“I made no demands on Caleb,” Karen said. “It was his choice to work as hard as he did to save the ranch. That land meant the world to him.”
“But nothing to you,” Maggie accused. “He told me you hated it, that you asked him to sell.”
Karen reeled at that. She reached out for support, but there was nothing there. Grady took a step closer and she latched on to his arm.
“I didn’t,” she whispered. “I never asked him to sell. If he told you that, it was a lie.”
“Oh, really?” Maggie shot back, her tone scathing. “Then why are you with him?” She glanced pointedly at Grady. “Everyone knows he wants that land. I’m sure you can’t wait to take his money and go off on one of those trips you were always going on and on about. Do you know how guilty it made Caleb feel that he couldn’t take you?”
Karen faltered. Her cheeks turned pale. “I…I need to sit down.”
“Then get into your fancy truck and leave,” Maggie said. “There’s no place for you here.”
For an instant, Grady thought Karen might argue, might insist on asking all of the questions she’d had no chance to direct at Maggie, but she didn’t. Looking defeated, she turned toward the truck. He saw that she was safely tucked inside and that the heater was working, before walking back to Maggie himself.
“Just how much time were you and Caleb spending together while he was married to another woman?” Grady inquired. “Were you having an affair, the way you clearly want Karen to believe? Or is that just some spiteful suggestion you wanted to plant in her head to add to her grief?”
Maggie’s expression faltered.
“I thought so,” he said. “You’re a cruel woman, Maggie Fletcher. It’s little wonder that Caleb chose a woman like Karen over you.”
He turned on his heel and headed for the truck.
“Damn you, Grady Blackhawk,” Maggie shouted after him. “And you, too, Mrs. High-and-Mighty Hanson. I hope you wind up in the ground right next to Caleb, and the sooner the better!”
When Grady got into the truck, he took a deep breath before facing Karen. She was visibly trembling, her composure shattered.
“I had no idea,” she whispered.
“It was all lies,” Grady told her. “Caleb wasn’t spending time with her, sharing secrets with her.”
“I know that,” Karen said dismissively, as if the notion had never crossed her mind. “I had no idea she was so angry, so bitter. I knew she resented me, but this…” She shuddered.
Grady reached for her icy hands, clasping them in his until he felt the warmth return.
“She could be the one, Grady. She’s angry enough to do all of those things, even to have killed that bull.”
“If we can see that, Michael will see it as well. Let him deal with her.”
“Oh, you can be sure I won’t be coming back here,” Karen reassured him.
“Good, because she’s just unstable enough to try to hurt you in some misguided attempt at seeking justice for Caleb’s death.”
“She wouldn’t go that far,” Karen said, but she didn’t sound nearly as certain as she might have an hour ago.
“It’s not a chance you can take,” Grady insisted. “Steer clear of her. At the very least, she needs some help.”
Karen sighed and turned to look out the window. She was huddled by the door, looking more dejected than she had since he’d first seen her at Caleb’s funeral.
Making a sudden decision, Grady turned the truck toward Winding River. Karen barely seemed to notice, which only confirmed his opinion that she needed something drastic to cheer her up. And she needed food. There was one place where she could get both—Stella’s.
Karen seemed oblivious to everything until they approached the outskirts of town. She blinked then, and turned to him.
“What are we doing here?”
“We’re going out to dinner at Stella’s. It’s meat loaf night. Any objections?”
“No,” she said dispiritedly.
As soon as they walked into the restaurant, he caught Cassie’s eye. As Karen headed straight for the booth in the back, he called Cassie aside.
“Can you get Gina, Cole and anybody else you can think of in here for dinner? Karen’s had a rough day. She needs some friendly faces and lively conversation.”
Cassie nodded without the slightest hesitation. Nor did she ask a lot of unnecessary questions. It was apparently enough that her friend needed help.
“Emma’s in town, too. I’ll have them here in fifteen minutes and Stella can take over for me.” She studied Grady intently. “You really care about her, don’t you?”
Grady wasn’t entirely comfortable discussing his feelings, not when he hadn’t fully analyzed them himself yet. But the expression on Cassie’s face showed none of the disapproval or suspicion he might have anticipated.
“Yeah,” he admitted. “I care about her.”
“Good,” Cassie said with an approving nod. “That way the rest of us won’t have to kill you.”
He chuckled. “Well, there’s a relief all the way around.”
She grinned. “Isn’t it, though. Now go on back. Reinforcements will be here soon.”
“You’re a good friend, you know,” he said gratefully.
“Yes,” she agreed. “But so are you. And isn’t it nice that she has so many of us?”
Grady was surprised at just how comforting he found that fact. He’d always been pretty much a loner, and had always been able to convince himself that he didn’t need anyone, except maybe his grandfather.
But as he watched first Gina, then Emma and finally Cole and Cassie slide into chairs around the big table at the back of Stella’s, as he saw the beginnings of a smile tremble on Karen’s lips, then finally heard the sound of her laughter, for the first time ever he regretted not being part of a larger circle of friends himself.
CHAPTER 12
For a day that had begun so traumatically, it was moving toward an amazingly happy conclusion. Karen looked around the table at Stella’s and felt a familiar warmth steal through her. She’d been surprised when first Gina and then Emma
