Thinking that was a good idea, Kade continued on I-70, turned onto Highway 131, and started up into the hills. They rode in comfortable silence, winding through the countryside, the grass a faded gold this time of year, the trees leafless with the approach of winter. Ellie gasped and Kade smiled as a big golden eagle swooped out of a tree next to the road, its impressive wingspan lifting it easily into the air.

“So beautiful,” she said.

Like you, Kade thought, with your fiery hair and big green eyes, but he wasn’t a man who could easily speak words like that.

He drove into Coffee Springs, turned onto the paved road, then the gravel lane leading to the ranch. Pulling through the big timber gate, he drove up the hill and parked the car, walked with Ellie into the kitchen. Kade stiffened at the sight of Maria standing at the sink, her face bathed in tears. Embarrassed, she quickly turned away.

Ellie flicked Kade a glance. “Can you give us a minute?”

He didn’t want to. He wanted to know what the hell was going on. “No problem.”

Walking over, Ellie wrapped her arms around Maria, and Kade clenched his jaw. Striding out of the kitchen, he let the door swing closed behind him, then stopped in the hall. No way was he leaving until he knew what Maria was crying about. Though unless he was mistaken, he had a pretty good notion already.

“It’s okay,” Ellie said. “Tell me what’s happened.”

Maria sniffed back tears. “It’s nothing. I’m just being foolish.”

“Tell me,” Ellie softly urged.

“It’s not his fault. It’s mine.”

“You’re talking about Alejandro.”

“I shouldn’t have done it. I knew it, but I did it anyway.” She dragged in a shaky breath. “I sent him a note. I asked him to meet me after supper in the cabin where we’d stayed when he was injured. He was worried, so he came to make sure I was all right.”

“Go on,” Ellie gently pressed when Maria fell silent.

“I-I seduced him. I kissed him, and when he tried to pull away, I just kept kissing him until he kissed me back and then . . . then things happened. In the morning, when I woke up in the big bed, he was gone.”

Out in the hall, Kade softly cursed. Eavesdropping wasn’t his style, but he wasn’t leaving until he got the whole story.

“Have you seen him yet?” Ellie asked.

“No, but he left me a note. The note said he was sorry. He said he never meant to hurt me. He said I deserved someone better.”

Maria started crying, and Kade ground his jaw. He headed down the hall, went out through the mudroom, off to the bunkhouse.