“That your dog?” the man asked.

“Yeah.”

“Is he fixed? Cuz I breed mine. I wouldn’t want any mutts.”

Parker’s jaw dropped. “I’m sorry, who are you?”

“Oh, I’m one of your neighbors, Bill . . . I live down the street. I thought I’d drive up here and take a look.”

Her heart rate started to pick up speed. “Did you miss the ‘No Trespassing’ signs . . . all five of them?”

The blank look on his face suggested he didn’t get it. “I wanted to see what the big deal was.”

By now Scout had jumped on the back of Bill’s dog that kept trying to sit down to avoid being violated.

“Let me get this right. You drove past the ‘No Trespassing’ signs, pulled your car in the middle of my yard, parked . . . let your dog out, and walked around like you had the right. Did I get that straight?” Her hands shook with anger. Where was her shotgun when she needed it?

He had the nerve to look offended. “I’m your neighbor.”

“What’s my name?” she yelled the question at him.

“Sinclair, I think.”

She pointed down the drive. “Get the hell off my property.”

“Excuse me?”

“Now!”

“I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Too late.”

The man finally got the hint and started to walk back to his car. He called his dog, who shook off Scout and trotted with her owner.

He slid behind the wheel and started his car while glaring.

“Don’t come up here again.”

No apology left Bill’s lips.

For good measure, Parker placed a hand on Scout’s head. “By the way, my dog isn’t fixed.” A complete and total lie, but the horror on the man’s face was worth it.

She waited until his car left the property before marching back up to the house.

Erin met her at the door. “What was that all about?”

Anger fueled her as she walked into her bedroom and dropped to her hands and knees. “Son of a bitch thought he could just come in here. Brings his dog and has the fucking nerve to ask if my dog is fixed? Who the hell?” She grabbed the shotgun under her bed, checked to make sure it was loaded. It was, she knew, but the habit was there.

Erin’s eyes widened as Parker stormed past her.

“What are you doing?”

“Closing the gate and daring that ass to come back.”

Livid wasn’t a strong enough word.

Scout found her energy addictive and ran around her as she burned some of her anger with a stroll to the gate. The last worker of the day called out to her as she passed him. “Everything okay, Parker?”

She walked past the gate to the keypad, punched in the code to shut the gate, and walked back in while it closed behind her.

She’d calmed enough not to center her anger on the guy hanging off the loader. “Let’s keep the gate closed once the trucks stop rolling, okay?”

“Did you know that guy?”

“No.” She waved the gun. “He couldn’t read the ‘No Trespassing’ signs. I hope he reads twelve gauge.”

“I’ll let the guys know,” he told her.

“Thanks.”

“Sorry. I thought he was a friend or something.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to think otherwise. Fancy car and a dog. Asshole.” She called Scout. “The gate will open when you drive up to it,” she reminded him.

“Okay. Really sorry. I would have yelled at the guy for you.”

She smiled. “I’m pretty good at yelling. But thanks.”

By the time she made it inside the house, her adrenaline was back to normal. She rested her gun beside the door and went to the sink to wash her hands.

Erin stood there staring at her. “That was . . . you’re . . . I don’t know what to say.”

“Nothing pisses me off more than when someone feels entitled to invade our space because they exist.”

“That was something else. I can’t believe you marched out there with a gun.”

“I should have done that to start with. My mistake.” Won’t happen again. “I thought it was someone with the county.”

“You’re a little badass.”

She shook her head. “No, just pissed.” Parker placed both hands on the side of the sink and sighed.

Erin glanced at the gun leaning against the wall. “I’ve never shot a gun.”

“Really?”

“Never. Maybe you can show me.”

“I’d love to. Maybe when things calm down.”

“I’d like that.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

Colin ducked into Ed’s office midweek for their weekly update on the projects he was in charge of.

“Where are we at?” his boss asked.

“We’re finishing up the Creek Canyon project next week.”

“Right on schedule, then.”

Colin sat across the desk from Ed, leaned back in the chair. “I’m not convinced the structures are going to hold.”

“We had a whole team engineer the hell out of them.”

“Did that team walk up the canyon and see what’s lying in wait for a little moisture?”

Ed propped his feet up on his desk, never really happy when someone questioned his work. “You know the answer to that.”

“Well, I have, and I gotta tell you, the amount of material teetering on the sides of those hills is impressive.” And not in a good way.

“We took into account the last time that area burned. The structures will hold. Especially given the amount of rain we’ve been averaging the last seven years.”

“The reports are showing rain in two weeks.”

“And in one week that rain will turn into partly cloudy skies with a high of sixty-three.” He dropped his feet to the floor. “How is the mouth of the river looking?”

“We’ve done what we can.” They talked about the other projects Colin was in charge of. “A lot of the guys are taking time for the holiday. Let’s hope there isn’t any rain until after the first.”

They finished up the weekly report and Colin made his way out. “Before you go . . . rumor has it you have a thing going with the homeowner.”

“Circulating the water cooler buzz, Ed?” His private life was just that.

Ed tapped a pencil on his desk. “I find it convenient that Miss Sinclair had her lawyer draw up several contingencies mandating that the county pay for what Mother Nature delivers over the next five years.”

The hair on Colin’s arms prickled. “What are you suggesting?”

“I’m not suggesting anything. I’m saying for a woman so young and without any experience, she certainly knew what to ask for.” Ed narrowed his eyes. “You wouldn’t happen to know where she obtained her education in flood management, would you?”

Colin tried not to let his building frustration show. “Parker is highly intelligent, especially in regards to what happens on her property. I can’t take credit, or blame, for what she had her lawyers draw up.”

“I didn’t say you could.”

Colin’s lips were a thin line. “No. You implied.”