“But your parents have passed away.” She frowned.
“Yes, but they did not want me to be a policeman. They scrimped and saved my whole life to put me through college and help me become who I am, even though they wanted me to stay on the ranch and run it. I owe it to them to finish on top of the mountain,” he said. “I’m freezing my retirement and quitting the police business at the end of summer.”
“Why?”
“I’m tired of the city, of the commute back and forth to the ranch, and this past year I’m liking ranchin’ better than chasin’ bad guys,” he said.
“I know exactly what you are talking about. My mother is retiring in December. I step up at that time and take over the firm. My dad was a professor and died when I was twenty-nine.” She bit the inside of her lip in frustration at herself for volunteering anything at all.
“I’m sorry. What happened?” Waylon asked.
“Heart attack—it was sudden.”
“I was older, but I don’t expect it hurt any less,” he said. “They’re both gone, and now all I think about is leaving the force and coming home to be a rancher. I waited too long for them to ever see it. Were you close to your dad?”
“I adored him. He was a gentle soul, a history professor with a specialty in the Civil War.” She’d opened the can of worms and it was impossible to put the lid back on the subject now.
“So you were vulnerable when Conrad came into your life?” Waylon asked.
Until that moment, Kate had not realized just what a big part the timing had played in her life. “I guess I was.”
“Explains a hell of a lot,” Waylon said. “I couldn’t figure out how anyone could con a woman like you.”
The sun had dropped below the trees, and that magical part of the evening had arrived. Called twilight, it wasn’t yet dark and yet wasn’t still light. Part of Waylon’s face was in shadows, part still clear—his chiseled features defined and sexier than ever.
She turned to stare at the lake instead of Waylon. “So you think I got conned because I was at a low place in my life?”
“I imagine that Conrad could spot a woman with a soft spot a mile away. I wouldn’t even be surprised if he stalked you to learn your habits before he introduced himself.”
Waylon wanted to hug Kate close to him. Yet with this murder case hanging over her head, she was vulnerable again, and he would not be like Conrad, in any sense of the word.
“Why would he single me out?” Kate asked after a few minutes.
“You are rich. You are beautiful, and he thought he could make you submit to his will, like Iris. If you’d had children, he would have threatened to take them if you didn’t do what he wanted. I’m surprised he didn’t threaten your mother,” Waylon said. “And besides, you have gorgeous eyes.”
“My eyes?” She frowned.
“Oh, yeah! The eyes are the windows to the soul, so he stepped in and—”
“And he conned me,” Kate finished for him. “How do I know you aren’t doing the same thing just to get more information from me?”
His eyes locked with hers. “Because I’m not like that.”
Finally, she blinked and looked out across the lake. She wanted to believe him. She really did. “Well, I’d sure like it if you solved this case. I don’t want the suspicion of murder hanging over my head the rest of my life.”
“I’ll still be on it until my paperwork is finished,” Waylon said. “And for your sake, I hope I do get it all tied up with a pretty bow.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes. Twilight had deepened into full dark, the moon providing the only light under the weeping willow tree branches.
“Did you ever have any regrets about going right into the family business?” he asked.
To his surprise she nodded. “I was groomed to take over the oil business from the time I was a little girl. Disappointing Mother was not an option. I don’t know what I would have done differently, but it would have been nice to have a choice,” she said.
“Well, if you’d like to—” He stopped midsentence and pulled his phone from his shirt pocket.
“Well, shit!” he muttered after he’d listened a few seconds. “Maybe Paul will find some guys willing to help.” Another moment and he rolled his eyes. “Then we’ll be working until midnight and using spotlights to get it all in.”
He inhaled and let it all out in a whoosh as he shoved the phone back into his pocket. “That’s the foreman of my ranch. He says that three of my summer hired hands have come down with the flu, so I’m really going to be shorthanded for the rest of the week.” He rolled up on his knees and then stood. “If you’d like to see if you’d like the ranching business, I could sure use a hay truck driver. I wouldn’t ask you to throw bales, but anytime you want to come out to the place and drive, I’ll pay you minimum wage.”
“I might take you up on that.” She smiled.
He offered her his hand, but she shook her head. “I think I’ll stay here a little longer. I want to think some more before I go back to the cabin.”
“Thanks for the visit, Kate.”
“Right back at you.” She smiled.
Driving a hay truck might be just exactly what Kate needed for a few days to convince her that her job in the city was ideal. She picked up her Kindle and the quilt and was on her way to the cabin when the buzz of conversation on the deck above caught her attention.
It had been several days since she’d found the letters and sent the will down to her lawyers. She’d hoped to have that part of the thing settled when she told Jamie and Amanda about the letters and let them read them, but there were still no answers to what would or could happen to the cabin. Still, tonight might be the right time to go ahead and tell them.
“What’s going on here?” Kate asked.
“We don’t need you to settle our argument,” Jamie said.
“You don’t even want this cabin, so just butt out,” Amanda said.
“Life is not fair and we don’t know yet who will wind up with this place. Why do you even want it, anyway?” Kate asked.
“I like it here, and Victor said there’s an opening at the school for an elementary teacher.” Jamie tipped up her chin a notch. “You’d only sell the place if you inherited it, and like I’ve said, it’ll be Gracie’s since she is his oldest living child.”
“What if we all inherit equally? I get a third. You each get a third. What then?” Kate asked.
“God, what a nightmare that would be.” Jamie groaned.
“You have money and a fancy job in Dallas. Why would you even want this place?” Amanda asked.
Kate laid the quilt and her Kindle on a table and sat down in a lawn chair. “Arguing about it now isn’t going to solve anything. The property could be tied up in court for years. We should all go home and wait until something is decided.”