Dave looked at his friend, waiting. It didn’t take long for Chance to continue.
“I’ll say, the woman’s gorgeous, really.” He gave a fast smile. “If you can get past what she does for a living.”
“Why’s she staying on?” Dave asked it, but he knew damn well why the woman was still here. A wealthy man didn’t just drop off the face of the earth and not leave a ripple.
There were people asking questions. Reporters hadn’t let go of the story at all. If anything, they kept digging deeper. Asking more questions, raising suspicions. Naturally, the state would want its investigator to stay put and keep gathering information.
Hell, when Alex did finally turn back up, Dave wanted to punch him dead in the face for causing all this.
“She’s talking to people,” Chance was saying. “She’s been all over my ranch already, chatting up the cowboys, looking for any piece of information she can turn up.”
“Great.”
“Yeah.” Chance snorted. “She questioned me once and I think she’s looking for another shot at me. So far, I’ve managed to avoid her.”
“By coming over to help your friends ride herd?”
“Doesn’t hurt,” he admitted.
Dave didn’t blame him. He was sick and tired of talking about Alex Santiago. Hell, he and Alex hadn’t exactly been friends before the man took off or whatever. Yet, ever since he’d been gone, Alex had become a huge part of Dave’s life. Gossip, innuendo and scandal kept hanging over him like a black cloud threatening a storm.
And Chance had had it just as bad for a while. He’d been dating Cara Windsor until Alex had moved in on him. Then Cara and Alex had become an item and Chance was left on the sidelines. Naturally the gossips in town had run with that, painting Chance as a pissed-off lover wanting revenge. Which was laughable. Chance had liked Cara, but not enough to make Alex disappear.
“Looks to me like she plans on talking to everyone who knows Alex.” He glanced at Dave. “Which would surely include you. I’m thinking you’re going to look real interesting to her seeing as how you and Alex were rivals, so to speak.”
“Great.” Snatching off his hat, Dave pushed one hand through his hair, then settled the hat into place again. “Nathan just officially cleared me of suspicion and now I’ve got someone else coming in to set the town gossips raging again.”
“Yeah, and they’ll be all over it.”
Disgusted and frustrated, Dave muttered, “Gonna go over real big with Thomas Buckley, too.”
“That pompous old goat? He hates everything.”
“Yeah, but I can’t afford to have him hating me at the moment.”
“The contract for your beef?”
“Exactly.”
Chance nodded grimly. “Maybe this woman Bailey will be discreet.”
“Won’t matter,” Dave said. “Once folks in town realize she’s looking at me, the gossip will start up and it will reach Buckley.”
“You can get Nathan to vouch for you there,” Chance pointed out. “How’re you going to handle the whole have-to-be-a-family-man-to-sell-to-TexCat thing though?”
“That part I’ve got covered,” Dave said, with just a touch of smug satisfaction in his voice. Quickly, he outlined his plan and his agreement with Mia.
Chance gave a long, low whistle. “You’re clever, I give you that. But Alex’s housekeeper?” He shook his head slowly. “To some—including Bailey—that might look like you’re trying to buy her silence.”
“What?” Dave hadn’t looked at it like that at all. Now that Chance had brought it up, though, it made a horrible kind of sense.
“Hey,” Chance said, “not to me! I know you didn’t do anything to Alex. I’m just saying that suddenly turning up engaged to the housekeeper of a man who’s disappeared might start even more tongues wagging.”
He was right and Dave knew it. But the plan was set and damned if he’d back out now.
“They’re gonna wag no matter what I do,” Dave told him. “At least this way, they’re all talking about what I want them to talk about. The engagement.”
“It ain’t easy living in a small town, is it?”
“Not by a long shot,” Dave agreed. “Still, you want to give it up and move to Houston or Dallas?”
Chance grinned. “Hell, no. Where would I ride my horse in the city? Besides, when you’re not the center of gossip, it can be downright entertaining.”