Diana Palmer Christmas Collection: The Rancher / Christmas Cowboy / A Man of Means / True Blue / Carrera's Bride / Will of Steel / Winter Roses

Oh, what a bunch of bull, she told herself angrily. Of course she had hard feelings. She loved Cort. She wanted him! But he loved Odalie and that was never going to change. How would it feel, to let a man hang around just because he felt guilty that you’d been hurt? Knowing every day that he was smiling and pretending to care, when he really wanted that beautiful golden girl, Odalie Everett, and always would?

No. That would cheat all three of them. She had to let him go. He belonged to Odalie, and Maddie had always known it. She was going to sell the ranch to that terrible developer and make herself homeless out of pride, because she didn’t want her friends to sacrifice any more than they already had for her.

That developer, could he have been responsible for her lost cows? But why would he hurt the livestock when he was hoping to buy the ranch? No. It made no sense. None at all.

Later, with her door closed, she cried herself to sleep. She couldn’t stop thinking about Cort, about how tender he’d been to her, how kind. Surely he hadn’t been able to pretend the passion she felt in his long, hard, insistent kisses? Could men pretend to want a woman?

She wished she knew. She wanted to believe that his hints at a shared future had been honest and real. But she didn’t dare trust her instincts. Not when Cort had taken Odalie with him to Denver and hidden it from Maddie.

He hadn’t wanted her to know. That meant he knew it would hurt her feelings and he couldn’t bear to do it, not after all she’d been through.

She wiped her eyes. Crying wasn’t going to solve anything. After all, what did she have to be sad about? There was a good chance that she would be able to walk normally again, when she was through recuperating. She’d still have Great-Aunt Sadie, and the developer said that he’d let her have her odds and ends out of the house.

The developer. She hated him. He was willing to set her up, to let her whole herd of cattle be destroyed, her breeding stock, just to get his hands on the ranch. She could tell someone, Mr. Brannt, maybe. But it would be her word against Lawson’s. She had so much to lose. What if he could actually infect her cattle? Better to let her cattle be sold at auction to someone than risk having them destroyed. She couldn’t bear to step on a spider, much less watch her prize cattle, her father’s prize cattle, be exterminated.

No, she really didn’t have a choice. She was going to lose the ranch one way or another, to the developer or to bill collectors.

She got up and went to the kitchen to make coffee. It was two in the morning, but it didn’t matter. She was never going to sleep anyway.

She heard a sound out in the yard. She wished she kept a dog. She’d had one, but it had died not long after her father did. There was nothing to alert her to an intruder’s presence anymore. She turned out the lights and motored to the window, hoping the sound of the wheelchair wouldn’t be heard outside.

She saw something shadowy near the barn. That was where the surveillance equipment was set up.

She turned on all the outside lights, opened the door and yelled, “Who’s out there?!” The best defense was offense, she told herself.

There was startled movement, a dark blur going out behind the barn. Without a second thought, she got her cell phone and called the sheriff.

The sheriff’s department came, and so did King Brannt. He climbed out of his ranch pickup with another man about two steps behind the tall deputy.

Maddie rolled onto the porch. She’d been afraid to go outside until help arrived. She was no match, even with two good legs, for someone bent upon mischief.

“Miss Lane?” the deputy asked.

“Yes, sir,” she said. “Someone was out here. I turned on the outside lights and yelled. Whoever it was ran.”

The deputy’s lips made a thin line.

“Yes, I know,” she said heavily. “Stupid thing to do, opening the door. But I didn’t go outside, and the screen was latched.”

He didn’t mention that any intruder could have gone through that latched screen like it was tissue paper.

“Miss Lane’s had some threats,” King commented. “This is Blair, my computer expert. We set up surveillance cameras on the ranch at cross fences to see if we could head off trouble.” He smiled. “Looks like we might have succeeded.”

“Have you noticed anything suspicious?” the deputy asked.

She grimaced. “Well, I’ve had a couple of cows found dead. Predators,” she said, averting her eyes.

“Anyone prowling around the house, any break-ins?” he persisted.

“No, sir.”

The deputy turned to King. “Mr. Brannt, I’d like to see what those cameras of yours picked up, if anything.”

“Sure. Come on, Blair.” He turned to Maddie. “You should go back inside, honey,” he said gently. “Just in case.”

“Okay.” She went very quickly. She didn’t want any of the men to ask her more questions. She was afraid of what Lawson might do if he was backed into a corner. She didn’t want the government to come over and shut her cattle operation down, even if it meant giving away the ranch.

Later, the deputy came inside, asked more questions and had her write out a report for him in her own words. He took that, and statements from King and Blair and told Maddie to call if she heard anything else.

“Did you find anything?” she asked worriedly.

“No,” the deputy said. “But my guess is that someone meant to disable that surveillance equipment.”

“Mine, too,” King replied. “Which is why I’ve just sent several of my cowboys out to ride fence lines and watch for anything suspicious.”

“That’s very nice of you,” she commented.

He shrugged. “We’re neighbors and I like your breeding bulls,” he told her.

“Well, thanks, just the same.”

“If you think of anything else that would help us, please get in touch with me,” the deputy said, handing her a card.

“I’ll do that,” she promised. “And thanks again.”

King didn’t leave when the deputy did. Sadie was making coffee in the kitchen, her face lined with worry.

“It will be all right,” she assured the older woman.

“No, it won’t,” Sadie muttered. She glanced at Maddie. “You should tell him the truth. He’s the one person who could help you!”

“Sadie!” Maddie groaned.

King pulled Blair aside, spoke to him in whispers, and sent him off. He moved into the kitchen, straddled a chair at the table and perched his Stetson on a free chair.

“Okay,” he said. “No witnesses. Let’s have it.”

Maddie went pale.

King laughed softly. “I’m not an ogre. If you want my word that I won’t tell anyone what you say, you have it.”

Maddie bit her lower lip. “That developer,” she said after a minute. “He said that he could bring in a federal agency and prove that my cattle had anthrax.”

“Only if he put it there to begin with,” King said, his dark eyes flashing with anger.

“That’s what I think he means to do,” she said. “I don’t know what to do. The bills are just burying me…”

He held up a hand. “Cort and Odalie are taking care of those,” he said.