by B. J Daniels
“You were right. I am like Mother.”
He stared at her in surprise.
“I have no control over it, still am afraid of it and not sure I want to use it, but I’m no longer denying its presence. I’m sorry I lied to you.”
“Mother would be so happy if she knew.”
“She knows.”
“And Marshall?” her brother asked.
She nodded and smiled. “I’m in love with him. I’m not sure where it’s going….
“I’m happy for you, sis.”
THE MOMENT EMMA SAW THE sheriff’s expression she knew. “Come in,” she said, stepping back and letting McCall enter.
“The woman Aggie believed was Laura Chisholm got away, didn’t she?” Emma asked as she led the sheriff into the kitchen, where Hoyt was sitting at the table, having a cup of coffee and some homemade blueberry crumble cake.
“She was gone when the police got there,” McCall said after declining both coffee and coffee cake. “She’d cleaned out the place so she must have found out that Aggie was making inquiries about her.”
Emma sighed. “So it wouldn’t have made any difference even if Aggie and I had gone to Billings.”
Hoyt sent her a look that said he would never have let her go anywhere. He’d become suspicious after overhearing Emma on the phone and had called the sheriff, suspecting what Emma was up to. The man knew her too well.
Maybe if she hadn’t said she was going to bake his favorite cookies…
Well, it was too late to start second-guessing her mistakes.
“What about Aggie?” she asked the sheriff.
“We’re still dragging the river for her body.”
No luck. That didn’t surprise Emma. She would bet that Aggie Wells might have more in common with Laura Chisholm than anyone knew. Laura had said she was afraid of water. Emma suspected Aggie swam like a fish—even injured.
“If Aggie contacts you again—” the sheriff began.
“I’m to call you at once,” Emma said, cutting her off.
“Yep, but that was what you were supposed to do this last time,” Hoyt said.
The sheriff and Hoyt both looked at her as if they knew Emma would do whatever she decided to do and to hell with the consequences.
“I’ll try to keep better track of her,” Hoyt told the sheriff.
“For how long?” Emma demanded. “You have a ranch to run and now both Aggie and some woman who may or may not be your first, jealous, murderous wife, back from the grave, are out there. With one, if not both of them, wanting me dead.”
“The boys can run the ranch just fine without me,” Hoyt said.
“Well, I can tell you right now, I won’t have you watching over me like I’m one of your horses. I won’t be corralled.” With that Emma stormed out of the room, only to have Hoyt follow her up to their bedroom and take her in his arms.
“You have to forgive me,” Hoyt said as he pulled her close.
“Forgive you for what?” Emma asked, all her earlier anger evaporating the moment he held her.
“You blame me for what happened to Aggie. But Emma, if you had come to me and told me you were going to meet her—”
“You would have stopped me.”
He fell silent. “You’re my wife. I want to protect you.”
“You Chisholm men. You all love a woman in trouble. But Hoyt Chisholm, you fell in love with a strong, independent woman—just like four of your sons have done.”
“I know. What do you want me to do, Emma? I can’t take the chance that there is someone out there who wants you dead and that if I’m not around…”
“Yes?”
He sighed. “I know you can take care of yourself. That is one of the many things I love about you. But we’re talking about a killer, Emma.”
“A killer who might never strike again.”
“Or one who might strike tomorrow.”
“Then I’ll be ready tomorrow,” Emma said. “And if I need you, I’ll holler. It’s time for you to be the rancher I married. I love nothing more than seeing you on a horse, doing what you love.”
He smiled at her. “I’ve never met a woman like you.”
“I know.”
AFTER LANDON LEFT, MARSHALL came down to find Alexa standing at the window, staring out across the pasture at the smoldering remains of Wellington Manor. He was glad that soon, when he looked out this window, he would no longer see anything but the Montana horizon.
“Are you all right?” he asked as he put his arms around her to pull her close. He breathed in her freshly showered scent and told himself he couldn’t bear the thought that she might go back to Spokane and he’d never see her again.
“I’m fine. Landon’s divorcing Sierra but he seems stronger now. I’m not worried about him anymore. I guess it’s finally over.”
“That’s funny because I was just thinking that some things were just beginning,” he said as he turned her in his arms to look into her beautiful face. “I guess I should ask you, though, since I forget that you can see the future.”
She smiled at him. “Not if I’m too close to it. Like I am with you.”
“So then you don’t know what’s going to happen now?”
She laughed. “You’re going to kiss me?”
He looked into her violet eyes and saw desire and love burning brightly. He could see the two of them living in this house, raising children who would one day ride across this land, their land, with the two of them, their lives blessed through all the love he and Alexa had to share.
“Or did you have something else in mind?” she asked.
He laughed. “Apparently I’m able to see the future better than you can.”
“Oh?”
He nodded. “Want me to tell you about it?”
She shook her head. “No, I want you to surprise me.”
And he did.
ISBN: 978-1-4592-0959-6
STAMPEDED
Copyright © 2011 by Barbara Heinlein
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
For questions and comments about the quality of this book please contact us at [email protected].
® and TM are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
www.Harlequin.com
*Whitehorse, Montana
‡Whitehorse, Montana: The Corbetts
**Whitehorse, Montana: Winchester Ranch
†Whitehorse, Montana: Winchester Ranch Reloaded
‡‡Whitehorse, Montana: Chisholm Cattle Company
