his wife. Vince Monroe’s eyes narrowed on the younger man. Colton swung his gaze back to Cassie. He asked again, “When did Ferguson blow back into town?”
Lifting a shoulder, Cassie swirled her straw in her tea. A lemon wedge shifted between the ice cubes. “I don’t really know—a little while.”
“And he’s been working for your dad?”
“No. Dad just hired him this afternoon.”
Colton’s thoughts turned a new corner. Was it possible that Ryan Ferguson and Ivan Aldridge had been in on the horse-napping together? He didn’t want to think so. “He doesn’t look like the type your father would want hanging around.”
“Dad needs help.” She offered a feeble smile. “Because of my job, I’m gone a lot—a lot more than either Dad or I imagined. And I’ll be moving out soon.”
Colton’s head snapped up. This was news. Cassie was actually going to cut the strings that bound her to Ivan? “Where to? When?”
“Probably an apartment here in town, sometime this summer.”
Colton’s concerns about Ryan Ferguson were shoved to the back of his mind. “Why?”
“It’s time, don’t you think? I just moved back home until some of my college debt was paid off and to lend Dad a hand. But as I said, I’m not around enough to help much, and now that I’m out of school, he can afford to pay someone.”
“So why did he choose Ferguson?”
I wish I knew, Cassie thought. “Ryan needed a job, I guess.”
Colton settled back in his booth and watched Ferguson throughout the meal. The man, though dressed in basic Road Warrior attire, seemed harmless enough. But, as Colton had learned from years of dealing with some of the most deadly terrorists in the world, looks could be deceiving. Ryan Ferguson was worth checking out.
Vince Monroe scraped back his chair. Colton glanced his way and caught the older man staring at him—hard—and the warning hairs on the back of his neck rose. Though Vince’s big face remained bland, his eyes gave him away. Colton recognized cold, hard hatred in Vince’s stare.
Jessica turned her head in Colton’s direction, offered a wobbly smile, which Colton returned with a friendly grin, then walked out on her father’s arm without a word.
“I get the impression the Monroes aren’t crazy about me,” Colton thought aloud, wondering just how many of the local ranchers felt alienated from the McLeans.
“Vince has had some bad luck.”
“That’s my fault?”
“No,” Cassie admitted, rolling her napkin nervously. “But there is Jessica.”
“I told you, there was never anything between Jessica and me.”
“Does she know that? You know, it’s just possible you hurt her, Colton, and if you did, her father wouldn’t count you on his list of ten favorites.”
Colton rubbed his jaw pensively. The hate sizzling in Monroe’s glance couldn’t be explained by the fact that Colton had gone out with Jessica a couple of times, then left town. “I don’t think this has anything to do with Jessica. There’s got to be more. What happened between the Monroes and the McLeans while I was gone?”
“I don’t know, except that Vince was forced to sell some of his stock to Denver last year.”
“I’d think he’d be pleased that Denver would bail him out,” Colton said, his gaze following the stiff set of Vince’s shoulders as the big man shoved the door open.
“I doubt it,” she said, her appetite disappearing. “The same thing happened to Dad a few years ago. He had to sell a horse to Tessa before she married your brother. It never set well with him.”
“Anything remotely associated with the McLeans doesn’t set well with Ivan.”
“He has his reasons,” she added. “You know, Dad can be a wonderful, caring man. He’s done nothing but take care of me all of my life. You just have to give him a chance.”
To her surprise, he reached across the table and placed his hand over hers. “I’m trying, Cass. Believe me, I’m trying.” His work-roughened fingers smoothed the skin across the back of her hand, and a ripple of pleasure ran up her arm. “Come on, I’d better get you home,” he said with a cynical grin. “I wouldn’t want to get on the bad side of your father.”
“Right,” she retorted, but grinned as he helped her into her coat.
Outside, the night was cool and still. Together they walked to the Jeep beneath a night-black sky. Cassie’s lips felt cold, her skin chilled, and yet being with Colton created an inner warmth that radiated to her fingers.
As he opened the door for her, he grabbed her hand, gently pulling