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finished speaking to Arlo, he swung around and fixed Riker with a cold stare. “This is my land, Riker. I won’t tolerate the abuse you sling around. Pack up your gear. I’m calling your supervisor.”
    “What’s the matter, Barron? The truth hit too close to home?”
    “The only thing that is going to be hit is you, unless you get out of here.”
    Frank’s expression hardened.
    “Go ahead. Go for it.” Jess spoke low, his voice sounding like velvet over a steel blade.
    Autumn held her breath, praying Frank would turn around and leave. The air fairly crackled. Even the mules had stilled, sensing the tension.
    For endless seconds, silence reigned. Muscles bunched beneath Jess’s skin as he clenched his fists. Arlo didn’t move. A foul curse echoed as Frank spun and stomped up the trail, and Jess shrugged out of sight.

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    CHAPTER 3
     
    The minute Frank Riker disappeared, everyone’s attention reverted back to Autumn. She stared at her uncle and distant cousins, wanting to say something but not knowing what. Riker hated Arlo, Arlo hated her. Who did she hate? The circle had to break somewhere.
    Suddenly the heat and tension hit her. Her stomach churned into a small wave of nausea. Autumn headed toward the ruins. She had to get away.
    Arlo and Jess didn’t try to stop her. Not that she expected them to. The men spoke in low guttural tones of Navajo as she walked away.
    Just as she was about to cross the wash, Jess caught up with her. Inwardly, she groaned. Surely he wasn’t going to add insult to injury.
    “I’m sorry about that.” He fell in step beside her.
    Surprised, Autumn looked up, unable to stop the automatic curl of attraction forming.
    “Don’t pay attention to Riker. Not everyone thinks like he does.” Jess lifted his hat and brushed back his hair.
    “Arlo is filled with as much hate as Riker.”
    “I was reminding Arlo of an old Navajo saying. It’s comparable to ‘You reap what you sow.’”
    She thought about that for a minute. “Arlo grew up here and is tied to the reservation, where he can practice old ways.” She shrugged and tried not to notice how his shirt stretched across taught muscle. “What I don’t understand is what Riker is doing working in northern Arizona with an attitude like that.”
    “Because Davidson’s project is federally funded, we’re stuck with Riker, even though we’re on private property.”
    “I know,” Autumn sighed and shifted her glance away from the handsome rancher. “The Environmental Protection Act. Still, Riker should transfer.”
    “And go where? He’s a racist. There isn’t anywhere in the country where there aren’t groups of people for him to hate.”
    “You’re right. And it isn’t just a problem in the U.S. You’d be surprised how many men and women with attitudes like that are out there in this world,” Autumn said as she stepped between several red boulders.
    Jess had to drop behind her, but it didn’t stop him from keeping up. “I know his supervisor. Sam’s been trying to get rid of Riker for years, so don’t think he represents the view of the Bureau of Land Management.”
    “Don’t worry. I’ve seen enough of it to know it’s a universal cancer that hits every group of people.”
    It was on escapades among the people of the foreign countries she’d lived in that she learned there were often those who judged her by her nationality, rather than by who she was. She’d learned at a young age that many people hated her merely because she was American. It had been a difficult lesson to accept.
    Her family had been there to protect and shield her. A smile crept across Autumn’s features as she remembered the times she’d crawled into her father’s lap and been comforted. He would tell her stories to make her laugh. Most of all, she remembered the warmth and safe feeling when his strong arms wrapped around her.
    There were no words of comfort now. Perhaps what she missed the most was simply a touch. If Donny or Michael