The Rancher's Prospect

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“It seemed best under the circumstances. Uh... Walt told me there might be sapphires on the Boxing N.”

“That’s a family myth. I ordered a survey ten years ago, and there’s nothing here.”

“Surveys can be wrong. Walt was so energized when he told me about searching for them as a kid, it occurred to me that another search might give him a new purpose.”

Josh’s eyes flared. “The last thing he needs is to get revved up about something utterly pointless.”

“I thought you’d prefer getting him interested in something other than the ranch.”

“That wouldn’t stop his interfering—it would just add a new layer of complication.”

“Well, I think you’re wrong, and I’m going to talk with Walt about it.”

She went to her rental car, refusing to look back to see if Josh was watching.

It was only in the car that she glanced at the rearview mirror. While Josh was still standing in front of the large house, it was hard to know if he was looking her way or at one of the nearby barns.

Not that it mattered. She wasn’t interested in him as a man. With that reminder, Tara started her sedan and drove steadily down the gravel road.

CHAPTER FIVE (#ulink_63528086-217c-5dc4-9246-32413c15dcdb)

JOSH DIDN’T SLEEP WELL; he was too frustrated over the way Tara was making his life even more of a challenge. Sapphire hunting was fine for children to dream about, but Walt was an old man with disabling injuries. He didn’t need to get excited about something he couldn’t possibly do. Josh enjoyed rock hunting and polishing as a hobby, though he had little time for it these days. But it had been a long time since he’d wasted his energy on thoughts of finding gemstones.

Despite his lack of rest, Josh was out before dawn the next morning so he could deal with the boxes Tara had packed. He’d wanted to do it the previous afternoon, but there hadn’t been time after a series of panicked calls from one of the young cowhands he’d finally managed to employ.

“I wouldn’t have hired such a kid,” Walt had snorted.

“He was the best of the applicants,” Josh had returned as politely as possible. He didn’t want to explain that word had gotten around about Walt’s behavior and experienced hands were avoiding the Boxing N. With a little luck, that would begin changing soon. In the meantime he was trying to pair the new guys with ones who’d been around longer.

Fortunately his grandfather had been kept too busy in the foaling barn to think about anything else—hired hands, boxes or sapphires. Walt had two mares on the verge of foaling and tended to baby them. Otherwise he probably would have moved the boxes himself. At the very least he would have tried, but there were times when he barely managed to keep himself upright; the last thing he needed was to fall under a heavy load. Several surgeries had saved his leg, but it didn’t have the strength to do much.

Josh stacked the boxes in the foreman’s house; he’d go through them when he had a chance, although it was unlikely they contained much of value.

After a quick breakfast, he went out to give orders to the ranch hands; at least they’d all shown up for work and nobody had quit for several days. Perhaps he should be grateful for small blessings.

He returned to the office, hoping that Walt wouldn’t decide to go, as well. But his grandfather was already there, glaring at the empty space next to the door.

“What did you do with everything?” he demanded.

“Hauled it out.”

“I was going to do that.”

“Now you don’t have to,” Josh told him. Grandpa’s doctor had told him to avoid heavy lifting, but he had trouble accepting limitations.

Tara arrived with two cartons of file folders in her arms.

“Good morning,” she said cheerily. “You know, Walt, I keep wondering about those sapphires you mentioned.”

Josh ground his teeth when she glanced at him with an innocent expression.

Walt grunted. “What do you mean?”

“There are all these old records here in the office. Could there be anything more specific about the location?”

“Don’t know, but it’s worth checking. Keep your eyes peeled,” Walt urged. “Right now I’ve gotta go check on Belle.”

Trying to control his temper, Josh waited until he and Tara were alone, then he started looking through a stack of papers on the desk. Obviously there was no point debating the sapphire issue; Tara was clearly determined to do the opposite of what he wanted.