Mallory felt guilty. "I meant to compensate her for that. Of course, she was running around after that judge friend of yours," he added icily, turning to Cane.

"Danny Brannt is a gourmet chef," Cane replied. "He and his wife have a housekeeper who was trained in Paris as a cook, and they're always looking for new and exciting finger foods for parties. In fact, they're famous for it. I understand that his housekeeper is helping to cater that big to-do at the Brannt Ranch next month. We were invited, I believe."

"Yes," Mallory murmured absently. "King Brannt has some seed bulls that are the talk of the industry. I have in mind to buy one from him for our breeding program." He didn't add that the mention of that last name stung. Not that Morie had any connection to that famous Brannt; she was just a poor working cowgirl.

"Can we afford one?" Cane asked amusedly. "We're only just showing profit from the past two painful years of investments and stock adjustments."

"We can afford one," Mallory replied quietly. He glanced at his brother. "You and Tank are responsible for those successes as much as I am," he added. "I know it's been rough. I appreciate what you've done."

"Hell, I appreciate what you've done," Cane said. "You've got the business head. Tank may be the marketing specialist, and I do like showing off our bulls at cattle shows with a little help from our cowboys who travel with me, but you're the one with the genius to know where to put the money so that it will grow. That's no mean feat in a flat economy."

"I had help. Our stockbroker is the genius. I just followed his suggestions." He looked worried. "Who could have taken that egg?" he wondered aloud. "And when did it go missing?"

"I don't know. Sometime between the time that Morie left and you found the key. The question is, who had the key and the opportunity to get into the cabinet?"

"Couldn't have been a break-in," Mallory said, thinking out loud. "Not with our security system in place."

"And I'd bet my stock portfolio on Mavie's honesty," Tank added.

Mallory nodded. "So would I. Her former boss isn't the sort to suffer a thief any more than we are. She was with him for twenty years until he had to give up his ranch and retire, leaving her unemployed. She's been a welcome addition to our staff."

Cane pursed his sensual lips. "Bates, maybe?" He was thinking out loud. "He was the one who claimed to see Morie playing with the egg. Interesting, because Darby says she kept her door closed anytime she was in the bunkhouse, and she kept it locked."

"Suspicious," Mallory said flatly.

"A woman in a bunkhouse full of men would lock her door," Cane shot back. "Especially one like Morie. Darby told me that she lived off campus when she was in college, because she refused to live in a coed dorm even if the whole world thought it was all right."

His eyebrows arched. "She could have been lying."

"Why do you think she lied in the first place?" Cane demanded. "Because Gelly said she did?"

"Let's not bring Gelly into this," Mallory said defensively. "I'm very fond of her." He pushed his hands deeper into his pockets. "She's having all sorts of financial problems because her father made bad investments." He shrugged. "Maybe I should marry her...."

"I'm leaving the day she comes in the door," Cane said harshly. "And Tank will go with me."

"In a heartbeat," Tank agreed. "We'll take our share of the ranch profits with us," he added in a cold tone. "You and Gelly try staying afloat financially with only a third of the land and cattle!"

"You wouldn't do that," Mallory returned, wounded.

"I'd do it in a heartbeat," Tank assured him with flashing brown eyes.

"So would I," Cane agreed. "I'm not living with Gelly."

"What has she ever done to make you two so hostile?" Mallory exclaimed, exasperated.

Cane looked at Tank. "Blind as a bat."

"And stubborn as a mule," Tank agreed. "Can't tell pyrite from gold."

"Morie stole the egg," Mallory roared. "She took it and hid it in her rucksack and was going to sell it!"

"Sure." Cane took the fake egg in his hand and showed it to Tank. "And she replaced it with this one after we put it back in the cabinet," he added with a droll look at his brother. "Of course, she was on her way home in a bus at the time. I guess it's magic."

Tank nodded. "And funny thing, the key reappeared in Mal's coat pocket."

"How convenient."

"Gelly couldn't have taken the egg," Mallory said doggedly, answering a charge they hadn't made verbally. "She hasn't ever been alone in here!"

"We had a conference call from the state cattlemen's association committee on grazing," Cane reminded him. "All three of us went into the office to take it. Mavie was in the kitchen cooking dinner and Gelly was in here alone. As soon as we came back, she said she had an urgent matter to attend to in town."

Mallory felt sick. "It couldn't be her," he protested, but it was a weak protest.

"If you believe her innocent, let's prove it," Cane said. "I know the best private detective in the business, Dane Lassiter from Houston. Let me have him do some investigating for us. If Gelly has nothing to hide, it will clear her."

"And if not," Tank put in, "it's better to know now, especially if you're bullheaded enough to try and marry her."

"She loves me," Mallory bit off. "She says she can't live without me." He averted his eyes. "She thinks I'm handsome."

"Nobody thinks you're handsome who isn't lying," Cane told him flatly. "Look in a mirror! But looks have nothing to do with character, and you've got plenty of that. Women don't care about looks. They care about actions."

Mallory glared at him.

"He's right." Tank clapped him on the back. "We love you. We won't lie to you. But you might ask yourself why Gelly is. And why she keeps trying to get jobs for her friends and land for some stranger that she barely knows."

Mallory was weakening. He'd been stubborn because he was guilt-ridden about the way he'd treated Morie. His brothers were right. Morie couldn't have taken the egg. She left the ranch just minutes after it was found in her rucksack, and Mallory was certain that he'd held the real egg in his hands in the bunkhouse. He'd put it back in the display case himself, after Morie was gone. So the real one had to have been replaced after Morie's departure...replaced with this cheap copy that would only have fooled someone from a distance. None of them had thought to look at it closely. There had been no reason to.

"Let me call Dane," Cane coaxed. "If you're right about Gelly, I'll apologize."

"So will I," Tank agreed.

Mallory drew in a long breath. "Okay," he said after a minute. His expression was grim. "Call him."

THE ESTATE WAS BRILLIANT with color and decoration, especially the huge stone patio where tables were going to be set up the following week for King's gala production show. Ranchers were coming from all over the world to look at his prize cattle, which would be offered for sale at auction.

"Dad really does things on a big scale," Morie mused as she and her mother went over the final plans with a staff of professionals who would complete the finishing touches and employ caterers for the occasion. It was much too large an endeavor for any one person, although Shelby kept a tight rein on the operation and dictated what she wanted done.

"Yes, he does," Shelby said with a smile. "He's very proud of his purebred herd."

"So am I," Morie replied. "Now that I know how a ranch operates from the ground up, I have even more admiration for the care Dad takes of his cattle and his men."

"My daughter, the cowgirl," Shelly chuckled.

"I enjoyed it. Most of it," she replied and lowered her eyes.

Shelby turned back to the woman who was carrying out the party plans. "You were able to get Desperado to play for us, weren't you?"