Elliott heard someone walking on the front porch. He peeked out the window."Sam's here. We'll have to tell her the truth. She's too smart not to figure it out," Elliott said, running his fingers through his wind-tousled hair.Mitch took his hat off and placed it on the kitchen counter, then nodded as Elliott opened the door.She stood, stock-still in the doorway, glancing first one way and then the other. Then her eyes settled on Elliott and she briskly stepped to him, hugging his arm. "WhWhat's happened?" Her free hand clutched her chest as she surveyed the damage of broken furniture and ravaged contents of his house."Someone ransacked Elliott's house while he was at the ranch this morning," Mitch answered."Do you think it was the same person who broke into my room and slashed my tires?"Mitch and Elliott exchanged glances. "It could be. We're not sure. No fingerprints were left behind so it could be a professional," Elliott answered her as he gazed around at the destruction

Elliott lay beside her in his full-size bed in his room as a youth and in high school. He had gotten up during the night to put more wood on the fire and between the fireplace warmth and the heat from their exerting bodies they were plenty warm throughout the night. He turned his head to the side and studied Sam's face.Her long eyelashes lay on her alabaster cheeks as she slept. She was curled against him with one leg thrown over his groin. Her heat alone made him hard for her again. He couldn't seem to get enough of her. She had become an intimate part of him, an extension, of sorts.Elliott reached out a hand and ran his fingertip across her cheek. She wiggled her nose, then moved her hand toward her face, but she didn't wake up. He ran his finger to the tip of her nose and she grabbed his hand. She slowly opened her eyes. He stared into her brilliant blue diamonds in her eyes. "Good morning, sleepyhead." She smiled. "Was it as good for you as it was for me?" Elliott asked as he n

"Uhm, excuse me, you guys, but what time did you want to get started back? We're freezing here." The interruption ended their passionate lip lock.Sam opened her eyes and looked up into the smiling faces of Don and Connie. Elliott rolled off Sam and onto his knees. He took Sam's hand and hauled her up beside him while laughing."We were keeping warm," Sam said with a smile as she gazed into Elliott's eyes.His eyes pinned her to the spot, and she couldn't move.Without taking his eyes off her, Elliott said, "I've taken care of the stock so we'll be ready as soon as we finish with the tents and loading up. In the meantime, you can build a little larger fire and warm yourselves. We won't be long."Elliott smiled at Sam, moved closer, and put his arm around her waist. She felt a tingle zip through her body and leaned into him closer."What about some coffee to get us moving?" Sam asked, looking into his seductive blue eyes. She turned away from him, breaking free."No more time for

Scruff's heart began to race and he gulped for air as the two men stared at him, expecting answers he couldn't give them. "What? How was I supposed to know? I'm no camera expert." He shrugged his shoulders and shuffled his feet under the chair."No, you're definitely not an expert, that's for sure. We need the small one-by-one inch square disk which would fit right here in this little slot," Gerald said in a soft voice. "See right here." He pointed to the slot as he brought the camera closer to Scruff's face. Then he slammed the camera into his nose.Pain radiated upward throughout his head and he grabbed his nose. Blood started to drip onto the desk. The old man pushed Scruff backward. "Don't be dirtying up my office, you need to get out.""Wait, Dad. I think there's something else he can do for us."Gerald sunk into his chair and looked at his son.Scruff sat in agony, his hand holding his bleeding face, trying to breathe through his nose. "What's that?" Scruff asked in a nasall

"Thanks for letting us know about the door. It always helps to have someone looking out for us. We've got to keep the utilities bills low, too," Gerald said as he watched his son make his way back the hall.Elliott glanced between them and turned to go."Uh, Elliott, everything okay? You seem a little distracted," Gerald said, as if luring Elliott to stay longer."Yes, everything's fine." He continued toward the door. Elliott turned toward them and observed Ted was back beside his dad, both with big grins on their faces. He exited through the door, wondering what had come over them since his recent talk about his Dad's property."Randy, how's it going?" Elliott asked as he entered the shop. "Everything's looking good, especially the deposits in the bank. You're doing a great job.""Thanks, Elliott. We got a lot of inventory delivered, too. Emily and I are working on tagging and getting everything out right away. We've got all the sale items on one rack now and closest to the door.