Page 48 of Gotta Dig Deep
“So he was here while I was dead to the world?” The grimace on his face said loud and clear what he thought about people he didn’t know being around when he was vulnerable.
“I wouldn’t have let him hurt you.” Glenna laid her hand on his and the cup stopped twirling. “Promise, Horse.”
Giving him the nickname lightened his expression and he offered her a tiny smile, more a twitch of the lips behind the deliciously attractive salt and pepper beard. “I believe you, Glenna.” Staring at her, the air between them was briefly filled with tension, then he dipped his chin, breaking their locked gazes. “Tell me more about this Snyder character. Why did he need cash badly enough to take on someone like Moorcock? I don’t know much about ranching, but I expect it goes in cycles of bad years followed by good as weather and markets change. Why’d he need the money?”
“I don’t know exactly. There was speculation in town that he’d taken out loans that came due once his daddy died, but no facts to back up the whispers. To my knowledge, they weren’t expanding or anything else that would need a sudden infusion of cash. In fact”—she raked a hand through her hair, containing a mass of curls above one ear—“we all thought he had sold it to a property development company. It made the most sense, since Jackson never acted like holding onto his family property was important to him. We’re close enough to a few cities to make development here a real probability. It’s happened all around us.” Releasing her grip, Glenna shook her head, the unrestrained hair bouncing back into place alongside her face. “My place alone could be broken into around eight hundred or more half-acre plots, and the rolling nature of the land itself would make a picturesque setting.”
“Got it.” Horse’s lips pursed as he thought. “But instead of a buyer, he’s turned up with an investor. So it’s not the land itself but maybe the location? Off the beaten path, but like you said, not far from town. What would they need so much land for?”
“Nothing makes sense.”
“Including why they’d need to be packin’ heat when they come to talk to what they suppose is a widow woman, isolated and alone. That makes the least amount of sense out of all of it.” Horse pulled free from her and stood abruptly. “I’m going to check out my bike and take a little walk around.”
“You shouldn’t be exerting yourself much.” She pointed to his jeans-clad thigh. “It was pretty bad.”
“Yeah, but you fixed me.” He took a step away, then stopped. “Why? Why did you treat me with something a run-of-the-mill good Samaritan wouldn’t even know how to do? Stitches are a pretty specialized thing, and that’s been bugging me. Why?”
“I told you. I don’t know. It just seemed right.”
“Seemed right,” he mused. “I don’t disagree, especially after today, but I don’t like things I can’t hold up to the light.” Horse shook himself all over and huffed out a laugh. “I guess I’ll chalk it up to one of life’s great mysteries. You said the bike’s up past the house?”
“Yeah, you can’t miss the shed. The bike is in front. You can’t miss that either.” Glenna swallowed, her dry throat clicking. “I could walk up with you?”
Horse immediately held out a hand. She studied and then slowly placed her palm against his. When his fingers curled around her hand, it was warm and strong, the grip firm. As if they’d done this a thousand times and he knew just how to do it.
“Okay then. We’ll—” Her muttered response was stifled, and she cut herself off, staring down at Shamu who had forced himself between them, nose pressed tightly to Horse’s fingers. “It’s okay, Shammy.”
“Yeah, Shamu, it’s gonna be okay.”
Apparently reassured, the dog preceded them to the door and waited, panting as he stared outside.
Once the door was opened, he was out like a shot, disappearing around to the right of the house.
“You don’t worry about him takin’ off like that? He’s a pretty dog, striking looking. I bet he’d bring a pretty price in Dallas or Houston.”
“He’s good about staying close to the house. This is just him making his rounds. He always checks for coyotes or raccoons, then he’ll come back to wherever I am.” She grinned at how their hands swung slightly. “Likes to ride around on the ATV, so if he hears that start up, there’s no getting away from him.”
“Really? Huh. I wouldn’t have taken him for a speed demon.” They crested the sloped hill and Horse caught sight of what was left of his motorcycle. “Awww, dammit. It’s worse than I remembered.”
“You remember the accident?” When he dropped her hand to kneel next to the mangled bike, Glenna’s breath caught in her throat at the unexpected sense of loss. “I’m surprised. You were pretty out of it when I stopped. Couldn’t have been more than a couple minutes after, because you were not quite on your feet.”
“I remember parts of it. The sinking feeling when the gravel took the wheels and the knowledge I was going through the fence.” Horse opened a bag hung on one side of the bike, rustling through the contents. “Good deal, all my stuff’s here.” He looked up at her, corners of his mouth lifted in a grin. “I remember you bein’ all bossy, bossy, makin’ me drag the bike back to the road so you could fix the fence. Nothing after that. Not really.”
“I was kinda bossy, wasn’t I.” The tips of her ears went hot. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be.” He stood, a bag in one hand. She supposed he’d gathered up what he’d wanted and put it inside. “It was hot.”
“Hot?”
When had he stepped so close to her? She felt the hair on her arms raise as he reached his other hand out and wrapped his fingers around the back of her neck.
“Oh, hell yeah. Hot as fuck.” The last word was a whisper, heard only because he’d bent towards her. “Bossy bossy.”
The sound of tires on gravel came from the driveway just as Shamu started barking. Horse moved faster than Glenna could think, placing himself between her and the approaching vehicle. She laid a palm against his spine to steady herself as she peered around his shoulders. The truck was familiar, and she let out a breath she hadn’t realized holding.
“That’s Cooter.” Shamu had planted himself in the driveway, blocking the truck from advancing. “I told you I was surprised he hadn’t come over sooner.” Raising her voice, Glenna yelled at the dog, “Shammy, it’s just Cooter. Knock it off.”
“I suspect I’m gonna like Cooter about as much as you do, Shamu.” Horse’s back flexed under her hand. “Introduce me?”
