With Rusty gone, Peggy Sue and Ginny would suffer too.

The thought hit Emily like a sledgehammer. She curled her hands at her sides and tried to think. There was more at stake here than she knew.

Something had to be done. Thoughts spinning, she came to a quick decision. Not wanting to give herself a chance to change her mind, she raced to the stables.

40

Emily rode Daisy hard. She didn’t know where Chase was, but she would find him. Had to find him.

Big-Foot Harry had driven up to the house just as she’d ridden away. She’d been in too much of a hurry to stop and explain.

Spotting Kansas Pete shoveling manure into the back of a wagon, she reined in her horse and called, “Have you seen Chase?”

Kansas Pete stuck his shovel in the ground, pulled off his hat, and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand before answering. “Last I saw, he was in the barn.”

Thanking him, she clicked her tongue and rode to the large red building. Heart pounding, she dismounted and tethered her horse next to Chase’s. She took a deep breath, said a quick prayer, and walked through the open double doors.

Chase looked up from where he was bottle-feeding a calf, and his eyes rounded at the sight of her. “I…I thought you’d left.” He pulled the empty bottle from the calf’s mouth and stood. “Is something wrong?”

She waited for him to let himself out of the stall before answering. “Yes,” she said. “There’s plenty wrong. I’m not leaving!”

She heard his intake of breath as he stared at her. “If you stay, you could get hurt.”

“I don’t care!” Swallowing hard, she forged on. “The McKnight Ranch was meant to stay intact. That’s what your grandfather would have wanted. This is where the sagebrush grows tallest and…”

As she spoke, his face grew still, and his eyes darkened with some emotion she couldn’t define. Still, she kept going. She couldn’t seem to stop herself.

“This is your family legacy, and it’s worth fighting for. And if you won’t fight for it, I will!” On and on she went, words tumbling out of her like rocks down a mountainside. She wasn’t even sure she made sense. All she knew was that she could no longer keep her feelings bottled up inside.

“So don’t think you can get rid of me, because I’m not going anywhere. Not until this ranch is safe, and Peggy Sue and Rusty—”

“I love you.”

“This is my home too, and I’m not letting anyone run me off…”

“I love you.”

“I don’t care what anyone says. I’m not my uncle, and I’m not responsible for what he did. I would never hurt you or the ranch or—” She stopped midsentence and stared at him. “What…what did you say?”

“I said…I love you.”

She stared at him in shock and disbelief. “Why? Why are you saying such a thing?”

He frowned. “Why? I’m saying it because I mean it. I married you by accident. But loving you is by choice.”