Cardwell Ranch Trespasser - By B. J. Daniels Page 0,20
interested. It wasn’t until we reached the ranch and she met Hud that Dee perked up.”
He nodded but said nothing.
“I know this all sounds so...small and petty.”
“Tell me about the day at the falls.”
She finished the hot chocolate and put her mug on the table next to her elbow, noticing the bestseller lying open, his place marked halfway through the book. It was one she’d been wanting to read, and she was momentarily distracted to know that Colt was a reader.
“I didn’t want to go on the hike, but Dana insisted. I was probably rude. I asked how long Dee planned to stay. Shortly after that I was standing at the edge of the falls. Dana had gone over to the picnic spot to look for her camera, and all of a sudden I felt a hand on my back and a hard shove. Then Dee grabbed me and warned me to be careful, that it was dangerous around here.”
“You believed it was a threat.”
“I did.”
“But you didn’t say anything to Dana.”
“I was too shocked and—”
“You talked yourself out of believing it.”
She nodded. “Also, Dana was enjoying her cousin so much, I didn’t have the heart to tell her.”
“You feared she wouldn’t believe you.”
Hilde let out a laugh. “With good reason. She didn’t believe that Dee tried to drown me today.”
“But you do.”
She swallowed, then slowly nodded. “She wasn’t trying to save me. I know you find that hard to believe because I tried to fight you off moments later, when you were only trying to save me.”
“Why do you think she pushed you at the falls and yet saved you, then today tried to drown you and maybe really did try to save you?”
“I don’t know. It makes one of us seem crazy, doesn’t it?”
He smiled. “What is it you think she wants? Dana and Hud don’t have a lot money. She can’t possibly think she can get her hands on the ranch. She’s going to wear out her welcome within a week or so.”
“That’s just it, I don’t know. I just can’t get over the feeling that she wants something from Dana. But the more I think about it, the more I feel I must be wrong. What if I’m overreacting? Maybe she was trying to save me in the river today.”
“Maybe she didn’t push you at the falls?”
She looked away. “Dana thinks I’m jealous.” She turned to meet his gaze. “Maybe I am.” She got to her feet. “I should go home.”
Colt rose, too. “What are you going to do?”
“Stay away from Dee,” she said with a laugh. “Like you said, she’ll wear out her welcome and leave.”
“Hud called while you were changing clothes. He’s taking Dee up to Elkhorn Lake on a horseback ride tomorrow. Dana’s idea. I think we should go.”
“What? And give her another chance at me?”
He grinned. “That’s what I thought. You don’t think you imagined any of this. Dee’s dangerous, isn’t she?”
“Yes. But you’re the only person who believes me. Dee always comes away looking like a hero.”
“Almost as if she planned it that way. If you really think Hud and Dana are in danger, then I think we need to keep an eye on Dee. Meanwhile, I’ll be keeping an eye on you.”
Hilde couldn’t help but feel a small thrill at the last part. She liked the idea of Colt keeping an eye on her. She told herself not to make anything of it.
“The last thing I want to do is go on a long horseback ride with Dee Anna Justice. What makes you so sure she won’t try to kill me again?”
“I can’t promise that. But it will look more than a little odd if you meet with yet another accident. I have a plan. But you probably won’t like it.”
She didn’t, but she was so thankful that Colt believed her, she would have gone along with anything he asked.
“Right now, she’s won,” he said. “You need to throw her off balance and stay close to Dana. There’s only one way to do that.”
* * *
“HE’S A BOYFRIEND, isn’t he?” Dana said excitedly when Dee returned to the house after walking Rick out. Hud had apparently gone up to bed. Everyone else had left as she was coming back into the house.
“No, he’s...” She saw the sympathy in Dana’s expression. Her “cousin” was waiting for some heartbreaking love story. How could she disappoint her with so much at stake?
“Your ex, isn’t he.” Her cousin drew her over to the couch