Men to Trust: Boss Man / The Last Good Man in Texas / Lonetree Ranchers: Brant

She nodded. “I will think about it,” she promised.

“I’ll be in touch,” he replied. He didn’t say goodbye. He simply left.

“See, dear, he misses you!” Mrs. Hardy exclaimed when they heard his car start up outside. “He wants you back! You’ll do it, won’t you?”

“I have to change clothes and get supper started,” she interrupted to halt her mother’s speculation. “What would you like? How about pancakes?”

“Pancakes? For supper?” the older woman exclaimed.

“Why not? We love pancakes!”

Mrs. Hardy smiled. “Then pancakes it is. And coffee.”

Coffee reminded Violet of Blake and made her sad. She’d lost her job over coffee. But she didn’t let it show. “Decaf for you,” she teased, and went to change her clothes.

Chapter Seven

Blake spent the weekend working, trying to keep his mind off Violet. Monday morning, his private investigator called with some good news for Libby and Curt Collins. Their father’s priceless coin collection had been located at a dealer’s shop in San Antonio. There were bankbooks. There was also a copy of a new will, about which Blake had some suspicions. Blake phoned the dealer and arranged to drive up the following morning early and collect the coins and the documents. He told the dealer that he’d have Libby phone him as soon as she came to work—she could vouch for the fact that Blake was her attorney and authorized to handle her inheritance.

He didn’t know if Janet Collins was aware of the coin collection’s whereabouts and he considered that he might need backup.

He phoned the chief of police’s office and talked to Cash Grier, who agreed to drive up with him. Grier would intimidate most people with evil intentions, Blake thought humorously, even without a firearm.

He told Libby about the trip and also asked her to go by Violet’s house that afternoon with a pizza and cheer the women up. He also suggested that it wouldn’t hurt for Libby to mention how badly they missed her in the office, and how short-handed they were since the interim secretary, Jessie, had given notice and quit. Libby laughingly agreed.

Libby was surprised at Violet’s new look and her nervousness when she stopped by Violet’s house after work. She’d known Violet for a long time. She’d never known her to be anything except calm and collected.

“Mr. Kemp asked me to tell you how much we’re missing you,” Libby said, tongue-in-cheek.

Violet laughed softly. “Are you really, or are you just short-handed because Jessie quit without finishing out her notice?”

Libby’s eyes widened. “How in the world did you know that?”

Violet chuckled. “Mrs. Landers who works at the newspaper office,” she replied. “She’s the best gossip we have, and she thought I’d like to know that poor Mr. Blake was short a secretary. She saw the baby shower announcement that Jessie brought in and Jessie mentioned that she was leaving the job early because Mr. Kemp was hopeful that his old secretary might come back if she knew how hard-pressed he was for help.”

“Well!” Libby exclaimed on a laugh, showing her the box of hot pizza. “It’s all true, of course. I brought you and Mrs. Hardy a pizza.”

“You can have some, too, Libby, since you were nice enough to bring it,” Violet said, hugging the other woman. “It was sweet of you. Mama and I have had a bad day.”

“Mr. Kemp told me about it,” Libby replied. “I’m so sorry.”

Violet shrugged. “We all have hard times. We’ll get through ours. It’s just that it’s brought back so many terrible memories.”

“All my stepmother’s fault,” Libby said coldly. “Curt and I would love to get our hands on her!”

“Take a number and get in line,” Violet mused with morbid humor.

“I see your point.”

“Come on into the kitchen, and I’ll find some plates. Mama, Libby’s here, and she brought a pizza,” she called to her mother in the living room.

“Hello, Libby,” Mrs. Hardy called back. “That was sweet of you!”

“That’s just what I said, Mama,” Violet teased.

She led Libby into the kitchen.

“One way or another, my stepmother has made some terrible problems for all of us,” Libby said somberly. “But she messed up.”

“How?”

“My dad must have suspected something, because he made a new will and left it with a rare coin dealer in San Antonio,” Libby replied. “The coin collection he had is there, too. Mr. Kemp says Curt and I will be able to pay off our mortgage and get our livestock back.”

“Libby, that’s wonderful!” Violet exclaimed.

“Yes. Wonderful. But Julie Merrill has been making my life hell lately. She’s got her claws into Jordan and she won’t let go. He thinks I’m just jealous and trying to break them up. But it’s more than that,” she said grimly. “She’s dangerous. She’s been spreading all sorts of rumors about Calhoun Ballenger. He got Mr. Kemp to file suit against her for slander.”

“Good for Calhoun!”

Libby helped put pizza on plates. “I thought Jordan cared about me,” she said miserably. “But the minute Julie turned on the charm, he dropped me flat. He even let her insult me without saying a single word in my defense.”

“I’m really sorry,” Violet told her. “I thought Jordan was smart enough to see through her.”

“She’s pretty and smart and rich,” Libby murmured.

“And what are you, hideous?” Violet chided. “Your people were founding families of Jacobsville, and you’re a paralegal. You’re pretty, too. You’re worth two of Julie Merrill.”

Libby looked less stressed. She smiled. “Thanks, Violet. I really have missed you,” she added. “I don’t have anybody else that I can talk to, except my brother, and I couldn’t tell him how I really feel about Jordan.”

“Julie will fall into that deep hole she’s digging one day,” Violet told the other woman. “With any luck, Janet will fall into one just as deep!” She hesitated, remembering what Libby had said. “Mr. Kemp isn’t going to go up there alone to get those things, is he? I mean, Janet might have an accomplice…”

“Cash Grier is going with him,” Libby interrupted.

Violet laughed. “I’ll stop worrying right now. Nobody is going to mess with our chief of police.”

“That’s gospel,” Libby agreed. “Although you might remember that Mr. Kemp was an officer in the reserves until just recently. He’s no shrinking daisy.”

“I know,” Violet replied, smiling. “Remember those two men he threw out of our office?”

“I’m trying to forget!”

They both laughed.

The pizza was delicious. Violet walked out with Libby when she was ready to leave.

“Are you going to come back?” Libby asked the other woman seriously.

“Yes,” Violet said. “I dread having to tell Mr. Wright, though,” she added. “He was kind to me.”