LITMIR.BIZ

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stepped into the room, she found the ranch’s longtime cook watering potted succulents rowed along a windowsill.

      The sound of Alexa’s footsteps tapping against the tile floor announced her arrival, and the woman turned just as Alexa placed the tray of refreshments down on the cabinet counter.

      “Alexa! You shouldn’t have carried that heavy tray!” she scolded. “Why didn’t you call me?”

      Alexa smiled at the woman. Reena Crow had been working for the Cantrells even before Alexa was born. She was now in her mid-fifties but looked at least ten years younger. She was petite and slender, and her shoulderlength hair was as straight as a stick and salt-and-pepper in color. Her brown skin implied a Native American ancestry, but her pale green eyes belied it.

      At the age of eighteen, Reena had come to work on the Chaparral as a maid, but after a few years her culinary skills had pushed her to the position of cook. Now widowed and with a grown daughter living away, Reena spent her days on the ranch and her nights taking care of her ninety-year-old mother.

      “It wasn’t that heavy, Reena. I think both thermoses are practically empty,” Alexa said as she began placing dirty glasses and mugs in the sink.

      “So Frankie is already gone?”

      Alexa bit back a sigh. She’d come home, eager to help with stacks of bookkeeping for the Chaparral while her mother was away. She’d not envisioned having to deal with a man like Jonas Redman in the house.

       You can always tell him no thanks, Alexa. You can flatly refuse to allow him in the house.

      Yes, she could refuse, Alexa thought glumly. But that would only throw more worry onto Quint. And she already felt guilty enough about the heavy load her brother carried. Besides, now that she thought about it, she’d overreacted to the whole thing. Jonas Redman wasn’t going to intrude on her life. Even if he was one of the sexiest men she’d ever laid eyes on, his interests obviously didn’t include a very pregnant single woman. And she’d be incredibly conceited to think otherwise.

      “Yes. I waved her off a few minutes ago.”

      “She’s very excited,” Reena said. “And happy. That’s so good to see. Earlier this winter I was afraid she was going to die.”

      “So was I, Reena. But once she realized she had something to live for, she agreed to the heart operation, which she desperately needed. Thank God.”

      Reena climbed down from the step chair and put her watering can to one side. “Well, you having this baby has also done wonders for her.” She slanted a concerned eye at Alexa. “Are you feeling okay? Your face is flushed.”

      No doubt, Alexa thought wryly. Jonas Redman had stirred her blood. Although she wasn’t sure why. He’d simply been following orders. And he’d not given her one sly look, one suggestive word. Yet she’d found herself having thoughts about him that were disturbing. She’d never reacted to any other man like that before she was pregnant.

      “I’m fine. It’s just a little warm out this afternoon.”

      Alexa began to fill the sink with warm water, but Reena quickly elbowed her away.

      “Go. Rest. Do something. I’ll tend to these.”

      Knowing better than to argue with the woman, Alexa left the kitchen and climbed the stairs. Earlier this morning, before she’d left her bedroom, she’d opened the heavy wooden door that led onto the balcony, and now a cool breeze wafted through the large room and rustled the bed skirt on the dark oak four-poster.

      These days she tired easily, and oftentimes her body begged for a nap. But this afternoon she was too wired to think about sleep and ignoring the bed, she walked out onto the balcony.

      The ranch house sat in a valley that ran for several miles between pine-covered mountains. To the right she could see the Rio Bonito meandering through banks lined with willows and aspens. To the left, a massive ranch yard with barns, sheds, outbuildings and cattle pens spread across many acres.

      In all her life and all her travels, Alexa had never seen a prettier place than the Chaparral. And from her father she’d inherited a deep love of the land. Yet at the moment she took no solace in the majestic landscape sweeping southwest toward Alto. No, her thoughts were on Jonas Redman and the fact that she was now going to have to go over to the ranch yard and tell him that she’d changed her mind about having him for a housemate.

      Across from the house, at the end of a long line of horse stables, Jonas stood in his office with a cell phone jammed to his ear while Captain Leo Weaver with the Texas Rangers tossed questions at him.

      “How much longer do you think this is going to take, Jonas?”

      Frowning, Jonas peered out the dusty window as he watched a couple of cowboys attempt to repair a wooden feed trough with hammer and nails. “Right now it’s impossible to say, Captain. I’ve seen nothing moving on this property or the surrounding property. But these ranches around here are hardly small. I actually need another man here—an extra set of eyes and ears. As it stands, it’s going to take me days more riding to search out the backside of this ranch.”

      Normally the Rangers didn’t go out of their jurisdiction, which was the state of Texas. But this was a bistate crime, and New Mexico had invited them and asked for their help. As a result, Jonas had been chosen for the job.

      “What about using a four-wheeler? That ought to speed things up.”

      “Most places are far too rough for an ATV. Horse or mule is the safest means of searching. That’s why another man would sure help.”

      “Right now I don’t have a spare man to put on the case. Besides, two Rangers would be easier to spot than one. Another new hand coming onto the ranch—especially one that isn’t from the area—would make everyone suspicious. You’re gonna have to go this one alone, Jonas.”

      Jonas bit back the frustration he was feeling. Leo was right; two new outsiders coming to work on the Chaparral at the same time could throw up red flags. His captain expected him to deal with the matter on his own, and Jonas would. It would just take him a lot longer. And he wanted to be gone from this place. He wanted to go home to Texas. And he damned sure didn’t want to babysit a pregnant woman.

      “Yeah,” he muttered.

      “The Cattlemen’s Association and the state livestock regulators are on me about this, Jonas. They’re worried about diseases being shipped in and spreading through healthy herds. We’re talking millions of dollars at stake. Not to mention the criminal aspect of it. Mexico does not want to give up its corner on the Corriente cattle market and Texas does not want Mexican cattle shipped illegally across its borders. Presently, all the information points to rustlers routing their stock through southern New Mexico. Particularly from your point through Portales and Clovis. And all of the areas—Texas, Mexico and New Mexico are working on it. But we think you are in the right area to uncover something. Have you picked up on anything at all?”

      “Not much. Right now I’m just trying to look like a ranch manager and get a sense of the personal routines of the hands.”

      “You think one of them is in on it?”

      Jonas suddenly straightened his shoulder away from the window when he spotted Alexa Cantrell walking slowly across the dusty ground toward his office. She’d changed from the slacks and blouse she’d been wearing earlier into a blue-and-white flowered dress with a peasant neckline. The wind caused the hem to dance around her shapely calves and mold against her mounded stomach. He’d never realized a woman could be pregnant and sexy at the same time. Until now.

      “Hard to say, Captain. Some people are more difficult to read than others. And some don’t talk about anything. I’m hoping something will break soon.”

      “Let me know the minute it does.”

      As Alexa neared the door of the office, Jonas lowered his voice. “Will do. Someone’s coming—I’d better get off.”

      He

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