Rich, Rugged Ranchers. Kathie DeNosky

speech was short but filled with gratitude for her outstanding service, especially during these past few trying months after his father’s death. He managed to get a few laughs with anecdotes about Ruth’s first days on the job and he wished her well in her retirement.

      When the speech was over, Ruth was summoned up to say a few words. Her heartfelt goodbye and vow to get even with Logan for conning her with this surprise party brought some misty-eyed laughter from the gathering.

      After dinner, dessert and coffee were served, the music mellowed out and one by one the guests began taking their leave. Sophia walked many of them outside. Logan didn’t miss the way she stood on his doorstep with a proprietary hand on the door as she thanked the guests for coming and wished them a safe drive home. She said all the right things. She was the perfect hostess.

      Logan was just about to pay her the compliment when his phone buzzed. It was late and he didn’t want to take any calls tonight but when the caller ID popped up on the screen, Logan immediately answered the call from his youngest brother.

      “Hey, Justin. How’re the marines treating you these days?”

      Logan walked into his office to speak with his brother about when he was coming home. His brother loved the military, but Logan sensed a longing for Sunset Ranch in him lately. Twenty minutes later, when he strode to the backyard, he found all the guests gone. The housekeeping staff was folding up the tablecloths, breaking down the tables and stacking the chairs. They were an efficient machine that didn’t need any help from him, so he pivoted and went in search of Sophia.

      “Where is Ms, Montrose?” he asked one of the waiters in the kitchen.

      “She left with Mrs. Polanski ten minutes ago,” he said. “She said to tell you good-night.”

      Logan waited until the last of his staff had cleaned up and taken off before he plopped down on the sofa, letting go a weary sigh. He knew how to pick good horseflesh. He knew what stallions would produce the best offspring. He knew how to keep his farm running smoothly and in the black, but what he knew about throwing a surprise party would fit in a shot glass with room to spare.

      Ruth had been pleased and had thanked him half a dozen times. Her service had been recognized. His father would have been proud of how it all went down.

      His father.

      Logan had idolized him. Growing up as the eldest son, he’d wanted to be just like Randall Slade one day: fair, decent, honest, hardworking. He’d thought the sun rose and set on that man’s shoulders. Until one day, his faith in his father had been destroyed.

      It was past midnight on a school night when Logan woke from a bad dream. Sweat beaded on his forehead and his body trembled as his eyes opened to the darkness of his bedroom. Too keyed up to sleep, Logan rose and knew what would calm him. Logan had gotten only a glimpse of him when he’d first arrived today. Champion, the purebred Arabian stallion.

      Logan tiptoed out of the house to keep from waking his parents. His father would not approve of an unsupervised visit to a horse new to the farm. Stallions were known for erratic behavior, especially in new environments. So Logan was careful not to make a peep as he walked toward the barn and the special stall designated for Champion.

      He’d gotten ten feet into the huge barn when he’d heard whispers in the dark.

      How he’d wished he’d turned around and run home.

      But instead, he’d hidden outside of the tack room and listened.

       “I need you in my life, Louisa. You’re the only woman I’ve ever loved.”

      It was his father’s voice.

      Panicked now, Logan couldn’t move. Curiosity and disbelief kept him glued in place.

      His father was talking to Louisa Montrose, the manager of Sunset Lodge.

      “I love you, too, mi amor,” Lousia whispered. “I want you with me always.”

      Logan’s ears burned as he heard their soft sighs and passionate moans. It wasn’t so dark that Logan couldn’t peer through the slits in the wood and see his father sprawled over Louisa on the tack room cot, kissing her, making little sounds of pleasure whisper from her lips.

       “You know why I married her, Louisa. It was a merger of our families’ land,” he said. “And she was pregnant with Logan.”

       “It doesn’t matter,” Louisa said on a breath. “It doesn’t matter.”

      Logan snapped his eyes opened. Reliving that memory never brought him any peace. Why would it? That night, Logan had been shocked and felt a keen overwhelming sense of loss. Everything he’d believed about his life was a lie. His father had been a scoundrel. He’d married for business reasons. He’d married because he’d gotten a woman pregnant. With that notion came great heartache. Logan’s birth had been an accident. They hadn’t wanted him. But even more than that, the man Logan had come to love, admire and idolize wasn’t who he thought him to be.

      Logan had caught his father in the act of adultery fifty yards from where his mother slept.

      Not a pretty sight for a boy on the threshold of manhood.

      That memory put him on edge. Why in hell did Ward have to mention his father tonight? Logan rose from his seat and roamed aimlessly around the house. His restlessness unnerved him as the images of his father and Louisa Montrose played over and over in his mind.

      He spotted Sophia’s black-sequined wrap lying across the entryway table. She’d left the party without it. On impulse, he picked it up and brought it to his nose, taking in the exotic scent that was uniquely hers. Logan closed his eyes for a moment, savoring the fragrance. Then, without hesitation and with her wrap clutched in his hand, he strode out the front door.

      Tonight, not even Logan’s sharpest sense of warning could stop him from seeking Sophia out.

      Sophia parked her car in the driveway and breathed a big sigh of relief. She was finally home. She’d had a long, tiring day and she was glad it was over. The party had gone as planned. Ruth’s husband had driven the grandkids home and Sophia had offered to drop Ruth back off at her house. On the way, Ruth had gushed again at how much she’d appreciated the party and how grateful she was to Sophia for all the work she’d put into it.

      Sophia appreciated being appreciated and she was also glad to have made a dear friend in Ruth. After this weekend, Sophia would be managing Sunset Lodge by herself. Luckily, as her friend had reminded her, Ruth was only a phone call away if she needed advice.

      With her body dragging, Sophia exited her car. She was ready for a hot shower and a good night’s sleep. She’d earned it this week.

      Stepping from the pavement onto the flowery path toward her front door, she heard a noise. Footsteps crunching on spring leaves. She whipped around. Knotted in fear, she focused her attention on the source of the sound. It was coming from behind a row of pink azalea bushes on the side of the cottage. Straining her eyes to see beyond the porch lamp’s circle of light, she couldn’t make out anything in the dark. Her heart beat wildly. Crazy thoughts entered her head. She imagined someone darting out from the bushes to attack her. A madman was after her. He’d followed her from Las Vegas. He knew her every move.

      Sophia couldn’t get inside the house fast enough. She fumbled with the key. It fell from her shaky hands and pinged onto the brick porch. “Oh, no.”

      She scrambled to pick it up and out of the corner of her eye she saw another movement, a tall shadow that crossed into the lamplit path from the opposite direction of the azalea bushes. Fear immobilized her as she struggled to make sense of it. Fleeting questions rushed through her mind. Were they coming at her from two different directions? Steeling her nerves, she vowed she wouldn’t be a helpless victim. She whirled around, ready to take a swing, ready to defend herself, ready to scream. She opened her mouth, her arm raised for a fight.

      “Sophia?”