Lone Star Rising. Darlene Graham

If you want it, you’ll have to deal with the old man up in Washington, not some defenseless little widow.”

      Sensing trouble, the two firefighters with Zack had crossed the room and positioned themselves strategically near the two men at the bar.

      But Mestor didn’t seem to notice them. He was too busy running his gums. “Why, if I didn’t know firsthand how worked up and self-righteous you like to get, I’d be of a mind to even wonder about that barn fire. That’s an awful lot of gasoline to get spilt in a simple acciden—”

      That’s when Zack decked Arlen Mestor.

      One second the old porker was twisting sideways on the barstool, sneering at Zack, and the next he was sprawled on his fleshy backside on the diner’s green and white linoleum floor.

      People at the nearby tables yelled and jumped out of the way as Mestor crawfished backward and Zack loomed over him, fists clenched for another blow.

      Parson came busting through the swinging doors of the kitchen shouting, “There’ll be no fistfights in this here establishment!”

      Zack’s friends restrained him from doing further damage, though it took both of them to bodily remove him from the premises.

      BACK IN THE KITCHEN, Robbie stood with palms pressed on the butcher block and her downcast face burning like fire. The baby had set up a panicky little dance inside of her, reacting, no doubt, to the shot of adrenaline his mommy was feeling as well.

      “You okay, sweetie?” Nattie Rose asked anxiously, her hands suspended in the act of slinging home fries onto platters.

      “Oh, fine. I’m fine. Really. I mean, hearing two men coming to blows because of me. That’s cool. Kind of flattering, you know?”

      “Honey, you don’t believe what Mestor just said about Zack for one instant do you?”

      “Of course not.” Robbie straightened. “Nobody puts much stock in anything Mestor says.”

      “Well, then.” Nattie Rose continued shoveling out home fries.

      But Robbie stood stock-still, her mind still reeling with too much new information, too many new emotions. “Who is this woman he has a date with tonight?”

      “Huh?” Nattie Rose stopped loading the plates and looked perplexed.

      “A date. Tonight. I heard the guys talking about it earlier.”

      “You mean Zack?”

      “No. Mestor.” Robbie looked sideways with a sarcastic squint.

      “I told you about all I know, sweetie. She’s got a lot of money, but just between you and me, not much class. Kind of a sexpot, far as I can tell. But it’s no surprise if the man isn’t exactly a monk. I mean, just look at him. What in the world does Zack’s social life have to do with…”

      “Don’t you know anything else about her?” Robbie cut in sharply. “Does she have any kids or anything?”

      “Why, I wouldn’t know. Let’s see.” Nattie Rose strove to cooperate. “Her name’s Lynette something or other. She’s been in here a time or two, looking for Zack, but he—”

      “She lives across the river?” Robbie interrupted.

      “Yeah, I guess so. Over at Wildhorse.”

      “And she has a ranch out there?”

      “Yes. That’s all pretty much ranching country.”

      “Well, then.” Robbie grabbed up some loaded plates, balancing them along her arms, against her tummy. “If he likes to mess with women who’ve got land, I reckon he’s all done with me, now that Mr. Mestor has informed him of the sad facts about my farm.”