Riding for Love (A Western Romance) (21 page)

Chapter 19

Warm from the glow of last night’s lovemaking and the thought of no guests until the next morning, Eve watched Denton reading the Sunday paper. He reclined in an oversized stuffed chair seemingly made for his tall frame, sipping his coffee. This was so right; looked right, felt right, even smelled right, as if his spirit not only burned in her brain, but into the walls of her house. How had she survived the past ten years without him?

Tom had always told her the past had made her stronger, more self-reliant. She
had
learned to like herself and not rely on someone else for her feelings. He may be right, she thought, but life sure was a lot more fun with Denton around.

Denton put down the paper, interrupting her musings.

“What are you looking at?” he asked.

“You, and how right this all is.”

He nodded. “Come here, hon.”

Eve sat on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Is this what you had in mind?”

“This and a whole lot more,” he answered, nuzzling his face in her breasts.

She shivered at the sensations rolling through her body. She’d never get enough of him, and reached to pull her top off to give him better access when someone knocked at the door. “Crap. Must be Dan. Some people sure have lousy timing.” She eased off his lap and went to the door.

For the first time in her life, dismay filled her at the sight of Tom standing at her door. He stepped into the room, caught sight of Denton, and frowned.

“Morning, Eve,” he said, giving her a hug. Stepping back, he scowled at Denton. “Dent, when did you get here?”

Denton winked at Eve and smiled. “What do you think, hon? Ten, ten-thirty?”

“AM or PM, boy?”

“Does it matter?”

Tom’s jaw muscles clenched. He took a step toward Denton. “When it comes to Eve, sure as hell does.”

Denton rose and stood square in front of the older man. “How’s my mother, old man?”

“None of your business,” he said, his voice holding bravado, while his face turned a shade darker than Eve’s.

“Sure as hell is when it’s my mother.”

The men stood nose-to-nose, arms at their sides, hands fisted. She was afraid they would exchange blows at any minute.

“All right, you two, enough.” She slapped both men on their arms when they ignored her. Denton glanced in her direction, but Tom continued to glower at the younger man.

“I said
stop
. You are both acting like children. We’re all adults, and what we do in our private lives is . . . well, private.”

Denton poked Tom in the chest. “You’d better not hurt her, or you will answer to me.”

Tom poked Denton back. “And you’d better not hurt Eve . . . again.”

Eve rolled her eyes. “Geesh, you guys. Can we get on with something else?” She pulled Denton to a chair at the table. “Sit. Stay.” She turned back to Tom. “Take a seat.” After he sat down, still eyeing Denton, she added, “By the way, how is Rose?”

Looking directly at Denton, Tom replied, “Smilin’ when I left her.”

Both men jumped up and faced each other again.

“Stop it,” Eve yelled. “What will the sheriff think when he gets here and has to break up a fight? I’ll have both of you arrested if you don’t knock it off.” Hands on her hips, she stood between both men. “Tom, get used to the idea that Denton and I love each other and have a relationship. Denton, get used to the idea your mother is still a young, vibrant, beautiful woman . . .”

“Amen to that,” Tom injected, earning a snarl from Denton.

“. . . who’s been alone long enough to want male companionship and who happens to be Tom. You guys got it?” Neither said anything. “I said, got it?” When they nodded, she added, “Now shake hands like good little boys.”

A car door slammed while they exchanged grudging handshakes. “I think the sheriff is here. And none too soon.”

Dan stepped into the foyer and glanced from Denton to Tom sitting at the kitchen table, their chairs facing in opposite directions, looking like a couple of kids who’d just been reprimanded by the school principal. “Everything all right here? Do I need to bring out my billy club?”

“It they don’t behave, you may have to. They’re just acing like a couple of jerks.” She went to the cupboard and withdrew two coffee mugs. “Sit down, Dan.”

“Let’s get down to business,” Dan said after everyone’s mugs were filled. He set a pad of paper on the table. “I need to go over each incident with you, including the dates and who was involved.”

Step-by-step, the trio went through each item. After they were done, Dan had a page full of notes.

“Denton, when did you come back to town?”

“The first part of May.”

“When did you start your lessons here?”

“The last week of June.”

The sheriff studied his notes. “So from what I can tell, this all started about the time Denton came back to town. Right?”

Denton’s chair crashed to the floor as he jumped up to face the sheriff. “Go to hell. I am not part of whatever this is.”

“Settle down, Dent. I already said I’m not accusing you of anything.” He paused and placed hands in the air. “Honestly, I’m not.”

When Denton sat down and crossed his arms over his chest, Dan went on. “Here’s the deal. As I mentioned last night, you’re not the only one having problems. Some of them started last fall, and now they’re escalating. Last night,” he paused, looking at each of them in turn. “Yep, last night while we were all at the reunion, someone damaged three of the Nelson’s machines—a combine, hay baler, and a tractor. They called me this morning and instead of being in church with my family, I was out investigating.”

“Was the damage bad?” Tom asked.

“Bad enough. They’ll need to order parts and since they’d already cut hay and were ready to bale, they may lose the crop. He says it will set him back a bit, but, if anything else goes wrong, he may not be able to make his farm payments.”

Tom pushed his hat around on the table. “Those things are damned expensive and once a farmer gets behind in payments, damned hard to catch up.” He shook his head. “They could lose everything.” He turned to Eve. “Can we lend them our baler?”

“Of course, Tom, and anything else they may need.” She folded her hands around her cup. “But I don’t own a farm, and none of the damage is as bad as the Nelsons’.”

“If they got worse and added up, could it put you in financial problems?” Dan asked.

“I’ve had a few worried moments,” Eve admitted. “But I’ve had a fairly good year and been able to cover the damage. If I have any major problems, I could be in trouble like the Nelsons’” She noticed Denton and Tom’s frowns. “I didn’t want to worry you both. I’m fine, really.”

Dan studied his notes again. “Eve, when did your father come to visit?”

Eve sat back in her chair. “A few days after Denton came for lessons. According to Snook, Ed was released from prison a week earlier. Might have been earlier than that. We can’t believe what Snook tells us. Do you think Ed’s behind this?”

“Why, to get the ranch back?” Denton asked.

“Even if Eve lost the ranch,” Tom said, “he’d have to buy it back. Since I’m part owner, he’d have to purchase it from both of us. Where would he get the money?”

Eve nodded and nibbled on a cold piece of toast to calm her churning stomach. “But so far what’s happening isn’t affecting me enough to make me lose the ranch. Things are tight, but then they always are. Something else is going on.”

Dan tapped his pen on the table. “I agree. Besides, this isn’t confined to Eve. What about Snook? He’s your cousin and all, but he’s a real piece of work. He’s been flashing cash around with no visible means of a job.”

“Sounds like him.” She got up and refilled her mug. “Again, what’s the reason? I know he thought the farm should have gone to him, but he was dreaming.” She sat down and plopped her chin in her hand.

The kitchen clock ticking broke through the silence as they thought of possibilities.

“Dammit,” Tom yelled, slamming his hand on the table making her jump. “Why didn’t I think of this before?”

Eve wiped up spilled coffee with a napkin. “Think of what?”

“Sand.”

Dan’s eyebrows drew down. “What about sand?”

Tom leaned into the table. “Someone at Jake’s bar a few months back said something about sand in the area, but it was said so quietly I’m not sure I heard right. I never heard anything more so I forgot about it.”

“I’m confused,” Denton said. “Tell us about this sand.”

“Evidently, there is a process in refining or mining oil or something using sand called fracking.”

“What’s that got to do with us?” Eve asked, even more confused than ever.

“Well, see, they need a certain type of sand and supposedly there’s a lot of this sand in Wisconsin. I guess people are selling out their land for millions.”

The sheriff leaned back in his chair. “Seriously? Millions? I can’t believe I haven’t heard about this.”

“Yup. Remember, I was eavesdropping, so I may have heard wrong.”

“I don’t have any sand on my property,” Eve said. “And I’d certainly remember if someone offered me millions for my land.”

Denton thought for a moment. “Are you sure? Remember when we were looking for your dad and I found signs of digging?”

“If someone is poking around my land, how are they doing it without being seen?” A shiver ran up her spine.

Tom rubbed the back of his neck and frowned. “Your land butts up to the Nelsons’. They could be coming from there, or from the road and swinging around to the land. All those trails make it mighty easy for someone to get around without our noticing.”

“They, whoever they are, would be taking an awful chance of being seen,” Eve said.

“Not if they know the ranch’s schedule,” the sheriff added.

Denton snapped his fingers. “Or figure a holiday like the Fourth of July would be a day everyone would be or should be in town for the celebration.”

“The pond!” Eve and Denton said in unison.

“The pond?” Tom asked.

Eve blushed, hoping her friend and the sheriff weren’t paying attention. Denton winked at her.

“We took a ride to the pond on the Fourth when everyone was in town.”

“A picnic,” Eve explained, seeing Tom’s grimace.

“Yes, a picnic,” Denton agreed. “We fell asleep, and when I woke up, something was rustling in the grass. I thought the horses were restless, but when we went to leave, our horses were gone.”

“You didn’t tell me about that,” Tom said, his frown creating deep grooves between his eyes.

“No big deal,” Eve said, gazing down at her folded hands in her lap. “We walked back. Tilly and Della were in the barn when we returned.”

Tom chuckled. “Denton probably didn’t tie his properly.”

Denton gave him a sour glance. “I’d say you’re probably right, except the branches they were tied to were cut.”

Dan tapped his pen on the pad of paper, then stood and stretched. “I need to get home for dinner. I’m going to check out this sand business. Meanwhile, keep an eye out for any signs of someone on your land. Talk to your employees and see if they’ve noticed anything.”

After the sheriff left, Eve was silent, thinking about the sand companies. “Seriously? Millions? I wonder if the Nelsons’ have been asked to sell.”

“I think we need to do some investigating of our own,” Denton said.

“I agree.” Tom stood and slapped his hat on his head.

“Tom, how about you search the area behind the barn and either side of the driveway. Denton and I will tackle the trails to and around the pond.” She pushed back her chair. “Anyone want lunch before we go?”

“No, I had a late breakfast.” Tom stared pointedly at Denton as if he expected the younger man to voice his opinion on his night activities.

Eve held her breath and slowly released it when Denton didn’t rise to the bait. “Denton?”

He smiled at Tom. “Why don’t we take some sandwiches with us? Maybe bring a blanket. You never can tell how long we’ll be gone and what may happen.”

She smacked her hand on the table. “Like I said before, that’s enough. You’re both acting like children and it’s getting tiring. Tom, do you want a sandwich?”

He walked to the door. “Like I said . . .”

“Tom . . .” Eve warned him in a tone hinting he and Denton had better listen or pay the consequences.

He put his hands up in mock surrender. “All right. All right. I’m done.” He glowered at Denton. “For now.” He yanked open the door and stepped outside, slamming the door behind him.

“Denton, I hope I don’t need to come between you two every time you’re in the same room.”

“What about the same city?”

Eve slapped her hands on her hips. “Denton Johanson, we’re adults. Why can’t your mother enjoy herself?”

“I know, I know.” He shook his head. “But she’s my mother,” he whined.

“Give it up. Your mother can take care of herself.” She walked to the refrigerator. “Now, do you really want sandwiches and a blanket?”

His dimpled deepened when he grinned. “I’d love a sandwich, but let’s forgo the blanket this time.” He pulled her into his arms and pressed his face against the crook of her neck. “As much as I love the idea of a repeat performance of our last visit to the lake, I don’t like the idea someone may be spying on us.”

“Me, either.” She kissed his cheek and stepped out of his embrace. “Why don’t you get the horses ready, and I’ll pack us a lunch?”

“Both horses?”

“Yes.”

Denton released a long, deep sigh. “I don’t have a change of clothes here to hassle with a couple of horses.”