The Cowboy's Bonus Baby & The Bull Rider's Twins by Tina Leonard

Author:Tina Leonard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Two

Rafe, Sam and Jonas went to the kitchen to find Fiona. As a rule, she or Burke could be found there, or nearby, at least. It was nearly the dinner hour, a very odd time for Judah to decide to depart, which just showed that even an empty stomach hadn’t deterred his boneheadedness.

The kitchen was empty. The scents of wondrous culinary delights (Fiona could cook like no other, and Burke was no slouch in their shared gastronomic hobby) were absent. Rafe felt his stomach rumble and figured this might be an unannounced catch-as-catch-can night. They had those at Rancho Diablo, though rarely. Usually on the nights their fearless aunt had bingo or her book reading club or a church group, she cut them loose. But at least a pie would be left on the kitchen counter, with a note on the Today’s Meal chalkboard that read something to the effect of “Tough Luck! You’re Stuck!”

Tonight, all that was on the counter was a single bar of something silver. Rafe, Jonas and Sam crowded around it, perplexed.

“That’s not cherry pie,” Sam said.

“It’s mined silver,” Jonas said. “Mined and pressed into a bar. See the .925 on it?”

Rafe blinked. “Why would Fiona leave us a bar of silver?”

“All those years people have whispered about there being a silver mine on our land suddenly comes to mind,” Sam said, his voice hushed.

Rafe’s gaze went back to the bar. “We’ve been over every inch of Rancho Diablo. There’s no way.”

“I don’t know,” Jonas said. “Why else would Aunt Fiona have a silver bar?”

“Because she’s putting it in her stock portfolio,” Sam said. “She bought some through a television advertisement, or a jeweler, to diversify her nest egg. It’s not sound to leave all one’s investments in the stock market or the national currency. She’s just taken physical possession of some of her holdings, I would guess.”

“But what if it’s not part of her nest egg?” Rafe asked. “What if there really is a silver mine on Rancho Diablo? That would explain why Bode Jenkins is so hot to get this place.”

They heard Burke whistling upstairs, and the chirping sound of Fiona’s voice.

“Quick,” Jonas said. “Outside.”

They hustled out like furtive thieves. Rafe closed the door carefully behind him. His brothers had already skedaddled down the white graveled drive toward the barns.

Rafe hurried after them. “Why don’t we ask her what it is? What if there is silver on the ranch? What if Bode is sniffing around for it?”

“Then she probably wouldn’t have left proof of its existence lying out on the kitchen counter,” Sam said. “By now, Bode’s had this place satellite mapped, I’m sure. He’s had the geographic and mineral composition of the land gone over. If there was silver around here, he would know before we would.”

“All I’m suggesting,” Rafe said, “is that maybe it’s time we quit being so worried about offending Fiona. That we just ask her.”

His brothers stopped, gave him a long eyeballing. Rafe shrugged. “I mean, what the hell?” he asked.

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