Her shoulders stiffened. At last, slowly, she faced him. “He won’t say anything.”
“Goddamn it!” he roared. “The one and only thing I asked of you.”
Her eyes widened in outrage. “The one and only?” She stalked to him and stabbed his chest with her index finger. “Along with breakfast, lunch and dinner? Sharing my bathroom with two men?” Her voice kept rising. “Making excuses every time anyone I know wants to visit? Scaring me now that I know I have drug dealers living next door?”
Would it help to argue that he was doing most of his and Jeff’s laundry and helping clean the kitchen? Seeing her expression, he guessed probably not.
“I needed him to know how important—” She screeched on the brakes, likely remembering exactly why she had needed the kids gone.
Did she really think he’d turn her in? Her lack of trust stung for no good reason. He’d only been here a week. She didn’t know him that well.
Conall sighed. “I won’t turn you in, Lia.”
Could her eyes get any wider? “Turn me in for…what?” she whispered.
“I know those kids are illegal.”
“How…?” She really was scared now, panting for her next breath. “What?”
“It’s all right,” he said quietly. “I promise you.”
“Oh, God.” She backed away.
Conall held both hands up, palms out. No harm. “Lia, I mean it. I know you think you’re doing a good thing…”
That fired some anger on top of her panic. “Think?”
“Will you tell me why you do it?”
She was beautiful scared and mad. The green seemed intensified in her eyes. Lashes clumped together from her earlier tears. She almost vibrated from the force of her emotions.
No, she was always beautiful. He admired her bustling in the kitchen, he liked her shy, maybe most of all he was stirred by her tenderness with the children. He had yet to see a moment when he didn’t think she was beautiful.
“Why do you want to know?” she asked, her voice constrained.
“I want to understand.”
“Why?” she said again.
He scrubbed both hands over his face. “I don’t know.”
Lia blew out a breath, her eyes closing momentarily so that those thick lashes fanned above her cheeks. When she opened them, he saw resignation again, deeper and more hurtful than what she’d felt at saying goodbye to two small children. Conall felt a kick in his chest.
“I really do need to check on Walker and Brendan.”
He nodded.
She hurried away. He couldn’t help appreciating the view from behind of her graceful gait and subtle curves. The braid, fat and black, swinging gently, seemed to emphasize the slenderness of her rib cage and waist, the feathery tip pointing to her perfect ass.
God, he was a bastard.
When the screen door slammed behind her, Conall walked over to pet the pony again. This time the horse came to the fence, too, both noses nudging him hopefully.
“I’ll bring you a carrot next time,” he told them. He hadn’t had much to do with horses, but they did like carrots, didn’t they? He’d met more burros in his time, still popular as a beast of burden for the poor in Mexico.
He heard the screen door again, but waited where he was for her. When she joined him at the fence, he turned and leaned his back against a post.
“I haven’t seen Sorrel this morning,” he said, trying to lessen the tension.
Lia went along with it. “She’s eating breakfast right now. I think she stayed up late online last night.”
“Does she have friends there?”
“I think so. And a Facebook page, of course.” At his expression, she said, “I’m keeping an eye on it. She hasn’t said anything about you or Jeff there. And nobody who has posted has commented. I really do think she understands why it’s important that she keep quiet.”
She was thirteen. A mass of hormones. Conall only shook his head, hoping.
Stroking the shaggy pony’s ears, Lia didn’t look at him. “How did you know?”
“About Arturo and Julia?”
She nodded.
“You’re not a very good liar,” he said gently. “And I could see that you were worried.” He hesitated. “Duncan told me he’d heard something.”