irritated, by what Pierce had said, sometimes pleading with Casey to fix the problem…and always winsome and appealing.
Too appealing. Never mind that she appeared to be a little older than him.
And since he’d been left at the altar four years ago, he hadn’t been interested in another woman.
Didn’t want to be now.
But he needed information from her. So—
“Great,” he said. “Let’s go.”
He glanced around again before beginning to follow her out the door. The sofa from which he’d risen, which matched the other seats, had been surprisingly comfortable considering how elaborate it was, with its leather seating punched evenly with deep matching buttons and back lined with attractive, carved wood. It looked expensive. Everything in this room—everything he’d seen at this ranch—looked expensive. But then, he didn’t doubt that Clarence Edison could afford all that and more.
Though perhaps not as much if he didn’t get back his valuable missing cattle.
Melody, hips swaying gently even as she hurried, led him in a different direction down the hallway they’d walked along before, and soon they passed through the large kitchen, which was also elaborately outfitted with expensive-looking equipment, though no one was working there now. Did Edison have a personal chef? He wouldn’t be surprised.
Soon they were on the varnished wooden porch, having exited from the rear door. The yard beyond was mostly dirt decorated with desert plants, cacti and more. Straight ahead, past the elongated stables and an even larger barn with a peaked roof, a mountain range rose, not especially tall but broad. Another building, possibly a bunkhouse, was located near the back of the ranch house. Toward the south, beyond the substantial-looking fence, was land covered with grass, as far as he could see. He couldn’t tell how large the vast rolling lawn
