couldn't have done it. You were with me last night."
"Don't let that stop you from thinking it was me. I could have hired someone to do it."
"Damn, Willow , I'm sorry. Christ, this is getting out of hand, and I haven't a clue what's going on. I'd always thought my dad had pissed someone off, and they were getting even. He had that affect on people. But it hasn't stopped. In fact, it's getting worse. Last week Wyatt asked me if I'd consider selling the Tumbling T to him."
"What?" Willow stomped toward him. "You won't, will you? God, I couldn't stand having him that close. It makes me shudder to think about it." She wrapped her arms around herself.
"Thought Gordon and he were great friends."
"Gordon was, not me. I can't stand the weasel. He reminds me of Snidely Whiplash!" she said, chuckling.
Brett laughed. He couldn't remember the last time he'd laughed. It’d been way too long. "Would you believe I've made the same correlation? Poor Snidely."
"You aren't selling, are you?"
"I'm thinking about it. It holds no sentimental ties for me. I would like to pass it on to Sean, if he wants to be a rancher, but there are times I'd like to pack up and take Mother to a new place, one she could fill with happy memories. I think the old place is nothing but a reminder of the mistakes in her life."
"Sell to me."
"What?"
"If you truly feel that way, let me buy it. I could sell a few horses for the down and get a loan for the rest. Lance wants to continue raising horses. Some day he'll want a place to build a house and raise a family. We could level the old homestead and he could build just up the hill, new, and filled with happy memories, as you said."
"You're serious, aren't you?"
"More serious than Wyatt Anderson. Snidely is in hock up to his armpits. There's no way he could buy you out. What's he thinking?"
Brett thought for a moment. "How do you know he's broke?"
"Rumors, you know how it is. Small town nothing is sacred, and all that."
"You're hiding something, I can tell," he said, wondering how he could sense it. "You and he an item?"
"What? I’m not interested in that snake! Not on your life! My skin crawls when he gets too close, and not in a good way, like with you . . . I mean . . . Snidely would be the last person I'd let near me." She glanced away.
He noticed her darkened cheeks before she turned her back. So, she'd felt the electricity, too. In spite of all his recent problems, he suddenly felt light-hearted, even happy.
He moved behind her and placed his palms on her shoulders. Without a word, he slid his hands down her arms, then back up again. She pressed her back into his chest, and he put his arms around her and pulled her into him.
Chapter Five
I can't fight it anymore," he whispered in her ear. "You haunt me. Everywhere I go, you're there. I don't understand it. I always thought I hated you as much as you hated me.”
She turned in his arms and saw tenderness in his gaze. "I don't recall ever saying I hated you." She paused, unsure if he moved closer. Her breath caught. A flush of heat rushed through her veins. Did she imagine a sensuous light passed between them?
"I assumed . . . Gordon made it clear I wasn't even to speak to you. That was the way you wanted it. I couldn't imagine what I'd done to offend you that much. Even after his death, you steered clear of me. I figured you wanted it kept that way."
His thumbs rubbed the inside skin of each elbow. He had no way of knowing he stoked a gently growing fire. "I never told Gordon that. I didn't even know you or Lorraine . Why would he say that?" She studied his handsome face, liking what she saw.
"He obviously recognized your beauty."
He truly thought she was beautiful? "Not likely. Gordon worried about how quickly I was going to age. He said Indian women got wrinkled and old-looking early in life. Their butts went to their bellies, not a damn one shapely, he use to say."
"The more I learn about Gordon, the more I dislike
"Don't let that stop you from thinking it was me. I could have hired someone to do it."
"Damn, Willow , I'm sorry. Christ, this is getting out of hand, and I haven't a clue what's going on. I'd always thought my dad had pissed someone off, and they were getting even. He had that affect on people. But it hasn't stopped. In fact, it's getting worse. Last week Wyatt asked me if I'd consider selling the Tumbling T to him."
"What?" Willow stomped toward him. "You won't, will you? God, I couldn't stand having him that close. It makes me shudder to think about it." She wrapped her arms around herself.
"Thought Gordon and he were great friends."
"Gordon was, not me. I can't stand the weasel. He reminds me of Snidely Whiplash!" she said, chuckling.
Brett laughed. He couldn't remember the last time he'd laughed. It’d been way too long. "Would you believe I've made the same correlation? Poor Snidely."
"You aren't selling, are you?"
"I'm thinking about it. It holds no sentimental ties for me. I would like to pass it on to Sean, if he wants to be a rancher, but there are times I'd like to pack up and take Mother to a new place, one she could fill with happy memories. I think the old place is nothing but a reminder of the mistakes in her life."
"Sell to me."
"What?"
"If you truly feel that way, let me buy it. I could sell a few horses for the down and get a loan for the rest. Lance wants to continue raising horses. Some day he'll want a place to build a house and raise a family. We could level the old homestead and he could build just up the hill, new, and filled with happy memories, as you said."
"You're serious, aren't you?"
"More serious than Wyatt Anderson. Snidely is in hock up to his armpits. There's no way he could buy you out. What's he thinking?"
Brett thought for a moment. "How do you know he's broke?"
"Rumors, you know how it is. Small town nothing is sacred, and all that."
"You're hiding something, I can tell," he said, wondering how he could sense it. "You and he an item?"
"What? I’m not interested in that snake! Not on your life! My skin crawls when he gets too close, and not in a good way, like with you . . . I mean . . . Snidely would be the last person I'd let near me." She glanced away.
He noticed her darkened cheeks before she turned her back. So, she'd felt the electricity, too. In spite of all his recent problems, he suddenly felt light-hearted, even happy.
He moved behind her and placed his palms on her shoulders. Without a word, he slid his hands down her arms, then back up again. She pressed her back into his chest, and he put his arms around her and pulled her into him.
Chapter Five
I can't fight it anymore," he whispered in her ear. "You haunt me. Everywhere I go, you're there. I don't understand it. I always thought I hated you as much as you hated me.”
She turned in his arms and saw tenderness in his gaze. "I don't recall ever saying I hated you." She paused, unsure if he moved closer. Her breath caught. A flush of heat rushed through her veins. Did she imagine a sensuous light passed between them?
"I assumed . . . Gordon made it clear I wasn't even to speak to you. That was the way you wanted it. I couldn't imagine what I'd done to offend you that much. Even after his death, you steered clear of me. I figured you wanted it kept that way."
His thumbs rubbed the inside skin of each elbow. He had no way of knowing he stoked a gently growing fire. "I never told Gordon that. I didn't even know you or Lorraine . Why would he say that?" She studied his handsome face, liking what she saw.
"He obviously recognized your beauty."
He truly thought she was beautiful? "Not likely. Gordon worried about how quickly I was going to age. He said Indian women got wrinkled and old-looking early in life. Their butts went to their bellies, not a damn one shapely, he use to say."
"The more I learn about Gordon, the more I dislike
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