“Did anyone else see anything?” he asked, still watching her.
This time her eyes widened. “I didn’t see a thing,” she said. “I was down at the bunkhouse with you, remember?”
“It was a general question.” When he realized everyone else was looking at them, he added, “Someone’s testing our defenses again. Why were you women up here? We’re supposed to stick together, remember?”
“We were sticking together.” Addison came to Nora’s defense.
“I was upstairs with Hope and Win,” Angus spoke up. “We were all inside the house with the doors locked. I didn’t think it was a problem to spread out, but I should have kept everyone together.”
“Why were you up here at all?” Boone asked.
“We came to make sure nothing was going to spoil in the refrigerator and see if we’d forgotten anything,” Addison said. “We figured we’d be in and out of here in fifteen minutes.”
“We’ve got to be more careful,” Boone decreed. “We’ve got only a few weeks to go, and a lot is at stake. We don’t know how many enemies we have—people who want to see us fail. It’s not just Montague. Lots of folks have a vested interest in everything staying exactly how it is. We’ve got to be smart. We can let chores go if they put us in too much danger. That includes checking on the manor.”
“We might as well close up the manor for the duration, then,” Riley said. “We don’t have any guests coming between now and the end of the show, anyway.”
The rest of the women were quiet. Walker figured it was because many of them used the manor as a place to get away from everyone or spread out if they had a project to do.
“Riley’s right,” Savannah said tiredly. “Let’s do a thorough walk-through tomorrow, all of us together, then close things up.”
There were murmurs of assent all around.
“What do we do about Montague?” Clay spoke up suddenly. He was wired, Walker saw. Angry that his wife had been made to be afraid. Worried about the intruder. He was a man who liked to do things, not talk about them or sit around waiting.
“There’s nothing we can do,” Boone said.
“He sent his men to stake out mansions on our property. He’ll be back, I’m sure.”
“Let him.” Boone raised his voice. “I said it once and I’ll say it again: we’ve got a few weeks to go. We’re going to be attacked from all sides. We can’t let any of it get to us, and we can’t make mistakes. That means we can’t go after Montague or anyone else. Just ignore him. That’ll make him angrier than anything else we can do anyway.” He looked around the room. “Let’s clear out of here and get back to work—together.”
As they all tramped down the hill, Walker found himself walking with Harris and Samantha. Elizabeth had been one of the first people out of the house, but then she’d stopped and waited until some of the others caught up. Now she was in the middle of a small knot of people. Was she worried about the intruder? He’d never thought of Elizabeth as the jumpy sort.
“You’re not going to marry her, are you?” Samantha asked in a low voice, nodding at her.
“Sam,” Harris warned.
“What leverage does she have on you? And why does she want to marry you anyhow? I’ve never once seen her look at you unless she was pissed off.”
She was right, Walker thought. He knew one thing for sure: Elizabeth didn’t love him, didn’t care about him. Hardly noticed he was there.
“I’ve got to marry someone,” he pointed out. “We’ve got only a few weeks to go.” He imitated Boone’s serious voice, hoping Samantha wouldn’t press the matter.
She smiled. “That’s true. You’re going to make us or break us.”
“I don’t care what leverage Elizabeth has,” Harris said. “You’ve got to marry the woman you love, Walker—like I did. To hell with the consequences.”
Walker nodded and plodded on, wishing it was that simple.
Or was he the one making it overly complicated?
“When will the rest of the bison calves be born?” Gabe asked several mornings later.
“Any day now,” Walker told him.
It had been awkward when Elizabeth had started joining their group for chores, Avery thought, but now that Gabe was along for the ride, it was downright uncomfortable. He remained cheerful and helpful, and she couldn’t fault his behavior, but Boone had decreed everyone in a work group had to keep in sight of each other at all times, which meant wherever she went, Walker, Elizabeth, Hope and Gabe went, too.
Gone were the quiet predawn hours she used to love. Gabe was a talker, and Elizabeth was cranky in the morning. The two of them inevitably argued at some point, Gabe remaining stubbornly cheerful all the while, Elizabeth more and more irate.
Walker didn’t say a thing unless asked a direct question or it became necessary to step between Elizabeth and Gabe. More than once he’d exchanged an exasperated look with her behind their backs, but she found it hard to share any private moment with him, knowing he might soon marry someone else.
“Wouldn’t be surprised if a few calves came overnight,” Walker went on, surprising Avery. It was the most he’d said in days.
“Shouldn’t we be here to help?” Gabe asked.
This time it was Walker and Elizabeth who shared a look, and Avery’s heart squeezed hard. It wasn’t a romantic one, she told herself. Walker had told her there was a herd on the reservation. He and Elizabeth had grown up with bison around; that was all that look was about.
It still stung. Elizabeth knew Walker better than she did and seemed to feel she had the right to him. It wasn’t fair when she obviously didn’t care about him at all.
“Bison don’t need any help,” Avery said to spare Gabe the embarrassment of one of Elizabeth’s scathing replies. “They’re pretty good at welcoming the next generation on their own.”
“Breakfast,” Walker
