The Lone Star Cinderella. Maureen Child

husband, Bill, is a ranch hand on the Battlelands.”

      “Uh-huh.” She still didn’t see what this had to do with her or Dave Firestone or why she might be interested. And now she was hungry enough that she was even anxious for her beef-flavored noodle lunch.

      “So Bill called Carrie to tell her he’d be home early today because he and Nathan had finished work faster than they’d thought despite an interruption.”

      “Okay...” Mia had to smile. She still had no idea why this should interest her, but Sophie’s voice had taken on that storytelling tone, so she didn’t stop her.

      “Bill told Carrie that Dave Firestone had shown up to talk to Nathan.”

      Mia stiffened. Dave had been one of the last people to see her employer before he disappeared. She’d heard the talk around town. She knew that people were wondering if Dave had had something to do with Alex going missing. But she also knew that gossip was the fuel that kept small towns going, so she didn’t really put a lot of stock in it.

      Still, though, Dave Firestone was wealthy, determined and too gorgeous to be trusted. Plus, she and Sophie had decided to check the man out.

      “What was he talking to Nathan about?”

      “Apparently, he went there to find out if he was a suspect in Alex’s disappearance.”

      Mia sucked in a gulp of air. “He did?”

      “Yep,” Sophie said, then added, “but Bill says Nathan assured Dave that he was officially not a suspect.”

      Disappointment curled in the pit of her stomach. Not that she wished Dave Firestone arrested or anything, but she wanted answers. Soon.

      “It’s not surprising,” Mia said, chewing at her bottom lip. “Dave Firestone is an important man around here. There would have to be serious evidence against him for Nathan to keep him as a suspect.”

      “I know.” Sophie sounded as dejected as Mia felt.

      “Tell the truth, Soph,” Mia said. “Do you really think Dave is involved in Alex’s disappearance?”

      “Probably not.” Her friend sighed.

      “Me, either,” Mia agreed.

      “But he’s the only link we have, Mia. I think we should stick to our plan and you should find out anything you can about him. Even if Dave is innocent, he might still know something that he doesn’t even know he knows, you know?”

      Mia laughed a little. “Sadly, I understood that completely.”

      Sophie added, “And according to what Bill told Carrie, Nathan admitted that he doesn’t have a clue what happened to Alex.”

      Her heart sank a little further at that news. Of course, she’d thought as much. Nathan Battle had been working this case for months and he’d kept her apprised of his lack of progress. The sheriff and Alex were good friends, so Mia knew that Nathan was just as much personally involved in the search as he was professionally.

      And none of that had helped them find Alex.

      In the time Mia had worked for Alex Santiago, she’d known him to be warm, generous and kind. But he also had secrets. No one was allowed in his home office, for example. He had only allowed Mia in to clean once a month and then only if he was present. And when she and Sophie had started comparing notes, Sophie had told her about the secret phone calls Alex had been getting.

      Since Alex had been gone, Mia had searched his home office top to bottom and Sophie had gone through his emails and phone records, but they hadn’t discovered a thing.

      Which told her that either Alex had taken whatever he’d been safeguarding with him—or whoever had taken Alex had also gone through that office and taken what they’d found.

      There was that now familiar twist of worry inside. Where was Alex? Was he hurt? Was he...

      “He’ll show up,” Mia said, cutting short a disturbing train of thought. “There’s a reasonable explanation for all of this and when Alex comes back, it will all make sense.”

      “You really believe that, don’t you?”

      “Absolutely.” Almost, she added silently. But Mia had spent so much of her life searching for the silver lining in dark skies that it was instinctive now. She wouldn’t give up on Alex and, until he was home, she would do whatever she could to help find him.

      Even if it meant eating enough flavored noodles to sink a battleship.

      “Oops,” Sophie said suddenly, “Zach’s at the door. He’s taking me to lunch at the diner. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

      Mia said goodbye, wishing she were at the diner right now, too. What she wouldn’t give for a hamburger, fries and a shake. Sighing, she let the wish go and dumped her noodles into a bowl. Grabbing a fork, she took a bite and tried to swallow her disappointment along with the noodles.

      A knock sounded at the front door and Mia took it as a reprieve from her boring lunch. She set the bowl down on the counter and headed through the house. Whoever it was knocked again, faster and louder this time, and she frowned. Did another reporter get past the gate?

      At the doorway, she glanced through the glass panes on one side of the heavy door and gaped at the man standing on the porch. Before she could think about it, she yanked the door open and faced Dave Firestone.

      He wore black jeans, a dark red collared shirt, a battered brown bomber jacket and scarred boots. He held his hat in one fist, and his dark blond hair ruffled in the wind. His gray eyes locked onto her and Mia felt a jolt of something unexpected sizzle inside her.

      “Mia,” he said, his voice deep enough to rumble along her spine, “I think we should talk.”

      Two

      “What’re you doing here?”

      Dave took a good long look at the woman standing there glaring at him. Her long, dark brown hair was, as usual, pulled back from her face and twisted into a messy knot at the back of her neck. She wore faded blue jeans and a long-sleeved, navy blue T-shirt. Her feet were bare and he was surprised to see her toes were painted fire-engine red. Mia Hughes had never seemed like the red nail polish type to him. She was more of a pastel woman, seemingly determined to fade into the background. Or so he’d thought.

      Something inside him stirred whether he’d wanted it to or not. He lifted his gaze to hers and the strength of her even stare punched out at him. Her wide blue eyes were unenhanced, yet they still seemed to captivate him.

      He didn’t want to be captivated.

      “I think we should talk. About Alex.”

      “How did you get in here? The gate guard should have called me.”

      “I asked him not to.” He shrugged. “He knows me, so it wasn’t a problem.”

      “Well, it should have been. He never should have let you in here without contacting me.” She folded her arms across her chest.

      Dave scowled. He wasn’t used to being kept cooling his heels outside. But Mia Hughes was guarding Alex Santiago’s front door like a trained pit bull. “I think it’d be better if we went inside to talk.”

      “First, tell me what this is about.” She cocked her head and the toes of one foot began to tap impatiently.

      “I’m not your enemy.” He took a step closer and noticed that she didn’t move back but held her ground. He could admire that even as she frustrated him.

      He’d come here to compare notes. To see if she knew anything that might shed a light on Alex’s disappearance. But damned if he was going to have this conversation on the porch.

      “No,” she conceded. “You’re not.” Her stance relaxed just a fraction. “And I