Sitting across from her niece Siobhan, Lindy Turk finished a row on the blanket she was crocheting. She tugged on the length of yarn running from the end of her hook to the bowl in Siobhan’s lap. The short pull moved the bowl and the young woman looked up.

“Are you here to help me or gossip with your cousin?”

Siobhan threw a wink while a salacious grin lifted the corners of her mouth. Taming the smile, she dutifully turned the bowl she had been bouncing around so that the yarn hole faced Lindy once more. She waited for her aunt to draw a loop through the new row then returned to interrogating Adler.

“Betty Rae said the sister is a real beauty. Said she should be a plus-size model.”

Adler shrugged then took to examining his nails.

“Are you saying you didn’t notice, Adler Turk?” Siobhan prodded.

“I suppose a wasp is beautiful under a microscope, or maybe frozen in amber.” Stretching out an arm, Adler leaned toward Siobhan and delivered a short, delicate stroke to the tip of her nose. “But I prefer butterflies.”

“I’ll ignore how that’s kinda creepy since we’re cousins and just accept the compliment,” she laughed.

Giving a soft pull on the yarn in her lap, Siobhan looked at her aunt. “So, uh, you’re having her over for dinner tomorrow, yeah? I mean, Jake’s been coming every Sunday. You’re not going to let him skip out, right?”

Lindy drew a deep breath before answering, her fingers pausing as she stared down at the blanket. She had set herself a goal of twenty before the weather turned cold. Several new families had moved into Willow Gap in the middle of spring, some of them from warmer parts of the country. It was hard to fathom a Montana winter without living through one. The blankets would make for a nice housewarming gift.

“Well?” Siobhan prodded with another tug on the yarn.

“I’m certainly going to extend the invitation,” Lindy replied.

“Here’s what you do.” Siobhan lifted her hand, all the fingers folded to form a fist. Slowly, she lifted one. “Get Aunt Dotty down.”

Dorothea Turk was seventy-one years old. Never married, she lived in a distant corner of the original Turk homestead tending to her goats and chickens and still chopping her own firewood. The youngest of her generation, she was also the last alive and had doted on her nephews Brody and Boone. Her front door and cupboards were always open to friends and family, but she didn’t come down from her mountain very often.

Siobhan lifted a second finger, continuing to count off the elements of her master plan. “In fact, get Barrett to bring Dotty. There are no fires for him to put out, so he has zero excuses. Plus he lives closer to her.”

“Dotty will be here for Leah’s birthday next week,” Lindy cautioned.

Siobhan shrugged. “No harm giving her the option to come twice in one month. And, if anything goes weird the first time this sister of Jake’s meets the rest of the family, we don’t want it on Leah’s birthday, do we?”

“Point taken,” Lindy answered.

Siobhan lifted a third finger. “And tell Walker there will be a natural blonde coming. That will get him scurrying down from his trees faster than anything.”

A grunt from Adler had Siobhan twisting in her chair, a cackle on her lips. “Oh, yeah, you noticed alright. Wait until you get all moonfaced and I tell Jake’s sister that you compared her to a wasp. I look forward to watching you grovel, cousin dear.”

He grunted again. “I was just expressing surprise that you don’t expect Sutton and Emerson to show up, too.”

“If the government would ever let us know how to contact them on short notice,” she shot back, flipping her dark bangs as a frown smothered her face. “Sutton barely made it to the funeral and was gone less than 12 hours later.”

She waved a hand, batting away memories of her cousin and uncle in their caskets.

“Anyway, with Dotty and Walker and Barrett coming, Jake will have to bring Leah by because those three haven’t seen her since the funeral. Jake leaving his sister home would be awkward, to say the least. It would be admitting he has something he’s still hiding.”

“I suppose you’re also inviting yourself, Monkey Butt,” Adler teased.

“Well, I must make amends.” She held up what was left of the ball of yarn, signaling to Lindy that the end was just a few tugs away. “I can’t do that if I don’t meet her.”

Adler grabbed his hat, his fingers running along the brim before he stood and slapped it once against his thigh. “Hopefully she’ll be more open to your apology than she was to mine.”

Siobhan fluttered her lashes at him. “Everybody loves me.”

“You keep telling yourself that—Monkey Butt.” Crossing over to his mother, he bent down and planted a kiss on her cheek. “I’ve got the pens to check on. The last lot needs readied for the summer pasture by midweek to get them bred in time. I’ll make sure I’m back by supper.”

Lindy snagged his hand, gave it a little jiggle.

“I know you want to make sure things keep running smoothly. But Will knows his job and needs to know you trust him just like your daddy did.”

She pulled Adler down to her and cupped the side of his face.

“I need all my children present, love. Don’t try to lose yourself in work. It’s not good for you or the family. It’s not even good for business.”

He nodded, eyes fixed on the half-finished blanket in her lap.

“I just need some fresh air, Mama. I won’t poke around Will too much. Every now and then he actually finds me useful.”

Relenting, Lindy released her hold on her oldest son. Grabbing a fresh ball of yarn, she tossed it at Siobhan to place in the bowl and tie off to the current ball.

Before Adler could clear the room, she called to him one last time.

“Remember what Dawn said. It’s as true for Jake’s sister as it was for Jake.”

*

Don’t investigate family…

Pulling on a pair of leather work gloves, Adler shook his head at the memory of his baby sister feeding a sealed envelope with Jake Ballard’s name on it into the fireplace. Merrick Jones, a retired cop and friend of the family, had dropped the envelope off at the house for Brody, placing it straight into Dawn’s hands without knowing that Jake was her fiancé.

Using his foot to shut the truck door, Adler tightened the strap on the gloves. He clenched his fist, testing the fit. He fiddled with the straps some more, his thoughts swinging between the Ballard woman and Dawn.

The envelope had arrived a few weeks after Dawn and Jake’s engagement. They’d been dating for eight months. For most of those eight months, Jake had been over to the house every Sunday he had off. New to ranching, he soaked up the conversations and threw in a few greenhorn anecdotes he experienced first hand. He held his own around the table, not an easy thing in the Turk household surrounded by Dawn’s father and five brothers.

But Jake always fell silent when the topic came down to family. All they were ever able to pry out of him was that his mother had been an office worker and his father a regional manager who was often away on business. He lost his father when he was fifteen, his mother when he was twenty-three. With no siblings, that had left him alone in the world.

The family accepted Jake’s reluctance to talk about his past up until the day, after dozens of soft offers, he turned down a direct offer to work for Turk Industries instead of the ranch he was at. The change in jobs would have meant much better pay and benefits and a chance for greater responsibility down the road as a member of the family.

The polite refusal didn’t make sense to Brody, so he called up his friend Merrick—and nearly drove Dawn away in the process.

Now, Dawn was dead and Jake had lied about not having any siblings. For all the Turk family knew, Jake was lying about much more than that.

“Just the cowpoke I was looking for!” Will Copely bellowed from where he sat astride a mare, both man and horse slick with sweat.

Seeing the coil of rope Will held and the fact the ranch’s foreman was on horseback, Adler grinned.

“Who’s giving you a problem?”

“Jupiter,” he answered, spitting the name at the dirt. “Got time to get that ornery cuss in the trailer?”

One of the ranch’s breeding bulls, Jupiter’s potency made him famous throughout the state and beyond. Adler’s father had often joked that the beast could impregnate half his harem with just a look and a well-timed snort.

“Cassian decide he needs the help?” Adler asked.

Cassian wasn’t another bull. He was Adler’s cousin, Boone Turk’s second youngest son and the only one of the old man’s kids interested in running cattle operations now that Boone had decided to retire and spend his winters in Tucson.

“Yeah.” Will pulled on the mare’s reins as she drifted toward a cluster of grass. Leaning forward, he stroked the side of her neck until she forgot about the tempting treat. “He probably has to cull Hercules after that coyote attack. Doc assured me that Cassian’s herd is clean, but only about twenty percent of the pasture is pregnant.”

“And Jupiter’s pasture?”

Will grinned. “According to the doc, ninety percent as of Friday morning.”

Adler mirrored the grin, then slapped his thigh. “That old bull might set a record this year.”

Pulling his hand radio from his pocket, Will nodded. He pressed the push-to-talk button. “Royce, slap a saddle on Cannonball. Boss is gonna help me teach Jupiter a thing or two. Have someone get me a fresh one ready while you’re at it.”

Adler hopped back in his truck and drove over to the stable to collect Cannonball, his cutting stallion. Royce, the stable master, had the animal saddled and waiting in the yard.

Seeing Adler’s approach, Royce lobbed an apple at him. Adler caught it low. The horse began to prance.

“Who says this is for you?” he laughed and took the first bite.

Cannonball replied with a soft snort, his nostrils fluttering like a piece of silk in a gentle breeze. When Adler didn’t offer any of the apple, the horse nickered, the sound a low pulsating in the back of his throat.

“Only if you smile for me,” Adler teased as he broke off a chunk of apple.

Cannonball lifted his top lip, the amount of flesh about the size of a man’s hand. The row of strong, flat teeth exposed, he nickered again before Adler placed the bit of apple against the animal’s bottom lip and quickly pulled his fingers out of harm’s way.

He broke off a few more pieces, feeding them to the horse in between checking the saddle. When the apple was gone, he ran his hands over Cannonball, looking for potential problems. He knew Royce would have already done the same, but Adler was going to be the one making demands of the animal in getting Jupiter in the trailer. The simple act also strengthened his connection with the horse, Adler’s hands running over the soft coat that was golden brown everywhere but the legs and the end of his muzzle. Those areas and the mane and tail were colored a dark black.

Satisfied that the horse was both fit to work and ready to do so, he pulled the lasso off the saddle and whipped it out. He ran it through his fingers as he slowly coiled it back in to check for defects. With everything in order, he grabbed hold of the saddle horn, put his left boot in the stirrup and swung his right leg up and over.

“Will headed over on a fresh horse right before you pulled in,” Royce said.

Adler figured as much. Despite the speed his truck was capable of, he’d had to take the dirt roads around two large, empty pens, whereas Will was able to cut between the pens.

“Good,” he told the stable master. “Radio to let him know I’m on my way.”

With a tip of his hat, he started toward the summer pastures at a trot. It was an easy pace that would get Cannonball to Jupiter’s pasture inside of fifteen minutes without tiring the animal, while ensuring the muscles were warmed up and ready to work.

The horse followed along the side of the dirt road, knowing by the time of the year which way they were headed. Adler leaned back in his saddle and relaxed for the first time since Betty Rae’s early morning phone call about the strange woman left alone in Jake Ballard’s house.

He still couldn’t suss out what he felt about the situation, other than a low-level suspicion.

And, if he was being honest with himself, a definite physical attraction to the woman.

Adler snorted. He was already lying to himself about Sage Ballard. It wasn’t merely physical. He had the money and reputation to bring any number of beautiful women to his bed. He just didn’t want them.

He wanted the woman he’d heard singing in his sister’s kitchen, body moving in a way that wasn’t just sexy but exalted by her voice, by the depth of feeling she put into each word. He wanted the woman who’d drawn a knife on him and stood her ground when others would have collapsed into a shaking heap.

But wants weren’t needs. Above all things, he needed a woman he could trust. Only time would tell if that woman was Sage.

With Jake Ballard’s lies, things didn’t look good.

“You got a face like someone stole your puppy,” Will laughed as Adler reached Jupiter’s pasture. “I haven’t seen you pout like that since you were twelve and squawked like you were full of helium.”

Adler glowered at the ranch foreman for half a second before cracking a grin and turning his attention to the equipment. The gate had been opened and the trailer hauled in. Rails were set up on each side of the trailer’s ramp. The rails were short, about four feet high, so they wouldn’t block the ropes as the bull was led up the ramp.

In addition to Will, there were two men on horses serving as turnbacks to keep Jupiter from running off to the far side of the field and another two mounted as herd holders to keep the cows from straying into where Will and Adler would work Jupiter into the trailer.

The old bull was already separated from the herd after Will’s first attempt. Adler could tell by the obstinate dip of its head that the beast had decided to make a game of it and was waiting for the horses and their humans to catch a second wind. Jupiter didn’t need a second wind. He weighed close to twenty-six hundred pounds. Cannonball was a little over twelve hundred, not even half the bull’s weight. That’s why Adler and Will would tag team the beast.

“Ready?” he asked Will.

The older man nodded. He warmed up his lasso, twirling the big loop in the air as Katmandu, his gelding, began to measure up his opponent, his direction guided by the press of Will’s knees and the cant of his torso.

Adler twirled his lasso at the same time. Will would make the first toss, Adler would immediately follow if Will missed, eliminating the bull’s opportunity to evade the second rope being cast.

Will released. The loop landed atop the bull’s head, but Jupiter did a quick twist and duck. The heavy rope dropped to the ground. Adler released as the bull lifted his head in search of the next attempt, his nose lifting high in the bovine equivalent of flipping someone a middle finger.

The loop descended in a stiff circle over the beast’s snout, past the massive head and over the muscled neck. Adler jerked the rope tight before Jupiter could twist away. Cannonball walked backward, body straining. Will made his next throw, everything easier now that the first loop was firmly placed.

“Got ya, didn’t we!” Will whooped as he jerked his loop closed.

“Did you forget we have to coax his stubborn hide into the trailer?” Adler laughed.

They both knew the job wasn’t done yet. What came next was the second half of the dance. Now that the ropes were around Jupiter’s neck and they had two horses that together came close to equaling the bull’s weight, they would winch him forward step by step until he finally decided the sweet hay at the back of the trailer was worth more than the pure fun of being obstinate.

Jupiter jerked on the ropes, planted his legs wide and dropped his center of gravity in resistance. It didn’t matter. The horses only had to fight him in one direction, the bull had to fight them in two opposing directions. He couldn’t plant left and pull right at the same time he was planting right and pulling left.

Inch by inch, Will and Adler forced Jupiter to yield ground. Once they had the beast on the ramp, they threaded the end of the lassos around bars on the trailer, creating a pulley on each side that increased their leverage over the animal.

Suddenly abandoning the fight, Jupiter charged into the trailer. Adler’s lasso snagged, jerking him out of his saddle and body slamming him into the container’s side. A rough edge of metal tore through his shirt, its jagged teeth chewing across his shoulder blade.

The trailer doors slammed and locked. Adler freed himself from the rope. Neck twisting, fingers probing, he examined his left shoulder. When he pulled his hand back, the fingers dripped with bright red blood.

“That,” Will said. “Won’t make your momma happy.”

Adler grinned. “Then you better clean and stitch me before she finds out.”

Finding the edge of the long, uneven slice, he winced once. But the grin didn’t take but a second to return. Jupiter was in the trailer, soon he would be in Cassian’s pasture making sure the field didn’t turn a loss for the year. It was worth more than a little blood to help family.

For Adler Turk, family was everything.