Peter Manning cleared his throat.
She looked at him.
“Kate, your father brought me here to help you. Perhaps you should just hear him out.”
She planted her hands on her hips, her panic mounting. “I don’t take orders from you, cowboy.” She looked at her father. “How do you know he’s safe?”
Peter sighed. “I suppose you can’t know that. However, my sister, Marcy, and her eleven-year-old son live with me, in addition to three ranch hands around full-time. Not to mention the fact that I am a rather public figure around here. Maybe you don’t read the newspapers.”
“I don’t. And I hate watching the news.”
He nodded. “So do I. But in any case, I discussed this with your father after you left, only to find he’d already done an extensive background check on me. Clean as a whistle, I am. Well, e
