and the property.”
“We’ll have to be careful. The boys haven’t gotten all the holes filled yet, and I don’t want any more horses or people hurt. I’m assuming you can ride.”
He hadn’t ridden since he was a kid, but he was sure once he was in the saddle it would come back to him. “I’ll manage.”
“Well, then, why don’t we head out to the stable?”
They started down the stairs, side by side, and Nita’s scent drifted his way. She smelled like fresh air and dust and faintly of sweat. And something else, something sweet, and a little flowery. Since he couldn’t imagine her wearing perfume, he decided it was probably her soap or shampoo. And it was distracting him.
Now he understood what his brother, Logan and Gavin had been alluding to when they asked Connor if he would mind working with a woman like Nita. They weren’t worried that he wouldn’t like her. They thought he might like her too much. But he wouldn’t let this attraction he was feeling cloud his judgment.
“Tell me about this feud,” he said to get his mind back on track. “I’ve heard a lot of rumors. What’s it really all about?”
“It’s been going on for over a hundred years. My great-great-grandfather, Richard Windcroft, lost half his land to Nicholas Devlin in a poker game. The Windcrofts swore that he cheated, but the courts ruled in Devlin’s favor. A few weeks later Nicholas was shot dead and my grandfather was blamed, but there wasn’t enough evidence to convict him. We’ve been at odds ever since.”
“Do you think Richard killed him?”
“He swore he didn’t, and Windcrofts are honest men.”
“So, if the Devlins are behind the threats, why do they want you off the land?”
“They’ve always wanted our land.”
“But why now?”
Nita shrugged. “I don’t know. Do they even need a reason?”
“Do you think there could be a connection to Jonathan Devlin’s death?”
She stopped and spun to face him, her eyes dark with anger. “Don’t think I don’t know what people are saying. I may have hated Jonathan Devlin, but I didn’t have anything to do with his death. Not me or anyone else here. You got that?”
Whoa. She didn’t pull any punches. He hadn’t known too many women who were so in-your-face direct.
“I don’t listen to gossip,” he told her. “Only facts. And right now, the facts don’t point to the Devlins.”
“If it’s not the Devlins, then who would do this. And why?”
“That’s what we’re going to find out.”
“It’s the damndest thing,” Jimmy Bradley said. He, Nita and Connor stood in the west corral studying one of the holes the farm hands hadn’t yet filled. After touring the property, Connor understood how someone could dig holes in the more remote areas undetected. Under the cover of darkness, unless someone was out guarding the perimeter, it would be nearly impossible to see them. But whoever had done this one had dug not three hundred yards from the bunkhouse where the farm hands slept. The question was, why?
The holes were definitely made with a shovel, and the guilty party had left footprints in the fresh dirt. Connor crouched down and inspected the tracks. They were cowboy boots, and large, so he was guessing it was a man. Which could have been half the population of Texas for all he knew. Without a boot to compare it to, the prints wouldn’t do him much good. He’d call Gavin and have a deputy come out and photograph them just in case.
One thing the prints did tell, him however, was that Nita hadn’t done this—not that he’d thought she had.
“Could it be someone working on the farm?” Connor asked Jimmy.
“No, sir,” Jimmy said with a firm shake of his head. “A few of the hands might be a little wild, but they’re good, honest men and loyal to the Windcrofts. They would never do this.”
Connor stood and brushed the dirt from his hands. “What about a past, disgruntled employee?”
“Well, there was one man we let go early last year,” Jimmy said. “And it wasn’t on the best of terms.”
Nita shot him a deadly look. “He wouldn’t do this.”
“I need to know who he is and what happened,” Connor told her. “I need to investigate every possible angle.”
Her chin rose a notch. “His name is Sam Wilkins. The gist of it is, my daddy caught me and him in a…compromising position in the stable. Daddy asked Sam if he planned to marry me. When Sam said no, Daddy ran him off the farm with a shotgun.”
Connor fought the grin that mental picture stirred up. “So, this man, he took advantage of you?”
The look she gave him was one of pure disdain, and her chin rose even higher. “Excuse me, but do I look like the kind of woman a man could take advantage of?”
At that very second, no. In fact, he was pretty sure she could hold her own with a grizzly bear. An emotion that felt like envy burned through him when he thought of the lucky individual who’d had his hands on that lean, lithe body of hers. He wondered if she’d be the shy, demure type in bed, or rowdy and assertive.
Something told him this woman didn’t have a demure bone in her body. She would be full of passion and fire.
All the more reason to keep his thoughts on the assignment and off Nita. He wasn’t looking to get involved with anyone—especially someone like her. The more attracted he was to a woman, the more desirable he found her, the more likely he was to lose control. And when he lost control, bad things happened. Which was the number one reason he hadn’t been in a gratifying relationship with a woman in longer than he could remember.
“Besides,” Nita said, drawing him back into the here and now, “last I heard he was foreman at his cousin’s farm in Kentucky, so it couldn’t have been him.”
Connor was sure there was more to the story, but he had the suspicion he’d get his head bitten off if he asked. And she was right, it probably wasn’t that employee. “Is there anyone besides the Devlins who has some kind of grudge against you?”
“I’ve asked myself that same question a million times and I just can’t think of anyone.”
“Maybe your father would know of someone?”
“I was planning to go visit him after we’re finished. I can ask him then.”
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to come with you.”
“Who’s going to watch the farm?” she demanded.
He hadn’t planned to come right out and tell her that he was assigned to be her bodyguard, and he had the feeling that when she figured it out for herself all hell would break loose. Either way, he was going to escort her to the hospital. If someone meant her harm he was going to be there to protect her.
“I’m sure Jimmy and the other men can keep an eye on things until I get back.”
“We can do that,” Jimmy said. The old man gave Connor a look, as if he had a pretty good idea that Connor wasn’t there to watch just the farm.
“Besides,” Connor said. “I doubt someone would be foolish enough to try something in broad daylight. Unless you think your father’s not up to the company yet.”
“If I know my daddy, he’s already pitching a fit to get home. He wants to get to the bottom of this just as badly as I do. I’m sure he won’t mind you coming.”
“The sooner he gets back, the better,” Jimmy said gruffly. “The boys went into town for supplies this morning and already there’s been talk.”
“What