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herd.”
    “You can’t wait to get your hands on Uncle Carl’s money, can you?” Belser asked.
    “It’s his money,” Anne said. “Or have you forgotten Uncle Carl left the ranch to him?”
    “How the hell could I forget anything like that!” Belser shouted. “It was supposed to be mine. He promised.”
    “He only said you could have it if Peter didn’t want it. I heard him say over and over again that he wanted it to go to his blood kin, even if he didn’t think Peter deserved it.”
    “It should have been mine!” Belser shouted. “I worked for it. I deserve it.”
    “You’re not kin.”
    “I’m his nephew.”
    “Great-nephew,” Anne corrected, “on his wife’s side. You’re not blood kin. I heard him say that many times.”
    “He paid you a better wage than the others,” Eddie said, “and he let you live in this house. You can’t think you’ve been treated badly.”
    “I’ve been cheated!” Belser bellowed, his face purple with rage. “But I’ll have this ranch yet.” He pointed an accusing finger at Pete. “You wait and see if I don’t. And when I do, I’ll hang you from the nearest tree.”
    “I don’t know what’s gotten into him,” Eddie said as Belser stormed out of the room. “He’s always had a temper, but he’s never acted like this.”
    “It’s because he was so close to getting the ranch and then it was snatched away from him,” Anne said.
    Eddie shrugged his shoulders, seeming to dismiss the problem. “We’d better get to those books,” he said. “If you want to check the herd, we’re going to have to get started early in the morning.”
    “What do you think of him?” Dolores asked Anne. “From all the things I heard Carl say, I was expecting him to stumble over his own feet and keep well back from any horse or mule.”
    “He’s very handsome,” Anne said. “And he’s grown very tall.”
    Though Dolores Moreno was unmarried and eleven years older than Anne, they had formed a close friendship years ago, sharing confidences as a matter of course.
    “I wasn’t talking about his size and appearance, though that’s a pleasant surprise as well. It’s not every orphaned gal who finds herself suddenly married to a rich man who’s handsome to boot.”
    “I didn’t marry him because he would be rich,” Anne said.
    “Everybody knows you’ve adored him for years. Folks also know you were desperate to escape your uncle’s plans to sell you to the highest bidder. Still, you’ve got to admit things look like they’re turning out remarkably well.”
    Anne couldn’t deny that. From the moment she’d looked up to see Peter looking magnificent and twice as big as life, things had gone way beyond anything she’d ever hoped for. She’d never imagined Peter being able to stand up to her uncle or taking over the ranch as though it was the most natural thing in the world. Belser’s repeated insistence that he was an imposter didn’t bother Peter in the slightest. Peter was perfect, everything a girl could dream of in a husband.
    And that was the problem.
    The Peter she’d known all those years ago wasn’t perfect. He was nice and sweet and kind, and he never said any of the terrible things his brother and other people said. He comforted her when she cried, but he didn’t rescue her from danger.
    He’d been only fourteen at the time, but his character seemed to have been formed. At least everyone else seemed to think so. Uncle Carl had been relieved when Peter and his father went back East. Gary had remained at the ranch. But when Gary was killed and Peter was the only heir, things changed. Uncle Carl’s determination to leave his ranch to his only blood kin never wavered, but he complained constantly that it would be Peter.
    Whenever he was out of temper, he’ll say, “He’l lose everything I’ve spent my whole life trying to build up.” Anne had always defended Peter, but she couldn’t help fearing Uncle Carl might be right.
    But the man who’d