Montana Refuge by Alice Sharpe Page A

of threat had passed, replaced by something else that emanated from this man. Curiosity? Recognition? She was too upset to figure what it was. “Been standing here long?” she asked, trying to remember if she and Tyler had been noisy. She didn’t think so and besides, the barn was quite a distance off.
    “For a while. Well, it’s time to hit the hay. I’m sorry we won’t be riding the trails together tomorrow, Julie. Sleep well.” He turned and walked back into his cabin, firmly shutting the door. A second later, she heard the click of a lock.
    And that reminded her she’d not locked her cabin when she left it an hour before. Well, it wasn’t as though she had anything worth stealing. She turned the knob and flicked on the light, turning to close and lock the door before facing her room.
    Somehow, things looked different.
    The fear that was always there, always waiting to erupt, came crashing back as she looked at the sack of clothes and noticed the jeans on top weren’t folded the way she folded them. And hadn’t her purse been lying on its side instead of standing upright? She reached for her wallet—credit cards and cash were still there. In fact, she decided as she checked everything else out, nothing seemed to be missing.
    What had someone been looking for? If it was information about her, they’d seen it all, or at least everything she carried in that handbag.
    The closet door was open, as was the bathroom door. She armed herself with a rod iron lamp and searched anywhere someone could be hiding and found she was alone. Then she sat down in the chair where Tyler had settled himself a couple of hours before, all the lights on, still clutching the heavy lamp, heart racing and body so pumped with adrenaline she was ready to smack anyone or anything that tried to get into her room.
    Her heart about burst through her chest when she heard a knock on her door. She was instantly on her feet, clutching the heavy lamp even though her brain said bad guys didn’t knock on doors.
    “Who is it?” she asked, standing to the side of the door, barely breathing.
    “It’s Heidi, ma’am, you know, Rose’s help up at the house.”
    “What do you want?” Julie asked.
    “Rose wants to know if you could come talk to her for a few minutes,” Heidi said.
    “Now?”
    “She said to tell you she’s sorry it’s so late.”
    It had to be important or Rose wouldn’t have asked. Julie set the lamp aside and grabbed the cabin key. This time she locked the door before walking back to the house with Heidi.
    * * *
    T YLER WAS OUT IN THE BARN early the next morning, helping the newly arrived doctor choose a suitable mount. Dr. Robert Marquis was a tall man with a gaunt face and clothes that seemed too big for his build. More importantly, he didn’t seem all that comfortable with horses and mentioned his job as an emergency room doctor in Denver several times as though depending on those laurels to cover his visible awkwardness with the animals. He all but tripped over himself when his sorrel gelding gave him a friendly nudge with his soft nose.
    Tyler was anxious to get the last-minute details sewed up so they could hit the trail. He wanted to put to rest the thundering hormones and unresolved emotions that blasted around inside him like steel spheres in a pinball machine and there was no better place to do that than out herding cattle. He’d have a week to forget Julie had ever been here and then he’d sign those papers and bury a marriage that was obviously already dead.
    “This one is kind of big,” Dr. Marquis said, looking at the horse he’d been given with a wary eye. Seeing as he was a tall guy with minimal experience, Tyler knew the doctor needed a big, gentle horse. “Tex is a sweetheart,” Tyler explained, rubbing the reddish face. “Think of him as an overgrown puppy.”
    Heidi showed up at the barn door, all scrubbed and smiling. “Rose wants to see you,” she said.
    Tyler touched his chest. “Me? Where