Texas Tall (The Tylers of Texas 3)

A quarter mile to the southeast, four red brick bungalows, built to house the married hands and their families, were set back from the road in a neat line. Beau, with his pregnant bride, Natalie, had moved into one of them while they waited for their new home to be finished. The newlyweds could’ve easily stayed in the ranch house with Will. There was plenty of room, and Will would have welcomed them. But someone had warned Natalie that moving into the big house would be a sure way to doom their marriage.

Will had no doubt that someone was Tori.

He and Tori had been wildly in love when they’d married. But here on the ranch, their marriage had degenerated into a tug-of-war between Tori and Bull, with Will caught in the middle. Things had gone from bad to worse until the awful week that had torn them apart for good.

Had Tori been trying to save her friend Natalie from the same fate?

As if the thought could summon her, Will saw Tori’s brown station wagon approaching up the long gravel drive. His spirits lightened as he glimpsed Erin in the passenger seat. He was glad Tori had brought her. Having his daughter here would go a long way toward salvaging the weekend.

As the station wagon pulled up to the house and stopped, Erin climbed out the door and bounded up the steps to give Will a quick hug. Will fought the urge just to hold her tight and not let go. He’d been so scared for her last night. But it wouldn’t help to let her know that. Just let her be happy. Let everything be normal.

“Can I go see Tesoro?” she asked.

“Sure. Sky should be in the barn. Make sure he’s close by.” Erin’s beloved palomino foal was almost six months old. By now, he’d reached 85 percent of his mature height, but only half his mature weight. He was all legs and spunk. Erin had worked with Sky to train and gentle him, but the spirited young colt was big enough to be rambunctious. Will worried about his precious daughter being hurt by an accidental kick or shove.

He watched her race across the yard to the barn, all sunshine. But as she stepped out of the vehicle, her mother’s expression cast a shadow over the morning. Tori wasn’t happy, and Will was about to find out why.

She looked up at him, where he stood on the porch. “We need to talk, Will,” she said.

Jasper took his cue. “I think I hear Bernice in the kitchen,” he said, pushing to his feet. “Maybe I’ll go see what she’s fixin’ for breakfast.”

As he headed inside, the dog at his heels, Tori came up onto the porch. She was dressed in jeans and a dark green sweater, her long, honey-blond hair brushed back from a face that was freshly washed and bare of the makeup she usually wore. Seeing her like that reminded Will of mornings on the ranch, waking up and seeing that beautiful, unadorned face on the pillow beside him. But why was he thinking about that now—especially since the new man in her life might already be seeing her in the same way.

“Want some coffee?” he asked her, determined to be civil.

“No thanks.” She took the chair where Jasper had been sitting.

“Thanks for bringing Erin,” he said.

“She wanted to see her foal. Then I’m taking her back to town with me.”

“You can’t do that.” Will’s nerves, already raw, caused him to snap at her. “I get her on weekends, Tori. We signed the damned papers.”

“I know.” She was maddeningly calm. “But Erin’s welfare comes first. And after what happened last night, I don’t think she’s ready to be out here with you.”

“What’s the problem?” Will glanced toward the barn, where Erin had already disappeared. “I saw her. I talked with her. She seemed right as rain.”

Tori’s jaw tightened. “Will, you killed a man last night. Erin saw it happen.”

The shock hit Will like a lightning bolt. His first reaction was denial. “No. She was down on the floor of the truck. Honest to God, Tori, I made her get down so he wouldn’t see her.”

“Erin’s twelve years old. How could she not look? She told me what she saw.”

“But she seemed fine this morning. Was she upset?”

“Last night? Very. She’s putting on an act for you today.”

“Lord.” Will raked a hand through his hair. “To have her see me pull that trigger, see that man die—I wouldn’t have done that to Erin for the world!”

“There’s more.” Tori was sitting straight on the edge of her chair, hands clasped on her knees. “Abner Sweeney called me after we got home last night. He wants to question her today. According to him, you swore she didn’t see anything.”

“That’s right. What did you tell him?”

“Nothing. I’m guessing her account will back up yours. We certainly can’t ask Erin to lie. But you sent her away last night before the sheriff got there. And you claimed she hadn’t seen the shooting. By the wrong people, that could be interpreted as obstruction of justice.”

“Justice!” Will exploded out of his chair. “What justice? I killed the man in self-defense!”

A thought line deepened between Tori’s eyebrows. “That’s one way of looking at it. But you shot a man who’d just surrendered his gun, a man who hadn’t yet attacked you with his knife. In a different light, that could be construed as manslaughter, or worse.”