Page 23 of A Rancher's Vow

“He’s the worst, but going to Pincher Creek is a good idea, so I’ll do it.”

Caleb nodded. “I’ll give him a call and tell him to expect you. If you can leave right away, we’ll make sure the news gets out. If they’re not expecting it, some of the cameras will catch you going without having anyone available to trail you. We’ll deal with the rest of them once it’s clear you’re unavailable.”

He paused, his gaze trailing to the kitchen. Charity remained, quiet now as she sat on one of the stools at the island.

Dustin moved toward her. She’d been helpful today, more than she probably knew. A burst of sadness struck as he considered the time he’d miss with his friends. Yeah, leaving was the right thing to do, but Shim would arrive in a few hours, and Dustin would be gone. Charity and Fern would be doing things over the coming weeks—

“I think you should go with him.”

Caleb’s voice broke through Dustin’s thoughts. Behind them, the rest of the family was talking quietly, but Caleb now stood by Dustin’s side at the edge of the kitchen area.

“What?”

“Who?”

Dustin and Charity spoke at the same time.

Caleb pointed a finger at Charity. “Uncle Frank has been slow to share project information that we need on file at Silver Stone. It’s the perfect opportunity, really. And the perfect excuse. Dustin will go along as your ride and escort. While you update the information we need, he’ll be very polite and do the chores Uncle Frank assigns, yes?”

Dustin’s brain was still spinning. “Charity is coming to Pincher Creek?”

“If she’s okay with the idea.” Caleb paused. “I know you’ve just started working for us, but this is within your job description. What do you think? Can you go? It should take no more than a week if everything goes well.”

Charity’s jaw snapped closed from where it had been hanging in shock. She swallowed hard then nodded. “Okay. Sure.”

5

Whirlwind had always been a word that evoked crystal clear images. One passed by, and the world around was left in chaos. Grasses strewn everywhere, trees bent over, clothing tossed from a laundry line and left scattered on the ground.

The only whirlwind happening right now, though, was in Charity’s head. Which meant she was a mess, her thoughts dispersed like fallen leaves.

What had she been thinking? Other than how much it sucked that good people like the Stones were putting up with nonsense—and the next thing she knew, she had agreed to leave town for a week.

Chaos. Whirlwind.

After some brief strategizing, Walker followed her home in his truck. He waited until she was safely inside before heading back to the ranch.

Charity threw a gym bag on the bed and scrambled to pack.

She also put her phone on speaker and got a hold of Fern.

“This is top secret.” Charity grabbed jeans, shirts, runners. Stacked her clothes in piles so she could make decisions as soon as she’d updated Fern and gotten off the phone. “You’ll find out more from Ivy, I’m sure, but Dustin is leaving town to get away from the media crap.”

“I heard there was a riot out at Silver Stone. Was there really?”

“Don’t know about that, but a lot of people were not where they should be. And Dustin’s contact info got posted on social media, so—”

“Get out. Who the hell would do that?”

“Some woman he dated, according to her posts.”

Which left a sour taste in Charity’s mouth. Not because Dustin had been with someone. She knew he’d dated, although he hadn’t been with anyone in particular the entire time she’d lived in Heart Falls.

So annoying, her inner turmoil. Charity knew he’d had sex in the past.She’dhad sex in the past. Sex was an agreeable pastime to share.

Assumptions continuing, Dustin and this woman had enjoyed sex at some point. For this woman to out his contact details turned that sharing gross and not fun at all.

Fern had gone silent on the other end of the line. “He’s leaving town?”