Cardwell Ranch Trespasser - By B. J. Daniels Page 0,35

I’m going to prove it.” If she had a good set of Dee’s prints on the scissors. Now she was worried that she might not have.

Hilde started to open her shop when a thought struck her. Dee had gone into Bozeman to have lunch with Hud. That meant Dana would be at the house alone with the kids.

“You promised Colt you wouldn’t go near the ranch,” she reminded herself, as she went into the back to stuff several plastic bags into her purse. “Colt meant don’t go near Dee, not the ranch, and I might not have this opportunity again.”

As she started for the door, she realized she was talking to herself. Dee was right. She was teetering on the edge. She was starting to scare herself.

Locking up behind herself and leaving the Closed sign in the window of the sewing shop—something she never did—Hilde headed for Cardwell Ranch.

Chapter Nine

“Dee,” Hud said the moment there was a lull in the conversation.

She’d chosen a private booth at the back of the local bistro and had been doing her best to entertain him with fabricated stories about her life.

He’d laughed at the appropriate times and even blushed a little when she’d told him how she’d lost her virginity. Well, how she could have lost it if it wasn’t for her real life. Her fabricated story was cute and sad and wistful, just enough to pluck at his heartstrings, she hoped. She had Dana where she wanted her. Hud was another story.

She’d noticed that he’d seemed a little distracted when he’d sat down, but she’d thought she’d charmed away whatever was bothering him.

“Dee,” he repeated when she’d finished one of her stories. “I have to ask you. How much do you know about Rick?”

The bastard was dead, but not forgotten. She’d been relieved earlier when she’d stopped by Needles and Pins to learn that Rick hadn’t had a chance to tell Hilde anything of importance. Had he lived much longer, though, he would have spoiled everything.

“What do you mean?” she asked, letting him know he’d ruined her good mood—and her lunch—by bringing up Rick.

“I found three different forms of identification on him in three different names.”

The fool. Why had he taken a chance like that? Because it was the way they’d always done it. So she knew he was planning to start over somewhere else—once he got money from her. If she could have sent him straight to hell at that moment, she’d have bought him a first-class ticket.

“I don’t understand.” It was the best she could do. Now the marshal would look into Rick’s past. It was bound to come out who he really was. Damn him for doing this to her. He really was going to ruin everything.

“Did you suspect he might not be who he said he was?”

She let out a nervous laugh. “He’s Rick Cameron. I met his friends. He even had me talk to his mother one time on the phone. She sounded nice.”

“I think he lied to you,” Hud said gently.

She let him take her hand. His hands were large and strong. She imagined what they might feel like on the rest of her bare skin, and she did her best to look brokenhearted. She even worked up a few tears and was pleased when Hud pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to her.

“Thank you. I don’t know what I would have done if this had happened in New York. I have friends there, but at a time like this it is so good to be around family.” She gave him a hug, but not too long since she felt him tense.

Hilde. The blasted woman had warned him. Of course she had.

“You are so lucky to have such a wonderful family,” she said. “Dana is amazing and the kids...what can I say?”

He nodded and relaxed again. “I am lucky. And Dana is so happy to have found a cousin she didn’t know she had.”

“I feel as if I’m wearing out my welcome, though.” He started to say something. Not to really disagree, but to try to be polite. “I’ll be taking off Saturday. Dana’s invited me back for a week next year. I hope she and Hilde regain their friendship. I know it’s not my fault, but still...”

Hud smiled. “They’ll work it out. I’m just glad you came out to the ranch. You’ll have to keep in touch.”

“I’ll try,” she said, furious that between Rick and Hilde, they’d managed to ruin her lunch with Hud and