Green Calder Grass (Calder Saga 6)

“I think she’s the perfect choice,” he agreed, smiling.

“You two are making a joke of this, but I’m serious.” Cat wore a determined look.

“So are we,” Chase assured her, fighting back a smile.

“Wonderful. It’s all settled.” Tara beamed at the three of them. “It will be a fascinating project, Cat. If I can help at all, let me know. In the meantime, though”—she paused and pressed a hand on Ty’s arm, claiming his attention—“I have a favor to ask of you.”

“What’s that?”

“I know the perfect housewarming gift you can give me.”

“You’re assuming I planned to give you one,” Ty countered.

“You wouldn’t be so rude, and I know it,” she insisted confidently. “Shall I tell you what it is?”

He noted the avid gleam in her eyes. “I think you should before you burst.”

Tara tipped back her head and laughed, exposing the slender curve of her throat. “You know me so well, Ty. The mere thought excites me because I know it will be the perfect finishing touch for the house.”

“Don’t keep us in suspense,” Cat protested a trifle impatiently. “What is it?”

“The loan of Lady Dunshill’s photograph. Just long enough for me to have a good copy made from it,” Tara added in quick assurance. “I know this excellent portrait artist who creates the most stunning works, almost entirely from photographs. And the minute I walked into this room and saw this huge stone fireplace when the masons finished, I knew whose picture I wanted hanging above the mantel. Lady Dunshill, the home’s namesake.” Tara swung around to face the fireplace and contemplated the empty area above the mantel. “Won’t a portrait of her make a perfect focal point for the room?” She sent an appealing look over her shoulder to Ty. “Say that you will loan me the photograph. I won’t need it for more than a week.”

Without an adequate reason to refuse, Ty replied, “I’ll look for it the first chance I get.”

“It’s probably still buried in that old trunk in the attic with all the rest of the photographs. Perhaps one day next week we can look for it,” she said to Cat. “With roundup starting, Ty will be too busy. And there is an absolute treasure trove of memorabilia up there, both of the family and the ranch’s early days. It will be an ideal starting point for your research of the family.”

Cat hesitated, no longer quick to agree to any suggestion from Tara as she once might have been. “Actually Quint and I promised to help with roundup, but maybe we can slip away for an afternoon. We’ll see.”

“Wonderful.” Tara considered it a firm date.

Jessy had no difficulty locating the guest room. Its decor was another artful blend of old and new that was both rustic and elegant. The bed offered the only flat surface big enough, short of the floor, to lay Laura on. Jessy took one look at the bed’s off-white coverlet and dug a receiving blanket out of the diaper bag to spread beneath Laura.

The minute Jessy laid her down, Laura stopped fussing and took immediate interest in her new surroundings. Her eye was first caught by an old rocker in the corner, its wood finished in a distressed white, and its seat and back cushion covered in a black-and-white cowhide. Next Laura became fascinated by the gauzy drapes that swooped from a half-moon canopy to the end posts of the rusted iron headboard.

All the twisting and turning slowed the diaper changing process, but it was nothing new to Jessy. One more corner to pin and she would be finished.

Laura pointed a finger at the drapes. “P’etty, Mama. P’etty.”

“Very pretty.” The pin secured, Jessy reached for the ruffled and plastic-lined panties that matched Laura’s dress.

As she slipped them on, she became conscious of a prickly sensation along the back of her neck. Jessy suddenly had that uneasy feeling she was being watched. A quick glance assured her there was no one in the hallway.

When she stood Laura up to pull the panties over the bulky diaper, Jessy snuck a look at the sheer-curtained window behind her. Her blood ran cold when she saw the dark silhouette of a slim man in a cowboy hat looking into the room.

Haskell. Who else could it be? Jessy reasoned. A dozen thoughts whipped through her mind at once, Ballard’s warning among them. Her first impulse was to walk straight to the window, push back the sheers, and confront him. But having Laura with her made Jessy more cautious than she might have been on her own.

Careful to give no sign she had seen him standing outside, yet alert to any sound or movement, Jessy swung Laura onto her hip, picked up the diaper bag and walked unhurriedly from the guest room.

Approaching the great room, Jessy noticed Chase not far from the archway, standing apart from the others, a drink in his hand. She walked up to his side.

“Just now there was a man outside the window, watching while I changed Laura’s diaper.” She kept her voice pitched at a level intended for his hearing only. “I think it was Haskell.”

Chase didn’t bother to ask questions. “Ty.” His voice was hard with command. “Someone was outside. Come on.”

He headed for the door, setting his drink on a table. After a startled second, Ty handed Trey to Cat and went after him. Logan was only a half-step behind both men.

“What’s going on?” Tara frowned in confusion then whirled on Jessy. “He said someone was outside. What was he talking about?”