‘‘Well, I . . .’’ He’d intended to confess, throw himself on her mercy. But the woman glaring at him out of dark, furious eyes looked several quarts low on mercy. ‘‘ Rabbits,’’ he said slowly. ‘‘Probably.’’

‘‘Rabbits?’’

‘‘Yeah.’’ He shifted uncomfortably, wishing to Christ he’d at least gotten his pants on before she burst in. ‘‘

Rabbits can be a problem with gardens. They just hop up and help themselves.’’

‘‘Rabbits,’’ she said again.

‘‘Could be deer,’’ he added, just a little desperately. ‘‘They’d graze over and eat every damn thing down to stubs.’’ Counting on pity, he shot a look at Cam. ‘‘Right?’’

Cam weighed the situation, knew Anna was city girl enough to buy it. Oh, Ethan would owe him for this, he decided and smiled. ‘‘Oh, yeah, deer and rabbits, big problem.’’ Which having two dogs running tame pretty much eliminated, he mused.

‘‘Why didn’t anybody tell me!’’ She whipped off her hat, rapped it against her thigh. ‘‘What do we do about it? How do we make them stop?’’

‘‘Couple ways.’’ Guilt stung, just a little, but Ethan rationalized that deer and rabbits could be a problem, so she should take precautions anyway. ‘‘Dried blood.’’

‘‘Dried blood ? Whose?’’

‘‘You can buy it at the garden store, and you just dump it around. It’ll keep them away.’’

‘‘Dried blood.’’ Her lips pursed as she made a mental note to buy some.

‘‘Or urine.’’

‘‘Dried urine?’’

‘‘No.’’ Ethan cleared his throat. ‘‘You just go out and. . . you know, around so they smell it and know there’s a meat eater in the vicinity.’’

‘‘I see.’’ She nodded, satisfied, then whirled on her husband. ‘‘Well, get out there then and pee on my marigolds.’’

‘‘Could use a beer first,’’ Cam said and winked at his brother. ‘‘Don’t worry, darling, we’ll take care of it.’’

‘‘All right.’’ Calmer, she huffed out a breath. ‘‘Sorry, Ethan.’’

‘‘Yeah, well, hmmm.’’ He waited until she’d hurried out, then lowered himself to the edge of the bed. He slanted a look at Cam, who continued to lean against the door. ‘‘That wife of yours has a streak of mean in her.’’

‘‘Yeah. I love it. Why’d you steal her flowers?’’

‘‘I just needed a few of them,’’ Ethan muttered and pulled on his pants. ‘‘What the hell are they out there for if you get your head cut off for picking them?’’

‘‘Rabbits? And deer?’’ Cam began to hoot with laughter.

‘‘They’re garden pests right enough.’’

‘‘Pretty brave rabbits who hop between two dogs and right up to the house to select a few flowers. If they got that far, they’d mow the whole garden down to the ground.’’

‘‘She doesn’t have to know that. For a while. I appreciate you backing me up. I thought she was going to punch me.’’

‘‘She might have. Since I saved your pretty face, I figure you owe me.’’