glance. “A man’s head can be turned by a pretty face and come-hither smiles.”
“That’s enough.” Quin glared at the lanky cowboy. “Apologize to the lady, Ez.”
“Sorry,” he grumbled without looking up. “Don’t know what came over me.”
“Boston and I will put her cattle where they belong. I’ll see you back at the barn later,” Quin said dismissively.
After the men rode off, Quin berated himself for risking Boston’s reputation for what might have been a tumble in the grass—with an audience of cowboys. Apparently, the self-control he’d spent thirty-three years perfecting wasn’t as ironclad as he thought. Either that or he had a chink in his armor that went by the name of Adrianna McKnight.
“I’m sorry for accusing you of rustling,” she murmured as she herded her cattle toward the gate.
“Same goes for me…and I’m sorry about—”
“Don’t apologize for something that was as much my fault as it was yours,” she interrupted. “I hope to see you at Rosa and Lucas’s wedding celebration, Cahill.”
When she rode off, leaving him to drive his re branded cattle to the corral, Quin expelled an audible sigh. He decided he needed to swing by Triple Creek for a cold soaking before he headed home. Otherwise, he was going to reduce himself to a pile of frustrated coals. Even now the memory of lying with that green-eyed temptress burned him up—inside and out. Quin wondered if there was a cure for this insane craving for Boston.
“Yeah,” he muttered bleakly. “Being dead for a week should cure it.”
Chapter Five
Quin spent another long four days riding through various pastures, sorting off calves he planned to drive to Dodge City. More often than not, his thoughts strayed to the tantalizing tryst he’d almost had with Boston. The woman was getting to him, though he had told himself repeatedly that she represented the same attitude as his siblings who had ventured off to find a new life that didn’t include him.
Well, maybe it wasn’t so bad, he mused as he and his cowboys herded the calves to the corral for branding. Maybe he’d become too entrenched in ranch life to realize his siblings didn’t share their father’s dream or the same passion for the land. Maybe Quin had pushed them too hard, too fast.
For certain, he’d made several cutting remarks that he’d like to retract. In addition, he shouldn’t have tried to delegate ranch duties so soon after his parents’ funeral. Between the heart-wrenching tragedy and the natural friction between siblings, the situation had spiraled out of control and tempers had flared—to the extreme….
“Hey, boss, you need to have a look at this.”
Quin jerked to attention and twisted in the saddle to see Otha Hadley waving his hat in the air. Frowning warily, Quin reversed direction to see a skinned carcass concealed by tall grass. The hide was gone, along with meaty flesh.
“Someone butchered your calf, right here on the spot.” Otha pointed to the gunshot wound between the eyes. Then he glanced at Quin. “Surely that lady rancher wouldn’t do this.”
Quin was through blaming Boston for swiping and rebranding his cattle. “I think something else is going on here,” he murmured pensively. But damned if he could figure out what and who might be responsible.
Otha cut Quin a quick glance. “Rumors circling the bunkhouse say that lady rancher is trying to undermine your ranch ’cause you offered to buy her out and it made her mad.”
Quin gnashed his teeth. “Cowboys can be worse than old hens when it comes to spreading gossip.”
Otha removed his hat to rake his blunt-tipped fingers through the tuft of wiry red hair. “I reckon you’re right, boss. Half the boys blame the lady rancher and the others think the curse is at work again.”
Quin shot the bowlegged cowboy—who was five years his junior—a withering glance.
“Well, boss, you gotta admit that the thieving, butchering and fence cutting has picked up again. It was pretty bad before and after your folks died, God rest their souls. Then it tapered off awhile. Now it’s cranking up.”
Yes, it was, thought Quin. It had begun with Boston’s arrival. However, it wasn’t as if other ranchers in the area hadn’t suffered similar problems. Just not to the extent the 4C had. Then again, 4C covered more territory and pastured considerably more cattle and horses than the other spreads.
“Uh, boss, I was wondering about taking some time off this weekend for that city-wide celebration those foreigners are planning for Rosa and her ex–Ranger husband.”
Quin frowned pensively when Otha referred to Boston