“Well, that was close with Austin, huh?’’ I said. “I’m really glad all of you arrived in the nick of time.’’

“You probably could have taken her, Mace. You’re about twice Austin’s size,’’ Carlos said.

This was going to be harder than I thought.

“No, no . . . I was really scared.’’ I added a shudder for good measure. “Belle, you seemed very brave when you ordered her to hand over that bottle.’’

“Very brave,’’ Marty echoed.

Maddie slapped her on the back. “We were proud of you, Belle.’’

I thought we might be pouring it on too thick, until Belle raised hopeful eyes.

“Were you?’’ she asked. “I was trying to help Mace.’’

“And I appreciate it,’’ I said. “So, why are you so upset now? I’m fine. Everybody’s fine.’’

Belle wiped at her teary cheeks. “After it was over, I just started thinking about all the terrible things that have happened, and I got so sad. Daddy dying, Doc getting shot, my brother caught up with that awful woman.’’

For a moment I wondered if she meant Wynonna.

“Austin is so bad for Trey; and he really needs somebody good right now.’’ Belle looked at Carlos. “We both do.’’

I wasn’t about to let her go there.

“I can think of a few other bad things that have happened,’’ I said. “Marty almost got bitten by a rattlesnake. I nearly got flattened by a truck hauling oranges. And the horse you trained went nuts and almost killed Mama.’’

Belle waited a beat. “I feel so awful about Shotgun, Mace. How’s your mama’s ankle? Any better? I know Doc told her to stay off it.’’

When she mentioned Doc’s name, Belle started sniffling again.

“See?’’ She gulped back a sob. “I can’t stop thinking about poor Doc. Do you think he’s going to make it?’’

Carlos said, “They’re doing everything they can.’’

To me, it sounded reflexive, like it was something he’d said to friends and families of a hundred crime victims in Miami. But the words seemed to cheer Belle. Marty placed a gentle hand on her arm, and then went in for the kill.

“You know, Belle, we heard something strange from Wynonna. She told us you knew Shotgun was terrified of bees. Why didn’t you say anything about that after he ran away with Mama?’’

Belle furrowed her brow in confusion. “Of course I knew he hated bees. All of us did. What’s that got to do with anything?’’

“That’s what set him off,’’ Maddie said. “Bees.’’

A look of surprise raced across Belle’s face. Then, realization.

“No one said a word to me about bees.’’ Her voice rose in anger. “I had no idea that’s why Shotgun took off with your mama.’’

“Oh, sure,’’ I interrupted. “Mama’s told her bee story to everyone in camp, most of them twice, and you hadn’t heard word one about it?’’ My tone was sharp, just as I intended it to be.

Carlos put up his hands like a referee. “Wait a minute, Mace. Let Belle finish.’’

“Yes, Mace, why don’t you shut your mouth and listen?’’ Belle displayed a trace of that Bramble family haughtiness. “That way, I could tell you this is the first I’ve heard of your mama and bees. Rosalee didn’t mention it when I stopped by to apologize. And people haven’t really been coming up to me to share the latest gossip. I guess that happens when someone has suffered the loss of a loved one.’’

My sisters glanced at me.

“No one knows what to say,’’ Belle continued, “so they say nothing. Except for some sympathetic words and a lot of staring, everyone on the trail has been staying away from Trey and me. People act like we’re carrying the plague.’’

Marty bit her lip, looking guilty.

Maddie said, “We’re sorry, Belle. We know you’ve had a tough time.’’

Carlos glared at me until I chimed in.

“Maddie’s right,’’ I said. “We’re sorry.’’

Belle clamped her lips shut and smoothed her curls. Our encounter wasn’t proceeding like I wanted it to.

“Everybody’s been under a lot of stress,’’ Carlos said. “Fortunately, Rosalee’s doing fine, Belle. She’s bruised, and her ankle’s hurt. But why don’t we talk about something else?’’

“Good idea,’’ Maddie said. “What do y’all think of Sheriff Roberts?’’

I saw that little vein in Carlos’ temple start to pulse. Maddie couldn’t have raised a worse topic if she’d studied on it. His lips looked glued shut.

“Carlos and the sheriff don’t see eye-to-eye on investigations,’’ I answered for him.

“I’m out of my jurisdiction,’’ Carlos raised his palms in a shrug. “It’s different up here, that’s for sure.’’

Belle said, “But it’s different in good ways, too, isn’t it?’’

“Amen, Belle,’’ Marty said.

“Like our family land,’’ Belle continued, her eyes all dreamy and distant-looking. “There’s such beauty and peace there. It’s like nowhere else in the world, at least not for me.’’

She reached out a hand to Carlos, laying it just above his knee.

“I just know you’ll love it as much as I do. I want to take you there sometime, show you the creeks and the birds and the trees. The trees will knock you out. You’ll see a million shades of green.’’ She looked into his eyes. “I want you to see what I see there; feel what I feel.’’

Carlos placed his hand over hers. “I’d like that, Belle,’’ he said softly. “I’d like it very much.’’

The two of them seemed lost in each other’s eyes.

Marty shook her head at me, and worked on chewing a hole through her lower lip. Maddie mimicked holding a tiny fishing rod in her hands, casting out the line and reeling in the fish.

Frank Sinatra’s voice floated toward us on the evening air. “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.” A moment later, Sal tapped the horn on his Caddy a couple of times, spooking whatever horses weren’t already nervous about all the whip-cracking in camp.

“Yoo-hoo, girls!’’ Mama waved from her backseat throne. “Please tell me dinner is on.’’

“Just about, Mama,’’ Marty answered. “Johnny’s crew is setting out the steaks now.’’

“Thank goodness! I could eat a cow, hooves and all.’’

I guess the bag of Wynonna’s cookies Mama had polished off earlier had worn off.

Once we all had our dinner plates and Mama was settled comfortably by the fire, Sal went off to find his New York buddy. My sisters filled her in on my near-mauling by Austin.

Mama speared a piece of steak and a stray green bean on her fork and pointed it at me: “I knew that girl was trouble!’’

She’d conveniently forgotten she invited Austin into my life by chatting her up on the trail and welcoming her—and her bottle of wine—into Camp Cadillac.

“Mace says that Austin and Trey deserve one another.’’ Marty delicately bit a green bean in half. “I think she’s right.’’

“As far as I’m concerned, that whole Bramble family is a nightmare,’’ Maddie said. “If I had them as students, I’d put the whole lot in permanent detention.’’

I figured it was a good time to tell them about the scene Austin and I had witnessed at Wynonna’s RV. I looked for eavesdroppers. Most people were hunkered over their plates. Dinner was just an hour late, but you’d think we were lost for weeks in the woods without food.

“Speaking of the Brambles,’’ I began in a whisper, and Mama and my sisters crowded closer to listen.

“Did you stay long enough to see if the RV started rockin’?’’ Maddie asked when I’d finished.

Mama slapped her wrist. “That’s just crude!’’

Marty said, “It may be crude, but Maddie raises a good point. There’s clearly something between Trey and his daddy’s widow. They could have conspired together to get rid of Lawton.’’