Page 55 of Fool's Gold

"She will be, God willing, but she's out of our lives. I set her free to go back to her old life."

Rose clucked her tongue. "But she was doing so well here at the ranch. We were all getting along just ducky. I just don't believe she'd want to leave."

He shrugged and looked away from her sympathetic gaze. "Believe it or not, it's true. She only stayed here for the summer because I forced her into it. You know the snow job I gave her. And what did it get her? Nothing but trouble. Well, now I'm letting her go. She's free."

She harrumphed and put her hands on her hips. "Lord, what a load of malarkey. If ever I saw two people made for each other, it's you and the missus." She shook her head. "Why, you young people nowadays don't know a good thing when it's right in front of your face."

"I don't want to talk about it any longer." He started to stand, thinking he'd rather clean out stalls than listen to any more of Rose's scolding.

"Oh, sit back down, you hardheaded man, and I'll pour you some coffee," Rose said with a great deal of exasperation in her voice.

He didn't even seem to have the power to go against Rose's bossiness today. Rafe sat back down.

"Zeke told me Sarah woke up before you came home." Rose carried two cups of coffee to the table and sat across from him.

He nodded. "Yes. The doctor said she should make a full recovery. They'll want to keep her under observation for a couple of days to be sure. Mark said she was incredibly lucky.”

Rose shook her head. "Some luck!"

"That's what I said." Rafe's jaw tightened as he thought of the pain she must be feeling. "She shouldn't have been out there, Rose. I got careless, and it almost cost Sarah her life."

Rose reached over and patted his hand. "It's not your fault, Rafe. I'm sure the missus won't blame you."

"That's just peachy," Rafe mumbled and took a sip of coffee.

She sighed. "Anyway, like I was saying, I'm glad she's going to be okay. It gave all of us quite a scare when we heard about her getting hurt. Zeke was listening to his police band radio when he picked up the ambulance call."

"I'll bet." Rafe grimaced when he pictured the scene. "What did Travis say?"

Rose took a deep breath. "I just finished laying out lunch when the sheriff came. Even though everyone was all in a tizzy about Sarah being hurt, I had my job to do. The sheriff came right to the table and handcuffed him. You could have knocked me over with a feather, I was that surprised. The boy looked like he was going to faint, he turned so white. I never would have pegged him for a criminal."

"Me, neither." He shook his head. "I guess he was the best kind of criminal because he looked so innocent."

She nodded. "They came back in and checked the phones in the house. They said they were bugged. Can you imagine that?"

He shrugged. "I guess Travis had an easy time doing that, having access to the house at meal times. All he had to do was excuse himself to use the bathroom and sneak into my study."

Rose tightened her lips. "And to think, I took kindly to that lad." She shook her head. "The boy got really agitated when they were taking him away, saying he was a spy, but he'd never shot anything in his life. He said the rifle was a birthday present from his dad and he'd never even fired it. Well, I can tell you, there was a lot of speculation after they hauled him away."

"I'll just bet." Rafe knew how cowboys loved to talk. "Just so Travis, and especially Nevell Blackthorn, get what's coming to them. That's all I really care about."

"Well, now that things have straightened out, you can wait for the missus to come back to you. I know you're in love with her. It's as plain as the nose on your face. And I know she loves you and wouldn't want to leave."

He tamped down the hope that sprang up in him at her words. "It's barely possible she might come back to me, but I wouldn't bet on it. The odds are against me."

Sarah turned her head on the pillow and carefully opened her eyes. She had a gigantic headache that seemed to throb along with her pulse. Well, at least that told her she was still alive.

She glanced at the strange walls. They were painted a sickly yellow. Where was she? She sure wasn't in her own bed. Then she noticed a person standing at the foot of the bed.

"Rafe?"

"No, it's Pipi." Her cousin stepped closer. Her mouth curved into a soft smile. "How are you feeling this morning, Sarah?"

"Terrible." She sighed. "It feels like there are little men banging away at my head with tiny hammers. I was attacked, wasn't I?"

Pipi nodded solemnly. There was a tight frown on her face. "Don't worry, they already caught the man."

"Good." Sarah sagged back against the pillow.

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