Calder Pride (Calder Saga 5)

Regret knifed through him, slicing the tension that had held Logan motionless. He bit back a savage oath, angered to discover that even though she wasn’t for him, he still wanted her. The need was a deep ache that wouldn’t be reasoned away.

Nerves raw, Cat was out of the saddle the instant her horse came to a stop. Her glance flew to her father, quickly noting the look of indulgent humor in his eyes—not censure or accusation, nothing that suggested any of her fears had been realized.

“Quint,” she began, then her searching glance saw him, curled up asleep in the truck. She smiled in relief.

“I caught him nodding off in the saddle,” Chase explained. “I managed to convince him that Molly needed a break. He dropped off to sleep about ten minutes ago. Too much excitement, I guess.”

“They told me back at camp about the cattle.” Her glance strayed to the gulch, but it wasn’t relief she felt when she discovered Logan was nowhere in sight. “When I saw your buckskin, I thought that’s where you were.”

“No, I loaned him to the new man that’s taken over for Blackmore. Echohawk’s his name. Seems to know his job, too.”

“You can bet Blackmore wouldn’t have spent more than ten minutes in there, as bad as those rotting carcasses smell,” Ty put in.

Cat listened to the exchange with only half an ear. Her thoughts were still on Logan, wondering how it was possible that a father wouldn’t instinctively recognize his own son—unless—“Did Quint see—” she began impulsively, then paused, unsure how to word the question without arousing suspicion.

“We kept him away from the gulch,” Ty said, as if that answered her question. “The scavengers had already been at work. It wasn’t something he should see at his age.”

She took that to mean Logan hadn’t met Quint yet. Tension raveled through her all over again. “I think I should take Quint and go back to the house. You can get by without me, can’t you?” she asked Ty.

“Sure.” He gestured in the direction of Shane Goodman, lounging against the trailer’s slatted sides, a cigarette cupped in his hand. “Shane was just going to head back there with the wounded calf. You can ride with him. That will give Quint a chance to sleep a little longer.”

“I’m ready when you are,” she told Shane, eager to leave.

“Let’s go.” He pushed away from the trailer, taking a quick, last drag on his cigarette before crushing it under his heel.

Surrendering her horse’s reins to Ty, Cat climbed into the truck cab and gently eased Quint onto her lap. He stirred once fitfully, then snuggled against her, something he seldom did at the advanced age of five. Smiling, she slipped off her hat and laid it on the seat next to him while Shane climbed into the driver’s side and started the engine. Once the brake was disengaged, the truck rolled forward. The trailer hitch squealed as he swung the wheel toward the west.

Cat frowned. “I thought we were going back to the ranch.”

“We are.”

“But Three Mile Gate is just over there. Why are you going this way?”

“We can’t use that gate. That Echohawk fella found some tire prints there,” he explained. “He thinks they might have been left by whoever killed those cows. The guy’s sharp.”

That’s what worried her. Logan was neither blind or stupid. And he wouldn’t be pushed.

Five miles from the Triple C headquarters, Quint pushed up and looked around with heavy eyes. “Where are we going?”

“Home. I thought I’d get back early and give Jessy a hand with supper.” Cat gathered him onto her lap. He leaned his head against her shoulder, too groggy with sleep to remember he was too old to be held.

He scrubbed a hand over his face, then stared out the window, silent for a long run of minutes. His head swiveled against her shoulder as he turned to glance at Shane. Seeing the cowboy behind the wheel seemed to jog his memory.

“Did Shane tell you some cows got killed?”

“Yes, he did.”

Again there was a lengthy pause. “I never got to see them. I think dead animals must look awful.”

“Not always.” Her response seemed to reassure him in some way.

“Grandpa gave me a job to do.”

“He did?” She smiled, moved by the importance he attached to that.

“Uh-huh,” he confirmed with a vigorous nod of his head. “I waited at the gate all by myself so the sheriff would know where to come.”

Stunned by his answer, Cat struggled not to show it. “You did? And all by yourself, too?”