Jordan turned the hat brim nervously in his fingers as he looked down at his mothers grave and searched for the words to tell her how much he hated what shed done to him. To all of them. But to his surprise he felt tears well in his eyes, his throat constricting on a gulf of emotion he hadnt anticipated.
A gust of wind bent the pine boughs and blew down to scatter dried leaves across the landscape. His skin rippled with goosebumps as he suddenly sensed someone watching him. His head came up, his gaze going to the darkness of the pines.
She was only a few yards away. He hadnt heard the woman on horseback approach and realized she must have been there the whole time, watching him.
She sat astride a large buckskin horse. Shadows played across her face from the swaying pine boughs. The breeze lifted the long dark hair that flowed like molten obsidian over her shoulders and halfway down her back.
There was something vaguely familiar about her. But if hed known her years before when this was home, he couldnt place her now. Hed been gone too long from Montana.
And yet a memory tugged at him. His gaze settled on her face again, the wide-set green eyes, that piercing look that seemed to cut right to his soul.
With a curse, he knew where hed seen her beforeand why she was looking at him the way she was. A shudder moved through him as if someone had just walked over his grave.
LIZA TURNER HAD WATCHED the man slog up the hill, his footsteps slow, his head down, as if he were going to a funeral. So she hadnt been surprised when hed pushed open the gate to the cemetery and stepped in.
At first, after reining her horse in under the pines, shed been mildly curious. She loved this spot, loved looking across the canyon as she rode through the groves of aspens and pines. It was always cool in the trees. She liked listening to the river flowing emerald-green below her on the hillside and taking a moment to search the granite cliffs on the other side
for mountain sheep.
She hadnt expected to see anyone on her ride this morning. When shed driven into the ranch for her usual trek, shed seen the Cardwell Ranch pickup leaving and remembered that Hud was taking Dana into Bozeman today for her doctors appointment. They were leaving the kids with Danas best friend and former business partner, Hilde at Needles and Pins, the local fabric store.
The only other person on the ranch was the aging ranch manager, Warren Fitzpatrick. Warren would be watching Lets Make a Deal at his cabin this time of the morning.
So Liza had been curious and a bit leery when shed first laid eyes on the stranger in the Western straw hat. As far as she knew, no one else should have been on the ranch today. So who was this tall, broad-shouldered cowboy?
Dana had often talked about hiring some help since Warren was getting up in years and she had her hands full with a four- and five-year-old, not to mention now being pregnant with twins.
But if this man was the new hired hand, why would he be interested in the Justice-Cardwell family cemetery? She felt the skin on the back of her neck prickle. There was something about this cowboy His face had been in shadow from the brim of his hat. When hed stopped at one of the graves and had taken his hat off, head bowed, she still hadnt been able to see more than his profile from where she sat astride her horse.
Shifting in the saddle, shed tried to get a better look. He must have heard the creak of leather or sensed her presence. His head came up, his gaze darting right to the spot where she sat. He looked startled at first, then confused as if he was trying to place her.
She blinked, not sure she could trust her eyes. Jordan Cardwell?
He looked completely different from the arrogant man in the expensive three-piece suit shed crossed paths with six years ago. He wore jeans, a button-up shirt and work boots. He looked tanned and stronger as if hed been doing manual labor. There was only a hint of the earlier arrogance in his expression, making him more handsome than she remembered.
She saw the exact moment when he recognized her. Bitterness burned in his dark gaze as a small resentful smile tugged at his lips.
Oh, yes, it was Jordan Cardwell all right, she thought, wondering what had made her think he was handsome just moments before oreven harder to believe, that he might have changed.
Six years ago hed been the number one suspect in a murder as well as a suspect in an attempted murder. Liza had been the deputy whod taken his fingerprints.
She wondered now what he was doing not only back in the canyon, but also on the ranch he and his siblings had fought so hard to take from their sister Dana.
DANA SAVAGE LAY BACK ON THE examining table, nervously picking at a fingernail. I cant remember the last time I saw my feet, she said with a groan.
Dr. Pamela Burr laughed. This might feel a little cold.
Dana tried not to flinch as the doctor applied clear jelly to her huge stomach. She closed her eyes and waited until she heard the heartbeats before she opened them again. So everything is okay?