He went to the kitchen to ask his mother to provide a lunch to take along, telling her only that Wyatt wanted him to check something out on Mustang Pass and he would take Hope along. “Show her a little more of the area before things get crazy tomorrow.”
The skeptical look on her face let him know she knew he wasn’t telling her everything. “I’ll have what you need in half an hour. Will you be back by supper?”
“Should be.” He kissed her cheek and went in search of Hope.
She worked on a spreadsheet of activities while the new girl, April made the beds. Hope glanced up as Houston entered. “I’m almost finished. I know this wasn’t on my list, but I thought the kids would like to see what we have planned for the week.”
“Good idea. Make sure you wear appropriate shoes. It’s not an easy walk getting to where your aunt fell.”
She paled. “One more sign that she didn’t go for fun.” She hung the board on the wall. “Give me five minutes.”
“Meet me in the parking lot.” He watched her go and took a long look around the room. Everything looked in order. If Hope wasn’t a devious liar, then she’d been a smart hire. He hoped for the latter.
The woman was prompt, he’d give her that. He’d no sooner stashed the backpacks with their food and water in the bed of his truck before she joined him, dressed in stout hiking boots, jeans, and a tee shirt. “It might get cool up there, so I’ve tossed in a long sleeve flannel into your pack. Sorry I forgot to mention that fact.”
“No problem.” She climbed into the passenger’s seat. “How far?”
“A little over an hour before we start the climb.” He slid into the driver’s seat and started the ignition. “You sure you’re up to this? It will be difficult to see where she died.”
“I have to.” She clicked her seatbelt on. “I’m stronger than you think, Houston.”
He certainly hoped so. As they drove, he pointed out points of interest until she reminded him that she’d grown up in Copper Pass and very little seemed to have changed.
“I didn’t get out of town much, but I do know where everything is. Except the outdoor spots, anyway,” she said. “I had to leave before anything like hiking got interesting to me. Thanks to my aunt, I had the opportunity for riding, hiking, and other outdoor activities in Colorado.”
“What’s your favorite?”
“Rock climbing.” She laughed at his surprised look. “I’m quite good at it. Horseback riding ties for first place. Not bad at that either, although the last few years of being a nanny didn’t leave much time for such pleasures.”
“You’re full of surprises, Hope Jennings.” He made a note to take her climbing. He didn’t often meet a girl who shared the same love of the outdoors as he did. He surely hoped she wasn’t one of the bad guys. Spending time with Hope could be a lot of fun.
He turned the truck down the road that led to an empty gravel-packed parking lot. He hadn’t expected many people in the middle of a workday. There would already have been traffic where Hope’s aunt died since her death, they didn’t need more people messing up any clues left behind.
“Do you like helping your brother?” Hope slipped the straps of the backpack on her shoulders.
“It’s interesting, sometimes dangerous, but what cowboy doesn’t like a good old-fashioned gunfight?” He tugged his hat on his head.
“You’ve been in gunfights?” Her eyes widened. “Do those still happen out here?”
“The bad guys always have guns. I wouldn’t mind one armed with a house slipper.” He donned his pack. “Wyatt’s been shot, Dirk twice, I’ve been lucky so far and hoping to keep it that way. Ready?”
“Aunt Lou wasn’t shot. Someone pushed her off a cliff.”
“I’d like to avoid that, too.” He set off down a path that led up the mountain, leaving Hope to follow. He set off at a brisk pace at first, slowing when he heard her breathing grow labored. While she looked fit, she wasn’t up to his physical standards. He needed to remember that as they climbed.
“We’ll stop half-way up for a break.”
“Don’t stop on my account.”
“I’ll be hungry.” He smiled at her grit. “You’ll discover I’m hungry a lot.”
“What are you like when you get mad?”
He stopped and faced her. “I’m not very nice. Why?”
She cleared her throat. “Because I’ve more I haven’t told you.”
He gritted his teeth and kept walking. “Tell me when we stop.” He needed time to calm down before making an ass of himself.
Chapter Three
Hope’s heart leaped in her throat when Houston called a halt to break for lunch. Why couldn’t she have kept her mouth shut? If she found what she searched for, then she could have said something.
She found a large rock to sit on and opened her backpack, guzzling water before digging out her sandwich. When she glanced up to see a stony-faced Houston staring at her, she set the food in her lap. “I’m looking for a locket. That’s the real reason I came to Copper Pass and took this job. That was when I thought my aunt died on the mountain behind your ranch, but…”
“Why all the secrecy?” He crossed his arms, blue eyes flashing. “What’s in the locket?”
“I’m hoping it’ll tell me where the will is hidden.” She fought not to look away.
“So, it’s all about the money?” His voice could have frozen water. “I thought better of you.”
“No!” She exhaled heavily. “If I had the will, Uncle Roy would have no power. He killed my aunt and I intend to prove it. I just don’t know how yet.”
Houston sighed and sat cross-legged on the ground to pull his lunch from his pack. A muscle ticked in his jaw, but the rigidness of his shoulders had eased. “That will be hard to prove if you have no proof he was even in Copper Pass.”
“One step at a time.” She unwrapped her sandwich and took a bite of thick ham and swiss cheese.
Houston typed into his phone. A text to his brother, no doubt.
Every second that passed, his distrust of her grew. She wouldn’t be surprised if she was dismissed when they returned to the ranch. The thought caused an ache deep in her chest. She really did want to work with the kids scheduled to arrive tomorrow, but didn’t want to bring danger to a single one of them.
Maybe Houston was right. Maybe she had come for selfish reasons. She sighed again and put the remaining half of her sandwich back in her pack.
Houston watched her under the brim of his hat. Usually, she’d want to know what someone thought of her. This time…not an inkling. His thoughts were on his face. She could see how hard he fought to keep his anger at her under control. She admired him for that. If she were a man, she feared he would have punched her.
“Let’s go. Daylight is wasting.” He pushed to his feet and slung his pack back on his shoulders. Without a backward glance, he set off up the trail, leaving her to follow, and probably hoping she wouldn’t.
She hurried to catch up.
“Does anyone else know about this locket?” Houston asked, not looking back.
“Probably. She never took it off and it wasn’t found with her body.” It had either fallen from her neck when she fell or someone took it off her neck.
They didn’t stop, or speak, again until reaching where Aunt Lou’s body had been found. Hope stared over the cliff at the narrow ledge that had stopped her aunt from plunging all the way to the bottom. Still, the fall had been too far for anyone to have survived, even someone young and in good shape.
Hope blinked back tears. Oh, Aunt Lou. She shed her pack and went searching for a gold locket in the shape of a heart. Inside, she’d find two photos of herself since Aunt Lou said she’d never found anyone else to occupy her heart the way her niece had. She might have married several times, but none of her husbands had been the love of her life. Hope had always found that to be very sad.
Finding a stick, she started poking around in bushes. On a day filled with sunshine, the last thing she
wanted to encounter was a snake. All she found was a few discarded pieces of garbage. A soda can, a crumbled-up napkin, the wrapper from a protein bar. She lifted them all with the ends of her fingers and dropped them into her pack.
Surprise filled Houston’s eyes. “You think like a cop.”
Drat. “Uncle Roy is a cop.” One more piece of news she’d forgotten to share.
Houston narrowed his eyes. “We’re going to have a long talk very soon, Hope Jennings. You’re going to tell me everything, no matter how insignificant you think it might be. If not, you can pack your backs and get the hell off my ranch.”
“Okay.” She nodded. “I’m sorry. It’s hard to know who to trust.”
“You must have thought us trustworthy enough to share what little you have.” He turned away from her and pulled a rope from his pack. “You’ll have to search the ledge. I can’t because you’ll never be able to hold my weight.”
“I’ve never climbed without proper equipment.” Her blood chilled.
“Don’t worry. I might be mad at you, but I won’t let you fall.”
She didn’t have a choice but to trust him. The Armstrongs had never been untrustworthy, at least not that she’d heard. Upstanding citizens, men of their word, kind and truthful. She’d asked around before arriving and accepting the job.
She stood still while he tied the rope around her waist, trying not to tremble as his hands brushed her ribcage and hips. She tried to ignore the heady scent of his cologne or the strength in his shoulders. Now was not the time to get distracted by a handsome man. Especially one who seriously seemed to dislike her now.
“Ready?” Houston stepped back and looped the other end around the thick trunk of a tree, keeping the end in his strong hands. “Take it slow and easy. Yell if you get hung up.”
She nodded and backed off the ledge. Keeping a tight grip on the rope, she ‘walked’ her way to the ledge. “I’m down.”
Turning, she spotted a large rock with rust-colored stain. She fell to her knees and sobbed.
~
Houston watched as Hope grieved. Some of the anger he held dissipated. Maybe he’d be as distrustful as she was under the circumstances. Still, him and his family couldn’t help her if they didn’t know all the details. He stepped back to give her some privacy and leaned against the tree.
He could wait until she was ready to be pulled up. Glancing around the area, he tried to piece together what might have happened in the last minutes of Hope’s aunt’s life.
Who had she met up there? Too much time had passed for footprints to be of any value. The garbage Hope had picked up was most likely a dead-end, too.
The photographs were proof enough the dead woman hadn’t been there to hike. Who did she trust enough to meet on top of Mustang Pass in a state she rarely visited? Her husband? Lawyer? Friend?
Too many unanswered questions and Houston suspected Hope didn’t know much more than she’d already told him. True, he felt like he’d pulled every bit of info from her tiny inch by tiny inch, but didn’t think there was much more. He sent Wyatt another text, this one saying to check into Officer Roy Minton and see whether he could be dirty. The texts wouldn’t go through until they arrived back at the truck, but the information would reach Wyatt before he did.
A cry from Hope spurred Houston forward. He stared over the cliff. “What is it?”
“I see gold. Down there.” She pointed over the ledge. “You’ll have to lower me further.”
“That ledge is sharp. It could cut through the rope.”
“We have to try. It might be a vital piece of the puzzle.” Her eyes pleaded with him. “I’ll lean back as far as I can to keep the rope from rubbing.”
Against his better judgement, he nodded. “Don’t dawdle. If it isn’t the necklace, we don’t look further. Understand?”
She nodded and jumped.
The rope slid through Houston’s hands. A little warning would’ve been nice. He hissed against the scraping of the fibers against his palms. The further Hope went, the heavier she became.
“Hurry up.”
“Almost there.”
Houston planted his feet against a tree growing near the edge of the cliff and held on.
“Almost…got it.” She screamed and the rope went taut. “A snake, Houston, pull me up. Pull me up!”
“Are you bit?” He moved closer to see her swinging away from the ledge. Coiled and ready to strike was a timber rattler. His heart stopped. In one fluid motion, he pulled the pistol he always wore on his belt and fired as Hope swung back toward danger.
His shot found its target, preventing Hope from a nasty bite that would have killed her. He wouldn’t have been able to get her to the hospital in time. Hand-over-hand, he pulled her back to his side.
With a sob, she threw herself into his arms. “Oh, my gosh. I’ve never been so frightened in my entire life.” Her arms tightened around him. “Thank you.”
He grinned, enjoying the feel of the little liar in his arms. “The pleasure is all mine.” Relief that she lived swept through him. He’d help the minx, even if she wasn’t completely truthful with him. All he needed to know would come to light in time.
Stepping back, she held out her hand. In her palm, rested a heart-shaped locket. A diamond winked from the center of the heart. “I knew she wouldn’t have left it behind.”
“Open it.”
She unhooked the tiny clasp. Inside were two photos, one of Hope as Houston used to know her and one as a teenager blossoming into the woman who now stood in front of him.
Hope peeled back the photos. Behind one was a tiny sim card. She grinned up at him. “Bingo. Let’s get this back to ranch.”
She slipped the locket and card into her pocket, then bent to pick up her backpack. Her shirt lifted enough for him to see a raw welt around her waist where the rope had cut into her.
“Does that hurt much?”
She straightened and adjusted her shirt. “A little, but I’ll take care of it when we get home.”
He held out his hands. “We both need a little TLC. My mother will be in her element.”
“Will you send me away?” She asked softly.
He put his hands on her shoulders. “I was your knight in shining armor once, Hope. I’ll be it again if you’ll let me. I can’t promise I won’t get angry when you aren’t truthful.”
“I won’t lie or withhold anything again. I promise. Forgive me? You’re the only friend I have.”
He smiled. “I’ll always forgive you, sweetheart.” He released her, then gave her a playful swat on the rear.
She gave a startled yelp and glared. “What are you doing?”
“Treating you like one of the guys I used to play football with.” He set off down the path whistling a flirty tune. Hope wasn’t the only one of them full of surprises. He looked forward to a lot more chances to knock her off guard. If he kept up the friend relationship, she’d be more apt to trust him. Maybe he’d learn to trust her, too.
~
“Where is the will?” Roy Minton slammed his fist into the wall, leaving a hole in the plaster. That sneaky ex-wife of his had destroyed the one with his name on it. All he had was an unnotarized copy on his computer. He needed to make sure the original will never saw the light of day.
That stupid niece of hers had to have it. Where had she flown off to? Most likely back to the one-horse town she’d grown up in. Rats always returned to the nest. He’d find her and send someone to get what she’d taken. Where else could the will be if not in Hope’s grubby hands?
He picked up his phone and placed a call. “I don’t care what you have to do but find out where Hope Jennings is. Report back to me the minute you locate her.”
Chapter Four
Hope stood on the front porch of the Rocking 7 Ranch of Healing and smiled as ten boys and ten girls ranging in age from thirteen to sixteen filed off a rented bus. The night before she’d discovered that the sim card did, indeed, contain Aunt Lou’s will naming Hope sole
beneficiary. Having no need of the money, or a desire to live in the house now occupied by Uncle Roy, she had the task of deciding what to do with her new-found wealth.
“Welcome. We are so glad to have you,” she told the anxious youth grouping in front of her. “I’m Hope, and it is my greatest hope that you find what you need here. Please, come in and have a seat.” She stepped back and waved her arm in a welcoming gesture.
The bus driver stared at her through the windshield. She shuddered at his intense gaze, but kept her smile in place. It wasn’t the first time a man had paid her undue attention.
Inside, she introduced April and John, the two workers hired to help. “As you can see, we have a lot of fun activities planned, group therapy meetings, and plenty of free time for you to explore the ranch. You’ll be in rooms of two, girls this way, boys that. Oh, here is the ranch owner, Houston.”
Houston joined them, welcomed the group, and announced that supper would be served in one hour. “Y’all get yourselves settled in. Tomorrow will be a big day. We have some activities planned after supper to help us get to know each other better.”
Hope led the girls to their rooms while Houston did the same with the boys. Once roommates had been assigned, she rejoined the other adults in the common room. “A nice group for our first time.”
“Yes, it is.” Houston grinned. “Everything ready for tonight?”
She nodded. “Do you think they’ll participate? A lot of troubled youth don’t like to talk about themselves.”
“We’ll join in. If they see us responding to questions of what we all have in common, they’ll open up.” He tapped the brim of his hat. “See you at supper.”
Since the pat on the bottom yesterday, Houston had kept his distance, although remaining friendly. She didn’t blame him for wanting to keep their relationship neutral. He didn’t trust her, and she definitely didn’t need a romantic entanglement at this moment in her life. She had a job to focus on, one she would be good at. Although, she admitted to some trepidation about the night’s activities. Having promised to be truthful from here on out, Houston was about to learn a lot about Hope’s childhood.
Houston's Hope: A clean cowboy romantic suspense (The Brothers of Copper Pass Book 4) Page 2