headed.”
“I wouldn’t know one flat-topped ridge from another or where to find them. Why didn’t you tell me it was a two-day ride?”
He shot her an annoyed glance as he folded the cinch over her saddle. “Had we started out in the morning, a full day’s ride would get us to the Double D. We didn’t start out in the morning. I haven’t misled you.”
“You sent us off alone for a reason. We have every right to know what’s going on with this investigation. What did you discuss with Günter you didn’t want us to hear?”
“What exactly do you think I’m hiding from you?”
“How should I know? For all I know, you could be leading us in the opposite direction. Manipulation is a skill you’ve mastered. You’re a man of many faces, Mr. Barns, using each facade to bend people to your will.”
He tossed her saddle aside and strode toward her, his hands on his lean hips, just behind the pearl grips of his guns. “The hell I am.”
“Oh, please. You know what you’re doing. I was practically simpering in your hands inside that jail cell, and I don’t simper! ”
His eyebrows shot up, his eyes alight with mirth. “Is that a fact?”
“Until I found out who you really are,” she amended. “At which point you became an overbearing brute. Neither of which was the compassionate man I saw in the Donnelly home, or the hardened killer who stood before me outside that livery.”
His shoulders shifted. “What can I say? I’m a complex sort of man.”
“You’re cunning is what you are, I’ll give you that.”
“Glad to hear you have some faith in me.”
“ Faith? How can I possibly have faith in the man who killed my parents and stole my life!”
“I’ve been trying to save your life all afternoon! I’ll recover your stolen money and get you back where you belong as soon as possible.”
“Where I belong?” Rage flared, narrowing her gaze. “I own L. P. Carrington Lumber. The camp is now my property. If you believe your manhandling will put me in my place, you can think again.”
“I apologized for—”
“I decide where I belong!” Lily shouted over him. She shoved her windblown hair away from her face and tugged at the shoulder of her waistcoat now hanging near her elbow. “I may be scuffed and blistered, which I’m sure delights you no end, but I’m staying in these hills until I’ve secured my lumber camp!”
Golden eyebrows pinched inward. “Why would you assume I’d enjoy your displeasure?”
“Because of what you are. ”
Juniper stared into eyes seething with contempt. Her continuous accusations chipped away at his pride. “I’ll assume you’re not referring to my being a sheriff.”
“No, I am not!”
“Well, then. Of course you’d assume I’d take advantage of grieving widows, bind you up to be abducted, then send you riding all over the countryside just for the hell of it. Why did you insist on coming with me when you clearly don’t trust me to protect you, much less uphold the law?”
“Do you really think I’d put the future of this company in the hands of a gunslinger? Am I supposed to assume a man who once killed for sport somehow has morals? Seems to me a man of your character and uncanny charm would seek out a position of power and seclusion, just as you have. It happens to be the misfortune of Pine Ridge that you chose them.”
Her quick, precise depiction of his character stripped away the barrier he tried to keep between his pride and the past. The frustration winding inside him snapped.
He was so damn tired of living like this. He was sick to death of running. And from what? Someone like Lily, a daughter seeking revenge for a life he’d taken? Juniper couldn’t blame her—he’d admired Red Palmer, until he’d found himself caught between the red-haired giant and death. Once again, he’d dodged death and saved his own life, but at what cost?
Lily Palmer embodied the truth he tried to deny, the guilt that hammered at his conscience.
“I wouldn’t know one flat-topped ridge from another or where to find them. Why didn’t you tell me it was a two-day ride?”
He shot her an annoyed glance as he folded the cinch over her saddle. “Had we started out in the morning, a full day’s ride would get us to the Double D. We didn’t start out in the morning. I haven’t misled you.”
“You sent us off alone for a reason. We have every right to know what’s going on with this investigation. What did you discuss with Günter you didn’t want us to hear?”
“What exactly do you think I’m hiding from you?”
“How should I know? For all I know, you could be leading us in the opposite direction. Manipulation is a skill you’ve mastered. You’re a man of many faces, Mr. Barns, using each facade to bend people to your will.”
He tossed her saddle aside and strode toward her, his hands on his lean hips, just behind the pearl grips of his guns. “The hell I am.”
“Oh, please. You know what you’re doing. I was practically simpering in your hands inside that jail cell, and I don’t simper! ”
His eyebrows shot up, his eyes alight with mirth. “Is that a fact?”
“Until I found out who you really are,” she amended. “At which point you became an overbearing brute. Neither of which was the compassionate man I saw in the Donnelly home, or the hardened killer who stood before me outside that livery.”
His shoulders shifted. “What can I say? I’m a complex sort of man.”
“You’re cunning is what you are, I’ll give you that.”
“Glad to hear you have some faith in me.”
“ Faith? How can I possibly have faith in the man who killed my parents and stole my life!”
“I’ve been trying to save your life all afternoon! I’ll recover your stolen money and get you back where you belong as soon as possible.”
“Where I belong?” Rage flared, narrowing her gaze. “I own L. P. Carrington Lumber. The camp is now my property. If you believe your manhandling will put me in my place, you can think again.”
“I apologized for—”
“I decide where I belong!” Lily shouted over him. She shoved her windblown hair away from her face and tugged at the shoulder of her waistcoat now hanging near her elbow. “I may be scuffed and blistered, which I’m sure delights you no end, but I’m staying in these hills until I’ve secured my lumber camp!”
Golden eyebrows pinched inward. “Why would you assume I’d enjoy your displeasure?”
“Because of what you are. ”
Juniper stared into eyes seething with contempt. Her continuous accusations chipped away at his pride. “I’ll assume you’re not referring to my being a sheriff.”
“No, I am not!”
“Well, then. Of course you’d assume I’d take advantage of grieving widows, bind you up to be abducted, then send you riding all over the countryside just for the hell of it. Why did you insist on coming with me when you clearly don’t trust me to protect you, much less uphold the law?”
“Do you really think I’d put the future of this company in the hands of a gunslinger? Am I supposed to assume a man who once killed for sport somehow has morals? Seems to me a man of your character and uncanny charm would seek out a position of power and seclusion, just as you have. It happens to be the misfortune of Pine Ridge that you chose them.”
Her quick, precise depiction of his character stripped away the barrier he tried to keep between his pride and the past. The frustration winding inside him snapped.
He was so damn tired of living like this. He was sick to death of running. And from what? Someone like Lily, a daughter seeking revenge for a life he’d taken? Juniper couldn’t blame her—he’d admired Red Palmer, until he’d found himself caught between the red-haired giant and death. Once again, he’d dodged death and saved his own life, but at what cost?
Lily Palmer embodied the truth he tried to deny, the guilt that hammered at his conscience.
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