He and Owen had arrived home late this morning to the news of the break-in. Investigators discovered the safe in his office had been broken into.

“What was in the safe, Gramps?”

“The usual. Insurance policies, personal and financial documents, some cash. Nothing special. Someone thought they’d check out the place and look for a safe. Maybe I give the impression I have money.” A boisterous laugh erupted. “What was I thinking? A safe behind a picture is probably an easy target. I’ll put Owen on moving it for me. Can’t trust these yahoos out here. Someone at a bar probably blabbed about putting it in.”

“So, you had the safe installed recently?”

“A few months back.”

The safecracker had drilled into the locking mechanism to open it, and with that information, authorities knew the intruder had been in the house and done his work before she got home. To think that someone had been in the house with her, biding his time for a chance to escape, left her unsettled. She rubbed the goosebumps that suddenly rose on her arms, then poured herself another cup of coffee. She would need it after the night she’d had.

“And why did you suddenly decide to install a safe after living here for decades?”

He set his mug in the sink and turned to study her. The skin around his eyes crinkled with his smile. “Well, you know, I added an alarm system. Figured I should go all the way.”

He patted her shoulder as he moved away from her. Was he trying to avoid more questions? Gramps headed out of the kitchen.

“They’ll find whoever was behind the theft, Gramps. They processed for fingerprints last night and got a cast on the tracks as well as the footprints in the woods and around the house.”

He paused, then turned to face her. The lines in his face deepened, making him look ten years older. “You could have been killed because someone wanted in my safe.” Gramps closed the distance and hugged her. “You and Owen mean everything to me.”

“And you mean the same to us. Family is everything.”

“One of these days, the two of you will get the ranch,” he said. “You’ll get it all.”

She scrunched her face. “You’ll probably outlive the both of us. You’re as strong as those horses out there you love so much. You’re not going anywhere anytime soon.”

“I sure hope not. I have a campaign I need to focus on in the coming months.”

He was really going to run for office. Terra wasn’t sure how she felt about that, but it wasn’t her life or decision to make, and she wouldn’t get into it with Gramps now.