Instead he turned on the stove, grabbed a skillet, and started frying strips of bacon, enough for him and Ellie. He made some toast and was stirring a pan of scrambled eggs when the kitchen door swung open.

“Good morning,” she said, smiling as she walked into the kitchen. Without makeup, she looked clean and wholesome, young and vibrant. His possessive instincts arose, and arousal slid through him. There was just something about her.

“I’ve got breakfast ready. You’re just in time.”

Her smile widened. “That smells delicious, and I’m starving.” She reached over and snagged a piece of bacon. “I didn’t realize you could cook.”

He chuckled as he turned off the stove and dished up their plates. “Just one of my many talents.” At the moment, there was another talent he’d like to show her, but that would have to wait.

They sat down at the long oak table and dug in. “You never talk about your brothers,” she said out of the blue. “Gage and Edge, right? Gage is the middle brother. Edge is the youngest.”

“You being a detective, I guess you looked us up.”

“That’s right. Both your parents are gone. So why don’t you ever talk about them?”

Kade lifted his coffee mug but didn’t take a drink. “I don’t see them much anymore. Gage is always off on some adventure. Half the time he’s out of the country. Same with Edge. He’s Army Special Forces. Only thing he ever wanted to do.”

“Doesn’t sound like the three of you are very close.”

Regret filled him, and he set the coffee mug back down on the table. “We were when we were kids. After Mom died, we kind of drifted apart.”

“That’s too bad.” Ellie started eating again. Kade was glad she had dropped the subject.

He missed his brothers, wished they had parted on better terms. Kade had wanted them to stick around, help him run the ranch. Neither Gage nor Edge was interested. They had fought about it. It wasn’t until after they were gone that he realized they had made the right decision. They had their own lives to live, and ranching had never appealed to them.

Kade was right where he belonged, and so were Gage and Edge. Still, he wished he could see them, make sure they understood he respected them for being strong enough to stand up to him and follow their dreams.

Ellie sipped her coffee. “I’ve been thinking about Earl Dunstan and what he said last night.”

He took a drink of coffee. “And?”

“According to Earl, the man who hired Frank and then killed him had something to do with the mine.”

“You think he was talking about the Red Hawk?”

“It’s the only mine Frank worked that has any connection to you.”