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Gentle Kiss of Death — Ann Barron
It was a feeling close to fear that Todd Carruth, grown up now, and in love with a man from New York, returned to her Uncle's Square C. Ranch in Texas, where she had spent two unforgettable summers as a young girl. Her uncle was dead, killed by his horse's plunge into Tornillo Gorge, and he had left the ranch to Todd, provided she make it her home. There was one alternative; she could inherit $50,000 if she stayed at the Square C for just six months.
Perhaps it was chance that brought Revelry Bryant to Socorro Canyon at the very moment Todd reached there, when the usually small Valderde River was staging one of its periodic rampages. But chance or not, he was there, to rescue her when her car was washed away. It was only after fighting a contest of wills in this gray-eyed stranger's arms that she was able to persuade him to take her not to his Rocking B ranch, but to the Square C.
And so Todd arrived--to be greeted by a roomful of neighboring ranchers behind whose words of welcome lay a definite restraint, even hostility. It was the surly foreman, the huge Grady Cummings, who gave the reason. He considered Fist Carruth's death no accident--and all of them suspected Revelry Bryant.
But there were other questions still unanswered: Why was Kate Peers, the motherly housekeeper, so distant now? Where was Stuart Forbes, Fist's trusted foreman for fifteen years. And who was the dark and beautiful Rose, supposedly Kate's assistant, but who acted like no servant Todd had ever seen?
Perhaps it was chance that brought Revelry Bryant to Socorro Canyon at the very moment Todd reached there, when the usually small Valderde River was staging one of its periodic rampages. But chance or not, he was there, to rescue her when her car was washed away. It was only after fighting a contest of wills in this gray-eyed stranger's arms that she was able to persuade him to take her not to his Rocking B ranch, but to the Square C.
And so Todd arrived--to be greeted by a roomful of neighboring ranchers behind whose words of welcome lay a definite restraint, even hostility. It was the surly foreman, the huge Grady Cummings, who gave the reason. He considered Fist Carruth's death no accident--and all of them suspected Revelry Bryant.
But there were other questions still unanswered: Why was Kate Peers, the motherly housekeeper, so distant now? Where was Stuart Forbes, Fist's trusted foreman for fifteen years. And who was the dark and beautiful Rose, supposedly Kate's assistant, but who acted like no servant Todd had ever seen?