Page 1 (1/2)

Chapter 1

A chinook wind, long known as the snow-eater by native tribes, swept across the vast Montana plains Its breath ar the wintry white blanket that covered the land’s rich grasses

Over the undulating land of the high prairie it raced and soon invaded the headquarters of the faave the place the se up the hillock and tunneled through the tall colu white house that held a coet was the s it along on its race over the land The source of the smoke was the fire that blazed in the den’s massive stone fireplace Its heat was a concession to the Triple C’s aging patriarch, Chase Calder He sat in his usual chair behind the rooe of it The years had takenframe and carved a network of deep lines in his rawboned face But nothing had dulled the sharp gleaht be, but only a fool would think that age had di around him

His glance wandered to his ed daughter-in-law Jessy Calder sat in one of the wingbacked chairs facing the desk Dressed in typical ranch garb of cowboy boots, jeans, and a shirt, she still possessed the boy-slie lines around the eyes and the slight silvering of her nut-brown hair revealed that Jessy, too, had grown older Currently the reins of the Triple C were in her hands That she held thee and to her own innate ability

Like many other ranch hands, her roots were sunk deep in the land She’d been born on the ranch, and her early years spent as an ordinary cowhand before e of the cattle business and her abiding respect for the land that supported it, coupled with her own quiet strength, provided the basis for a sound leader

Of late, Jessy had turned more of the responsibility for the ranch’s daily operations over to her son Trey, preparing him for the day when he would take control just as Chase had prepared her It was this freedom from the day-to-day minutiae that allowed Jessy to relax in the den and enjoy acup of coffee with her father-in-law

A particular strong wind gust briefly rattled one of thepanes Auto in the act of raising the coffee cup to her lips

“I like the sound of that,” she remarked idly “It ood Calder grass to graze, the better off our bottom line will be”

Even as the gli smile deepened the corners of Chase’sby the fireplace sent a sideways smile in Jessy’s direction “Spoken like a true cattleestion of a drawl in his voice that pegged hi fro about how round thaws, it turns to gumbo”

The Boar’s Nest was the naiven to an old-line shack on the Triple C that Laredo called home—and where he and Jessy had stolen many pleasurable moments

An aleaave him “After all this time, we still haven’t made a real cowhand out of you, have we, Laredo?”

“Not for the want of trying” His blues held an answering twinkle

It was the kind of look that was exchanged between lovers Just for aAt the saie used to look at hione from this world for half a lifeti as ever It was so instead by the unwritten code of the Old West that insisted a

Outside the telltale ruine made itself heard in the den Chase lifted his head in mild curiosity “Sounds like someone just drove up”

Turning, Laredo glanced out the front“It’s a state patrol car”

“Really I wonder why they’re here” It was curiosity rather than concern that prompted Jessy to stand and absently set her cup down

“I’ you’ll soon find out,” Laredo replied as the oin the kitchen”

Chase watched the long-legged cowboy make his exit fro it safe, has he?” he remarked to Jessy

“I doubt he ever will” Sheof her shoulder and exited the roo officer at the front door

The exchange was a rare acknowledgment of their mutual awareness that the man they knew as Laredo Smith had a past that didn’t bear close scrutiny Their lack of concern was another example of the old western codes in play, specifically the one that insisted a ht—or ht not have done—before they knew him