Should Have Been Her Child

Casting him a wan smile, she said, “I’m all right, Ross. It’s just been a…long day.”

He sighed. “A hell of a long day,” he agreed.

“Were you able to contact Seth?”

“No. He’s out. On a case, more than likely.”

Their older brother Seth had moved away from the ranch many years ago to become a Texas Ranger. If a problem did arise over the discovered body, Seth would know how to handle it. Victoria could only hope their older brother wouldn’t have to be bothered.

“It’s just as well. There’s really not a problem. And I don’t foresee one.”

“How do you figure?” Ross asked.

She rubbed the mosquito bites on the back of her arm. “Obviously this man wandered onto Ketchum land and died of natural causes or suffered a fall for one reason or another. There’s nothing sinister about that.”

Ross thoughtfully stroked his chin. “I’m surprised you used that word. Jess didn’t imply there was anything sinister going on.”

Her mind whirled as she regarded her brother’s rugged face. “That’s not the impression he gave me.”

Ross’s brows lifted. “Maybe you misread the man.”

“The only time I misread Jess Hastings was four years ago. When he left San Juan County.”

But tonight Victoria had read him loud and clear. Especially his kiss. He was out to hurt her, any way he could. And the idea left a terrible ache in her heart.

“Hell, Victoria,” her brother gently scolded, “I thought you’d gotten Jess Hastings out of your system a long time ago.”

She rose to her feet with plans to go back inside. “I have. I just haven’t forgotten the hard lesson he taught me.”

He studied her for long moments. “I hope you had the good sense not to anger the man, Victoria. He’s in a position to help us or hurt us. I wouldn’t want it to be the latter.”

It didn’t dawn on Ross that Jess had already hurt her more than anything or anyone ever could. But then Ross didn’t know the whole story behind her and Jess. No one did. And as far as she was concerned, no one ever would.

“If Jess decides to pursue this thing in a negative way, there’s nothing I can do to stop him,” she said, then hurried inside the house before her brother could say more.

The baby-fine curls surrounded the child’s head like a red-gold halo. Long curling lashes of the same color lay against cheeks flushed from the warmth of the nearby fireplace.

Jess’s daughter had been asleep in his arms for some time now, but still he lingered in the rocker, savoring the feel of her warm weight resting against his chest. She was the only thing he’d done right in his life. The only thing he really lived for. Her and his grandparents.

“Is Katrina asleep? I’ve got your supper heated in the microwave.”

Jess looked up from his daughter’s face to see Alice, his grandmother, standing a few steps away in the dimly lit living room. She was a tall, rawboned woman, her skin brown and wrinkled by hard work and nearly seventy years of harsh, New Mexico climate. Her hands were big and tough, her hair gray and wiry. But her heart was as gentle as a Chinook wind that melted the winter snows.

When Jess’s father had died at an early age from pneumonia complicated by alcoholism, he’d left behind a five-year-old son and a wife who’d never really wanted a husband and child in the first place. As soon as Jim Hastings had been planted in the ground, his wife had left for greener pastures.

Thankfully, Alice and William had been there to take in their grandson and raise him as their own child. Ma and Pa, as Jess called them, were the only real parents he’d ever known. And now they were helping him raise his own daughter. But they were getting too old to see after a rambunctious two-and-a-half-year-old toddler, even if Jess did take her into a day care near Cedar Hill for most of the day.

“Yeah, she’s asleep. I’ve just been holding her. Thinking how much she’s grown since the two of us came home to the ranch.”

Alice smiled with affection as she took in the sight of her grandson and great-granddaughter. “She’s really starting to string her words together now. But Pa had to scold her for saying a curse word today.”

Jess chuckled. “Now I wonder where she might have heard such a thing?” he asked as he carefully rose from the rocker with the toddler still cradled in his arms.

“Pa said it was from me,” Alice said. “But we both know I’ve never said a bad word in my life.”

“Only if you were by yourself or with someone else,” Jess joked.

Alice’s laughter followed him as he carried his daughter down a narrow hallway and into a small bedroom situated next to his.

After placing her in a white, wooden crib, he made certain she was covered against the night chill, then headed back through the old house to the kitchen.

Even though the hour was late and Will had gone to bed two hours earlier, his grandmother was there waiting for him.

“You didn’t have to wait for me, Ma. I can fend for myself,” he assured her. But already she’d placed his plate of food on the table, along with silverware and a tall glass of iced tea.

Waving away his words, she sank down in the chair next to him and pushed a hand through her gray hair.

“I’ll go to bed in a minute. I wanted to ask you what happened today out at the T Bar K.”

Shaking black pepper over the food, Jess paused to look at her. “News sure does travel fast for us to be living fifteen miles from town. It’s not like you to be gossiping on the telephone.”

“Who has time for the damn telephone? I went into Aztec for a few things at the grocery. Ed mentioned it when I checked out.”

Jess shoveled a bite of black beans into his mouth. “What makes you think I know anything about it?”

She made a face at him. “You’re the undersheriff,” she said proudly. “If anything of importance happens around here, you’re gonna know it.”

With a wry shake of his head, Jess said, “A body was discovered on T Bar K range.”

“I’ve heard that much.”

He chewed a forkful of rice spiced with chili peppers. “There’s not much more to tell. We’ll have to wait and see what the coroner uncovers.”

Alice sighed. “I guess…what I was really wondering was…if you saw Victoria while you were at the ranch.”

He glanced up to see his grandmother regarding him with quiet concern. Since he’d returned from Texas, she’d not brought up the subject of Victoria. Not that there was anything to bring up. That part of his life had been over for years now. He’d already married and lost a wife since Victoria had turned her back on him.

“Why would you want to know that?” he hedged.

Impatient now, she asked, “Well, did you?”

His gaze slipped back to his plate. “Yeah. I questioned her.”

Surprise crossed her wrinkled face. “Questioned her? Why?”

“Ma,” he said tiredly, “it’s my job.”

Moments passed as Jess continued to eat.