Backlash Tender Trap Aftermath - Lisa Jackson Page 0,121
dirt, scrambled to his feet and shook his head.
“You’re wretched, you know that, don’t you?” Cassie laughed as she washed her hands under a faucet near the barn.
She was just wiping her fingers dry on the back of her jeans when she heard the sound of a vehicle thundering down the lane. She didn’t even have to look. She’d been expecting Colton for three days. “Here we go,” she muttered under her breath, bracing herself as the engine died and she spied Colton behind the wheel.
Climbing out of the Jeep, Colton hesitated when he saw her. “Is Ivan home?” he asked, closing the door behind him.
“In the house.”
“Good. I need to talk to him.”
“So you’ve said.”
He cocked one of his roguish brows in amusement. “No arguments from you?”
“Would it change things?”
“No—”
“Then what would be the point?” she countered. “There’s no use wasting my breath.” Without another word she led him through the back door. Ivan was in the living room, scanning the paper. “We’ve got company,” she announced, trying to ignore the fact that her stomach was twisting in knots. Just being in the same room with her father and Colton brought back unwanted memories.
Ivan glanced up, his gaze clashing with Colton’s. With deliberation he laid the paper aside and stood. “I’ve been expecting you,” he said slowly. “Seems as if you’ve been spreading rumors around town about me.”
“I just asked some questions.”
Cassie’s eyes widened. “You’ve been telling people in town that you think Dad is behind Black Magic’s disappearance?”
“Of course not,” Colton said through tight lips as he swung his gaze to her father. “But I did want to find out what you know about it.”
“Nothing,” Ivan snorted.
“The wires were snipped on the fence between your property and mine.”
“Big deal,” Ivan muttered, scowling. “If you’ve come here to accuse me of taking your horse, just do it, get it over with and leave. Or go talk to someone at the sheriff’s department.”
“I already have.”
“And what did he say?”
“Mark Gowan’s checking into things.”
“Good. Then maybe he can clear up the big mystery. But if you ask me, you and your hands just got careless, McLean, and that damned horse of yours wandered off.”
“No way.”
“Then ask Kramer. Wasn’t it his son who started the fire?” Little beads of sweat dotted Ivan’s upper lip, and he was so angry his entire body had begun to shake.
Beneath his beard, Colton blanched. “That’s over.”
“Oh, right. So now you and the Kramers are one big happy family?”
The younger man’s lips thinned. “Careful, Ivan,” he warned.
“Look,” Cassie interjected, “you came over here to say something to Dad. If you’re done accusing, then get down to business, and when you’re finished, leave.”
Colton’s eyes moved from Ivan to Cassie. “All right. Let’s talk about the fence.”
“Cassie says you claim it was cut.”
“It was.”
“And you think I did it.”
“Or know who did.”
“You’re barking up the wrong tree, McLean,” Ivan growled. Bending near the fireplace, he tossed a mossy log onto the fire in the grate, turned his back on Colton and prodded the log with a poker. “If someone did take your horse, and I’m not saying they did, they must’ve come onto my property through the north gate that leads to the road—the one we use for the hay baler and combine.”
“I know which gate you’re talking about.”
“Good.” Ivan dusted his hands and straightened slowly.
“Why would anyone else go through your land?”
“Ah, motive,” Ivan said, rubbing a crick in his back and glowering. “I suppose I’ve got the best one, don’t I? After all, it was my wife your uncle used, my daughter you dallied with—”
“Enough!” Cassie shouted, the old wounds bleeding.
Colton sucked in a swift breath. He clenched his fists, and he took a step forward before getting a grip on himself. “Let’s leave Cassie out of this,” he said through teeth that barely moved.
“Seems you forget quicker than I do!”
Colton bristled defensively. “What happened between Cassie and me hasn’t got anything to do with this.”
“Bull!”
Colton’s storm-gray eyes darkened with a private agony. Was he still hurting, too? Cassie wondered. But if so, why the witch-hunt?
“You think I would steal your horse, then leave tracks all over my property?” Ivan tossed back. “What do you take me for? I’ve been burned too many times by the likes of you to take a stupid chance like that!”
“I thought you might like to rub it in.”
“Stop it,” Cassie cut in. “Everyone’s had their say.”
Colton slid a glance her way. “So now it’s over, eh?”