The Lone Star Cinderella. Maureen Child

Nathan alone out here, but he was going to have his say whether Bill was listening in or not.

      Things had changed a lot around Royal in the past few months, Dave thought. Nathan and Amanda were married and expecting a baby. Sam and Lila were expecting twins. And then there was the reason Dave had come to see Nathan on his day off.

      The disappearance of Alex Santiago.

      He wouldn’t claim to have been friends with Alex, but he’d never wished the man harm, either. This vanishing act of his was weird enough to keep the people in town talking—and most of them were talking about how Dave and Alex had been business rivals and wondering if maybe Alex hadn’t had some help in disappearing.

      Dave had never been one to give a flying damn what people had to say about him. He ran his life and his business the way he saw fit, and if people didn’t like it, screw them. But like he’d just been thinking, things had changed. Irritating to admit that gossip and the threat of scandal had chased him out here to talk to the town sheriff, but there it was.

      “Yeah, I get that. My foreman’s the best there is, but I like doing ranch work on my own, too. Always have,” Dave said, snatching his hat off to stab his fingers through his hair. “And I hate to ruin your peace and quiet...”

      Nathan hooked his pair of wire cutters into the tool belt at his waist and looked at Dave. “But?”

      “But,” Dave said, with the briefest of glances toward Bill, who wasn’t even bothering to hide his interest in the conversation, “I need to know if you’ve got anything new on Alex’s disappearance.”

      Scowling, Nathan admitted, “I’ve got nothing. It’s like he dropped off the face of the earth. No action on his credit or debit cards, either. Haven’t got a clue what happened to him and, to tell you the truth, it’s making me nuts.”

      “I can imagine,” Dave said and tipped the brim of his hat back a bit. “It’s not doing much for me, either.”

      Nathan nodded grimly. “Yeah, I’ve heard the whispers.”

      “Great.” Just what he wanted. The town sheriff listening to rumors about him.

      “Relax.” Nathan waved one hand at him and shook his head. “I know what the gossips in this town are like, Dave. Hell, they almost cost me Amanda.” He paused for a second as if considering what might have been. Then he shook his head again and said, “If it helps any, you’re officially not a suspect.”

      He hadn’t really thought he was, but it was good to hear anyway. It didn’t solve his problem, but knowing that Nathan believed in his innocence was one less thing to worry about. Dave knew how it must have looked to everyone in town. He was among the last people to have seen Alex before he went missing. And the argument they’d had on Main Street had been witnessed by at least a dozen people.

      Plus, it was pretty much common knowledge around Royal that Alex had snapped up the investment property that Dave had had his eye on. So yeah, Dave had been furious. But he hadn’t wanted anything to happen to Alex.

      “Glad to hear you say that,” Dave finally said. “In fact, it’s what I came out here to ask you. Feels good knowing I’m not a suspect, I’ll admit. But it doesn’t change how people in this town are looking at me.”

      He’d been in Royal three years, and he would have thought people would know him by now. But apparently, one whisper of juicy gossip was all it took to have people looking at him with a jaundiced eye.

      Nathan dropped one hand to the top of the fence post and said, “People talk, you can’t stop it. God knows I’ve tried. And in a town the size of Royal, that’s about all they’ve got to do to fill the time, you know? Doesn’t mean anything.”

      “Not to you, maybe—and I’m grateful, don’t get me wrong,” Dave told him. “But I’m trying to land a contract with TexCat and—”

      Nathan chuckled and stopped him. “No need to say more. Hell, Texas Cattle is legendary. Everyone in the state knows about Thomas Buckley and how he runs his company. The old man is such a straight arrow...” He broke off. “That’s why the concern over the gossip.”

      “Yeah, if Buckley hears those rumors, I’ll never get the contract with him to sell my beef.” Scandal could sour the deal before it was made, and damned if Dave would let that happen.

      TexCat was the biggest beef buyer in the country. But it was a family-run company and Buckley himself ran it along the narrowest lines possible. No scandal had ever touched his company, and he was determined to keep it that way. So if he got wind of rumors about Dave now, it would only make all of this more difficult.

      “Ol’ Buckley is so worried about what people think,” Bill pointed out from his spot on the truck, “I hear he sleeps in a three-piece suit.”

      Dave frowned and Nathan shot Bill a look. “Is that wire unloaded?”

      “Almost,” Bill said and ducked his head as he went back to work.

      “Sorry,” Nathan said unnecessarily, then grinned. “Everybody’s got something to say about everything around here. But you already know that, don’t you?”

      “You could say so,” Dave muttered.

      Still smiling, Nathan added, “Where Buckley’s concerned, it’s not just the rumors you’ve got to be worried about.”

      Dave frowned. “Yeah, I know.”

      Nathan’s smile widened. “Buckley only deals with married family men. Last time I looked, you were single. I figure the rumors and whispering should be the least of your problems. How’re you planning on coming up with a wife?”

      Dave huffed out a disgusted breath. “Haven’t figured that part out yet. We’re just at the beginning of negotiations with TexCat. I’ve still got some time.” He jammed his hat back on his head and hunched deeper into his jacket as a sharp, cold wind slapped at them. “I’ll think of something.”

      Nathan nodded. “If not, TexCat isn’t the only beef buyer in the world.”

      “No,” Dave agreed. “But they’re the best.”

      He wanted that contract. And what Dave Firestone wanted, he got. Period. He’d clawed and fought and earned his success the hard way. Not a chance in hell he’d stop before he was finished.

      * * *

      Mia Hughes opened the pantry door and stared inside at the nearly empty shelves as if expecting more food to suddenly appear. Naturally, that didn’t happen. So, with a sigh, she grabbed another package of Top Ramen and headed for the stove.

      “Honestly, if I have to eat noodles much longer...” She filled a pan with a cup of water, turned on the fire underneath and watched it, waiting for it to boil. She glanced at the package in her hand. “At least this one is beef flavor. Maybe if I close my eyes while I eat it I can pretend it’s a burger.”

      Well, that image made her stomach growl. She slapped one hand to her belly as if to appease it somehow. It didn’t work. She was on the ragged edge and had been for a few weeks now.

      As Alex Santiago’s housekeeper, she’d had access to the household account at the bank. But she’d been using that money to pay utility bills and the hundreds of other things that had come up since Alex had disappeared. She hadn’t had any extra to waste on trivial things like her salary or food. So she’d made do with the staples that had been in the pantry and freezer. But the cupboards were practically bare now and only ice cubes were left in the freezer. And it wasn’t as if she had money coming in. Even her intern position at Royal Junior High was ending soon. She couldn’t go out and get a job, either. What if Alex called the house while she was gone?

      “Of course,” she reassured herself aloud, “the upside is you’ve lost five pounds in the past couple of weeks. Downside? I’m ready to chew on a table leg.”

      Her voice echoed in the cavernous kitchen. The room was