Out of Exile by Carla Cassidy

wife. Jacob Tilley, Walter’s son, just recently came to work for me.”
    â€œAnd you think he might be getting revenge for his father?”
    Matthew sighed and leaned back in the seat. “I don’t know. He seems genuinely appalled by his father’s crimes. He doesn’t seem to hold a grudge against us, but he’s the only one I can think of who might have a reason to cause us problems.”
    Frustration surged up inside him, a frustration that had been building for days. “I figured I’d talk to you and see if you had any suggestions. We’re going to have guests arriving in two weeks, and I don’t want anything going on that might put any of them at risk.”
    Judd took another sip of his coffee. “The first thing I would recommend you do is talk to a few of the men you trust, see if they’ve seen anyone acting suspicious, pay them extra to work extra hours to keep an eye on things.”
    Matthew nodded. “I’ve already done that. I’ve got a couple of men who have been with me for years.”
    â€œOther than that, I’m not sure there’s a whole lot you can do. You might want to check the backgrounds of all the people who work for you,” Judd suggested. “I’m not sure you’ll find any answers, but you might get something that sends up a red flag.”
    â€œCan you do that? Check backgrounds?”
    Judd nodded. “Sure, if you get me the information. Get me copies of their job applications, and I’ll see what I can come up with. You might want to bring me the applications of anyone who has left your employ over the past couple of months also.”
    â€œYou know you’re probably going to find false information on a lot of those applications,” Matthew said. “Ranch hands are often transients, working for a few months, then moving on. They aren’t always completely honest when it comes to job applications.”
    Judd smiled. “Then we’ll see who is lying and why.”
    Matthew nodded and looked at his watch. “I’ve got to get out of here. I dropped my aunt at a doctor’s appointment and she should be about finished by now.” Matthew finished up his coffee and stood. “I’ll get those applications to you in the next day or two.”
    A moment later Matthew stepped out of the café and headed down the sidewalk toward the doctor’soffice. With each step he took, he steeled himself for seeing Lilly once again.
    He’d seen little of her over the course of the past four days, had consciously kept physical distance between them. He left the house just after dawn and returned after dusk to find a plate of whatever she had cooked for dinner awaiting him.
    He had no idea how she had spent her days. He had spent his trying to forget. He wanted to forget the taste of her mouth, so hot and sweet against his. He wanted to forget the silky heat of her skin, her breathy little moans and the exquisite pleasure of making love to her.
    Every day he’d worked himself to exhaustion. The family had pulled together and there were only two guest cottages left to repaint. One of them would probably be done by the time they returned to the ranch this afternoon. When they’d left for the doctor’s appointment, Abby and Luke had already been painting.
    Matthew had stayed away from the guest cottages and let his family take care of them. Instead, he had spent his days out at the old barn where Cal Simmon, the contractor in charge of the renovations, had begun work.
    Matthew had offered his services as a laborer. He’d helped carry and tote, hammer and saw. He’d worked hard enough that each night he’d fallen into bed exhausted. And still he thought of Lilly, dreamed of her.
    He entered the doctor’s office. Nobody sat behind the receptionist’s desk, and Lilly was the only person in the waiting room. Clad in a turquoise sun-dress that did dazzling things to