Page 72 of Christmas with the Cowboy
Reed stopped dead, but Trenna slogged on. She heard him start moving again, and then he almost ran into her as she stopped and pointed. “There.”
She whispered so as not to startle the mare who was pacing back and forth in front of the wire fence separating Trenna’s next-door neighbor’s land from the winter pasture. Sure enough, there were horses on the other side.
“What’s the plan?” she asked.
“Actually, I think I should be able to catch her. She’s gentle as hell.”
“Here’s hoping,” Trenna said out of the side of her mouth. Her heart was still beating hard, but now it was more from concern over the upcoming conversation with Reed than fear of Lex’s Christmas present getting lost or injured.
Reed spoke to the mare in a low voice as he approached, and although she snorted, blowing ice crystals through the air, she seemed relieve to have a human at hand to take over. Reed eased the rope around her neck, then haltered her as she nuzzled his arm.
“She’s glad to be found,” Trenna said.
“Looks like it,” Reed said, rubbing the mare’s face. His voice still carried an edge of tension.
Trenna expected him to ask about her dad, but instead, he started across the field, breaking trail through the frozen snow. They were halfway home before he said, “What’s the plot?”
“I’m not clear on it,” she said. “But he wants river, and you have river.”
“Everyone wants river.” He fell quiet, apparently turning things over in his head as he led the mare through the snow.
“He’s thinking of turning the lodge back into a lodge, but the river isn’t close enough to be a real benefit, so I don’t know. Maybe he’s going to transport people there?”
“The riverisclose to Davis’s parcel.”
Trenna stopped in her tracks. “Excuse me?”
“You didn’t know?” Reed asked on a surprised note.
“Know what?”
“Your dad wants to build on Davis’s land, but his only reasonable access is across our property. He tried to buy access and then he tried to buy the land.”
“I knew he’d inherited Davis’s land, but never dreamed…” She scowled at him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I guess there were more pressing things we were dealing with.”
Trenna rolled her eyes skyward at the implication. “So now he’s going to mess with you until he gets what he wants.”
“That’s the consensus on our end. First adverse possession, then something else. Little lawsuits to eat up time and money until we give up.” Reed started walking again when the horse nudged his shoulder.
“Maybe,” she said slowly, “he’s changed his mind about Uncle Davis’s land. Maybe that’s why he’s going to turn the lodge back into a lodge.” She bit her lip. “Or maybe he lied to me to get me off his back.”
“Or maybe he’s going to incorporate the two properties into a megaresort, but thanks to Robber’s Canyon, he needs a good chunk of our land to do that.”
The theory that unfortunately made the most sense.
“I’m sorry about this.” She trotted a few awkward steps to catch up.
“You have no control over the man.”
Amen to that.
They fell into silence until they reached the enclosure behind Trenna’s cottage. The mare’s head was low by the time they arrived; she’d had an exciting evening and it had worn on her. Trenna felt very much the same.
“I’ll take her home,” Reed said before Trenna could ask about securing the enclosure. “No sense taking more chances. I’ll put her in the barn and hope that we can keep her a secret for a day.” He let out a breath. “Even if I can’t, Lex not being surprised on Christmas morning is better than losing the mare again.”
“Right.” Trenna held on to the mare’s halter, stroking her neck, while Reed hooked up the trailer. When he was done, she handed over the lead rope.
