Only 05 - Autumn Lover

Elyssa. “Wait here for a bit. I want to talk with Case. Don’t wander off.”
    “Where on earth would I go?” she asked tartly.
    “Wherever you went when you made all these ghost trails in the first place,” Hunter retorted.
    With that, Hunter drew Case to one side and began talking in a voice too low for Elyssa to overhear.
    “I’m going to set a—” Hunter began.
    “Don’t you trust her?” Case interrupted, his voice equally low.
    “Oh, I trust her as well as I trust any flirt.”
    Case lifted his left eyebrow and said nothing.
    “Point is,” Hunter said, “that someone made all these ghost trails between the B Bar and the Ladder S.”
    Case waited, saying nothing.
    “Since Elyssa wasn’t going off for a bit of slap and tickle with Bill, who in hell was she meeting?” Hunter asked.
    The shrug Case gave said that he didn’t care who Elyssa might be seeing or not seeing, and he didn’t understand why it should matter to Hunter either way.
    “What does that have to do with catching Culpeppers?” Case asked mildly.
    “Probably nothing, directly,” Hunter admitted.
    “Uh-huh,” Case said.
    Speculatively Case glanced from Elyssa to his brother.
    “You wouldn’t be interested in Bill’s Sassy, would you?” Case asked neutrally.
    “I married one flirt. Once was enough to cure me.”
    Case started to speak, shrugged, and looked at Hunter.
    “What’s your plan?” Case asked.
    “First objective is to set a trap for our spy,” Hunter said.
    Case nodded.
    “If you hear in the next day or two that I’m registering a Twin River Connected brand,” Hunter said, “we’ll know that Mickey is our man.”
    “Twin River Connected,” Case said. Then he noddedapproval. “Good. Should cover a Slash River or Ladder S brand like a bad reputation.”
    Hunter smiled without humor.
    “The idea will make those boys real nervous,” Hunter agreed.
    “What if I don’t hear anything?” Case asked.
    “Then I’ll tell Lefty the same thing.”
    “And if that doesn’t work?”
    “Then we’ll raid the Culpeppers before they can raid us,” Hunter said.
    “Now you’re talking.”

17
    H unter doesn’t trust me,” Elyssa said starkly.
    Surprised, Penny looked up from the beans she was putting on to boil for supper later that day. She and Elyssa had just finished clearing away the breakfast dishes.
    “Whatever makes you say that?” Penny asked as she bent to check on the stove fire.
    “I went to see Bill early this morning—” Elyssa began.
    “What!” Penny interrupted. Then, quickly, she asked, “Is he all right?”
    “He looked a little red around the eyes and hadn’t shaved for days, but otherwise he seemed fine. Or as fine as any man can be when he’s all but a prisoner on his own ranch.”
    “What do you mean?” Penny demanded.
    “The Culpeppers have moved in on him.”
    “Dear God,” Penny whispered. “Maybe that’s why he…”
    Penny’s voice faded.
    “That’s why he what?” Elyssa asked.
    Shaking her head, Penny bent over once more to check on the progress of the fire.
    “Penny? What did you mean?”
    Penny closed the firebox door with a clang and turned to face Elyssa.
    “You shouldn’t be surprised that Hunter doesn’t trust you,” Penny said bluntly.
    Elyssa stopped chopping onions and turned toward Penny.
    “What are you talking about?” Elyssa demanded. “I’ve done nothing to earn Hunter’s distrust.”
    “No?” Penny asked coolly.
    “No!”
    “Maybe he doesn’t like the fact that you’re sneaking off for a little slap and tickle with Bill.”
    Shocked, Elyssa simply stared at Penny.
    Penny stared right back.
    “What in God’s name are you talking about?” Elyssa asked finally.
    “Oh, don’t bother to deny it. Bill loved Gloria, and he took one look at you when you came back from England in satins and silk and shining flaxen hair and he saw Gloria all over again.”
    “Penny—” Elyssa began.
    “He hasn’t so much as looked at me since you came home,” Penny interrupted raggedly. “Not once!”
    Penny turned away, but not quickly enough to hide the tears that were streaming down her face.
    Stunned, Elyssa simply stood motionless. But her mind was running at top speed, remembering what Hunter had said about men and pale hair.
    All men aren’t blinded by sunlight shining on pale hair.
    And what Penny had said in return.
    The right one was, and he’s the only one that matters .
    For Penny, the right one had been—and still