Amy’s expression turned serious. “When you were in the hospital, Jenna and I realized how dependent the farm is on you. I mean, we knew it already, but you being injured really drove the point home. Kellan pitched in, but he’s got his cattle business to contend with. We need some permanent help. You, Jenna, and I had debated about hiring a foreman since the oil was discovered, and Jenna and I had already decided to surprise you for your birthday. But then you were shot, so we thought, what the heck. Early birthday present.”

Tulip raised her head to position her nose right under Rachel’s palm, so she took to scratching the wiry hair of the cow’s face. “You can’t give me a person for my birthday. It doesn’t work like that.”

Amy crossed her arms over her chest. “Who says it doesn’t?”

“Miss Sorentino, with all due respect.” Ben had curled his hat into looking like a taco shell. “This is the job opportunity I’ve been waiting for. A chance to use what I’ve spent my whole life learning. Working on Slipping Rock was great, but my know-how is all about growing premium alfalfa.”

“Did you grow up on an alfalfa farm?”

“Yes, ma’am. Lucky Fields Farm over in San Ysidro.”

“Why aren’t you working there?” Rachel had no use for a man who turned his back on his family’s farm to seek his fortunes elsewhere.

He nodded gravely, though his eyes glittered with pride and he stood up straighter. “I would if I could. The dream I had was getting a degree through New Mexico State University in agricultural business. My folks made it happen with the understanding that I’d eventually take over their farm, but three years into the program, my dad got injured and the money ran out. I went home to work as soon as I learned of it, but the place was past the point that I could do much good.”

A stab of sorrow sliced through Rachel’s gut. Ben’s was a story she’d lived herself. She nodded, trying to put his defensiveness at ease. “Once the alfalfa starts to go, it’s gone. Happened to this place much the same way.”

He swallowed. “After we lost the farm to the bank, that’s when I took the job at Slipping Rock.”

Rachel scrubbed her face with her hand, frustrated by what Ben had gone through, what they’d both gone through. “You tried to grab hold of something for yourself by going for your degree, and the whole world exploded when you were turned the other way.”

His jaw grew tight. “Yes, ma’am.”

Rachel had never thought seriously about getting a degree while she was young. She couldn’t afford the time away from the farm, and anyhow, she didn’t think she’d have tolerated being indoors that many hours and years. Still, she never quite forgot about the disadvantage her lack of formal training put her at in the alfalfa industry, especially after her crops started dying off. A part of her would always wonder if things would’ve turned out differently if she’d had a better education. “You went through all that and didn’t get to finish college anyhow. That’s a shame.”

“Actually”—he tipped his head and raised an eyebrow, his pride restored—“I earned my degree through night school. Took a lot longer that way. I was already working for Mr. Reed by the time I graduated. But I did it. He helped me with the tuition and books, even. That’s why I’m perfect for the job as your foreman, Miss Sorentino.”

Hard not to admire that sort of determination. “How’s your dad’s injury?”

He stuck his curled hat on his head. “Thank you for asking after him. He’s coping, but he never did get himself back to what he was before. He and my mom moved into an apartment in town.”

No way she could deny him the job now. Not when she understood what he’d gone through, or his qualifications to help her get her alfalfa crop thriving again. So young, so much responsibility. She knew all about putting what you want on hold to take care of things. Crops and livestock were the hands that never stopped reaching for help, never stopped needing. Relentlessly. The thought made her tired all over again, despite her thirteen hours of solid sleep.

“Please tell me Amy offered you a decent wage at least.”

He smiled a big old toothy smile full of rows of crooked teeth. “Yes, ma’am. She was very generous.”

“Did Damon and Rudy go over the morning routine in the stable yet?”

“No, ma’am. We were seeing about getting the tractor running.”

“That tractor’s engine hasn’t turned over in two years. There’s no point paying a mechanic to fix it until we’re ready to plant our first crop. Go on ahead to the stable and I’ll meet you inside. I need a quick word with the other Miss Sorentino first.”

“Thank you, Miss Sorentino, ma’am.”

“Rachel will do. And you’re welcome.”

With a nod at Amy, he made his way to the stable.

Amy angled her gaze around Rachel to watch him walk away and gave a little whistle under her breath.

Rachel elbowed her hard in the ribs. “What the hell are you doing? You can’t ogle our employees. Besides, you’re engaged.”

“Technically, he’s your employee, not mine. Kellan knows good and well he’s all the cowboy I need, but just because I’ve got a ring on my finger doesn’t mean I’ve lost my appreciation for all the glories life has to offer.”

Against her better judgment, Rachel tipped her chin over her shoulder and snuck a furtive glance at the particular glory Amy was admiring. Damn it all, she was right. Ben Torrey knew how to fill out a pair of jeans just fine. Still, Rachel didn’t much care for younger men. Didn’t matter how good they looked, they never seemed to know what to do with a woman’s body, at least in her experience.

The peek she took must not have been all that furtive, because Amy started chuckling. “You’re checking him out, aren’t you? Go, Rach! There might be fire in you after all.”

There was plenty of fire in Rachel, but none she cared to reveal to her sister. “I was only curious if he found the stable, is all.”

“Sure you were.” Amy stuck her hands on her hips and gave Rachel a cockeyed look. “I’ve been getting the feeling lately that there’s more to your personal life than you’ve led me to believe.”

“My personal life is none of your business.”

“It is so my business, because I’m making it my business. I’m going to find you a man to bring to my wedding. Consider yourself warned.”

Rachel pinched the bridge of her nose and said another slow count to ten. “Back to Ben Torrey. Are you sure we can afford a foreman? That’s a huge expense.”

“Jenna crunched the numbers. She says we can. She’s starting him off at a decent salary, with bonuses in his contract for crop harvests and sales. I’m sure she’d show you the figures if you want. Your dream is to get the fields producing again. You’ve worked your whole life to help me and Jenna and the farm, so this is the two of us saying thank you and returning the favor the best way we can.”

“I appreciate it. Thank you.”

Amy threw her arms around her and hugged her hard. “Love you, sis.”

Rachel never knew what to say when Amy or Jenna got demonstrative with their affection. I love you sounded corny coming out of her mouth. Her sisters knew how she felt, even if she didn’t ever find a way to say it right.

She patted Amy’s back. “I’d best get into the stable before the horses get concerned about their unfamiliar visitor.”

Amy grinned and stepped away. “See you around noon for supper. Tell Ben he’s invited too. And I’ll see if Kellan has any eligible bachelor friends for you that might join us.”

Oh, boy. “How about you save yourself from a wasted effort by focusing your matchmaking skills on Jenna?”

Amy paused in the doorway, a sassy smile on her face. “Jenna already has a man set in her sights. It’s you who needs some sisterly guidance.”

* * *

By midday on Wednesday, Jimmy de Luca was cleared by his doctors for transfer to the medical wing of the county jail. Vaughn served his arrest warrant, then oversaw the transfer paperwork, and provided backup until de Luca was secure in the back of Reyes’s cruiser in the basement of the hospital parking garage.

Vaughn had executed a number of successful hospital-to-jail transports over the years, but he’d never seen a prisoner as nervous about it as de Luca. He askedfor a flak vest. He wanted to know the details of where and how he was getting from his room at the hospital into the safety—as he put it—of the jail.

“Who are you afraid of, Jimmy?” Vaughn asked him in the elevator.

“Everyone and no one,” Jimmy answered.

Helpful. Real helpful.

Figuring it wouldn’t hurt to take de Luca’s anxiety seriously, he pulled Kirby and Molina from patrol to escort Reyes’s car along the one and a half miles to the jail.

“Should we be on the lookout for Henigin and Baltierra? Do you think they’d want to get you, like maybe they figure you’ve turned on them?”

Jimmy swallowed hard, but didn’t answer. Yet his eyes were shifty the whole way down the hospital’s service elevator. He hunkered in the wheelchair like he was trying to melt into the vinyl seat, and when he climbed into the back of the patrol car, he slid so low in the seat he was practically sitting on the floor cross-legged.

Whatever de Luca was nervous about, nothing ever came of it. The transfer went off without incident. The prison guards and staff settled Jimmy de Luca into his new home in the medical wing to await sentencing, while Vaughn remained at the hospital for his daily date with Wallace Meyer Jr. and his lawyer.

Binderman stood watch inside Junior’s open door. He nodded at Vaughn from across the hallway, but maintained his guard posture. He was taller than his older brother Chris by an inch or two and had the same eager youthfulness that Vaughn had when he first started his career, though in Nathan it was tempered by the same natural even-keeled temperament all the Bindermans had been blessed with. Great qualities for a sheriff deputy to possess. With that attitude and his background in crime scene forensics, Nathan had already proven an invaluable addition to Vaughn’s department.