Chapter Thirty

CHAPTER THIRTY

I T DIDN ' T TAKE long for the news about Charlotte Stafford turning herself in for the murder of her second husband, Dixon Malone, to sweep through the county. The only surprise was that Charlotte had admitted the truth and turned herself in.

No one was more shocked than Brand. Birdie had been about to drive over to see him when she'd found Charlotte waiting for her.

"I saw her this morning before she turned herself in. She wanted to know if I'd been using you to get to her."

He cocked a brow.

She stepped to him. She'd found him mending a stretch of barbed wire fence not far from the house. "I told her the truth. Well, not all the truth. I didn't tell her that I started falling for you that morning when you'd come out of the stable and dropped that rope over me and pulled me in. You were so hungover and yet so cute. I almost felt bad about throwing you down on the ground."

"Almost," he said, grinning at her.

"It's the grin," she said, narrowing her eyes at him. "I'm a sucker for your lopsided grin."

"I'll have to remember that," he said as he took off his leather gloves and stuffed them into the hip pocket of his jeans. "I'd hug you, but I've been working out here in the summer heat, and I'm pretty sweaty."

She stepped closer. "I'm sorry about your mother."

"I still can't believe she confessed," he said. "It's not like her."

"People change," Birdie said.

"Not my mother. I hate to say it, but she must have an angle. Maybe she thinks the judge will be more lenient with her because she turned herself in." He shook his head. "Without any evidence, she could have gotten away with it. Why confess now?"

Birdie had wondered the same thing. "Maybe she did it for us. To make things easier for us to be together."

He chuckled. "That doesn't sound like the mother I know."

"You're probably going to hate hearing this, but what if she didn't do it?" Birdie said. "What if she's covering for someone?"

He groaned. "Who?"

"Maybe your father?"

"Now, that really doesn't sound like her."

She closed the distance between them, looping her arms around his neck.

"You'll be sorry," he warned.

"I happen to like my cowboys hot and sweaty," she whispered before she kissed him. His big hands cupped her waist and pulled her to him as the kiss deepened.

She thought about what Charlotte had asked her. Maybe she'd started out hoping Brand would help her, but along the way, she'd fallen for him. Whether or not she stayed around Powder Crossing, though, well, that was still to be seen.

N O ONE TOOK the news of Charlotte's confession and subsequent arrest harder than Holden. "It isn't that I didn't know she had violence in her. I just never expected this," he said when he heard the news.

The doctor said he could be a little more active, but suggested he put off horseback riding for a while yet.

He debated going into town and seeing Charlotte. He felt responsible for her marrying Dixon Malone, afraid she'd only done it because of him. They'd both made so many mistakes, but he hated to think what would happen to her now.

Cooper had taken over the reins here on the ranch, proving what Holden had already suspected. He was the one to take over when his father was gone. Duffy was leaving. Holden knew he shouldn't have been surprised. Duffy showed up when Holly Jo had been found, the ranch house was gone, and the doctors said Holden should have a full recovery.

"I'm taking a job on an oil rig in Wyoming," Duffy had told him one day in the hospital before he'd been released. "I just need to get away for a while," his youngest son had said. "Cooper left for a couple of years, and you were okay with that," he'd added, as if expecting an argument.

Holden hadn't bothered to tell him that he hadn't been okay with Cooper leaving. He'd worried that his son wouldn't come back. "I think it's a good idea."

Duffy had looked both surprised and disappointed. "Is that what you told Cooper?"

"A man has to roam sometimes to find out where he really belongs. Cooper came back. Whether or not you do, I wish you the best. You'll always have a home here."

His son had scoffed at that. "The home's gone. Everything feels like it's changing." He had seen how unsettled Duffy was. He'd suspected part of it had to do with his best friend, Pickett Hanson, marrying Oakley Stafford. Holden thought Duffy might have cared a lot more for Oakley than he'd let on.

"If and when you come back, your home will be here," he'd assured his son, and then he'd shaken Duffy's hand and thanked him for letting him know. He hadn't seen him since, but he knew in his heart it wouldn't be the last time.

Holden pulled himself from his thoughts, anxious for Elaine to return. She had taken Holly Jo to Billings to buy some things for the house that was quickly rising from the ashes.

Holden couldn't wait to get his strength back. He doubted he would ever be the man he was before. But damned if he wasn't going to try. He found himself dwelling on the past all the time when he should have been counting his blessings and thinking about the future.

Cooper and Tilly had almost completed their new house. Holly Jo was safe and seeming more like her old self every day. Pickett was teaching her some new horseback-riding tricks. Oakley was helping. Newlyweds Pickett and Oakley were about to start construction on their house on the ranch.

Like the rest of them, Holden figured everyone worried about the girl. What Holly Jo had been through had to have left its mark. It certainly had on him. But then again, he was to blame for all of it.

There was no reason that they couldn't all start over. The worst, he wanted to believe, was behind them. He'd heard from Elaine that Tilly might be pregnant and just waiting to make sure before she told anyone. He loved the idea of being a grandfather.

He thought of Charlotte. Would she feel excited about being a grandmother? But now she might not get a chance to even see her grandchild. He couldn't bear the thought of her going to prison.

At the sound of a vehicle pulling up, he got to his feet. The doctor had given him a cane to use, but he hated it. Elaine would yell at him if she caught him without it, though. He picked it up and moved to the door as Elaine and Holly Jo came in. He loved seeing the excitement on both of their faces.

"Wait and see what we bought!" Holly Jo cried as she rushed past, her arms full of packages. "My room is going to be perfect!" With that, she was gone upstairs in a flurry of movement.

He turned to look at Elaine, who stood in the doorway, smiling. "Let me take those," he said, reaching for the packages in her arms.

"I have it," she said, stepping past him to set them down on the sofa before turning to look at him. "What's happened?"

For a moment, he was too surprised to speak. Was he that transparent? "I thought you might have heard. Charlotte turned herself in for Dixon Malone's murder. She's been arrested."

All the color drained from Elaine's face. "No." She slowly lowered herself into a nearby chair, and Holden did the same. Her shock surprised him. Practically everyone in the county had suspected Charlotte killed him.

"No," Elaine repeated, shaking her head. "Why would she do that?"

"I wondered the same thing," he said. "She'd gotten away with it. Why confess now?"

Elaine raised her head to look at him. Her gaze locked with his. "She didn't do it."

"You are probably the only person around who believes that," he said, wondering again about their relationship.

"No, she didn't do it," she said more forcefully. Tears filled her eyes. "Holden..." Her voice broke, and he felt a jolt an instant before she spoke again. The floor under him seemed to give way.

"I'm the one who killed Dixon."