He smirked. “I’m used to people getting pissed at me. I’ll be back later.” He turned and walked out of the room.
A few minutes after Wilder left, someone knocked on the door. Rory opened it to see Buster standing there, and she waved him in.
“You didn’t mention hiring another man,” Buster said as he entered the house.
“It was just a spur-of-the-moment thing. I met him a while ago at the Feed Store. He mentioned he was looking for work and we could use the extra hand.” Rory shrugged.
“I can see why you’d want to hire him. I’m sure a lot of women would like him.”
“Excuse me? Buster, where do you get off even thinking something like that?” Rory snapped.
“I just figured—”
“Well, youfiguredwrong. I hired him because I wanted more men. I’m thinking of buying more dairy cows, and I’ll need the help. And why I’m telling you this, I have no idea.”
“Yes, ma’am. I apologize. It’s just that he doesn’t have any experience in this kind of work.”
“We all have to start somewhere, don’t we?”
“I suppose, but I don’t trust him, and I’m going to keep an eye on him. If he makes one wrong move or doesn’t listen to orders, he goes, or I do.” Buster turned around and headed out the door, slamming it behind him.
Rory walked to the door and peered through the blind. She frowned as she watched him stride away. Why did he have such a problem with Wilder? Was he suspicious of Wilder being here? She shook her head. There was no way Buster had anything to do with it. She was sure, but he didn’t seem to trust Wilder.
She gasped. Did Buster think Wilder was behind the rustling? Could he believe that Wilder had shown up to get closer to the cows?
As much as she wanted to reassure him that Wilder was not involved in the rustling, she knew she couldn’t. She had to trust Wilder.
****
Wilder drove to his home, stopped the truck beside the barn, then entered to get the ladder. He would put those cameras up as high as possible and hoped whoever was doing this to Rory wouldn’t see them. Being camouflaged, the cameras would be hard to see unless a person was looking for them.
He strode through the barn to the utility room and got the thirty-two-foot ladder. He’d just have to angle the cameras down to catch anything.
This case was driving him nuts. Not only because he couldn’t get anywhere, but Rory Heston was hard to ignore. He’d love to wrap her hair around his hands and kiss those lush lips.
He’d bet a month’s salary that she was a natural redhead, and he’d love to see that for himself.
“Shit. Just shut the fuck up,” he muttered as he carried the ladder to his truck.
“Wild? What are you doing here?”
Wilder turned to see Nick heading his way.
“I have to put some cameras up. I’ll bring the ladder back in a day or two.”
“No problem. I just didn’t know why you’d be here. How’s it going on the case?”
Wilder shook his head. “Not good. The men seem like they love their job there. None of them come across as rustlers.”
Nick folded his arms. “I would think most of them don’t anyway. I think you have your work cut out for you.”
“I agree. Hey, I’d better get back, so they don’t wonder where I am.”
“All right. I’ll see you later. How about heading for the diner this evening?”
“I can’t leave the bunkhouse. Sorry.”
“All right. Just let me know when.”