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live with them in silence. Sometimes the pain breaks free and becomes visible. It should not embarrass you to realize that you are human.”
    She looked up at him with red eyes. She nodded.
    He smiled and glanced at his watch. “I have to get the men started. Breakfast was very nice. Your biscuits are better than Consuelo’s, but don’t tell her.”
    She managed a watery smile. “I won’t.”
    He started out the door.
    “Señor Ramirez,” she called.
    He turned, his eyebrows arched.
    “Thank you,” she managed.
    “You’re welcome.”
    She watched him go, twisting inside with unfamiliar emotions. She couldn’t remember any man, except for Jason, holding her like that in her adult life. It had been wonderful. Now she had to put it right out of her mind. She didn’t want anyone close to her emotionally. Not even Rodrigo.
     
    T HE NEXT WEEK, SHE was surprised to find a police car in the front yard. She went to the front porch and paused as the town’s police chief, Cash Grier, bounded up the steps.
    She hadn’t seen him before, and she was surprised by the long ponytail he wore. She’d heard that he was unconventional, and there were some interesting rumors about his past that were spoken in whispers. Even up in San Antonio, he was something of a legend in law enforcement circles.
    “You’re Chief Grier,” she said as he approached her.
    He grinned. “What gave me away?” he asked.
    “The badge that says ‘Police Chief,’” she replied, tongue-in-cheek. “What can I do for you?”
    He chuckled. “I came to see Rodrigo. Is he around?”
    “He was,” she replied. “But he hasn’t come in for lunch, or called.” She turned and opened the screen door, leaning heavily on the cane. “Consuelo, do you know where Mr. Ramirez is?”
    “He said he was going to the hardware store to pick up the extra buckets he ordered,” she called.
    Glory turned back to the chief, and found him eyeing her cane. She became defensive. “Something bothering you?” she asked pertly.
    “Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to stare. You’re young to be walking with a cane.”
    She nodded, her green eyes meeting his dark ones. “I’ve been using it for a long time.”
    He cocked his head, and he wasn’t smiling. “Your mother was Beverly Barnes, wasn’t she?” he asked coldly.
    She drew in her breath.
    “Marquez’s mother runs the local eatery,” he replied. “I know about you from her. She and Rick don’t have any secrets.”
    “Nobody is supposed to know why I’m here,” she began worriedly.
    He held up a hand. “I haven’t said anything, and I won’t. I gather you include Rodrigo in those people who aren’t supposed to know why you’re here?”
    “Yes,” she said quickly. “Especially Rodrigo.”
    He nodded. “I’ll watch your back,” he told her. “But it would be wise to have Rodrigo in on it.”
    She couldn’t imagine why. The manager of a truck farm wouldn’t know what to do against a drug lord. “The fewer people who know, the better,” she told him. “Fuentes would love to hang me out to dry before the trial. I know too much.”
    “Marquez told me. He said he had to fight you to get you to come down here in the first place. The thing is, Fuentes probably has confederates that we don’t know about.”
    “Here?” she asked.
    “Very likely. I have a few contacts on the wrong side of the law. Word is that he’s hiring teenagers for his more potent areas of vengeance. They go to juvenile hall, you see, not prison. I understand that he’s recruiting in a Houston gang—Los Serpientes. If you see any suspicious activity here, or any new young faces hiring on, I want to know about it. Night or day. Especially if you feel threatened at all. I don’t care if it’s after midnight, either.”
    “That’s generous of you,” she said, and she smiled.
    “Not really,” he sighed. “Tris, our baby girl, keeps us awake all hours just lately. She’s teething, so you probably wouldn’t