“Oh, yes,” he said disdainfully. “The story of how you’re a guest at Parson’s and how you just
happened
to get lost on Rafferty property.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, she affected a pose of casualness, refusing to take his bait. “That’s correct.”
“Funny how Parson’s doesn’t have a Caitlan Daniels registered.”
“Pardon?” A frisson of panic raced down Caitlan’s spine. How could he have known?
“I called Parson’s.” A smug smile lifted his mouth and challenge lit his eyes. “They’ve never heard of you.”
Careful to keep her composure intact while her mind raced with explanations, she replied in a mild tone, “There’s obviously been a mistake.”
He leaned close, and his noxious breath nearly made her gag. “I don’t think so,” he said in a low, menacing voice. “I’ll ask you again. Who are you and what are you doing here?”
“I think you’re getting a little paranoid, Randal.” She turned to go, but he grabbed her arm, whirling her around.
“Bitch!” he hissed. “I don’t know what you’re up to, but by the time I’m done with you you’ll be off this ranch and wearing handcuffs for trespassing—”
“J.T. won’t allow it.” Caitlan knew that even though J.T. had been gruff at times today, he wasn’t a cruel man.
He gripped her arm tighter, pinching the flesh so fiercely she winced. “We’ll just see what J.T. has to say about your lies,” he sneered, jerking her around and shoving her back toward the house. “He doesn’t take lightly to women lying. All it will take is a phone call to Parson’s to verify who’s telling the truth and who’s an imposter.”
Randal barged into J.T.’s office without knocking and thrust Caitlan into the middle of the room with such force that she stumbled. Catching her balance by grabbing one of the two chairs in front of J.T.’s desk, she shot Randal a vexed look, briefly wondering how she was going to explain herself out of this predicament.
J.T. glanced up from the open ledger on his desk to the unexpected intrusion, a deep frown pulling at his brows. Casting a sharp glance from Randal to Caitlan, he closed the ledger and pushed it aside. “What’s going on?”
Taking up guard next to Caitlan, Randal crossed his arms over his chest, a look of belligerence about him. “We have a liar on our hands.”
“Randal, what the hell are you talking about?” J.T. asked irritably. Standing, he rubbed at the muscles in his neck.
Randal glanced at Caitlan, a cocksure smile curling his lips. “Would you like to tell him or should I?”
“It’s your story,” she replied sweetly. “By all means, go right ahead.”
His eyes darkened to a turbulent shade of brown at the sarcasm threading her words, then he turned to J.T. again. “I called Parson’s to check up on our
guest
. They’ve never heard of her,” he said, his voice dripping with accusation.
Something flickered in the depths of J.T.’s eyes, a blending of wariness and his own growing suspicion. “Caitlan?” His tone indicated that he wanted an explanation.
She shrugged negligently, belying the nervousness settling within her. “I told him they must have made a mistake.”
Their eyes held for an eternity, his gaze searching and probing for the truth. Finally he released a long breath of air. “She’s probably right, Randal.”
“She’s a fraud, J.T.!” Randal stepped up to the desk and planted his palms on the surface, leaning across. “She shows up out of nowhere, has free access to the ranch and house, and she isn’t registered at Parson’s. She’s probably a gold digger of some sort, no better than Stacey—”
A muscle in J.T.’s jaw twitched. “Randal—”
“I was very thorough when I called Parson’s,” he continued determinedly, “The registration clerk, Jason, assured me that there’s no Caitlan Daniels listed as a guest. If you don’t believe me, then call yourself. Or does she have you too ensnared?” His eyes glinted with challenge. Digging into his jacket pocket, he tossed a piece of paper with a phone number on it to J.T. “Go ahead, and then I’ll be more than happy to call the sheriff to come pick her up.”
Indecision played across J.T.’s face, and his cousin’s influence won the battle. With a sigh, he reached for the phone.
Caitlan honestly didn’t expect J.T. to side with her after all the evidence Randal had just given him, but she couldn’t understand why J.T. wasn’t suspicious of Randal’s overzealousness. With a sense of dread, she watched J.T. punch out the phone number for Parson’s, identify himself to the person on the other end of the phone, then ask to speak with Hugh Parson.
J.T. glanced at Caitlan as he waited on hold for his call to connect to Hugh. She was chewing on her bottom lip, her face shadowed with an emotion similar to worry. This whole confrontation in his office was bizarre—Randal’s fanatical behavior, Caitlan’s sudden anxiousness, and his own need to confirm that Randal was wrong about Caitlan. He didn’t want to think that everything had been a lie with her, a setup of some kind. Dammit, he didn’t want to think she might be as cunning as Stacey.
“Rafferty, what can I do for you?” boomed the voice of the sixty-four-year-old Hugh Parson. “You callin’ to offer some of that brawn of yours to help repair the bridge?”
J.T. grinned his fondness for the old family friend. “Sorry, Hugh. I’ve got my hands full here at the Circle R.”
“Yeah, well, those damn county engineers don’t know their heads from a hat rack!” Hugh grumbled. “At the rate they’re going, I’ll be bankrupt before they’re through! Can’t get people in, can’t send them out. Can you believe this has happened? I’d of sworn that bridge was indestructible. It’s been around since your father and I were boys. We watched them build the dangblasted thing!”
J.T. gave a low whistle. “That long ago, huh? Maybe that’s why it collapsed.”
“Hey, watch yourself, boy!” Hugh’s gruff retort held only affection. “Now, what can I do for you?”
J.T. met Caitlan’s gaze, and she offered him a slight smile more tentative than confident. Clearing his throat, he addressed the older man, “I believe I have one of your guests here on my ranch.”
“You do?”
“Yes,” J.T. said, uneasy with Hugh’s perplexed tone. “I need to know if you have a Caitlan Daniels registered at the dude ranch.”
“Caitlan Daniels?” Hugh repeated the name slowly, as if running a mental index on all his customers. “Can’t say the name sounds familiar, but then, I’ve got over fifty people registered right now. Unfortunately, I don’t know everyone by name, but that doesn’t mean she’s not a guest here.”
“Could you check her out for me?”
“I could, but the storm did a number on my computers and they’re down,” Hugh said with a regretful sigh. “Don’t know when they’ll be up and runnin’ again. I can check with the guides and see what I come up with.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“I’m sure if she says she’s one of our guests, she is. Where else could she have come from?”
Exactly, J.T. thought. How many times had he speculated on that very same question?
“I’m just glad she wasn’t harmed in that nasty storm,” Hugh said, concern evident in his voice.
“She’s just fine,” J.T. reassured him. “So don’t worry about her.”
There was a pause on Hugh’s end of the line, then, “If the bridge is out, how the hell did she get on Rafferty property?”
“She crossed the bridge before it was damaged.”
Hugh swore. “No kidding?”
“That’s what she claims.”
Hugh released an abrupt laugh, “Stranger things have happened. In this business you learn to expect the unexpected.”
Randal moved toward J.T.’s desk, fury contorting his features. “I called and they confirmed that she’s not a guest!” he said in a burst of anger. “She’s a fraud, I’m telling you.”
J.T. stared at Randal. The injustice and rage in Randal’s gaze spurred him to follow up on his cousin’s accusation, if only to appease Randal. Caitlan’s chin had lifted indignantly at Randal’s slur, which gave J.T. a slight reassurance that her claim was fact, not fiction. Still, a sense of suspicion lingered.
“Hugh, Randal called earlier and talked to the registration clerk. Jason told him there wasn’t a Caitlan Daniels registered there.”
“With the computers being down, there’s no way to know that for certain,” Hugh replied. “Jason’s a new guy, and everything’s been so hectic around here. One little sleet storm and everything falls to sh—”
“Thanks for your help, Hugh,” J.T. interrupted the man’s tirade, more concerned with Randal’s increasing temper.
“It won’t be a problem if she stays at the ranch until everything gets halfway back to normal, will it?” Hugh asked hopefully. “We’re looking into chartering a helicopter to transport food and supplies in and out, but until the bridge is repaired, the fewer people I have here to get in the way, the better.”
“It’s not a problem, Hugh. We’ll keep in touch.”
J.T. hung up the phone and looked at Randal. “The computers at Parson’s are down, but Hugh seems to think she’s more than likely a guest there.” What other explanation could there be?
“She’s lying!” Randal said through gritted teeth.
J.T. glanced at Caitlan, searching for the perfidious woman Randal claimed her to be. All he saw was the caring woman who’d saved him from death. He rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly tired of doubting her motives. “Caitlan’s given me no reason to believe she’s lying.”
Randal’s nostrils flared, then he spun around and glared at Caitlan. Without a word he stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind him. J.T. winced as the sharp sound reverberated through his aching head like a cannon shot.
“I’m sorry.” Caitlan’s soft voice drifted over J.T. like a balm. “I didn’t mean to cause trouble.”
J.T. released a long, controlled breath. “No, I should be the one apologizing. I don’t know what Randal’s problem is.” Letting loose a dry laugh, he plowed his fingers through his hair in an agitated movement. “Hell, who am I foolin’? I know exactly what his problem is. Too much booze and too many obligations and debts dumped on him by his old man. I guess I’d be pretty strung out if were in his shoes.”
“He’s had a rough life?”
“Yeah, you could say that.”
“Want to talk about it?” Her silky voice could have coaxed a confession from the devil himself.
Dropping into his leather chair, J.T. scrubbed a hand over his stubbled jaw. He figured he owed Caitlan the truth after everything Randal had put her through in the short time she’d been at the ranch. Maybe if he explained, she’d better understand his cousin’s resentment and bitterness. And maybe if he talked to Caitlan he could work out some of his own frustration over the situation. “You sure you wanna hear this?”
An encouraging smile on her lips, she lowered herself into the chair in front of his desk. “I’ve been told I’m a good listener.”
And that’s exactly what he needed right now, besides an aspirin for the splitting headache spawned by Randal’s abuse with the door. J.T. leaned back in his chair. “My Uncle Boyd, Randal’s father, never did care for ranching life. He was always looking for an easy investment. When some guy from town offered him a copper mine sure to produce millions, Uncle Boyd sold his portion of this ranch to my father, Jared.”
“How long ago was that?”
J.T. thought for a moment, a little surprised to realize just how long ago the trouble had actually started. “About fourteen years ago.” He pressed his index finger to the throb in his temple and the pain eased.
“So what happened?” she asked, genuine interest in her voice.
“Uncle Boyd sank every penny he had into his mine, but he couldn’t produce enough copper to stay afloat. The mine played out after a few years, and Uncle Boyd lost everything.”
“Everything?”
“Yep. His house, his truck, his wife—”
“His wife?” She frowned, her smooth brows furrowing over violet eyes. “Did she die?”
“No. Aunt Gina left Uncle Boyd after he went bankrupt.”
Caitlan straightened in her chair, contempt flaring in her gaze. “She should have stayed by his side—”
“She probably would have if Uncle Boyd hadn’t been abusing her.”
Caitlan sucked in an audible breath. The spark in her eyes mellowed to sympathy. “That’s horrible. Why would he do such a thing?”
“My best guess would be so he’d feel like a man. After Uncle Boyd lost everything he had no choice but to tuck his tail between his legs, swallow his pride, and come to work for my father on a ranch that had once been half his. He was hard to get along with, always drunk and taking his anger out on the livestock and anything and anyone who’d take it.”
“And your father allowed him to continue working on the ranch?”
J.T. picked up a gold-plated letter opener from his desk and slid his fingers along the smooth surface, remembering all the tension and arguments between his father and Uncle Boyd, and his dad’s answer when J.T. had asked him a question similar to Caitlan’s. Jared had slapped him on the back and looked him straight in the eye, saying, “You never turn your back on family, son. Someday it might be you who needs a helping hand.”
Tossing the letter opener back onto the blotter, he met Caitlan’s inquisitive gaze. “Uncle Boyd was family, Caitlan. My father’s brother. He had no one and nowhere to go. The Raffertys are a loyal bunch. We take care of our own. I guess that’s why I put up with Randal.”