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her. She had a ranch to save, a brother to protect, and a lot of men to teach that they couldn’t disregard her just because she was a woman. She couldn’t do all that if she was mooning over Will Haskins.
    Yet somehow Idalou wasn’t able to convince herselfthat she wasn’t just a little bit in danger of liking Will Haskins, and not just because of his looks.
    As he rode away from the Double-L ranch, Will had reason to be glad all over again that he’d talked Jake out of coming with him. All a woman like Idalou had to do was tear up, and Jake would have been on his way to demand why Jordan McGloughlin would do anything as dastardly as steal a poor young woman’s bull. Will wasn’t immune to women, even when they weren’t as attractive as Idalou Ellsworth, but he was averse to sticking his neck out when he was certain that things would be worse for her after he left.
    He hoped his presence wasn’t going to complicate the situation. He’d been trying to convince Jake and Isabelle that though he was the youngest of the orphans they’d adopted, he was too old for them to keep looking over his shoulder. Jake didn’t hesitate to assign him the most difficult jobs on the ranch, but he always kept an eye on him. Jake insisted he was just making sure Will’s work was up to standard, but Will knew he was watching to make sure nothing happened to him. He was the only one left at home, so all the attention that had previously been divided among twelve was focused on him alone. It had gotten so bad, Will had threatened to move away.
    The look on Isabelle’s face when he’d stated that intention had caused him to spend the next couple of days convincing her he was just kidding, but she and Jake both knew he wasn’t. Six of the orphans were married and raising their own families. Pete, Luke, Hawk, and Zeke were somewhere out West, and Eden was off at school. Though his parents would never have admitted it, they had been holding on to him because he was the only one left. And he had stayed for the same reason.
    Up until three years ago, he also stayed because he couldn’t leave his brother Matt, who was a moody recluse determined to take in any boy who needed a home or protection. Though Will was five years younger than Matt, he had always stood between Matt and the outside world. But three years ago Matt had gotten married and adopted three kids to go with the two he already had. With his wife soon to give birth to their second child, Matt was finally settled and happy. Most important, he had a wife who loved him despite his past and knew what to do when the ghosts threatened to descend on him.
    Now Will had a chance to build a life of his own, but it hadn’t turned out to be as easy as he’d thought. Though six of his adopted brothers and sisters lived within riding distance of Jake and Isabelle, they’d insisted that one of them ought to live at home. Despite his protests that Jake and Isabelle were too young and healthy to need anyone to watch over them—especially not someone
they
were watching over—Will had been elected. Deciding to buy this bull was Will’s desperate effort to establish some sort of independence without alienating half his family.
    He paused to wipe the perspiration out of his eyes and from his forehead. He didn’t know why anyone would want to live in central Texas. It was hot as hell, flat as a plate, and as close to a desert as Will hoped to see. He loved his own home, with its rugged hills, cool breezes, and shaded valleys. It could get a little dicey when it rained too much and flood waters came roaring through the valleys, but that added a bit of excitement. What could be exciting about a flat terrain that stretched the same for miles in every direction?
    He wondered if Idalou would move away when she got the money for her bull. She gave every indication of being determined to stay where she was,but surely she could