West of Forever (Heartstone Ranch #1)(43)

“What proof do you have?” Jimmy asks.

“We have a witness who came forward.”

“Who?” I ask. “A member of your family who would love nothing more than to see my family get locked up? No.”

“No.” Ryan’s smug smile makes me want to punch him. “They’re not related to us, at all. It’s Jeremy Lewis. He was on the farm and saw Tristan as he was exiting the barn.”

That makes no sense. Why would her ex even be on their farm? Lark told me about how she ended it with him. It’s why she got shit-faced in celebration with her friends.

Also, it’s literally impossible, since I wasn’t there.

“Bullshit,” I say on a laugh. “I never set foot on your farm! I was gone for the last six hours delivering six horses. When I got back, I had to put everything up. I checked in with Harper, Veronica, and then with Sadie.”

“So the only people who can verify your whereabouts are people you’re related to?” Ryan questions.

“No, I have other employees who can also attest to this.” I turn to Jimmy, not wanting to talk to that asshole. “You can talk to anyone here or the buyers I was with today. As I said, I’ve been busy or gone all day. When exactly do you think I had the time to do whatever was done to their barn?”

Jimmy writes this down. “What time did you return to the farm?”

“Maybe two o’clock. Harper and Fallon can verify that. I’ve been working on repairs to the corral where we had two broken rails, and then doing my rounds and checking on the horses. Just now I was out with Sadie. There’s no way I could’ve gotten to their barn and ruined anything. Jeremy is either lying or confused.”

“All right, I’m going to keep investigating, and if I find any evidence you were there, I’m going to charge you. You understand?”

“Yes, and there is no evidence, because it’s just not true.”

Ryan steps forward. “Arrest him now.”

Jimmy turns to Ryan. “I’m going to verify the story, and if it doesn’t check out, I’ll do what I have to.”

Ryan puffs his chest out, pointing his finger at me. “You stay off our fucking land, Stone, or I swear to God.”

“All right, all right.” Jimmy puts one hand on Ryan’s chest and the other on mine. “Enough. The goal is to figure out what’s going on, not a pissing match between you two. Ryan, you go back to your place. I’m going to interview everyone here, and then I’ll let you know what I find.”

Ryan clearly doesn’t like this decision, but he steps back, glaring at me as he gets in his truck.

Once he’s gone, Jimmy sighs. “I don’t think you’re doing this, but when he said they had a witness, my hands were tied.”

“It’s a lie. This is retribution for the other night.”

“What about the other night?”

I fill Jimmy in on the drive home with Lark, how her father saw me holding her up after she was drunk. I do not tell him how we almost kissed. I also leave out the two we did share on the ridge. None of that is pertinent to this situation.

He sighs, shaking his head. “You know someone posted the photo of you both.”

“What photo?”

“Dude, do you live under a rock?”

“No, I just work,” I counter.

Jimmy pulls out his phone and shows me the picture of us at the bakery, and then he slides it to one of me helping her in my truck.

“Fuck.”

He laughs. “Yeah, it’s going around. And the one of you guys dancing.”

I bet that’s why Jeremy was there.

“It’s nothing, you know that.”

“Yeah, I do, but you and I both know that the people in this town aren’t going to let it go.” He taps my chest. “I’m going to do my job now and clear your name. Do me a favor? Keep away from the damn Gatlins.”

If he only knew…





“All right, you ready?” I ask Sadie after we’re finished cleaning up from dinner. Harper cooked, and the rule in this house is that whoever eats helps clear dishes.

It was my turn to wash, and Sadie helped dry.

Dad took a nap because he’s apparently too old and feeble to do housework. Never mind we found him working in the coop with Sadie all afternoon, building a damn shelf for the chickens to shit on.

Feeble my ass.

She beams up at me. “You mean it?”

“A promise is a promise, isn’t it?”

“It is, and a Stone promise is hard as a rock.”

I grin. “That is true.”

Sadie and I walk out to the barn where Cloud is kept. I push the large doors open and watch as she makes her way to his stall. Immediately, my body tenses, but instead of rearing back or getting agitated, Cloud almost settles as Sadie approaches him.

“Hi, boy,” Sadie says, holding out an apple. “Here, I brought you a treat.”

The horse starts to shift a little, and I step forward, but Sadie looks back at me, shaking her head.

Every protective instinct in me is screaming. Demanding I go to my daughter, rip her away from the animal that almost killed her, but I stand still.

“Sadie,” I warn.

“Don’t be upset, Cloud. Daddy isn’t going to come close. It’s just us.”