Page 34 of Savage Secrets

“I don’t think it’s very sound. One big winter storm and the whole thing could collapse.”

She swallowed. “I don’t really have the money for that right now.”

“I figured.” He touched her hand, making her suddenly aware of the tension building inside her. “I have an idea. We could move the horses to another field.”

“The only other field we have is the one for cattle.”

“True, but they can easily coexist. I’ve seen it before, and there’s plenty of good grazing land and I can supplement with hay.”

She sighed. “I know the horses are nothing but a drain on the ranch’s resources, but they were family to my dad. I can’t bear to—”

“I know, darlin’.” He twisted his lips and brushed a kiss over her forehead, stopping her emotional outburst.

She found his hand and their fingers tangled like the sheets around their legs.

“This is your ranch now, Opal. You don’t have to do anything you aren’t comfortable with.”

She let her eyes slip shut on the tender grit in his voice. She was comfortable right here. With him.

A little too comfortable.

* * * * *

The sky was brightening to a soft shade of indigo, growing lighter by the minute as Zach slipped out of the bunkhouse where he’d spent the night after leaving Opal’s bed.

He didn’t want to leave her to sleep alone, but it wasn’t his place to stay. So in the darkest hours of the night, he’d eased out of bed, careful not to jostle her awake, locked the house up and returned to his own cold, lonely bunk.

This was his favorite time of day. With his darkness of the soul, some might look at him and jump to the conclusion that he was a creature of the night, but they would be wrong. He loved waking up each day and greeting the sun as it rose in the sky.

Today, it hadn’t yet crested the peak of the mountain in the distance, but a hint of orange and yellow were present, promising another sunny day.

A good day for walking the ranch to ensure that nothing was amiss.

A chilly breeze rushed across the land, rustling the dry grass and carrying the faint scent of cold ashes from the brush he’d burned the previous day.

Shadows stretched across the ground in long purple lines. As he passed the outbuildings holding the chickens and pigs, he heard the first stirrings of the animals inside. After he checked over the ranch, he would feed them.

When he took the position on the Gracey Ranch, he realized how much he enjoyed the order it brought to his life. A purpose and schedule to follow.

Things here on the Springvale were much more relaxed. The small spread barely squeaked out a living for the owner, but there was a lot of potential to tap.

There was a lot of space for more cattle. If Sean Gracey ever made good on his agreement and sold those acres to Zach, Opal’s cows could graze on his property.

A path, worn into the ground from years of Mr. Vale walking it, circled the land, and Zach took it now. His boots crunched on the fallen sticks and rocks. As he walked, the shadows seemed to shift in the corner of his eye, putting him on alert.

He wasn’t armed—he wasn’t out to kill a trespasser if he came across one. If pressed, however, he could handle himself.

Colton and the others had installed cameras on the four corners of the property, and a few extra around the house and barn, but Zach knew cameras could be tampered with. They wouldn’t deter a person who was really determined to get what they wanted.

Deep down, he had his suspicions about who was responsible for killing Opal’s father. It was no coincidence that Meadow and Ivy Gracey had been attacked and kidnapped, or that the neighboring ranch had been torched.

Sean Gracey had messed up when he gambled away his money and put his ranch on the line. While he’d now owned up to the problems he’d created, they were far from out of the woods. The loan shark he owed might be behind bars, but there was another man left in his place.

A man much more powerful thanks to all the money and assets behind him. A man who’d already bothered Opal twice.

Eli Feldman.

Zach wouldn’t put anything past that bastard. Over his dead body would the man ever touch a precious hair on Opal’s head or that of her little girl.