LITMIR.BIZ

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blue-black hair and probing fingers. “You might want to put him in a special shoe, either a bar shoe or a saucer; and keep walking him. Have you applied any hot or cold poultices or put his hoof in ice water?”

      “Yes, cold.”

      “Good, keep doing that,” Anna suggested, her eyes narrowing as she studied the stallion. “I want to wait another day and see how he’s doing tomorrow, before I consider giving him adrenaline or antihistamines.”

      “A woman from the old school, huh?”

      “You know me, I believe the less drugs the better.” She patted the horse on the shoulder. “He’s a good-looking stallion, Tory.”

      “The best,” Tory replied, glancing affectionately at the bay. “We’re counting on him.”

      “As a stud?”

      “Uh-huh. His first foals were born this spring.”

      “And you’re happy with them?”

      Tory nodded and smiled as she held open the stall gate for her friend. “I’ve always loved working with the horses, especially the foals.”

      Anna chuckled and shook her head in amazement as the two women walked out of the stallion barn and into the glare of the brilliant morning sun. “So you decided to breed Quarter Horses again, even after what happened with your father. You’re a braver woman than I am, Victoria Wilson.”

      “Or a fool.”

      “That, I doubt.”

      “Keith thought raising horses again was a big mistake.”

      “So what does he know?”

      “I’ll tell him you said that.”

      “Go ahead. I think it takes guts to start over after the trial and all the bad publicity...”

      “That was all a horrible mistake.”

      Anna placed her hand on Tory’s arm. “I know, but I just thought that you wouldn’t want to do anything that might...you know, encourage all the old rumors to start up again. I wouldn’t.”

      “You can’t run away from your past.”

      “Especially when our illustrious Senator McFadden comes charging back to town, stirring it all up again.”

      Tory felt her back stiffen but she managed a tight smile as they walked slowly across the gravel parking lot. “Everyone has to do what they have to do. Trask seems to think it’s his duty to dig it all up again...because of Jason.”

      One of Anna’s dark brows rose slightly. “So now you’re defending him?”

      “Of course not!” Tory said too quickly and then laughed at her own reaction. “It’s just that Trask’s been here a couple of times already,” she admitted, “and, well, just about everyone I know seems to think that I shouldn’t even talk to him.”

      “Maybe that’s because you’ve led everyone to believe that you never wanted to see him again. After all, he did—”

      “Betray me?”

      “Whatever you want to call it.” Anna hesitated a moment, biting her lips as if contemplating the worth of her words. “Look, Tory. After the trial, you were pretty messed up, bitter. It’s no wonder people want to protect you from that kind of hurt again.”

      “I’m a grown woman.”

      “And now you’ve changed your mind about Trask?”

      Tory shook her head and deep lines of worry were etched across her brow. “It’s just that—”

      “You just can’t resist the guy.”

      “Anna!”

      “Oh, don’t look so shocked, Tory. In my business it’s best to say the truth straight out. You know that I always liked Trask, but that was before he nearly destroyed my best friend.”

      “I wasn’t destroyed.”

      “Close enough. And now, just when it looks like you’re back on your feet again, he comes waltzing back to Sinclair, stirring up the proverbial hornet’s nest, digging up dead corpses and not giving a damn about who gets hurt, including you and Neva. It tends to make my blood boil a bit.”

      “So you don’t think I should see him.”

      Anna smiled cynically. She stopped to lean against the fence and gaze at the network of paddocks comprising the central core of the Lazy W. “Unfortunately what I think isn’t worth a damn, unless it’s about your livestock. I’m not exactly the best person to give advice about relationships, considering the fact that I’ve been divorced for almost a year myself.” She hit the top rail of the fence with new resolve. “Anyway, you didn’t ask me here to talk about Trask, and I’ve got work to do.”

      “Can’t you stay for a cup of coffee?” Anna was one of Tory’s closest friends; one of the few people in Sinclair who had stood by Tory and her father during Calvin’s trial.

      Anna squinted at the sun and cocked her wrist to check her watch. “I wish I could, but I’m late as it is.” She started walking to her van before turning and facing Tory. Concern darkened her brown eyes. “What’s this I hear about a calf being shot out here?”

      “So that’s going around town, too.”

      Anna nodded and shrugged. “Face it, girl. Right now, with McFadden back in town, you’re big news in Sinclair.”

      “Great,” Tory replied sarcastically.

      “So, what happened with the calf?”

      “I wish I knew. One of Len Ross’s hands saw the hole in the fence and discovered the calf. We don’t know why it was shot or who did it.”

      “Kids, maybe?”

      Tory lifted her shoulders. “Maybe,” she said without conviction. “I called the sheriff and a deputy came out. He was going to see if any of the other ranchers had a similar problem.”

      “I hope not,” Anna said, her dark eyes hardening. “I don’t have much use for people who go around destroying animals.”

      “Neither do I.”

      Anna shook off her worried thoughts and climbed into the van. The window was rolled down and she cast Tory one last smile. “You take care of yourself, okay?”

      “I will.”

      “I’ll be back tomorrow to see how old Governor’s doing.”

      “And maybe then you’ll have time for a cup of coffee.”

      “And serious conversation,” Anna said with mock gravity. “Plan on it.”

      “I will!”

      With a final wave to Tory, Anna put the van in gear and drove out of the parking lot toward the main road.

      * * *

      AN HOUR LATER Tory sat in the center of the porch swing, slowly rocking on the worn slats, letting the warm summer breeze push her hair away from her face and bracing herself for the next few hours in which she would be alone with a man she alternately hated and loved.

      Trask arrived promptly at noon. Fortunately, neither Keith nor Rex were at the house when Trask’s Blazer ground to a halt near the front porch. Though Tory felt a slight twinge of conscience about sneaking around behind her brother’s back, she didn’t let it bother her. The only way to prove her father’s innocence, as well as to satisfy Trask, was to go along with him. And Keith would never agree to work with Trask rather than against him.

      What Tory hadn’t expected or prepared herself for was the way her pulse jumped at the sight of Trask as he climbed out of the Blazer. No amount of mental chastising seemed to have had any effect on the feeling of anticipation racing through her blood when she watched

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