Abigail’s body went stiff. Surely he didn’t mean right this second. She was in the middle of working. And Zach didn’t even know she was thinking about leaving today.

“Abby needs to say goodbye,” Lisa interjected. “Gather her things, thank Zach for his hospitality.”

“So this was a social visit?” Seth’s jaw was set, his gray eyes hard as steel.

“Come on.” Lisa grabbed Abigail’s hand, clearly intending to remove her from Seth’s line of fire. “Let’s go get your stuff.”

Abigail allowed herself to be pulled to standing. She glanced longingly from the sketches to the phone messages to the fabric samples. She wasn’t ready to leave. She was waiting on return calls. She was waiting on emails, and more samples, and there was still the south tower to explore. But Travis needed her, and Seth was tapping his foot, looking implacable. And she couldn’t come up with a single plausible reason to prolong her stay.


* * *

Zach entered the west hall, expecting to find Abigail in her usual spot, expertly juggling the hundreds of details around the restaurant project. Instead, he found a grim-looking man in an expensive suit, glaring daggers at him as he approached.

“Can I help you?” Zach asked, searching his brain for context. Was he a building inspector? A tax collector?

“Seth Jacobs,” the man announced without offering his hand. “I want you to explain why the hell you’ve been blackmailing my sister.”

Zach stopped short, eyes narrowing. “You’re the mayor?”

“I’m the mayor. Now, start talking.”

Zach glanced to the corners of the room. “Where’s Abigail?”

“None of your business.”

“What did she tell you?” Why would Abigail bring Seth in on the secret? What could possibly have happened while Zach was down at the brewery?

“Also none of your business,” Seth snapped. “You don’t need to worry about how I know. You just need to worry that I do.”

“That’s all over and done with.” Zach’s mind was working quickly, trying to assemble pieces of information.

Did Seth know they’d slept together? Did he know Abigail hated working on the ranch? Was everything out in the open? And what did she expect him to do here?

One thing was certain, until he talked to Abby, he wasn’t giving her brother any more information.

“Nothing’s over and done with in my book.” Seth took a menacing step forward. “You come after my sister, you deal with me.”

Anger flashed deep in the man’s eyes. His jaw was set. His fists were clenched. Despite the business suit, he looked a whole lot like his brother, Travis. They might love their sister, but they sure didn’t understand her.

Zach responded in the most reasonable tone he could muster. “What’s between Abigail and me is none of your business.”

“You blackmailed a member of my family. That is my business.”

Zach realized Seth was bluffing. The accusation was too vague. “You don’t know what happened, do you?”

“If it was sex, you’re a dead man. And we mean that literally in Colorado.”

“I’m from Texas,” Zach responded with equal determination. “If I blackmailed a woman into having sex with me, I’d stand here while you killed me.”

Seth drew back in obvious surprise.

Zach used what he hoped was a conciliatory tone. “It might have started off rocky, but things are fine between Abigail and me.”

“Well, they’re pretty far from fine between me and you.”

“She’s not doing a single thing she doesn’t want to do.”

“So says you.”

“It’s the truth.”

“Forgive me if I don’t take the word of a blackmailer.”

“Former blackmailer.”

“You think you’re funny? Okay, then laugh about this.” Seth pointed his index finger to the center of his chest. “I’m the guy who approves your business license. I’m the guy who approves your zoning. And I’m the guy who approves your parking variance.”

A block of lead settled itself in Zach’s stomach. The idea that Seth could block DFB’s move to Lyndon was sickening.

“Not so funny anymore, is it?” Seth taunted.

“You’re blackmailing me?”

“Ironic, isn’t it?”

“What do you want?”

“I want you to stay away from Abigail. Forever.”

“No.” The word burst out of Zach. That was the one thing he couldn’t do.

“No?” Seth asked with obvious incredulity. “You want me to destroy your business?”

“I want you to let your sister make up her own mind.” It was all Zach could do to keep silent about Abigail hating the ranch. “Let her make up her mind about me, and about everything else.”

“You didn’t let her make up her mind about you. You took that choice away from her, didn’t you?”

Zach didn’t have an answer for that accusation. Seth had him. Zach had behaved shamefully, and there was no arguing the contrary.

“I’m walking out this door. I’m taking Abigail with me. And if you dare touch my sister, talk to my sister, even look at my sister ever again, I will take you and DFB down so fast and so far, you’ll never get out of the hole.”

“That’s abuse of power,” Zach pointed out. Seth could lose his office, possibly go to jail.

“That’s protecting my family,” Seth countered. “And I know a hundred ways to do it and not get caught. Don’t test me, Rainer. I’m holding all the cards.”

“I’d never hurt her,” Zach told him plainly and levelly.

“You already have.”

Once again Zach didn’t have an answer. Seth was right. He’d already hurt Abigail. He’d betrayed her trust. He’d coerced her. And everything that had happened since was tainted. Seth was right, and Zach was wrong.

Ironic didn’t begin to describe the situation.

He gave Seth a curt nod of acquiescence and left the castle. There was no chance Seth would let him say goodbye. Abigail was gone, out of his life, back to her family. He’d never deserved her in the first place.


* * *

After two days of silence from Zach, Abigail’s guilt turned to frustration. After four days, her frustration turned to anger.

She’d sent him a text. She’d left him a voice mail. So he knew she’d gone home with Seth. But instead of calling to talk about it, he’d cut her off.

She finally realized this was Zach’s way of making her choose. And it had worked. She’d take loyalty over betrayal, her family over a one-night stand, any day of the week.

She hoisted a saddle onto Diamond’s back, settling it on the hunter-green blanket. She was home, and this was where she was staying.

“Need any help?” her sister Mandy offered from the opposite side of the hitching post as she slipped the bit into Happy-Joe’s mouth.

“My arm’s fine,” Abigail assured her. The gash was nearly healed. She’d have a scar, but hopefully, it would fade over time.

“You always were a trouper.”

“That’s nothing unique in the Jacobs family.”

Mandy grinned in return. She was dressed in blue jeans and a quilted plaid shirt, her favorite Stetson planted firmly on her head. Abigail had slipped into a pair of old blue jeans this morning, topping them with a faded gray T-shirt and a sturdy denim shirt against the cooling autumn air. Her boots were familiar and comfortable, as were the sights, sounds and smells of the ranch.

She inhaled deeply. It was good to be home.

“The Jacksons put their place up for sale,” said Mandy.

“I didn’t know that.” Abigail waited until Diamond exhaled, then swiftly tightened the cinch.

“Prices are down because of the water licenses but Edward’s health has been going downhill, and with no kids to take over, they have no choice.” Mandy tucked in the end of the cinch strap and adjusted the stirrups.

Abigail felt a twinge of guilt at the mention of the water licenses. Not that she’d done anything that anyone else couldn’t have done. Still, she had helped Zach.

She determinedly placed her booted foot in the stirrup and mounted the horse, pushing the man from her mind. Then she gazed around their vast ranchland, the oat fields rippling, the leaves turning. She tugged on her leather gloves and settled the reins across her palm. “I can’t imagine selling.”

“I’m not worried about the Jacobs clan.” Mandy swung up into her own saddle. “Between the five of us, I’m liking our chances of coming up with a new generation of ranchers. Even Katrina. With Reed’s genes mixed in there, we might get a rancher out of her yet.”

Abigail laughed at the joke, but her shoulders felt heavy. Between now and the next generation, everybody would be counting on her.

Her cell phone pulsed three short buzzes in her pocket, signaling a text message. Her mind went immediately to Zach, and she stripped off a glove, digging into the front pocket of her jeans while Diamond started into a walk, falling in beside Happy-Joe.

It was Travis, not Zach. Abigail hated the jolt of disappointment. She was going to get past this stupid infatuation. Her family was her future, not Zach. Even if she didn’t produce any babies herself, a new generation of Jacobses running around the ranch would be a wonderful thing.

She read the text. “Travis wants us to check on Testa Springs.” As the summer ended, watering holes started to run dry, and the cattle needed to be shifted from place to place.

“Makes sense,” said Mandy. “We can take the Buttercup Trail.”

Abigail replaced her phone and pulled the glove back on, shifting her seat and focusing on the day. “Diesel went up two cents last week.”

Though the Jacobs ranch was prosperous, and her father and grandfather’s investments provided a cushion against the ups and downs of ranching, Abigail worried about the others in the valley, particularly those with smaller holdings that had higher overhead and big mortgage payments.

“Are you going to tell me about Craig Mountain?” Mandy switched topics.