Cardwell Ranch Trespasser - By B. J. Daniels Page 0,25
pines, she pulled back her arm to throw the rock. All she had to do was hit the back of Hilde’s horse. If it spooked even a little, it might buck or lose its footing, and both woman and horse could fall.
Just as she was about to hurl the stone, a hand grabbed her arm and twisted the rock from her grip. She let out a cry of both surprise and pain. Turning in her saddle, she swore when she saw it was Rick.
“Don’t be a fool,” he said under his breath. “If she has another accident this early, it will only make everyone more suspicious.”
“I have to stop her. She’s onto me.”
Rick shook his head. “I’ll help you, but not here. Not today. Be nice to her but watch yourself.” He dug into her pocket to pull out the other rocks. “Just in case you get another smart idea while looking at my horse’s backside,” he said, and rode on up the trail to catch up with Hilde.
* * *
HILDE KEPT HER eye on Dee during the ride to the lake. But the woman seemed almost subdued after their little talk.
Rick spent most of the time talking with Hud on the last part of the ride up and even when they’d reached Elkhorn Lake. Hilde saw Dee watching the two of them. She got the impression Dee didn’t like her boyfriend talking with Hud.
When Hud broke out the lunch Dana had packed, Colt brought her over a sandwich and sat down with her on the rocks at the edge of the lake away from the others.
“Have you noticed the way she is with Hud?” she asked quietly before taking a bite of her sandwich. They’d both been watching Dee.
“Yep.”
Hilde locked gazes with him. “I think I know what she’s after. She wants Hud.”
Colt let out a laugh. “Hud?”
“I’ve been trying to figure out what she wants other than a Montana vacation, all expenses paid.”
“She likes to flirt.”
“Did she flirt with you?”
He admitted she hadn’t except for a few minutes at the river before the raft trip and he suspected that little bit of flirting with him had been for Dana’s benefit only. “If Hud’s what she’s after, then she’s wasting her time. He’s crazy in love with Dana, not to mention they have four kids together. Hud would never be interested in Dee.”
“She wouldn’t be the first woman who went after another woman’s man.”
“Or vice versa,” Colt said.
Hilde glanced at him. She knew Colt was divorced. Earlier he’d said he’d married young and that it hadn’t worked out. Had another man come after his wife? Or had Colt been seduced away from his marriage?
“But I don’t believe any woman can get a man to leave his marriage unless he’s willing,” Colt added, keeping her from asking him about his marriage. “As they say, it takes two to tango.”
“I agree,” she said. “Hud would never jeopardize his marriage for a fling with someone like Dee.” But had Colt?
“So what’s Dee’s plan, do you think?” Colt asked quietly. They both watched Dee, who was sitting in a tight circle with Hud and Rick. She was taking tiny bites of her sandwich, clearly not interested in food. Rick had Hud talking, and Dee appeared to be hanging on Hud’s every word.
“I wish I knew,” Hilde said, feeling a growing desperation as she watched the woman. Dee had wormed her way into Dana’s and Hud’s lives and she wasn’t finished yet. “Now that I know what she’s capable of, if I’m right and she is after Hud and she can’t get him through seduction, then she will do something more drastic. That’s what has me scared.”
* * *
COLT LOOKED UP from his lunch to study Hilde. She was breathtaking: the sun on her face, her hair as golden as autumn leaves. He was surprised when he’d first come to Big Sky and learned that Hilde and Dana were best friends. They were so different.
Dana was all tomboy. She could ride and rope and shoot as well as any man. Being a mother had toned her down some, but she was a ranch girl born and bred, and she was at home in the great outdoors.
Hilde was all girl, from the clothes she wore to the way she presented herself. He didn’t doubt for a moment that she was smart or that she was strong. She could get tough, too, if she had to. He’d seen that the way she’d gone after Dee on