Free Hunter's Moon (Hunter Family Saga; Half-Moon Ranch 1) by Bobbi Smith Page B

man about her absence.
    "I had the time, and I wanted to see Opal," he
explained simply.
    "Well, I'm afraid I've got some bad news for you,"
Bill began.
    Dan went still, and the look in his eyes turned
cold. "What kind of bad news?"
    "Miss Opal won't be performing tonight, either."
    "Why not?" he ground out, barely in control.
    "She's decided to take some time off," Bill said,
stretching the truth.
    "How much time?" Dan demanded.
    Bill had known the stranger would be angry, but
there was nothing he could do about it. He had checked back at the boardinghouse again that day to
see if Opal had returned, only to learn that no one
had seen her. She was really gone.

    "I don't know."
    "What do you mean, you don't know? Didn't you
talk to her today?"
    "No."
    "Then how do you know? Where does she live?
I'll go find her myself."
    I already told you, I don't give out that
information. Besides, it doesn't matter. Opal is gone."
    "She's gone?" Dan repeated. "What do you mean,
she's gone?"
    "Just that. She took off."
    "Why, you son of a bitch!" Dan lost what little
control he had. He lunged across the bar and
grabbed the bartender by the shirtfront. "You told
me she would be here tonight!"
    "Take it easy!" Bill struggled to break free of his
hold.
    The customers around them started forward to
come to the bartender's aid.
    "Take it easy?" Dan raged back at him. "She's
been gone for more than a day now, and you're
telling me to take it easy?"
    "Let him go," one of the customers demanded,
ready to reach for his gun to protect Bill.
    Dan gave the bartender a disgusted shove
backward as he released him. He stepped away and
gave him a look of pure hatred. "Where did she go?"

    "She didn't tell me-but even if she had, I
wouldn't tell you," Bill said, reaching under the bar
for his shotgun. He brought it up for the stranger to
see. "Get out of my saloon. Now. We don't want
your kind around here. Right, boys?"
    "That's right," his customers echoed.
    Dan looked around at all the men ready to fight
him, and knew there was no use protesting. He
backed away from the bar and didn't say another
word as he left the saloon.
    "I need a drink," Bill announced with obvious
relief in his voice.
    His customers laughed and relaxed.
    "What was that all about?" Belle asked nervously,
coming to his side.
    "He's out to find Opal for some reason."
    "Then I'm glad she's gone."
    "So am I. I never knew she was in trouble. If I'd
known, I would have done more to help her," Bill
said with regret.
    "Don't go feeling bad. You and the boys treated
Opal real good while she was here. And even though
you didn't know it, you did help her. If she was
trying to get away from that man, you managed to
give her a full day's head start."
    Bill felt a little better. "Let's just hope one day is
enough of a lead for her. I don't want that bastard to
find her."

     

"I don't know why you ever started concentrating on
workhorses," Jack said critically as he and Brent
studied the stock in their pasture.
    Brent glared at his father as he answered, "I would
think that's obvious. Without them, the Half-Moon
would have gone under years ago."
    Jack snorted in disgust. "My plan for the
thoroughbreds would have paid off."
    "Your plan for the thoroughbreds nearly cost
us everything." Brent stated the plain
truth harshly. He had known his father's return
was going to be difficult, but he'd never
thought it would be this hard. "If it wasn't for
these workhorses, you'd be homeless right
    "From the very beginning, my dream for the Half-Moon was that it would be known for its
thoroughbred racing stock."

    Brent was disgusted. "That's a great dream, Pa,
but a dream isn't reality. Reality is paying back
what you owe people and keeping food on the
table." Brent turned back to watch the horses,
remembering those hard early years when he'd
been trying to hold the family together and keep
the ranch going.
    Jack looked over at his son. It had been three