Rancher's Covert Christmas. Beth Cornelison

She let her words tail off when Piper’s face fell, clearly distressed by the reminder of the morning’s accident.

      “I can tell Brady you want to talk with him later, if you want.” Piper tucked a wisp of her dark brown hair behind her ear.

      “Thanks,” Erin said, nodding. “I’d like to talk to everyone on the ranch at some point.” She tapped her pad with her pen and shifted her gaze to Josh. “So the zip line?”

      Zane cleared his throat. “Is it really necessary to bring that up? We’ve moved on from the trouble this spring and are ensuring every possible safety precaution is in place as we go forward.”

      She made a mental note of Zane’s reaction to reviewing the zip line sabotage. Defensive? Protective of the business or of some other secret he wants to hide?

      “That’s good,” she said. “And I do plan to focus on the future of the business primarily, but...I think it’s important for me to have a full picture of what happened, how it impacted the people involved and the business itself—such as the finances of the company—in order to put the journey forward in perspective.”

      “I’ll tell you how it impacted me,” Josh volunteered, shifting his weight and poking his thumbs in his pockets. “And I was the one closest to the incident.”

      Zane pulled a face as he shot his brother a look that said he wasn’t happy with Josh’s willingness to discuss the recent trouble.

      But why? What was it about the past vandalism the family experienced that had Zane’s guard up? Was he just wary in the same way Michael was being cautious by asking her not to reveal her true purpose to anyone?

      For his part, Josh returned an even look and said, “Chill, man. It’s all good.” Facing Erin, he flashed a cocky smile. “The woman on the zip line when it fell is not only safe and sound, she is preparing for our wedding in three weeks.”

      Josh’s happiness glowed from his eyes as brightly as his smile.

      “Mazel tov! Congrats!” Erin already heard about the upcoming nuptials for Josh and his intended from Michael, but seeing the groom’s joy warmed her inside. Her heart also gave a slow drub of envy. Would she ever find someone who filled her with that from-the-soul glow of happiness?

      “Yeah, as much as I like Kate, I have to wonder about her sanity, hooking her wagon to this doofus,” Piper said with a teasing smile and pure affection for her brother in the wink she gave Josh.

      “I still say it’s Stockholm syndrome. Josh had to have brainwashed her while they were alone those two days,” Zane added, lacing his fingers behind his head and leaning back in his deck chair.

      “Hardy har har,” Josh returned wryly as he moved to the saddle Zane had set up on the sawhorse. While his siblings chuckled under their breaths, he swung his leg over the saddle and sat astride it, arms crossed over his chest, his expression as content and smug as a cat with a canary and a bowl of milk.

      “I just oiled that,” Zane said.

      “You did?” Josh asked, frowning as he stood and checked his clothes for stains.

      Zane snorted dryly. “Made you look.”

      Josh gave his brother’s shoulder a shove before he resettled on the saddle.

      “Boys,” Piper said, rolling her eyes, “you’re wasting the nice lady’s time.”

      Erin wanted to say that the interplay between family members and the ranch employees was exactly what she wanted to observe. She needed to get a sense of hidden tensions, jealousies or competition that could shape her investigation.

      She honed in on an element of Zane’s jab at Josh. “You were alone with your fiancée for two days after the accident at the zip line?”

      Josh nodded. “That’s right. Two crazy, drama-filled, brush-with-death days.” He curled up a corner of his mouth again, and his eyes—the same shade of startling blue as Zane’s—twinkled. “It was great,” he said without irony.

      Erin was busy comparing how bright and full of life Josh’s countenance looked compared to Zane’s harsher, more serious expression, and she almost missed the seemingly contradictory postscript.

      “Great?”

      “Well, maybe not at the time. But in hindsight, I wouldn’t change any of it. Except the parts where Kate was in danger.” He inhaled deeply, his nostrils flaring and his brow creasing. “That part still gives me nightmares.”

      “Understandable.” She paused, taking mental note of how each of the McCall triplets reacted to the mention of the danger Josh and Kate had experienced.

      Piper watched her brother with a knitted brow and a tighter grip on the arm of her chair. Concern.

      Zane gave his brother a look of disgust...or was it anger? She focused on him. “Zane, Josh’s experience seems to irritate you. Why?”

      He jerked his gaze to her, clearly startled by her question. “What?”

      “He’s still ticked off because I didn’t do what he wanted,” Josh said.

      With a peevish side glance to his brother, Zane sat forward in his chair, propping his arms on the desk as he narrowed his eyes on Erin. “My brother has no one to blame for what happened after the zip line fell but himself.”

      Josh groaned and shook his head.

      “He took unnecessary risks, like he often does,” Zane continued, ignoring Josh’s noises of disagreement, “and put Kate in danger.”

      “With a guarantee of the same end result, I’d do exactly the same again, too.”

      Josh and Zane exchanged hard stares, as if challenging the other to be the first to blink.

      Erin was following the tense standoff when she felt a hand on her arm. She turned to Piper, whose mouth was twisted in a lopsided moue. “That smell you smell,” she said, waving her hand as if stirring a scent in the air, “is testosterone and the reek of McCall stubbornness.” With a quick glance at her brothers, she added, “They actually do love each other. They’re best friends. Two peas in a pod.” She cleared her throat. “Right, guys?”

      After a beat, Josh cut a side glance to Erin and cracked a grin. “It’s true. Zane and I are like this.” He held up crossed fingers. “But lately my twin has been in a perpetual bad mood.”

      Zane made a rumbling noise in his throat and firmed his mouth as he broke his stare at his brother. “If you hadn’t noticed, our family’s legacy is about to go down the toilet. We’re under attack from some unknown vandal, and our planned adventure business nearly got someone killed. We’ll be lucky if we can find the cash to make repairs and reopen in the spring. I’d say I’ve got good reason to be in a bad mood.”

      “Fa-la-la-la-la. La-la. La-la!” Josh sang, mocking his brother.

      “It’s not a joke!” Zane groused. Then, as if remembering Erin was watching them, he jerked his gaze to hers and schooled his expression.

       Interesting...

      Erin took mental notes, not wanting the siblings to know their interaction was of key interest to her. She wanted them to be as natural as possible, not stifling reactions to put on a good face.

      “This pessimistic version of you is getting old, Zane.” Piper tipped her head as she considered her brother. “We may have troubles, but we have plenty to be thankful for, too. Lots to be happy about. My reunion with Brady and Connor. Josh’s wedding plans. Roy’s sobriety. A roof over our heads. Christmas...”

      “Yeah, yeah,” Zane said, shrugging a shoulder. “I just get the feeling sometimes that I’m the only one with my eye on the ball. We do have a business to run and financial issues to deal with. Not to mention this other unknown threat looming over us.” He sat taller in his chair and squared