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the slaughterhouse?”
    “Find another piece of land, of course.”
    “In Teton County? How am I supposed to pay for it?” Eve left the words hanging, expecting her father to at least offer to help her with the cost of relocating her mustangs in a county with some of the most expensive real estate in the country. When King didn’t speak, she said in disgust, “Don’t worry, Daddy. I’ll figure something out.” She turned to Matt and demanded, “Why did you come here? Why are you doing this? How can you be so cruel?”
    To her astonishment, it was Pippa who answered her. “My dad doesn’t want anything to do with you Grayhawks. We had a great life in Australia until
he
showed up.” She jerked her chin toward King. She lurched to her feet and snarled, “I can’t wait till this year is up! Maybe then you’ll leave us alone and stop making my dad so sad.”
    Eve’s gaze shot to Matt, whose eyes had lowered to the plate in front of him. Nathan had dropped his drumstick and was staring at his sister, his jaw slack.
    “Sit down, Pippa,” Matt said quietly, “and finish your supper.”
    “I’m not hungry.” She threw her napkin halfway across the table and marched out of the dining room.
    Eve waited to see if Matt would call her back, but he said nothing.
    Tears welled in Nathan’s eyes. He looked at his father and asked, “Is Pippa gonna run away again?”
    Again?
Had she run away in Australia? Was that why Matt had come here? To be sure his daughter couldn’t run to wherever she’d gone before?
    Matt stood and gathered his son in his arms. Nathan clung to his father as Matt turned to face the rest of the Grayhawks at the table. “This isn’t easy for us, either. But you made the deal,” he said to King, “and I’m holding you to it.” He shoved Nathan’s chair out of his way with a loud scrape as he left the room.
    Eve glanced at King to see what he thought of everything that had just been said.
    It was Leah who asked the question that had crossed Eve’s mind. “What’s going on, Daddy? Why didn’t you offer to buy a piece of land where Eve can keep her mustangs?”
    King hesitated so long, Eve wasn’t sure he was going to answer. At last he said, “Everything’s tied up somewhere else.”
    “What do you mean by
everything
?” Leah asked.
    “Just what I said,” King replied. “Don’t ask me where I’ve put it, because that’s none of your damn business.”
    The hurt look on Leah’s face came and went so fast Eve wouldn’t have seen it if she hadn’t been staring right at her.
    “Fine. Keep your secrets.” Leah folded her napkin and set it neatly beside her plate. “Excuse me, please. I’ve lost my appetite.” A moment later she was gone through the swinging door that led to the kitchen.
    Eve searched her father’s features, looking for some hint of what he was thinking. But King Grayhawk had been a politician too long. His thoughts and feelings were hidden behind the impenetrable facade he’d perfected during years of purposeful deception.
    “I hope the price of having Matt here was worth it,” Eve said as she tossed her balled-up napkin onto her plate.
    “It’s worth anything and everything I have.”
    King’s answer made her throat ache. “Why, Daddy? What is it about Matt that makes him more precious than the rest of us? Can you just tell me that?”
    Before he could answer, Leah came rushing back through the swinging door. “It’s for you,” she said, handing a portable phone to Eve. “It sounds urgent.”
    Eve took the phone and held it to her ear. Her blood ran cold as she listened to the frantic voice on the other end of the line. She answered, “Yes, I can. Hold on. I’ll be there soon.” She handed the phone back to an anxious Leah and rose from the table.
    “Who was that?” King asked.
    Eve looked him square in the eye and said, “None of your damn business.”

Chapter 5
    E VEN COMPARED WITH his bloodiest battle in Afghanistan, the hour between his