Home on the Ranch: Wyoming Sheriff

by Rebecca Winters

  “Do you want to pet the pony now? Drake has a hold of him.”

  After debating it for a minute, Chase walked over to the pony and imitated Holden who’d been smoothing the horse’s neck and back.

  “How would you like to ride him around?” Drake asked.

  Holden knew that Chase was slowly losing his fear, but this was probably as close as he wanted to get to Sparky for today.

  “I don’t think I want to.”

  “That’s okay. Maybe the next time you visit.”

  Jessica walked over. “That sounds great. Thank you, Drake. Now, I think we’d better go.”

  The three of them left the corral and got back in the truck. Holden drove them to his ranch and pulled around to the barn. He turned off the engine and looked over his shoulder at Chase.

  “Your mother and I want to go for a ride. Will you ride with me on Blackie? I promise you’ll be safe.”

  “Where will I sit?”

  “Right in front of me.”

  It took at least a half a minute before he said, “Okay.”

  Victory! A small one, but a victory nevertheless. They were making progress.

  After Holden’s gaze connected with Jessica’s, he got out of the truck and opened the trailer for her while he went in the barn for Blackie. Chase stayed by her as he brought his horse out.

  “He’s huge!”

  “He needs to be in order to hold both of us.” Holden mounted him. “Come on up.”

  Before Chase could make up his mind, Holden caught him and helped him settle in. “See how easy that was? You just lean back against me and we’ll start walking. You can’t fall because I’ve got you.”

  Jessica had mounted Bucky and sidled up to them. No rodeo queen could look as gorgeous, or appear more at home on a horse, than she did. “This is so exciting, honey,” she said to Chase. “I’ve been wanting to ride with you for the longest time.”

  Holden lowered his head. “How are you feeling, Chase? Do you want to go for a ride, or would you rather get down? I don’t want you to do anything that you don’t like.”

  “Can we just walk around the corral first?”

  “Of course.”

  Together with his mother, they circled around twice, taking it slowly until Holden could feel the boy’s body relax. “You’re doing great. I’m proud of you. Have you had enough, or would you like to explore outside the corral?”

  “How far?”

  “Just to that copse of cottonwood trees you can see in the distance. Then we’ll come back.”

  “Okay.”

  Jessica smiled at her son, and they left the corral for the pastureland. Little by little, Chase started chatting. When they reached the trees and started back he said, “Can we go get a hamburger, Holden? I want fries in fry sauce, too.”

  “That sounds good. I could eat about five burgers, so I think we can manage it on the drive back to your ranch.”

  Chase looked over at her. “What do you want, Mom?”

  “A cheeseburger and fries. It’ll be our treat after everything Holden has done for us.”

  Before long, their pleasant ride ended. Jessica loaded her horse in the trailer while Holden put Blackie to bed with Chase watching him. When they drove away and came to a drive-through, she volunteered to go in for their food.

  In addition to food for herself and Chase, Jessica ended up buying Holden three supersized cheeseburgers with all the fixings and root beers for everyone. It was dark by the time they reached her ranch and she unloaded Bucky. Holden walked with her and Chase to the barn where she put out fresh hay and water. Then he accompanied them to the back door where she turned on the lights both in the kitchen and outside.

  Chase smiled up at him. “That was fun. Thanks, Holden.”

  “We’ll have to do it again.”

  “Next time I might try to get on the pony.”

  Hooray! “If you don’t, it doesn’t matter. I had a great time, too.”

  “Chase? It’s past your bedtime,” Jessica reminded him. “Why don’t you start your bath while I talk to Holden for a minute?”

  “Okay.” He ran off.

  “You’ve got a terrific boy there, Jessica.”

  She removed her cowboy hat and smiled up at him. “You bring out the best in him. I’ll never be able to thank you enough for what you’ve done for Chase. He’s slowly losing his anxiety around horses.”

  A faint smile lit his lips. “In order to help him, I’d like to spend more time with the two of you when I can arrange it. To be honest, I always dreamed of having a child like Chase. He has to be a great comfort to you.”

  “He’s my everything.”

  Holden tipped his hat. “I’ll call you when I have more information on the case and we’ll go riding again.”

  “We’ll look forward to it. Good night.”

  “Good night.”

  Chapter 5

  Thursday of the following week turned out to be a busy day at Style Clips. Millie had called in sick, so Jessica and Dottie had to do double duty to accommodate their clients. Jessica’s client had just walked out the door when her cell phone rang.

  She turned to Mrs. Avis, once of Millie’s clients. “I’ll be right back. Why don’t you get in the chair?” Then she walked to the chemicals room in the rear and pulled the phone out of her pocket.

  Holden’s caller ID.

  Jessica had almost given up that she’d hear from him this week. Every day since their last outing on Wednesday, Chase had asked her why he hadn’t called. She kept telling him that a sheriff’s job kept him so busy, it was a miracle if he had any free time. At least that was what she kept telling herself as one day, then another slipped away without hearing from him.

  “Hello, Holden?”

  “Hi. Remember me?”

  She chuckled while she felt that deep voice reverberate through her body to her toes. The truth was, he’d been on her mind constantly, but she didn’t dare tell him.

  “It appears that crime in Sublette County is keeping our sheriff busy. It must be really hard to have any kind of social life.” She wondered if he was involved with a woman. Jessica couldn’t imagine him not being so.

  “I signed up for it years ago.”

  “In other words, you wouldn’t want to do anything else.”

  “Not so far. But I’m afraid I’ve interrupted your work. Could you call me back when you find some free time today?”

  She blinked. “Sure. I have two more clients, then I’m through.”

  “What’s your weekly schedule like?”

  “This summer I’m working Monday through Thursday from nine to two, then I pick up Chase from playgroup. I also work part-time two Saturdays a month and keep Chase with me. My mother and the other two employees cover everything else.”

  “Do you take a lunch hour?”

  “No. I usually just run upstairs to my mother’s apartment and grab a bite between appointments. But you can call me anytime.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “I’ll phone you as soon as my next client leaves, Holden.” She knew this had to do with Trent’s case.

  “Terrific.”

  She hung up and hurried back to Mrs. Avis, more excited than she’d been all week. An hour and a half later, she went upstairs to her mom’s apartment to phone him.

  “Thanks for calling me back, Jessica. I wonder if you’d be willing to do me a favor.”

  “Of course. What is it?”

  “I see on the list of people you gave me that Wes Bowen is the owner of the dealership. You didn’t put an age down for him. How old would you say he is?”

  “Probably in his seventies. I forgot to put that down.”

  “No problem. Have you met him before?”

  “Every year we’d go to the Christmas party he threw for h
is staff at the Whitebark Hotel. I’ve probably talked to him half a dozen times. He and his wife came to the funeral and sent flowers. I always thought he was a very decent man.”

  “No doubt. Does he keep an office there?”

  “I don’t think so, but as you see on the list, his son Chuck is the general manager.”

  “How comfortable would you be phoning Wes and asking if you could talk to him in private? I need to keep this under the radar from his son and will tell you what to say.”

  “You mean now?”

  “As soon as you can.”

  “I can do it after we get off the phone.”

  “I’d appreciate that. Tell him I have a judge’s warrant to come in the dealership after-hours tonight to do some investigating of the accounts, personnel files and surveillance tapes. You’ll have to tell him the truth—that someone tampered with your car and because of it, Trent was killed. That means his son is a suspect, too, and I don’t want his son to know there’s an investigation.

  “This has to be kept confidential since anyone who was working at the dealership two years ago is a person of interest. Ask him to meet me there at 9:30 p.m. I’ll show up out of uniform driving my dark blue Subaru. Hopefully no one else will be around. If that isn’t convenient, then ask him to come to my office ASAP.”

  Obviously Holden was deep into the investigation. Jessica was glad she could help. “I’ll call him right now and get back to you.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Okay, talk to you soon.”

  She left the shop and drove home to look up Wes Bowen’s home phone number. After she’d eventually talked to him, she got back to Holden, who picked up on the second ring.

  “I’m sorry this took so long, Holden. I had to wait for Mr. Bowen to call me back. He was clearly horrified when I told him the reason for the call. He said he’d meet you at nine thirty, but I could tell he’s shaken up because he knows his son is a suspect.”

  “I’m going to reward you for this favor. Just so I’m straight about this—you’re free on Fridays, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “With tomorrow being Friday, let’s agree to meet at the park next to the library with Chase. I’ll take my lunch hour at one o’clock. We’ll talk and make plans for another outing with him.”

  She pressed a hand to her heart. There was going to be another one. “We’ll be waiting. I’ll pack some sandwiches and drinks.”

  “Don’t worry about food for me.”

  “Please, I want to. I’m so grateful for all your hard work on this case.”

  “Thank you. I’m making progress. See you soon. Say hi to Chase for me.”

  Jessica hung up and changed into a fresh outfit. After she picked up Chase, they were going to drive to the dealership. She was hoping one of the guys would make an offer on the truck.

  When she pulled up to Wilma’s, Chase came running out wearing his sheriff’s hat, no doubt wanting to impress his friends.

  “Hi, honey. You’ll have to take the hat off because we’re driving to the dealership. If anyone there saw it, they’d ask where you got it. It’s a secret gift from Holden.”

  “But, Mom—” he started to argue.

  “I promise to give it back after we get home. Right now I’m putting it in my tote bag for safekeeping.” Holden was doing everything in his power to keep the investigation a secret.

  Before long they pulled in at the service entrance. The door opened and Seth came out wearing the light blue dealership uniform, his long hair tied back in a ponytail. He smiled when he saw her.

  Her mother had been right. He was definitely interested in her. Jessica could feel it. She’d never thought of Seth as anything but one of the mechanics. That would never change. The more he came on to her, the more she disliked the attention.

  He sauntered up to her side of the truck. “Well, look who’s here! How are you, Chase?”

  “Good,” he said in a quiet tone. Jessica noticed her son wouldn’t look at him.

  Seth zeroed in on her. “Do you need an oil change? I can do it right now if you want.”

  She shook her head. “I came to see if any of you have decided to buy the truck. If not, I’m going to run an ad in the paper.”

  “Drive on in and I’ll ask Danny to spread the word.”

  “Who’s Danny?”

  He leaned closer. In a low voice he said, “Eddie’s new apprentice who doesn’t know squat about cars.”

  “Are you going to buy it?” Chase’s question came as a surprise to her.

  “Maybe.” He moved out of the way so she could drive in. He showed her where to park the truck. “Come into the waiting room.”

  Chase undid his seat belt and climbed out of the back seat. Seth stayed by her door to help. His arm brushed hers; there was nothing accidental about it.

  “What kind of drink do you want? I’m buying. How about a Sprite?”

  “Chase and I will share one. Thank you.”

  Jessica put an arm around Chase’s shoulder and guided him to the chairs where they sat down. Her son stayed close to her. Seth handed her the remote so they could choose what they wanted to watch on the TV.

  He also brought them a cold drink and removed the tab before handing it to Chase, but Chase wouldn’t take it. Jessica reached for it. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. I’ll be back.”

  Since her mother’s comment, plus the fact that he’d bought Chase that toy truck, Jessica had begun to feel uncomfortable around Seth and she wished she hadn’t driven out to the dealership after all. Chase was clearly unhappy and clung to her.

  Over the next hour, each of the mechanics popped in to say hello. In the end it was Bryan who made an actual offer after driving the truck around for a while. It wasn’t as high as she’d hoped for. She might get more money if she ran an ad in the paper. “I’ll think it over and get back to you soon.”

  Eddie bought Trent’s tools on the spot and handed her a check without her breaking down in tears.

  She’d decided not to sell the tool cart. Jessica had saved $1500 over a two-year period to pay for it and given it to Trent for his birthday. In the end, she couldn’t sell it and decided to keep it in case Chase became a mechanic one day and wanted a souvenir of his father’s.

  With her business accomplished, she and Chase got back in the truck. After Chase was settled in his car seat, Seth closed her door. “I hope you’re going to be there when I make my next appointment for a haircut.”

  This had to stop. She’d never let him down before... The fact that he was making something of it troubled her. Chase didn’t like Seth’s attention, either. He’d never had to share her with anyone except his nana.

  “I’m there during my normal working hours, unless there’s an emergency and I’m called away. Why don’t you call the shop first to make sure?”

  “Okay, I’ll do that.”

  Jessica started the engine. “One more thing. I didn’t realize you bought Chase that truck. I only found out recently. That was too generous. You shouldn’t have done it.”

  He studied her features. “I wanted to. What would you say if the next time I come in for my appointment, it’s at the end of the day? Afterward the three of us can go out for dinner, Chase’s choice.”

  Her body cringed. How to answer him when she wasn’t the least bit attracted to him and would never be interested? To make things worse, everyone at the dealership was a suspect in Trent’s case. For several reasons she needed to be careful how she turned him down.

  “I really can’t say right now. We’ll have to see.” It was the only excuse she could think of while he’d put her on the spot.

  “Sure,” he said, but he didn’t sound happy with her answer.

  She was eager to get away and breathed a sigh of relief when she drove out onto the main street. Her next destinatio
n was the dump so she could unload the rest of the boxes in the truck bed.

  How was she going to deal with Seth the next time he came into the salon? All the employees were suspects in Holden’s secret investigation, including Seth. Under the circumstances, the thought of having any dealings with him, let alone cutting his hair, made her feel sick to her stomach.

  “Are you going to go out to dinner with him?”

  “No, honey. Not ever.”

  “Good. Can I have my hat now?”

  Holden’s hat.

  Chase’s comment brought her back to the present in a hurry. Jessica was excited to see Holden tomorrow. Too excited. Her son would be thrilled, as well.

  “Sure.” She opened her bag and handed it back to him. “Guess what? Holden called. We’re meeting him at the park tomorrow for lunch.”

  “Hooray!”

  All roads led back to the charming sheriff who’d taken up residence in Chase’s mind. As for Jessica’s...

  While Holden had been arranging for a couple of prisoner transfers with the marshal’s office after talking to Jessica earlier, someone knocked on his door.

  “Sheriff Granger?”

  Holden looked up. “Come in and sit down, Mrs. Sills.” Jessica’s good friend Donna had arrived on time. She was an attractive brunette. “I appreciate your taking the time to come to my office this late in the day, but I couldn’t meet you before now and this is important.”

  “I admit I’m nervous to know what this is all about.”

  “As I told you on the phone, I’m doing an investigation on a case and need your input because you were good friends with Jessica growing up. You knew her husband Trent, right?”

  “Oh, yes. I used to watch him at the rodeo. We were all good friends and went on double dates with my boyfriend, Rich. It’s so horrible he died in that crash.” Her eyes watered.

  “That’s why I’ve called you in. Trent was killed because someone deliberately tampered with Jessica’s car, the one he’d been working on.”