To Love a Stranger by Connie Mason Page B

look like an opportunist to me, Delaney. You married Zoey with the intention of living off the profits from the ranch. Forget it. There are no profits. The ranch will soon be mine, and you can’t do a thing about it.”
    Pierce hung on to the tattered remnants of his temper with admirable restraint. “I want you to stop harassing my wife.”
    “Zoey was to be my wife. Both the Circle F and Zoey should belong to me. I’ve wanted them both for as long as I can remember. Robert Fuller didn’t approve of me as Zoey’s husband. There isn’t a man in town more suitable than I, but he wanted-his little princess to love the man she married.” He gave Pierce an shrewd look. “Does Zoey love you, Delaney? Or did she marry you simply to thwart me?”
    Pierce chose not to answer. “You’ll just have to live with that question, Willoughby. But as long as I’m here, I’d like a look at that mortgage you’re holding on the Circle F.”
    “Very well, if you insist.” He opened a file cabinet and took a document from it and removed a folder. He briefly flashed it before Pierce. Pierce caught a glimpse of a signature but had no way of knowing if it belonged to Robert Fuller.
    “Believe me when I say this document is authentic,” Willoughby declared as he returned the folder to the file cabinet. “And you’ll know it’s legal when I serve you with foreclosure papers.”
    “What if I pay the mortgage off before you foreclose?”
    Willoughby gave a snort of laughter. “You don’t look like a man who can scrape up two cents, let alone seven thousand dollars.”
    Pierce whistled. Seven thousand dollars was a lot of money, but the ranch was worth three or four times that amount. The acreage was prime, with water and lush grasslands that stretched out endlessly. Zoey’s father had chosen the land with foresight and wisdom.
    “Zoey says the land isn’t mortgaged, and I believe her.”
    “Zoey is a woman, she doesn’t know everything. Her father preferred not to tell her. A few years back severe weather decimated his entire herd. Then there was a fire that destroyed all the buildings but the main house. The following year his wheat crop failed. He mortgaged the land to pay for new livestock and build the outbuildings now standing.”
    All Willoughby’s arguments were sound, Pierce thought. Could Zoey have been mistaken about the mortgage? Pierce didn’t like Willoughby, and didn’t particularly believe him, but everything he said made sense. On the other hand, if Willoughby spoke the truth, why hadn’t Robert Fuller told Zoey about the mortgage? Or at the very least, discussed the problems he was having making ends meet? Zoey swore the mortgage was forged. Somehow Pierce had to obtain the mortgage papers and let Zoey verify the signature.
    Of course, Pierce could pay off the mortgage, but it would mean stripping the family holdings of money that belonged to all three brothers. Pierce couldn’t do that.
    “Have I managed to convince you that my claim is legal?” Willoughby asked. “It’s senseless to hire men you can’t pay. Besides, they’ll be out of jobs when I foreclose.”
    “We’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we, Willoughby? Good day to you. I’ve kept my wife waiting too long as it is.”
    “Your wife!” Willoughby spat. “How long will you stick around when she no longer has the ranch?” He was too close to the truth to suit Pierce. One day soon he’d have to leave.
    “I can see you’re already thinking about leaving. You don’t look like husband material to me. Your marriage won’t stop me from getting what I want. Men like you don’t stick around. I’ll be here to pick up the pieces long after you’re gone. One way or another, Zoey will be mine. Wife or lover, it doesn’t matter to me. She’ll need a protector after you’re gone.”
    Pierce tensed. He didn’t like the sound of that. The thought of Zoey with Willoughby set his teeth on edge. “I can’t stop you from dreaming,