Under Threat

that she rented.
But she still spent a lot of time on the ranch because that’s where her heart was—her family, her horses and her love for the land. She hadn’t even gone far away to college—just forty miles to Montana State University in Bozeman. She couldn’t be far from Cardwell Ranch and couldn’t imagine that she ever would. She was her mother’s daughter, she thought. Cardwell Ranch was her legacy.
Dana Cardwell had fought for this ranch years ago when her brothers and sister had wanted to sell it and split the money after their mother died. Dana couldn’t bear to part with the family ranch. Fortunately, her grandmother, Mary Cardwell, had left Dana the ranch in her last will, knowing Dana would keep the place in the family always.
Ranching had been in her grandmother’s blood, the woman Mary had been named after. Just as it was in Dana’s and now Mary’s. Chase hadn’t understood why she couldn’t walk away from this legacy that the women in her family had fought so hard for.
But while her mother was a hands-on ranch woman, Mary liked working behind the scenes. She’d taken over the accounting part of running the ranch so her mother could enjoy what she loved—being on the back of a horse.
“What is wrong with Dillon Ramsey?” Dana Cardwell Savage had asked her husband after Mary had told them that the deputy had asked her out.
“He’s new and, if you must know, there’s something troublesome about him that I haven’t been able to put my finger on yet,” Hud had said.
Mary had laughed. She knew exactly what bothered her father about Dillon—the same thing that attracted her to the young cocky deputy. If she couldn’t have Chase, then why not take a walk on the wild side for once?
She had just finished unsaddling her horse and was headed for the main house when her cell phone rang, startling her. Her pulse jumped. She dug the phone out and looked at the screen, her heart in her throat. It was a long-distance number and not one she recognized. Chase?
Sure took him long enough to finally call, she thought, and instantly found herself making excuses for him. Maybe he was working away from cell phone coverage. It happened all the time in Montana. Why not in Arizona? Or maybe her letter had to chase him down, and he’d just now gotten it and called the moment he read it.
It rang a second time. She swallowed the lump in her throat. She couldn’t believe how nervous she was. Silly goose, she thought. It’s probably not Chase at all but some telemarketer calling to try to sell her something.
She answered on the third ring. “Hello?” Her voice cracked.
Silence, then a female voice. “Mary Cardwell Savage?” The voice was hard and crisp like a fall apple, the words bitten off.
“Yes?” she asked, disappointed. She’d gotten her hopes up that it was Chase, with whatever excuse he had for not calling sooner. It wouldn’t matter as long as he’d called to say that he felt the same way she did and always had. But she’d been right. It was just some telemarketer. “I’m sorry, but whatever you’re selling, I’m not inter—”
“I read your letter you sent Chase.”
Her breath caught as her heart missed a beat. She told herself that she’d heard wrong. “I beg your pardon?”
“Leave my fiancé alone. Don’t write him. Don’t call him. Just leave him the hell alone.”
She tried to swallow around the bitter taste in her mouth. “Who is this?” Her voice sounded breathy with fear.
“The woman who’s going to marry Chase Steele. If you ever contact him again—”
Mary disconnected, her fingers trembling as she dropped the phone into her jacket pocket as if it had scorched her skin. The woman’s harsh low voice was still in her ears, furious and threatening. Whoever she was, she’d read the letter. No wonder Chase hadn’t written or called. But why hadn’t he? Had he shown the letter to his fiancée? Torn it up? Kept it so she found it? Did it matter? His fiancée had read the letter and was furious, and Mary couldn’t blame her.
She buried her face in her hands. Chase had gone off to find himself. Apparently he’d succeeded in finding a fiancée as well. Tears burned her eyes. Chase was engaged and getting married. Could she be a bigger fool? Chase had moved on, and he hadn’t even had the guts to call and tell her.
Angrily, Mary wiped at her tears as she recalled the woman’s words and the anger she’d heard in them. She shuddered, regretting more than ever that stupid letter she’d written. The heat of humiliation and mortification burned her cheeks. If only she hadn’t poured her heart out to him. If only she had just written him about the package and left it at that. If only...
Unfortunately, she’d been feeling nostalgic the night she wrote that letter. Her mare was about to give birth so she was staying the night at the ranch in her old room. She’d come in from the barn late that night, and had seen the package she’d promised to let Chase know about. Not far into the letter, she’d become sad and regretful. Filled with memories of the two of them growing up together on the ranch from the age of fifteen, she’d decide to call him only to find that his number was no longer in service. Then she’d tried to find him on social media. No luck. It was as if he’d dropped off the face of the earth. Had something happened to him?
Worried, she’d gone online and found an address for him but no phone number. In retrospect, she should never have written the letter—not in the mood she’d been in. What she hated most since he hadn’t answered her letter or called, was that she had written how much she missed him and how she’d never gotten over him and how she regretted their breakup.
She’d stuffed the letter