going to a movie this weekend.”
His cousin raised an eyebrow. “Good luck.”
“I like her.”
“It worked for Beauty and the Beast. I suppose it could work for Goth girl and the geek. Maybe they’ll make a movie.”
Jeff was a cowboy, born and raised on the ranch. He liked women who wore Wrangler jeans and rode bareback.
While Alex had grown up with his share of girls like that, he found himself more intrigued by Emily Calder. She’d been raised here on a ranch just as he had. But she hadn’t become a cowgirl or a cowboy’s wife. Like him, she’d escaped to experience life beyond the state of Montana. But also like him, she’d come home.
She’d made her share of mistakes, from what Alex had heard. Now she was trying to do better for her daughter. He admired that about her. He found her interesting, and he was looking forward to getting to know her better.
If he could get past the first date, he thought as he watched her disappear into the Sarah Hamilton Foundation office across the street.
He caught movement out of the corner of his eye and saw the now familiar car that was parked down the block. The car was a beater, and the man behind the wheel didn’t look much better than the car.
Alex had gotten only glimpses of him. Long, dark hair, tattoos on his neck and arms, a battered black cowboy hat.
The man waited until Emily left the coffee shop and returned to the foundation office before he drove off—just as he had done the other day when Alex had noticed him.
As he watched the man now, he was left with no doubt about the man’s interest in Emily Calder.
AS THE DAY slipped away, all Buckmaster could think about was that Bo should have been back by now. He looked toward the mountains, imagining her riding out of the pines, back straight and head high, just as he’d taught her to ride. She would come back to face whatever problem she had at the foundation. She wouldn’t run.
Misappropriation of funds... Those were the words that kept circling in his brain, thanks to his lawyer.
As he entered the living room, he saw the television was on one of the news stations. Angelina had taken to watching the news nonstop from the time she awoke to when she finally went to bed.
“He looks like a hardened criminal, doesn’t he?” she asked, her gaze on the television screen.
He glanced at the mug shot of the man on the screen. Raymond Spencer looked still wet behind the ears. He had freckles, for hell’s sake, and baby blue eyes. He also looked as though he wanted to cry.
Another mug shot flashed on the screen. In this one, he looked older and doped up. He’d shaved off all of his blond hair. Something in his eyes had changed, as well.
“Turn that off,” Buckmaster snapped as the anchor said the man’s escape was blamed on a communication gap between Livingston, Montana, law officers.
“The manhunt continues for Spencer, who is wanted in the armed robbery and death of a convenience store attendant. Spencer escaped three weeks ago after—” The television screen went black as Buckmaster turned it off with the remote.
Angelina stared at the blank screen. “He escaped in handcuffs. He would have to go somewhere to get those off, right?”
What was this obsession she had with crime? The moment Buckmaster thought it, he knew this was her reaction to what her brother had done.
“Do you think you could kill someone?” she asked, turning to look at him for the first time since he’d entered the room.
He sighed. “If I had to.” He didn’t have to ask her the same question. He knew. When her blackmailer had been murdered, her brother had been arrested. But Buckmaster had suspected Angelina had given him the gun.
She’d denied it. But he’d come to know his wife. Angelina could be merciless. Understanding that had changed the way he looked at her, which in turn made him feel guilty. He loved this woman as much as he was capable of loving her, since Sarah had always been his true love.
But with Angelina came a debt. He owed her. He knew he wouldn’t have achieved his political standing without her. Also, he knew he should be glad that she was sticking with him, given what they’d been through lately. Better to have her on his side. She would make one brutal enemy.
“We should make sure the doors are locked,” she said, getting to her feet. “Livingston isn’t that far away. Who knows where that escaped killer is?”
“I’m sure they will catch him,” Buckmaster said. “I thought I read in the paper this morning that they had tracked him through a bus ticket.”
“To Reno, Nevada,” she said. “They think he bought a car down there and might have returned to Montana. There is concern he’s still in the area since he was raised on the other side of the Crazies in Wilsall. They’re calling him a violent criminal.”
“Angelina—”
“I just don’t understand what makes someone do something like that,” she said as if she hadn’t heard him speak.
That was the problem. He suspected she did know what made a person do horrible things. He stepped to her and took her in his arms. Her back was ramrod straight, her body stiff and unresponsive. They hadn’t made love in months. Not since Sarah had returned.
After a moment, she stepped from his arms, and he let her go.
* * *
AFTER SARAH’S APPOINTMENT with the doctor, Russell brought her back to the cabin. He’d questioned her on the way home about what the doctor had said, but she’d been evasive.
“The tests were inconclusive. He just doesn’t know.”
Now Sarah picked up one of the strawberries Russell had brought her earlier and took a bite. She closed her eyes as her teeth sank into it, a smile coming to her lips as she savored the fresh berry. Russell watched her, entranced. Since the moment she’d stumbled out of the woods in front of his pickup, she’d captivated him.
At first he’d thought she was an apparition, because he’d attended her funeral twenty-two years ago. This Sarah seemed so utterly vulnerable, lost and helpless. Since the day he’d found her, though, he’d glimpsed a strength and determination in her that astounded him. This woman was someone to be reckoned with.
As he watched her relish the strawberry and sigh with contentment, he wanted to wrap her in his arms and protect her from the world outside this cabin. But she wasn’t his. Fate might have brought them together and made him feel responsible, but ultimately, the woman was still in love with Buckmaster Hamilton. Because of that, Russell wasn’t sure where he fit into her life—if at all.
She’d made a point of not asking about Buckmaster. Did she think mentioning the man would upset Russell? Admittedly, it did. He knew what she was waiting to hear. “Buckmaster has been calling.”
Sarah looked up, her contented expression disappearing at just the mention of her ex-husband’s—scratch that—husband’s name. Buckmaster might have had Sarah declared dead after her body wasn’t recovered from the icy Yellowstone River, then remarried seven years later, but in Sarah’s mind and heart, Buckmaster was still her husband. Russell knew Buckmaster still thought of Sarah as his wife, as well.
“What does he want?” she asked as she pushed the small empty basket of strawberries aside.
He wants you, Russell thought. The senator, now with one too many wives, couldn’t stand that this was one part of his life he couldn’t control. At least in Russell’s humble opinion.
“He says he’s worried about you. He likes knowing