Read Online Lone Calder Star by Janet Dailey - Free Book Online

hand. His hair was dark and thick, with an unruly tendency to curl.
    There was a muscled trimness to his physique that exuded strength and power. But it was the rough and raw virility that stamped his features that always claimed attention.
    This prime specimen of manhood was his son, Boone Rutledge. But Max's heart didn't lift with pride at the sight of him. If anything, it turned stone-hard.
    Page 23

    "I should have known I'd find you in here." His voice had a contemptuous edge to it. "Instead of standing there doing nothing, make yourself useful and fix me a drink."
    Boone turned, banked anger in his dark eyes. "Bourbon and branch."
    "That'll do." Max engaged the controls and glided over to the fireplace, positioning his chair to face the warming flames.
    He stared silently into them and listened to the firm tread of his son's footsteps as Boone crossed to the bar. The sound was followed by the thud of a glass on the leather-topped counter, the clink of ice cubes, and the splash of liquid over them. Then footsteps approached his chair.
    Max took the proffered drink without glancing up.
    "Sykes called this morning," Boone said. "He thought we'd want to know that a cowboy came into the feed store this morning and tried to charge some grain to the Cee Bar. When Sykes told him the account was closed, the guy paid cash for it." He swirled the cubes in his drink. "So it looks like the Triple C has managed to hire somebody."
    "What are you doing about it?" The question was more in the way of a challenge than a demand for an answer.
    "I thought I'd send Clyde Rivers over there tomorrow and see what he can find out about this new man."
    Max released a derisive snort and shook his head in disgust. Boone reacted with an angry glare.
    "What's wrong with that? That's exactly what we've done every time a new man came on board."
    Max lifted his grizzled head and viewed him with contempt. "You don't have the slightest clue why this time should be different, do you?" He observed the flicker of confusion and turned away. "Why did I get stuck with a son with more muscles than brains?" he muttered.
    His jaw ridged in anger, Boone pivoted sharply and stalked back to the bar. "Maybe you'd care to let me know what you think the next move should be," he taunted and snatched the whiskey bottle off the shelf, then sloshed more liquor into his nearly empty glass.
    "You're the one who's going over there, not Rivers," Max snapped.
    "Me?" Shock held Boone mothionless for an instant. Confusion reigned in his expression when he recovered. "Why would you want me to go? You've always insisted we have to keep our distance from all of this."
    "Since you're obviously not smart enough to figure it out on your own, I'll tell you. Now that Cee Bar is without a ranch manager, what's the most logical thing for the Calders to do to fill that void-temporarily, if nothing else?"
    Boone's frown deepened. "Hire somebody. What else can they do?"
    "Send one of their own down here, that's what," Max retorted with impatience. "They won't want to take some stranger's word for what's going on down here. They'll want to check it out for themselves."
    "That still doesn't explain why you want me to go over there," Boone protested, recrossing the room.
    "Then you might try remembering how much time you spent at the Triple C this past summer trying to convince that Calder girl to marry you. Unsuccessfully, I might add," Max tacked on spitefully.
    "It isn't my fault that she was stupid enough to marry that fortune-hunting Englishman instead of me." Boone stood facing the fireplace, a rigid set to his shoulders.
    Max ran an assessing eye over his son and muttered, half under his breath, "Unfortunately, her choice wasn't all that stupid. But that's whiskey in the river." He sighed a dismissal of the subject.
    "You must have met quite a few of the ranch hands while you were at the Triple C, certainly ones in positions of responsibility. That's why I want you to pay àneighborly' call