Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch - B.J. Daniels [79]
She turned away from the window, turning her thoughts, as well, to more pleasant things. Hud. She smiled, just thinking about him. They'd been inseparable, making love, talking about the future. Even now she missed him and couldn't wait for him to get back.
He was bringing trout for dinner. She was glad he'd gone up to see his father. Her mother had been right about one thing. Family. It did matter. Her own father was out of the hospital and planning to be back playing with Uncle Harlan in the band. They'd both offered to play at the wedding. Her father had promised to cut back on his drinking but Dana wasn't holding her breath. She was just glad to still have him.
She smiled, thinking of the wedding she and Hud would have. That is, if he asked her to marry him again.
Since Kitty Randolph's death, a lot of things had come out about the judge. Some of the things Hud had blamed on his father had been the judge's doing.
Hud had even realized that his mother's bitterness toward Brick was fueled by her family and that it had made Brick into the hard man he was when Hud was growing up.
The last few days had changed them all. At least Dana had decided she was ready to let go of all the old hurts and move on, whatever the future held.
She stopped in the middle of the kitchen as if she'd just felt a warm hand on her shoulder and it was as if she could feel her mother's presence. Wasn't this what her mother had wanted? For her to forgive and forget?
Dana smiled, the feeling warming her as she moved to the cupboard that held all her mother's cookbooks. Like her mother, she loved cookbooks, especially the old ones.
She pulled out her mother's favorite and ran her fingers over the worn cover. Maybe she would make Hud's favorite double-chocolate brownies from her mother's old recipe. She hadn't made them since Hud had left five years before.
As she opened the book, several sheets of lined paper fluttered to the floor. Stooping to pick them up, she caught sight of her mother's handwriting. Her heart leaped to her throat. Hurriedly, she unfolded the pages.
Her heart began to pound harder as she stared down at her mother's missing will.
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ISBN-13: 978-0-373-22897-3
ISBN-10: 0-373-22897-X
eISBN: 978-1-4268-3066-2
CRIME SCENE AT CARDWELL RANCH
Copyright © 2006 by Barbara Heinlein
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.n.
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Footnotes
fn1
*McCalls' Montana
fn10
†Whitehorse, Montana
fn11
†Whitehorse,