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“Did you get my message?” her mother demanded.
“No, what was it?”
“I’ve spoken with your father. He feels the same way I do. He said he would fly back from DC if he had to, but he’d prefer that you stop what you’re doing.”
She realized she could thank Peter for this. The next time she saw him... “I’m not doing anything more than what I always do, Mother.” She pushed back the curtain at the hotel window and realized that from here she could see the cut in the trees where the Cahill ranch house must be—not that far at all from the creek. How convenient.
“We both know why you’re in Gilt Edge and it isn’t your interest in some story about bones found in a creek near there.”
“You might be surprised by who or what I’m interested in.”
Reproving silence filled the line. “I don’t wish to talk about your personal life, if that’s what you’re referring to with that remark. Peter is just as upset as your father and I. You need to stop this.”
“Actually, what I’m doing is getting ready to go on a date.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. How could you possibly be going on a date? You and Peter—”
“Are not serious. I’ve told you that numerous times.”
“Well, maybe you aren’t serious, but Peter is. You’re making a mistake. Peter is perfect for you.”
“No, he’s perfect for what you and Father want for me. Tonight I’m going out with a cowboy. His name is Tucker Cahill.”
“Cahill?” Her mother sounded breathless.
“Yes. He and I already share a special bond. We met today at the creek where the bones were found. I asked him to take me out to dinner.”
Mamie would be horror-stricken if she’d known that Kate had lost control out at the creek—especially since there’d been a witness. And not just any witness. Tucker Cahill. With the Cahill Ranch so close, Kate shouldn’t have been surprised to see the cowboy there, especially now that she had confirmed that they had something in common.
Tucker Cahill had known Madeline. From his expression earlier, he’d known her well. That thought turned her stomach. He’d chased her down to find out what she knew. And now she was having dinner with him tonight to find out what he knew. Talk about strange bed partners, so to speak.
Even stranger was who had brought them together.
“You need to come to your senses,” her mother was saying.
“Oh, I have. I told you I would never let this go. Tucker doesn’t know it, but he’s going to help me.”
Her mother sniffed angrily. “You have no idea what you’re doing.”
“On the contrary. I’m good at what I do, Mother, so I have a pretty good idea of what I’m doing.”
The next words were delivered like a dagger of ice. “You know what I mean.”
“I have to get ready for my date.”
“I’m calling your father and Peter,” her mother threatened.
“Daddy won’t come home. Not for this. He will want to stay as far away as he can from anything...ugly. I’m afraid you’re on your own since there is nothing you can say to stop me. As for Peter, you really are wasting your time. He has nothing to say that I want to hear.” She disconnected, surprised how angry she was. Or how close she was to tears again.
Clearly she wasn’t as strong as she’d thought. But she was as determined as she’d been every day for the past nineteen years. She wasn’t going to let anyone stop her. Not even Tucker Cahill.
* * *
TUCKER HAD JUST reached his pickup when his cell phone rang.
“Where are you?” Flint asked. “I just tried the ranch. Cyrus said they hadn’t seen you.”
He could hear the fear in his brother’s voice. Flint had thought he might have left town again without a word. “Sorry, I got waylaid. I’m on my way there now.”
“How about a change of plans? I just talked to Maggie. She’s up for all of us going to the Stagecoach Saloon tonight and celebrating your return.”
“Oh, that sounds great but I can’t tonight. I have a date.”
“A date? Tucker, you just got back to town.”
“I know,” he said with a laugh. “I’m as surprised as you are. If you saw her, you’d be even more surprised.”
“Who is this woman?”
“Kate Rothschild.”
“Rothschild? Of the Montana Rothschilds?”
“Apparently so.”
“What is she doing in Gilt Edge?”
He couldn’t tell his brother what he’d witnessed. Not until he knew more. “Just passing through, I think.”
“And you just happened to cross her path?” Flint asked.
“Yep, must be fate.” Even as he said it, he wondered if it wasn’t true. They would never have met if he hadn’t seen her at the creek today. He would have never known her connection to Madeline. Not that he did yet, but he would by tonight.
“Fate, huh?”
“You have such a suspicious mind.”
Flint laughed. “I’ve been told that. It goes with the job. Look, I’m happy for you, but I was hoping we could get together your first night home. The rest of the family is anxious to see you.”
“I know. They’ll also want answers about where I’ve been, what I’ve been doing and why I left,” Tucker said. “I’m not sure I’m up to an interrogation tonight. It’s been kind of a rough day and a relief at the same time.”
“I know. It was a lot to take in.” His brother seemed to hesitate. “We might have an ID on the remains from the creek. They could belong to a woman named Madeline Dunn from Clawson Creek. She would have been twenty-two.”
Tucker took in that information for a moment. “Madeline Dunn.”
“I’m not going to try to find the next of kin until we get the DNA results.”
“Dunn, huh,” Tucker said. He finally had a name. After all these years of wondering who Madeline really was...
“Are you sure I can’t talk you into changing your plans?” Flint asked.
Not a chance, Tucker thought. “Not tonight. But I’m anxious to see everyone, too. In fact, I’m headed for the saloon right now. Thought I’d swing by on my way back to the ranch. Any chance I can catch both Lillie and Darby there?”
“I just talked to them so I’d say there is a very good chance.”
“Great, after that I’ll go to the ranch and see Hawk and Cyrus. I’m going to be staying out there in my old room if they’ll have me.”
“Are you sure you’re all right?” Flint asked.
“It’s going to take some getting used to. But I’m glad to be home—even under the circumstances. Don’t worry about me, little brother.”
Flint chuckled. “Sorry. I’ve worried about you for years. It’s become a habit that is going to take time getting used to not worrying about you.”
Tucker pulled up in front of the Stagecoach Saloon, which his sister and brother, fraternal twins, owned. “I’m at the saloon.”
“If I don’t talk to you later, have fun on your date.”
“I’ll try.” But as he disconnected, he didn’t think it was that kind of date. He was curious as hell about Kate Rothschild. But for the life of him he couldn’t understand how Kate could have anything to do with Madeline, which made what he’d witnessed at the creek all that more intriguing. Add to that, she’d said they had something in common with the bones found in the creek.
His cell rang before he could exit his pickup. He saw it was Flint again and picked up.
“Tuck,” his brother said without preamble. “Be careful on your date tonight. I just looked Kate Rothschild up on the internet. She’s an award-winning investigative reporter for a big New York newspaper. I can’t imagine what she’s doing in Gilt Edge, unless she’s interested in the remains found in the creek. In which case, she might also be interested in you. Is there any way she could have known about you and Madeline?”
CHAPTER SIX (#u5116cf9d-d5b1-50f9-bf71-3d2d10e4b2be)
KATE WAS STILL upset after the phone call. She’d known how her mother felt. She’d even accepted that her mother did her best to avoid anything unpleasant in life by changing the story. That meant telling the new, improved story until she actually believed it was true. Was it any wonder Mamie Rothschild’s daughter had become an investigative reporter so there was at least a little truth in her life?
Moving away from the window, she thought about her date tonight. The elusive Tucker Cahill was certainly making this easier for her. She’d been suspicious when she’d learned that he’d left town nineteen years ago—right after graduating from high school. Right after Madeline seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth. Now, she didn’t have to ask what had brought him back given what she already knew about him. She just hadn’t expected it to be this easy.
Now that she’d met him, she had to admit, he wasn’t what she’d expected. The cowboy was bigger, stronger looking, more solid—almost to the point of being intimidating. He reminded her of some of the romance-novel-cover models, with the rock-hard chest, smooth bronze skin and washboard stomach. No wonder women found that kind of man...appealing. She would love to get a load of Tucker’s bare chest.
He looked only a little like his yearbook photos that she’d seen from before he’d left Gilt Edge. She wondered where he’d been, what exactly had kept him away as well as how he’d kept in such great shape and if she would have a chance to see him with his shirt off.
Speculating about his incredible physique kept her mind off how dangerous a game she was playing. Her parents had the right to be worried for her. Still, she had to laugh at where her mind had taken her. She wasn’t immune to a handsome man, but she’d never dated one like Tucker Cahill. She’d always stayed clear of cowboys on the family ranch. The men she’d dated were clones of her father. Like Peter. Men her father would approve of.
She smiled to herself as she thought of what her father would make of Tucker Cahill with his too-long dark hair and those gray eyes fringed with long dark eyelashes, not to mention the chiseled jaw. Wouldn’t her father have a fit if she’d ever brought home someone like him?
Katie opened her overnight bag and frowned. She’d packed what she needed for a short stay. No way had she planned on going on a date. Asking Tucker out had been impulsive, not that she regretted it on any level.
With a sigh, though, she picked up her shoulder bag, leaving the gun behind for this trip. She’d have to walk downtown and see if she could find something to wear tonight. Glancing in the mirror by the door, she took in the jeans, T-shirt and tennis shoes she was wearing. Not exactly date attire. She had planned on doing some exploring at the crime scene—before Tucker had seen her and she’d taken off.
He’d changed her plans. Tonight, though, she would find out just how much he knew before she decided how he was going to help her get what she wanted. Her mother had always encouraged her to dress for success. Tonight she was going to do just that.
* * *
TUCKER’S SISTER, LILLIE, saw him first. She’d been standing at the bar rubbing her protruding stomach. When she spotted him, she dropped her hand, her eyes widening and quickly filling with tears, before she screamed his name.
“Tucker!”
He moved to her to take her in his arms. “Hey, little sis. What happened to you?” he asked with a laugh. “What ya got in there, my nephew or niece?”
Lillie was crying too hard to answer. Tucker looked to his brother Darby, who came around the bar. He stuck out his hand. “Darby, dang, you two are a sight for sore eyes. You’re all grown-up.” They’d been nine when he’d left.
A few regulars at the bar were craning their necks to see what was going on.
“Are you back?” Darby asked.
Tucker nodded. “Sorry it took me so long. I’ll tell you all about it, but I can’t right now. I have a date.”
“A date?” Lillie demanded, finally finding her voice as she pulled back to look at him. “A date your first night home?”
“You sound like Flint.”
“He knows you’re back?”
Tucker laughed, hearing the jealousy in her voice. “I’m staying at the ranch and I haven’t seen Hawk and Cyrus yet, but I had to stop by and see the two of you. We’ll all get together soon and catch up, I promise.”
Lillie wiped her eyes, her hand going to her stomach again. “You haven’t even met my husband, Trask, or Darby’s wife, Mariah, yet. Or Billie Dee.”
“Billie Dee?”
“The best cook in Montana, probably the whole US,” Lillie said adamantly.
He laughed. “I will meet them all. I’ll catch up on everything, but right now I have to run.” He kissed his sister on the cheek and waved to Darby. “It’s so great to see the two of you again.”
“Did Flint tell you a package arrived for you?” Lillie asked.
Tucker had forgotten about it for a while. “He did.” He could see that Lillie was busting at the seams to know what was inside. “It was just somethin’ I sent on ahead of me. No big deal.” She looked disappointed. “No mystery. Sorry.”
But as he left, he couldn’t help but wonder who’d sent the doll and what exactly the message had been.
As he walked to his pickup, though, he saw that he’d gotten a different kind of message. Someone had stuck a folded piece of paper under his driver’s-side windshield wiper.
He looked around before pulling it out. As he opened it, he saw the girlie lettering and felt a chill. He knew it was impossible, but he would have sworn it was Madeline’s handwriting.
It read: You shouldn’t have come back.
* * *
AFTER A QUICK shopping trip downtown, Kate was ready when she got the call that her date was waiting for her downstairs.
Her date? This wasn’t a date. This wasn’t even work. This was about justice, plain and simple. So how did she explain the butterflies? She hadn’t had butterflies the first time she went out with Peter or any other man that she could remember.
So why was she so nervous about going out with Tucker Cahill? She’d met her share of handsome cowboys. What made Tucker Cahill different?
It wasn’t his crooked grin. Or that jolt of current she’d felt when he’d grabbed her arm in front of the hotel and she’d seen him up close for the first time. It was what she’d glimpsed in those gray eyes, a pain she’d recognized heart-deep.
Kate pushed the thought away, telling herself that Tucker Cahill was no different from any other man she’d interviewed for a story. He was merely a source. She would do the job she was damned good at. She’d get the information she needed from him, and if she couldn’t get him to help her, she would have no reason to see him again.
