Shifting Calder Wind (Calder Saga 7)

“So you took pity on them and came up with this scheme to repair the cabin so you could help them out.”

“They’re good people.” She found she could say that with conviction. “And the ranch isn’t paying for the repairs. The moneys are coming out of my personal account.” Mentally she crossed her fingers, vowing to do just that. “I know Chase would approve of my decision to help them even if you don’t.”

“Maybe he would, but I don’t think my father would slip off to the old cemetery to meet them.”

Alarm shot through Jessy that Cat should know about that. She managed to push out a surprised laugh. “What on earth are you talking about?”

“Are you saying you didn’t?” Cat challenged. Suddenly Jessy remembered seeing Culley that morning, but it had been after she’d met Laredo at the cemetery. Had Culley back tracked her? Even if he had, it was only his word against hers. He had no proof she had been there—or that she had met anyone. Considering there was no rational explanation for her to be there, Jessy felt she had no choice but to bluff it out.

“That is exactly what I’m saying,” she insisted in denial. “Why would I meet Laredo or anyone else at the old cemetery? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Uncle Culley claims that you did. Are you suggesting he lied about that?”

“No, only that he was mistaken. If he saw me over there at all, it must have been when Laredo and his mother followed me out to the Boar’s Nest. The easiest way to get there is along that road past the cemetery.” Jessy could tell by the small flicker of uncertainty in Cat’s expression that she had succeeded in planting a seed of doubt.

“If you hired this Laredo Smith to repair the cabin, what is he doing at the feedlot? I saw him there this morning, carelessly letting water run on the ground.”

“I needed some extra help to run the feedlot, so I hired Laredo. He had already finished the bulk of the repairs to the cabin.”

“How convenient,” Tara murmured. “When he first shows up, you don’t have any ranch work for him, so you make work by deciding to fix up an old shack. Then you rush out and make a deal to lease the feedlot. And all of a sudden, you need extra help on the ranch. You seem to have gone to a great deal of trouble to make certain this Laredo Smith has a job.”

“It’s purely a coincidence,” Jessy insisted, growing more and more uncomfortable.

“Naturally.” Tara smiled. “Still, he must be a very close friend.”

“He is,” Jessy replied, then saw the trap in that and rushed to add, “They both are.”

“Isn’t it odd that I have never heard of them.” Cat hadn’t let go of her anger. It was still there, close to the surface.

“I don’t think it’s odd.” Jessy continued to convey calmness despite her chaotic jumble inside. “I imagine there are a lot of people Chase knew that you didn’t.”

“Smith, with a ranch in Texas.” Head down, Tara made a show of searching her memory. “Ty and I were in Texas dozens of times and I can’t recall a single time when he mentioned anything about wanting to visit a rancher named Smith. You would think if the Smiths were such close friends to Chase, Ty would have felt obliged to at least phone them.”

Jessy was quick to answer that. “Back then you cared so little about ranching, Ty wouldn’t have told you about them. He would have known that you couldn’t be bothered with such ordinary people.”

“I still find it hard to believe he never mentioned them at all. On the other hand, maybe they never were his friends. Maybe they were yours.”

“How would I have met them except through Chase or Ty?” Jessy reasoned.

“How should I know?” Tara dismissed her questions with an elegant shrug of her shoulders. “I don’t keep track of who you see or when. Perhaps someone should.” Holding her gaze on Jessy, she said to Cat, “If I were you, Cathleen, I would look into this.”

“I intend to.”

Jessy knew immediately that she would only weaken her position by arguing with Cat. Her only choice was to take a firm stand and bluff this through the whole way. “Look into it all you want. You won’t find anything different from what I have told you.”

“That remains to be seen, doesn’t it,” Tara murmured, clearly enjoying Jessy’s predicament. “Of course, there is a simple way to prove Cat’s suspicions are ill-founded.”

Jessy was instantly wary. “What’s that?”

“Get rid of the Smiths. Let them find a place to live in Blue Moon. I know for a fact the mine has several openings. If he needs work, he can get a job there. It would certainly eliminate the necessity of you supporting them.”

“I could do that,” Jessy agreed. “But I won’t. Because I don’t feel that I need to prove anything—to you or anyone else.”

“I think it’s rather obvious where her loyalties lie. Don’t you, Cathleen?” Tara cast a smug glance at Cat.

“My loyalty is to the Triple C. It always has been, and it always will be,” Jessy stated somewhat fiercely, angered that Tara would suggest otherwise.

“You have a funny way of showing it,” said Cat. Then she erupted in a mixture of anger and frustration. “How could you do this, Jessy? After my father fought his whole life to keep the Triple C intact, less than a month after he’s gone you sign a lease giving someone else possession of part of it. How could you betray him like that?”