“In the woods right next to the place where I hit Keith Branson with my truck.”

Connor’s face turned even paler. “Yup,” he said. “I was afraid of that.”

“What were you doing there?” Winnie asked.

Connor sighed again. It was the sigh of a man who knew he’d been caught red-handed, doing something he shouldn’t have been doing. “I was fighting with him,” he told her.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Winnie’s eyes flashed angrily.

“Because you said you could never love a fighting man. And I want you to love me, Winnie.”

Hannah could see the angry expression on Winnie’s face fade. “Why did you fight with him, Connor?”

“He was dragging a woman through the woods. I came across them at the fence line so I jumped the fence and punched him. And then I punched him again so hard that it knocked him out.”

“He was hurting a woman?” Winnie waited until Connor nodded and then she got up, went around the table, and hugged him. “Who was it?”

“I don’t know. I never saw her before, but she was scared. I know that. And the minute I pulled him away from her, she ran away.”

“You dummy!” Winnie said, and there was love in her voice. “When I said I could never love a fighting man, I meant a man who was a bully and picked fights. I never meant you shouldn’t fight to defend a woman. That’s what a man ought’a do.”

“I’ve got to go,” Hannah said, standing up. “I’ll let myself out. I’ve got somebody else I have to see. Enjoy those pralines, both of you.”

“I didn’t know you liked pralines,” Winnie said as Hannah left the table.

“I love ’em. I had some in New Orleans when I was there for the PBR Rodeo.”

“What’s PBR?”

“Professional Bull Riders. They put on events at the New Orleans Arena.”

“You were a bull rider?” Winnie sounded impressed.

“That was my dad, not me. I’ve always been partial to horses.”

Hannah pulled open the front door and went out. One part of her investigation was over. She now knew that Connor had been the man who’d delivered the lethal blow to Keith Branson’s head. She hadn’t seen any reason to tell Connor or Winnie that, not when she was the one who hit him with her truck and actually killed him. Connor had defended an unknown woman in the woods. And Hannah thought she knew exactly who that woman was.

EASY PRALINES