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here I haven t heard about? We weren t even here in town.
Barnes took another sip of his coffee.  Apparently y all ran into Cade Hannigan. He
couldn t wait to pass the word.
Buck stared down into his coffee cup.  He didn t impress me as a man who gossiped.
But he certainly had on his arrogant attitude. And Amy couldn t wait for him to leave.
 I imagine so. The older man shifted slightly on his stool.  He and Amy had
something going a while back. I hear it didn t end too pleasantly.
 Oh? Who broke it off, do you know?
Barnes hesitated a long moment before answering.  It seems they were getting pretty
tight as a couple, although a lot of people were scratching their heads. Amy s a really
sweet, really sharp gal, and Hannigan, rich as he is, is just a snake in the grass. I heard a
lot of people, her brother included, tried to get her to break it off.
 Why didn t she?
 Oh, she did. Finally. The way I hear it, Cade told her he d be gone for the evening on
some business but they d have dinner the next night. Amy decided to have girls night
out with a few of her friends. They were hitting some of the funkier bars and dropped in
to the Cactus Bar in the next county. Saw Cade playing tonsil hockey with one of the
waitresses.
 Shit.
 Exactly. Story goes she tossed a pitcher of beer at him, cursed him like an old-time
ranch hand and walked out. Refused to see him after that or talk to him. I think she s the
first woman to ditch Cade Hannigan instead of the other way around. He s always gotten
away with whatever he does, so this was a real blow to his ego. He s never forgiven her
for that.
 Even though he was the one at fault?
Barnes shrugged.  That s Cade for you. Nothing s his fault. He s got too much money
and an ego bigger than Texas. And holds a grudge a long time.
Buck felt anger bubble up inside him. He tightened his hands around his cup.  She
didn t say anything about that when we saw him.
 She wouldn t. Too bad Cade s just the kind of spoiled brat who likes to get even. I d
watch out for him.
 Well, fuck. Buck rubbed his hand over his face.  Sorry, Fred. That just slipped out.
 Don t apologize. Couldn t have said it better myself.
 Has he been causing her trouble?
 Not until now. But I promise you, seeing her with you set him off. He sighed.  A
word to the wise. I d watch myself with that one. No telling what he might take it into
his head to do. He paused.  You know what I mean, right?
Buck sighed.  Yeah, I know. I guess some things you can t ever run away from.
 Well, you can always use me for a personal reference. I have faith in you.
 I don t know why. You hardly know me.
Barnes pushed his coffee cup aside.  I haven t gotten where I am by not having good
instincts about people. It s a lot more important to me what a man is than what he was.
I d put my money on you any time.
 You can t know how much I appreciate that. You re the first person in a long time
who s said anything like that to me. He held out his hand and Barnes shook it.
 I wish you good luck, the older man said.  With the ranch and with Amy.
 Thanks. I ll need it.
He watched as Barnes walked toward the door. Despite the warning about Cade
Hannigan, Buck felt good about settling here for the first time since he d bought the
ranch. Maybe he could weather whatever storm hit after all.
But then he stepped outside and caught the scene across the street from him and
curled his hands into fists.
I never should have gone to the post office today.
Amy stood on the sidewalk outside the building, cursing her decision. What she
mailed wasn t so important it couldn t have waited until tomorrow. Or even Monday.
But Matt had been in and out of the house so many times she d asked him if he wanted to
install a revolving door. She wasn t sure which of them was angrier Matt because she
wouldn t answer his questions or herself because she resented him poking into her
business.
What was it he d said earlier? Oh, yeah.
 I m just concerned about you jumping into something without knowing exactly what
that something is.
Like she was eighteen years old and couldn t think for herself.
She d barely been able to restrain herself from punching him. Instead, she d gathered
the mail and her purse and stormed out of the house. Maybe after the post office she d
treat herself to lunch and cool off a little. She didn t like fighting with Matt, but he was
really crossing a line.
And now here she was trapped with Cade Hannigan himself. Somehow she d ended
up with her back to the building, his arms caging her on either side. She looked anxiously
around. Fred Barnes had disappeared into the parking lot behind the bank and the few
people who saw them stared with curiosity.
 Let me go, you jackass. She looked over his shoulder at the people on the sidewalk.
 Hey! Someone get this jerk away from me.
 Don t tell me you re trying to run away from me, short stuff. He turned his head.
 It s okay, folks. Y all know Amy and I are friends. We re just having a little
disagreement. What you might call a lover s spat. He turned his attention back to her
and grinned.
She was sure he meant the grin to be teasing, but on him it had a nasty look.
 Back off, Cade. I have nothing to say to you. She tried to duck under one of his arms,
but he blocked her just as quickly.
 I ll bet you had plenty to say to that asshole last night. The look in his eyes was cold.
 You don t go playing with strange stuff in my territory.
Again Amy looked frantically for someone to intervene, but all she saw was his friends
waving people away.
 Your territory? Now you think you own the whole county? People warned me about
you and I should have listened to them. Anyway, I think you re mistaken about who s
the asshole. She bit off each word.  Besides, we re done. Through. Finished. I m over
you. Now get out of the way so I can move.
He tilted his head slightly, let his eyes roam slowly and deliberately over her body.
 You know, maybe I made a mistake tossing you out when I did. I was always taught you
throw the little ones back in the pond, but I hear they can sometimes put up a good fight.
Let s see if they re right.
He grabbed the front of her shirt, holding it so tightly it nearly choked her. With his
other hand he held her head in place as he moved in to kiss her. Instead, she chomped [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]