Showdown in West Texas Read Online Free PDF Page B

somewhere first.” He placed the envelope on a table near the stairs, then turned back to Grace. “It’s for Lily,” he said.
    â€œSo you said.”
    He gave her a sheepish grin that Grace found adorable. How could Lily not just eat him up with a spoon?
    â€œAre you sure you’re okay?” He offered her a hand as she got to her feet.
    â€œJust a few bruises. See?” She put weight on her ankle. “No permanent harm done.”
    â€œThank goodness. First Sheriff Dickerson and now you. People might start to think there’s a curse on this town.”
    â€œWell, we wouldn’t want that, would we?” Grace’s attention was caught by a passing shadow out one of the side windows. A few minutes later, she heard footsteps on the porch, and then Lily appeared in the doorway.
    Her dark hair, which she wore in a braid down her back, was slightly askew and she appeared out of breath. She had on jeans and a cotton shirt, which had become the unofficial uniform of the deputies in Criminal Investigations except on days when they had to appear in court.
    The lax dress code had bothered Grace at first, but after a few days of coping with the heat and the rugged West Texas terrain, she’d eased up on her expectations.
    Since Grace hadn’t heard a vehicle drive up, she had to assume that Lily had been there all along. While Grace had been talking with Ethan, her sister would have had plenty of time to go down the rear staircase and out the back door, then make her way around to the front of the house.
    Grace tried to check the direction of her thoughts. Did she really think her own sister had pushed her down the stairs?
    â€œWhat’s going on?” Lily asked as she stepped through the door.
    â€œYour sister just fell down the stairs,” Ethan blurted.
    â€œReally? All the way down?” Her eyes collided with Grace’s. Lily didn’t seem overly concerned, or even surprised, to hear about the incident. In fact, Grace’s stomach churned at the passive expression on her sister’s face.
    â€œI told her she’s lucky she didn’t break her neck,” Ethan said.
    â€œWell, you always did have all the luck in the family.” Lily’s cool gaze swept back to Grace. “What was it Mama used to say? The more things change, the more they stay the same?”
    â€œBut—” Ethan shifted uncomfortably.
    â€œWhat?” Lily snapped.
    â€œYou don’t—”
    She put a hand on her hip. “I don’t what? ”
    â€œGrace could have been seriously hurt,” Ethan said.
    â€œBut she wasn’t. Were you, Grace?”
    â€œI’m fine.”
    â€œOf course you are. No one knows better than you how to take care of Number One. Am I right?”
    â€œIf you say so.” Grace wasn’t about to rise to Lily’s bait. She had no intention of airing their dirty laundry in front of Ethan Brennan or anyone else. It was bad enough that Lily could barely remain civil at work.
    Her sister spotted the envelope Ethan had put on the table and pounced on it. “Is that for me?”
    â€œIt’s all in there,” Ethan said. “Everything you requested—”
    â€œThanks.” She glanced inside the envelope, then placed it back on the table. As she turned, she made a point of toeing one of Grace’s suitcases out of her way. “So you’re splitting, huh?”
    â€œThat’s what you want, isn’t it?”
    Lily’s gaze lifted, and the coldness in those gray depths sent a shiver down Grace’s spine. “You have no idea what I want. You never did.”
    Suddenly, an image of that face at the top of the stairs came back to Grace. She couldn’t say with any certainty that it had been Lily up there peering down at her, and she wanted desperately to believe that it had not been. But dread tightened like a fist around Grace’s heart. What if it had been Lily?
    What if