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All he had to do ait for Slade to visit the restroom Then he could take a few sheets of paper and set his plan into be freakin’ fun

Lute waited till after lunch before he sidled into the front office, where Slade sat hunched at the desk nursing a Corona Slade glanced up with a scowl

“Sorry I was too busy to catch you sooner,” Lute apologized “Sky caive this to you” He fished a tightly folded sheet of paper out of his pocket

Slade’s eyes narrowed suspiciously “Who’s it from?”

Lute shrugged and passed the note across the desk He’d written three different versions before deciding this one would have theSlade’s expression as he unfolded and read it, Lute knew he’d ht choice:

Slade, you bastard, Natalie is ain Let’s ht at 10 by the bog where you du If you don’t show, I’ll know you’re nothing but a filthy, stinking coward

Beau Tyler

Most of the note was hand printed, but it was signed in Beau’s unmistakable scrawl Lute, who’d dropped out of school in his junior year, had never been much of a writer But, as he’d expected, Slade was too e And the hint that Beau knehat he’d done to Jess would give Slade one more reason to want to kill him

True, Slade had lost his truck and his driver’s license But he had access to vehicles at work At night on back roads, as going to catch hiun, either, but he’d have no trouble getting his hands on one

Lute watched Slade crush the note and stuff it into his shirt pocket There was no way Slade wouldfor him wouldn’t be Beau Tyler Lute would see to that

CHAPTER 11

That night was one of those rare evenings when everything see sun had streaked the clouds with crilow that deepened to violet and indigo as dusk crept across Ri honeysuckle that framed the porch steps perfumed every breath of air

Sitting on the porch with Will, Jasper, and the dog, Beau experienced a rare sense of satisfaction The swelling was down in Will’s leg, and despite so to be back in the saddle His recovery, along with Sky’s return, would leave Beau withfacets of the ranch He couldn’t claim to enjoy the job But in the years since Bull’s injury, everything froers to tax records to studbooks had deteriorated As the only person on the ranch who’d ever held an actual desk job, the task of straightening out the -terrin and forge ahead, maybe even call Lauren Prescott over to help

Everyone seeht Maybe that was because Erin had arrived to spend the summer on the ranch Today the whole ranch family had joined in the welcome Bernice had made Erin’s favorite chocolate cake Sky had supervised an hour of training with her foal, and Will had challenged her to a round of chess—a garandfather

After lunch, Beau and Jasper had driven her out on the range to take turns plinking at tin cans with Bull’s boyhood 22 The pop of gunfire still awakenedwhen Erin teased hiet