She couldn’t see his eyes beneath the brim of his hat, but she would have recognized that iron-hard jaw anywhere. A tingle of awareness slipped through her. She told herself to go back to the house, but her legs refused to move.

“I haven’t ridden since I left Wyoming,” she said, working to keep her voice even. “I used to love it. I had my own horse. His name was Rusty. The bank claimed him as part of the assets when they foreclosed on our ranch.”

Kade moved out of the shadows. The snaps on his denim shirt glinted in the moonlight coming in through the open barn windows. “That had to be tough. I know how I’d feel if I lost the Diamond Bar.”

“In a way, it killed my dad. I mean, he just got so depressed. Then he got sick and died.”

She didn’t tell him that she and her mother were left with nothing. That she had worked two jobs to help her mom pay the rent on the small apartment they’d been forced to move into. Or that after her mom finally got a decent job, Ellie had worked to put herself through college.

She didn’t say that the hardships they had faced were the reason her independence was so important. She had only given it up one time, when she had married Mark, and that had been a disaster. She wouldn’t let it happen again.

“I came to tell you I’d drive you into Coffee Springs tomorrow,” Kade said. “I can drop you off in town before I head into Eagle to see the sheriff. Hopefully this time nothing will happen to postpone the trip.”

“I’m looking forward to talking to some of the locals.”

“Remember to keep an eye open for a guy wearing a torn red flannel shirt.”

She glanced up at him. “You don’t really think . . . ?”

Amusement lifted a corner of that hard sexy mouth. Her insides curled as a thread of heat slipped through her.

Lust, she thought. It’s just a normal response. What woman wouldn’t lust after a handsome, ruggedly virile male like Kade Logan. “I’ll be sure to keep watch,” she replied with a smile.

She turned away and started back toward the barn door, and Kade fell in beside her, slowing a little to match his long strides to her shorter ones.

They crossed the yard, but he stopped her at the base of the steps leading up to the porch on this side of the house.

“I appreciate your insight on the shooting. You’ve got a good eye for analyzing a situation.”