Chapter Twenty-Nine

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

B RAND COULDN ' T HAVE been more surprised to hear the wail of the siren and see the sheriff's patrol SUV go flying past the house, headed in the direction of the ranch manager's cabin. He and Ryder and some of the ranch hands followed, all concerned.

The moment he reached the cabin, he saw his mother holding a shotgun barrel against the back of Boyle's head. He sent the ranch hands away. Ryder went with them as if whatever was going on, he wanted no part of it. Brand remembered when he would have felt the same way, especially since the sheriff had gotten out of his rig and was headed this way.

But seeing Birdie standing in Boyle's cabin with his mother and Boyle on the floor, he couldn't have walked away even if he'd wanted to. "I hate to ask," he said, pretty sure that Birdie was neck-deep in it.

"Then don't," his mother snapped. "We have this under control." She softened her words and her expression as she looked at him, then shifted her gaze to Birdie. "Fortunately this young woman came along when she did."

"Really?" he said, looking to Birdie for an explanation and getting nothing as the sheriff pushed past him into the room.

"Someone tell me what's going on here," Stuart demanded as he stepped in and gently removed the shotgun from Brand's mother's hands. Boyle started to speak at the same time as he began to rise from the floor. "You just stay down there, Boyle," the sheriff ordered.

"When I told Boyle that he was fired, he threatened me and then attacked me," Charlotte said, rubbing her bruised wrists. Brand saw dried blood on her lip and couldn't help but wonder what Boyle had been thinking. "If Miss Malone hadn't come to my rescue when she did," his mother continued, "he would have continued his assault and tried to rape me."

"Don't kid yourself. You wouldn't have put up much of a fight," Boyle said with a laugh.

"Shut up, Boyle, before you incriminate yourself further," the sheriff said and turned to Birdie. "Is what Mrs. Stafford said true?"

She nodded. "He was about to punch her when I grabbed him and threw him down. Mrs. Stafford picked up the shotgun before he could get up. He threatened her, was rough with her before that. His intentions were pretty clear."

"Sounds like it was a good thing you came along when you did," Stuart said to her. "You seem to be making a habit of showing up where you're needed. Why are you here this time?"

"I wanted to talk to Mr. Wilson about my father. I understand he might have seen him murdered at the McKenna Ranch."

Boyle snorted. "Maybe Mrs. Stafford would like to change the story that she and this woman concocted here." He turned his head to look up at Charlotte. Brand's gaze went to his mother as well.

"What Miss Malone said is what happened, Sheriff. And yes, I want to press charges along with getting a restraining order against my former ranch manager," she said.

"Big mistake, bitch," Boyle said. "You think I'm not going to talk? You better send your fancy lawyer down with a deal before you make the second biggest mistake of your life. Holden McKenna was the first."

"You have the right to remain silent." Stuart began to read the former ranch manager his rights as he handcuffed him and pulled him to his feet. "I'm going to need a statement from both of you," he said to the women before he led Boyle out to his patrol SUV.

"Are you both all right?" Brand asked unnecessarily, looking from Birdie to his mother. He felt a small jolt at the thought that the two women might be quite a bit alike.

"I'm fine," his mother snapped and stopped rubbing her wrists. "Would you please have someone clean out all of Boyle's personal things from this cabin? I want nothing of that man left." She walked past him and out the cabin door.

Brand turned to Birdie. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

He took a step toward her. "Boyle didn't hurt you, did he?"

"Your mother put the shotgun on him before he could. I got the feeling that she knew how to use it."

Brand chuckled as he pulled her into his arms, thankful that neither of them had been badly hurt. Boyle had always reminded him of a wounded animal; he'd never known what the man might do if cornered. He tried not to worry how much the ranch manager knew about his mother.

"Good thing she didn't have the whip she carries to kill rattlers when she's out horseback riding," he told Birdie. "Boyle was lucky it was just a shotgun to his head."

"Your mother told me that she owes me."

He pulled back a little to raise a brow.

"I think she's going to tell me the truth," Birdie said. "If Boyle Wilson really does have something on your mother about Dixon's death, he made it clear that he planned to talk. So why didn't your mother seem more worried about that—if she was the murderer and Boyle can prove it?"

Brand shook his head. He hated to see her get her hopes up. "For your sake, I hope the truth comes out, but are you sure you want to hear it?"

"My grandmother warned me that I might find out things I won't like about my father, but yes, I want the truth. Then I can finally put my father to rest."

He drew her close again. "I want that for you, Birdie." Even if it meant that she would leave the Powder River Basin, her job here done.

H OLLY J O HADN ' T wanted to see a doctor, but HH had insisted. She'd been reminded of her promise to not cause trouble if she made it back home. So she'd gone. She liked Yvonne Shepherd, the young woman psychologist. Yvonne let her talk about anything she wanted. Most of the time, Holly Jo wanted to talk about her horse and her trick-riding ambitions to be the best.

But they also talked about other things that had been bothering her—like getting herself kidnapped. Yvonne said she understood how Holly Jo might feel guilty, but that she shouldn't. "If they hadn't grabbed you that day, they would have some other day. You did nothing wrong."

She wasn't completely sure that was true and told Yvonne how it seemed like everyone in the Powder River Basin knew her, but she didn't know them. It was why she'd walked up to that pickup to talk to the woman. How could she trust anyone now?

"You will in time," Yvonne promised. "The majority of people can be trusted."

She'd even had the nightmare about a burning Darius Reed chasing her less often. She felt herself getting stronger.

After one session, she had the courage to ask HH something. "That man who kidnapped me," she said, her voice breaking, "was he my father?"

HH looked upset. "No, of course not. He was a man who felt I had wronged him and his family. I had. It was many years ago, when I was just sixteen, not that age is an excuse."

"Then who is my father?" Holly Jo had seen the way people around Powder Crossing looked at her, wondering who she was, what she was doing on the McKenna Ranch, wondering if she was HH's daughter. She'd heard the whispers behind her back.

She'd told herself that it hadn't bothered her. Let them all wonder. She wondered too, but HH swore he wasn't her father. Not that she'd ever known her father. Her mother had only told her that he was gone, which she'd accepted until she was older. Then she'd wanted her mom to tell her what gone meant. "Dead?"

"Just gone, okay?"

"Gone where?"

"Holly Jo, stop asking me about him. It makes me sad."

"Because he isn't coming back?"

"Exactly."

HH looked sad now. "I honestly don't know who your father was. Your mother never told me. It wasn't Bobby Robinson, the man who married her after she became pregnant. She never told him either. I'm sorry. But you don't have to worry. I'm going to legally adopt you as my own."

"Adopt me? But what if he tries to kidnap me, too?"

"No," he said hurriedly. "I'm so sorry this happened to you. I'm never going to let anything like that happen to you again."

She knew he meant well. Just as she knew that was something he couldn't promise. She still blamed herself for walking over to talk to the lady in the pickup.

"I learned something from all this," HH said. "The way you treat other people...it matters. Be kind, do the right thing. I know you will."

She wanted to ask, What if they are mean to you? She couldn't believe he was telling her to just take it. She thought of Gus, who was afraid of his own shadow. She didn't want to be like that. "Can I go ride my horse?"

HH looked relieved and then concerned. "You aren't planning to leave the ranch, are you?"

She shook her head. "I never want to leave." That made him smile, but there was still sadness in his eyes. "Maybe tomorrow we can ride together, but today I just want it to be me and Honey." She wanted to feel the wind in her hair, experience that feeling of flying. Honey made her feel safe. Honey made her believe that one day she wouldn't be afraid anymore.

"Go, have fun," HH said, though she could tell it was hard for him. Would he worry now every time she left the house? "Elaine said she's still going to take you to Billings to buy what you want for your room when you're ready."

"Okay, thanks." But decorating her new room when the house was finished was the last thing on her mind. Which reminded her how much she wasn't that girl anymore.

"Holly Jo?"

She stopped at the door and turned back to look at HH. He too had changed. He seemed older, and she felt bad about that. Maybe when he healed more, he wouldn't look so afraid for her. "Yes?"

"Just...enjoy yourself."

She smiled her thanks, knowing he was going to tell her to be careful but had stopped himself. "There's Pickett," she said at the sound of a car horn. "He's taking me over to the ranch."

H OLDEN WATCHED HER GO , his heart breaking. He'd wanted to hug her to him, to not let her out of his sight, but she was too old for a hug from him, and that had never been their relationship even if he could have hugged her with his injuries.

He'd been given another chance—not just raising a child, but also establishing a relationship with her. He'd been afraid of making the same mistakes he'd made with his own children. Now he'd already jeopardized her life. He couldn't keep worrying about messing her up. He told himself that he'd already done the worst.

"She'll be fine," Elaine said, coming into the room as Holly Jo went out the front door of the Stafford house in her jeans and boots and Western shirt and hat. "Children are resilient. I would imagine that once you live through something like that, you grow stronger. At least, that's what I hope for her."

"We almost lost her," he said, voice breaking with emotion.

She nodded and stepped to him to cover his hand with her own. "We almost lost you as well."

He scoffed, hating to think how he'd let his temper get the best of him. It was a wonder he hadn't gotten the sheriff and Holly Jo killed. "Am I ever going to learn?"

"Are any of us?" She smiled down at him. "Maybe you are, though. You accepted Charlotte's offer. That seems like a huge step."

He groaned, remembering his reaction when Elaine had told him about Charlotte's offer. Live in the Stafford Ranch house? What had Lottie been thinking? His first impulse was to turn her down flat.

"You would be doing Charlotte a favor," Elaine had said. "She won't be there. I think she might be trying to make up for the past a little. Would you deny her that?"

He'd groused for a while, but it had been Brand who'd convinced him his mother had been sincere in her offer. "The house is pretty much empty and right next door to your ranch," Brand had said. "It might be a way of putting all that old animosity between the two families to rest. I really wish you'd take her up on her offer. Ryder and I will be around occasionally, but that's about it. She's let go of the staff."

"This is your chance to get to know your son, a working rancher like you," Elaine had said, and he'd finally agreed.

Lottie wouldn't be there, but he knew he would see her everywhere in the home her husband had made for her—the home the two of them should have had together. The first day he'd walked in after finally being released from the hospital, he'd been anxious. But to his surprise, he didn't see Lottie here like he'd thought he would. It was as if she'd left nothing of herself behind.

"Cooper called to see how you were," Elaine said now. "I told him you were getting crankier by the day. He said that was a good sign, and you must be going to live. Tilly's so happy that we accepted her mother's offer to stay here."

"She have any idea where Charlotte went?" Holden asked.

Elaine shook her head. "No one seems to know or how long she will be gone. She told me she needed some time away."

Holden realized that Elaine and Charlotte were a lot closer than he'd ever imagined—or paid enough attention to notice. It surprised him. "The way our house is coming up, we shouldn't be here long. How will you let Charlotte know we've moved out when that happens?"

Elaine shrugged. "I guess she'll hear about it somehow. I doubt she's worried about it." With that, she left the room, making him think the two weren't that close after all.

His Lottie. He wasn't ready to see her. Not yet. He wasn't even sure when he would be ready—if ever—to dig through the ashes of his house, let alone his and Lottie's tragic love-hate relationship. So much had happened over the years. He just wasn't sure they could ever find their way back to each other.

But even as he thought it, there was that damned sliver of hope that still burned inside him as if nothing could kill it. Not betrayal or lies, or even bullets.

*

B IRDIE CAME OUT of the hotel and stopped short as she saw who was standing next to her SUV, apparently waiting for her. She'd been upset when she heard that Charlotte Stafford had turned her house over to the McKennas and left town. She'd thought it was to avoid making good on what she'd said she owed Birdie.

So seeing her waiting next to her SUV came as a surprise. Birdie took a breath, straightened and walked over to her. She'd been waiting for this for a very long time.

"If you came here to get me to stop looking for my father's killer and her accomplice, you're wasting your time," Birdie said.

Charlotte shook her head. "I've heard about what a determined, strong woman you are. I wouldn't presume to try to change your mind. The only thing I want from you is honesty. Are you using Brand to get to me?"

It was the last thing Birdie had expected her to say. She frowned in surprise. "I love your son." She realized that she hadn't even admitted it to herself until that moment. "It has nothing to do with wanting to see my father's killer behind bars—even if it's you."

The woman rancher nodded gravely. Birdie saw her swallow and look away for a moment before she turned back. "I'm sorry about your father." Before she could respond to that, Charlotte said the last thing Birdie expected. "I'm sorry I married him. I'm sorry he died. I'm sorry I was the one to take him away from you. I've already called the sheriff. I'm turning myself in. If Holly Jo's kidnapping taught me anything, it's time to do what is right."

"You're telling me you killed him." She couldn't help being shocked to have Charlotte admit it. "What about your accomplice? Someone had to help you get him into that well."

The woman looked at her for a moment before she smiled. "You underestimate what I'm capable of all by myself, but if you must know, he's already in jail."

Boyle Wilson had helped her? No wonder he said he would talk if she didn't take back her statement and get him released.

She didn't know what to say, but Charlotte didn't give her a chance. Birdie watched her turn to get back into her SUV, too surprised to move. Had Charlotte Stafford just admitted that she'd killed her second husband? Birdie had expected to feel something more than she did right now. The finality of it rang hollow. There had to be more.

"Wait," she called. Charlotte had just opened the driver's-side door when Birdie stopped her. "Why do I get the feeling that you're covering for someone?"

Charlotte met her gaze. "It's over. Now you have to decide if you love my son Brand enough to let the past go and allow yourself to be happy. Or you can make the mistake I did and let the past consume you." With that, she climbed into the SUV and drove toward the sheriff's department.