She looked up sharply.
“No.”
“Lila.”
“No.”
“Until this ends.”
“And where do I go?”
“Town.”
“Alone?”
“I’ll send guards.”
“So whoever is watching learns you’re frightened for me.”
“I am frightened for you.”
The sentence stopped her.
Cole’s eyes remained on hers.
No embarrassment.
No retreat.
“I’m frightened,” he repeated.
Lila swallowed.
“You are not supposed to admit that.”
“Apparently I’m changing.”
She looked at the note.
“If I leave, I lose access.”
“I don’t care.”
“I do.”
“Why?”
Lila stared.
Because him.
Because six weeks.
Because the bathhouse.
Because somewhere between breakfast arguments and evening books she had built something inside this house she did not want stolen by fear.
“Because this is my home now too.”
Cole went still.
The words surprised both of them.
Lila looked down.
“I mean work.”
“No.”
Cole stepped closer.
“You didn’t.”
She looked up.
He had understood exactly what she meant.
The room became quiet.
Cole moved until he stood directly in front of her.
“Say it again.”
“That seems unnecessary.”
“Lila.”
She laughed nervously.
“You enjoy making people uncomfortable.”
“Usually.”
“And now?”
“Now I need to know if I imagined it.”
Her chest tightened.
“This feels like home.”
There.
Truth.
Cole’s expression softened.
“Good.”
She frowned.
“Good?”
“Yes.”
“That is all?”
He leaned closer.
“What answer were you hoping for?”
Lila looked at his mouth.
Mistake.
He noticed.
Her face heated.
Cole’s voice lowered.
“Lila.”
A knock interrupted.
Daniel.
Of course.
Cole closed his eyes.
Lila almost laughed.
Daniel entered.
Looked between them.
“Bad time?”
Cole glared.
“Speak.”
Daniel smiled.
“I found the southern fence cutters.”
The romance vanished.
Two sets of tracks.
One horse with a broken rear shoe.
Another dragging left toe.
Daniel knew both patterns.
One belonged to Earl’s bay gelding.
The other belonged to a ranch hand named Harvey Pike.
Harvey had worked Bennett land three years.
Quiet.
Reliable.
No disciplinary trouble.
They searched Harvey’s bunk.
Found money.
Too much.
And a property deed.
Twenty acres east of Harker’s ranch.
Purchased six months ago.
Lila felt the structure forming.
Earl.
Harvey.
Harker.
Missing cattle.
Bathhouse supplies.
But why kill Cole?
The theft alone did not explain murder.
Cole’s ranch could lose forty-three cattle and survive easily.
Someone wanted more.
They questioned Harvey first.
He denied everything.
Then Cole placed the property deed on the table.
Harvey’s face changed.
“Gift.”
“From?”
“My uncle.”
“You have no uncle.”
Harvey looked at Daniel.
Traitorous records.
Eventually Harvey broke.
Not completely.