Lone Star Legacy by Roxanne Rustand Page A

SHIVER OF UNEASE SWEPT through Beth at the intense expression in Joel’s dark eyes.
    From the moment they’d met, he’d seemed a little too interested in her past. He’d made her feel edgy, uncertain. They’d settled into a comfortable working relationship—friendship, even—marred only by that sensual, slow dance from heaven, and an incredible kiss that she’d tried to forget.
    But now, she could see his doubts about her were back a hundredfold.
    She fixed a bright, breezy smile on her face. “If you’re concerned about the upstairs appliances, they won’t be coming until the fifth of June. I can have Sears do those installations. I’m just thankful for all you’ve done with the café. My food supplier will be making the first delivery tomorrow, and I can open on Wednesday, just as planned. I even have the—”
    “Beth.”
    She turned away, unable to meet his eyes any longer, and bent to hunt for dead blooms on the geraniums by the steps. “Um…do I owe you more money? If I do, I’ll settle up on Friday. Unless you need it now? I can—”
    “I don’t want your money. I just want some answers.”
    She snapped off a dead bloom. Then two more, and tossed them out in the yard. “Answers?”
    “Beth, look at me.”
    He drew closer, and she caught the woodsy, faint fragrance of his aftershave. The clean scent of Dial soap. She reached for another faded flower, but instead of it breaking off, the entire stem tore away.
    “You can trust me,” he added quietly.
    She shot a quick glance at him, then picked at the petals of the blossom in her hand. “We’re doing great, thanks to you. The café is ready to open, and the apartment is almost done, too. You’ve done beautiful work.”
    “That’s not what I mean.”
    He rested his hands on her shoulders, which sent a shiver through her of an entirely different kind. One totally out of place, especially now.
    If he knew, others in Lone Wolf could find out, too, and what might those past accusations do to the future of the café and her job at the clinic? Her ability to provide for Sophie, and to make a new life for them both in Montana? Her financial status was already on rocky ground.
    Joel felt the tension in her shoulders, and saw the rigid set of her jaw. Maybe she was in even more trouble than he’d guessed.
    “You told me about the threatening phone calls.” He turned her around to face him and gently lifted her chin. “The whole town knows about the graffiti incident, and how some jerk trashed your yard. But that’s not the whole story, is it?”
    She bit her lower lip. Her eyes darkened as she met his gaze and then looked away.
    “When the phone rang at the café, I saw how scared you were. You were afraid the caller was someone else, yet you said you had no idea who it could be.”
    “I don’t. Not for sure, anyway.”
    “Any reason why someone would target you?”
    When she didn’t answer, he withdrew the copies of the Tribune articles from his back pocket and handed them to her. “I’d guess this is a pretty good clue.”
    She skimmed the first one, then read it all again more slowly. But instead of fear or guilt, he could only detect anger flashing in her eyes. “Where did you get this?”
    “Walt told me you were asking for a—a—” He looked down at the strange creature at her feet. “Whatever that is, for protection. He was concerned about you, and wanted me to look into the situation. Since I still have friends back in the Detroit PD, I asked one of them to do some checking. If someone was threatening you, I figured it was better to know. Logical?”
    Her eyes narrowed. “So you investigated me.”
    “Steve checked your legal history, and you came up fine, actually. Not even a traffic ticket in the past ten years. But he did find these newspaper articles about your husband’s death, and the investigation that followed.”
    She shoved the papers back into his hands. “The auditors at his company said several hundred thousand