“Hate to break it to you, but you’d never be able to hog-tie me.” He bantered back, hoping to keep the mood light for as long as possible. Because sooner or later, all that had happened at the Independence Day celebrations would come calling. They couldn’t hold the frustrations at arm’s length forever.

“Oh, I’ll hog-tie you.” She was on her hands and knees feeling along the perimeter. “Leastways until I can take my part of the treasure on back to Mr. Steele and buy that piece of land.”

Buying the land. That’s why she’d agreed to the treasure hunt with Hance. Because she was seeking a new way to earn money now that she couldn’t join in the cowhand competitions. He should have guessed as much. “You might think you’re the best roper this side of the Rockies, but you haven’t gone against me.”

“Think you’re good at it, do ya?”

“Don’t think it. I know it.”

She laughed lightly. “Reckon we oughta have a competition then. To prove who’s the best.”

“You’re on.”

A beat of silence passed. “I hope you know I’m serious about buying that land, and if I find the treasure, I’m aiming to use it for the purchase.”

He let another quiet moment settle between them. Should he just tell her he wasn’t interested in the land, that she could have it? His muteness on the matter was making things so much harder for her. And yet his reserve could mean the difference between her life and death when it came to Rodney James.

“If you find the treasure”—he tried to lighten his tone—“then you deserve the land, no question about it.”

She paused, and he could feel her attention shift to him. “Then you don’t think the treasure’s here anymore and that we’re on a wild-goose chase?”

He glanced around the cavern that was no bigger than the front parlor of the average farmhouse. “Should I tell you what you want to hear?”

“Are you some kind of mind reader now?”

“With you, yes.”

“Just shoot straight with me.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.” She had that feisty look in her eyes, a look that always made him slightly crazy for her.

“If this place had a Spanish treasure from the early nineteenth century, then it’s been found.” He hated to disappoint her, but the fact was, if the Utes had really brought the Spanish treasure to this particular cave long ago, then someone would have stumbled across it by now.

“Why would Hance be looking for a treasure that’s been found? And how would Hance know about the rattlesnake formation?”