get up and go look for themselves. You should do the same.”
He studied her as if assessing her mettle. “This is not the end,” he finally promised.
“Yes, it is. Set foot on my land again and I’ll shoot you for trespassing. If you believe I’m bluffing, Hazel will be taking your remains home in a box.”
She set out towards her cabin and left them standing there. Hearing the buggy pull away a few moments later, she kept walking.
The work had left her sweaty and smelly, so she lit the outside boiler for hot water for a bath. Knowing the process would take close to an hour, she went into the kitchen, washed her hands, and made a sandwich. Placing it on a small plate, she took it out to the back porch along with a tumbler of water. Clouds were moving in and the sun was fading. Rain was definitely on the way. As she ate, she thought back on Jarvis, and wondered if Porter James knew the man wanted to put him out of business. With the help of Odell, Ben, and many others in Paradise, Mr. James built his mill before she and Colt were born. Yes, the stone structure was old and inefficient when compared to newer ones built in the larger cities, but it served their community well and Mr. James knew more about wood than anyone else around. Did Jarvis possess the same extensive knowledge? Did he own a mill wherever he was from? Would he try and build elsewhere along the river now that she’d turned him down? She had no answers, but she was certain that if Matt Ketchum was tied to the plans, Jarvis would have his hands full. In addition to being a foul-mouthed drunk, Matt was selfish, spoiled, and lazy. When she worked for his father, Mitch, there was no job the then-sixteen-year-old Matt didn’t pass off to someone else. If he wanted to sleep in, he was allowed. If he showed up drunk, that was overlooked. Many of the hired hands grumbled about his irresponsible, self-centered ways, especially when they were forced to take on the work he didn’t want to do, like mucking out stables or chopping wood needed to repair the fences, but no one dared approach his father to complain. Why his behavior was tolerated, she didn’t know. Since it wasn’t the hands’ place to ask, they did his chores and cursed both father and son among themselves. After Mitch Ketchum’s death, because Matt’s whereabouts were unknown, the five thousand acres of Ketchum land went into foreclosure, contrary to his lies to Jarvis. At the bank auction, Odell and Spring purchased a few parcels that gave her and her horses access to the Paradise River. Her grandfather, the land’s original owner, bought back a portion that held pine, creeks, and the foothills known for good hunting. Randolph Nelson purchased the remainder to access the grass-filled valley and rest of the river frontage for his cattle. Had Jarvis accused Nelson of stealing the land, too, or was the claim leveled at her alone? Either way, she didn’t see Nelson relinquishing any of his vast acreage to accommodate a sawmill and the river access the enterprise would need. With any luck, Jarvis would accept defeat, leave Paradise, and go back to wherever he’d come from, but with Matt Ketchum involved and stirring the pot, that was probably just wishful thinking.
An hour later Spring stepped out of the bath and wrapped her wet body in a drying sheet. Fashioning a towel around her dripping hair, she padded to the kitchen in a pair of old moccasins to put on a pot of coffee so it would be ready when she dried off. Seeing McCray standing by the sofa stopped her cold.
Eyes wide, he stared at her in the thin, nearly transparent sheet and began coughing. Turning his back, he croaked, “Lord, Spring. Are you trying to kill me?”
Her smile peeped through. “How long have you been here?”
“A second or so.” Peeking over his shoulder at her, his gaze slowly brushed her from the towel on her head to the moccasins on her feet, before he faced away again. He cleared his throat. “I knocked and got no answer, so I went to the barns. Didn’t find you there, so I tried the back door. It was open. I’ve just walked in. I didn’t know you were bathing.”
He turned back to her and the intensity reflected in his eyes warmed