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in confusion, Flint sighed. “My way of keeping up a much needed cash flow for El Diablo. I hit the big ticket rodeos and do my damnedest to win at least one big ticket event. El Diablo is a cattle business, and is primarily self-supporting, but every now and then somethin' breaks, or needs to be replaced. So unless I end up gettin' an arm or a leg broken, it’s easy money.”
     
    Lily stared at him before she found the words to ask, “So that’s why you are all bruised up? Isn’t there some less dangerous way to make money?”
    “I heal fast. These bruises will be history by tomorrow. Something to do with a great metabolism.”
    “Well, tell me your secret. Mine always take weeks to go away…” she muttered softly, her eyes lowering to her wrists where Jake’s fingerprints wrapped around her skin in purple and blue splendor. Her hand absently rubbed her bruised ribs as she relived the most recent beating he’d given her.
    She couldn’t go back there…not ever. If these people were forced to return her to her step-father, she would get away somehow and never stop running.
    She had made a dangerous gamble, going off with two strange men to a place she’d never heard of, but she felt safer with them than she’d felt since her dad died. Pretty pathetic, to trust total strangers who walked around buck naked. A while back, that would have sent her running for cover. But for some reason, it didn’t bother her. Much. Except that it gave her a funny twist in her belly. At least when Flint had stood up from his bed.
    Um…stop thinking about that, Lily!
     
    Anger trickled through his body as she bent her head and hid her expression from him. She’d just as much admitted that this kind of thing happened routinely for her. Too bad her step-father was safely at home. It would be his pleasure to plant a whole lot of bruises all over the bastard.
    He was pulled out of his thoughts when the main ranch house came into view as they topped a rolling hill. The sight of the big charcoal and white clapboard house always made his chest tight. It stood two stories high amidst a well-tended stand of red oaks that had stood on the property for over two hundred years. The original small grove had spread outward by root lines until the grove had grown too thick, and after his great grandfather had cut down a number of the old trees for the construction of the house and barns, they’d begun to harvest newer growth for the sawmill. El Diablo red oak was much in demand by artisans and furniture manufacturers that specialized in beautiful oak pieces and carved doors.
    He glanced down to see Lily’s reaction to his home, and smiled as her eyes widened and her posture straightened to get a better look. “Oh my God…this is beautiful! You live here?” Her cat’s eyes lifted to his face, and he felt something under his breastbone catch. “I really get to work in a place like this? Please tell me I’m not dreaming?”
    “We’ll keep you jumpin' with work, Lily. The place needs a lot of TLC, and Dora isn’t as young as she used to be. I’m sure you’ll get mighty tired of workin' here.”
    “Don’t bet on that…” she murmured as her eyes returned to the beautiful old house.
     
    She had never been in such a wonderful place, surrounded by ancient, gnarled oaks and a velvet lawn. As the big truck passed down a narrow lane with white-painted wooden fencing on each side, she thrilled to the sight of an orchard where apple trees flourished. On the other side, there was an old grove of peach trees. “Wow…you grow your own fruit…does Dora keep a kitchen garden, too?”
    “She does. Her husband Fred retired a couple of years back, and he does most of the gardening and pruning. Like I said, El Diablo is pretty much self-sustaining, except for the occasional breakdown or the need to replace equipment.” Flint’s voice sounded rightfully proud as she stared greedily at everything around her. “Once you’re settled in, I’ll