by Raeann Blake
* * *
“What are you doin’ in here, old man?” Clay grumbled as he trudged to the coffee pot.
“Missed your smiling face, son,” Shack said easily as he glanced over at him from the stove where he was cooking. “Drink some coffee. You’ll feel better in no time.”
Clay grunted something that sounded like it might be an answer but Shack didn’t turn around. He heard him take several sips before he felt him tap on his shoulder and turned to find a wide smile.
“How’s this?”
Shack laughed in surprise and nodded. “That’ll do.”
“What are you doin’ in here cookin’? Saturday’s and Sunday’s are your days off, too.”
Shack shrugged his shoulders and turned back to the stove. “Well, if we’re riding the fence line this morning, I just thought I’d better make sure you and Laine have something in your stomachs. I love you both, but you boys are heavy. I don’t know if I can get you back up in the saddle after you keel over from starvation.”
Clay snorted and leaned back against the counter. “After all this time, you think I don’t know the difference between when you’re spinning yarns and tellin’ the truth?”
Shack turned his head to grin at him slightly then nodded. “Yeah, I guess you do. I wanted to talk to you about last night. Got any ideas?”
“No. My first thought was Lynn, but since she was in the bunkhouse we know it wasn’t her. Then I thought about Pepper. I can’t see her out there sneakin’ around in the bushes. She’d be afraid she might get her shoes dirty. I just don’t know, Shack,” Clay said quietly then took another swallow of coffee.
“No, it’s a man. Laine and I went out at first light and did a little tracking. Followed his tracks back out to the road. Quite a hike so that rules out Yates. I don’t think he’s in shape to walk that far.”
Clay thought for several seconds then asked, “Yeah, but what about his boy?”
Shack nodded thoughtfully as he ladled several pancakes from the griddle onto a plate. “Yeah, he could make it. Young guy, fit. He doesn’t exactly get along with his daddy though. I can’t see him comin’ out here for the old man and I can’t think of a reason he’d come for himself.”
“Hailey,” Clay whispered.
Shack stopped and turned to look at him then went back to work. “What do you mean?”
“He asked her out and she turned him down. Maybe he doesn’t like that,” Clay said evenly.
It was Shack who thought for several seconds then. “Okay. Maybe. I guess that’s possible. We’ve never had anything like that happen before. If we’d been smarter, one or more of us would have been in a truck to go out to the highway and look around last night. He had to get here somehow. If we had driven up there last night, we probably would have found the vehicle he was in.”
“Yeah,” Clay said quietly. He took one more swallow before he finally said it. “I almost shot her, Shack.”
“I know you did, son. But you didn’t. And I know you got it across to her how dangerous what she did really was once you were back inside, right?”
“Yeah. She gets it now. It just…I was just so…”
“It scared the hell out of you. I know. But nothing happened and she won’t do it again. Get past this now. It’s over. Go on over there and sit down. Got enough pancakes, warm maple syrup, and sausage here to feed an army. Where is she anyway? And where the hell is Laine? He was supposed to be up here by now,” Shack grumbled.
“He’s here now. Goddamn, he’s nags worse than Isobell,” Laine said easily from the doorway.
Shack turned and pointed a finger at him. “Don’t you cuss me, boy. You ain’t too damn big to take over my knee yet. Get your scrawny butt over here and get some plates unless you wanna eat this stuff off the counter top.”
Clay and Laine both burst out laughing and Laine started for the dishes as Clay started pulling out silverware.
“Wow. Three good-looking men in the kitchen. This is one of those fantasies, right?” Hailey said from the doorway.
Clay and Laine both shot her wide smiles but Shack turned back to her laughing. “You poor child. If your fantasies include beat-up old men, you need some help. Come on in here. Brighten up our day.”
Hailey smiled back broadly then crossed the room and tiptoed to kiss him gently on the cheek. “Like you don’t you know you’re the most handsome of them all.”
“Hey,” Laine immediately protested.
“Shut up, boy. Nobody pulled your string,” Shack said quickly.
Hailey laughed and went to Laine next, giving him the same kiss on the cheek. She couldn’t help but laugh again when Laine immediately turned and stuck his tongue out at Shack. “Good morning, Laine.”
“And you,” she said when she turned to Clay. She walked straight to him and pulled his head down to hers, kissing him soundly on the lips.
Clay cleared his throat as she stepped back and shook his head with a wide smile when he found dancing eyes looking back at him.
“Huh. She didn’t kiss us like that, Shack.”
“That’s because you said you like to watch,” Hailey shot back to him as she turned to the coffee pot, missing Shack’s slow turn to look at him with wide eyes and the way Laine dropped his head when Clay chuckled evilly.
“Well?” she said as she looked back at Laine but then quickly shifted her eyes to Clay and didn’t give Laine a chance to answer.
“Do you have a graphic of the brand that I can print out and take with me this morning?”
Clay laughed and nodded. “Sure, baby. It’s on the computer. I’ll print it out for you.”
“Good. I’m starving and that smells so good. I guess Isobell sent you in here to make sure I didn’t eat coffee cake for breakfast, right?”
* * *
“You did what? Hailey, are you crazy? You went out there in the dark, knowing they had guns, without them knowing you were there?” Isobell asked in surprise.
“I know. It was so stupid. Which I figured out real quick when I found Clay’s rifle pointed at my chest.”
“Oh, my God. That must have scared you to death. It must have scared him to death.”
Hailey sighed after she’d taken another drink of coffee. “It did. He even had a dream about it later. Except in the dream he pulled the trigger. He woke up so upset…it just broke my heart. I’ll never do it again. And if I ever find out who was behind that house…none of it would have happened if it wasn’t for him.”
Isobell leaned back and scanned the street from the sidewalk table they were sitting at and shook her head. “We’ve never had anything like that happen before that I know about. I would have bet money that it was Lynn if Laine hadn’t said she was in the bunkhouse.”
“What about Pepper?” Hailey asked.
Isobell snorted and shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. She’d be afraid she might scuff her shoes or break a nail. You know the type.”
“Good morning, ladies. There’s something different about you today. Oh, I know. You’re not ready to chew nails.”
Hailey turned her head to find that same police officer stopped directly beside her. She lifted her head to look up at him then smiled broadly.
“And you’re not having to step between us to keep it from becoming physical. Good morning to you. My name is Hailey Lambert. This is Isobell Garcia. And you are…Officer York,” Hailey said as she rose and extended her hand while she looked down at his name tag then back up to him.
The officer took it and shook it firmly then Isobell’s as well when she did the same. “Yes, ma’am. Mitch York. I heard Mr. Yates call one of the gentlemen who was with you yesterday ‘Cardell’. From what I gather, you work for him?”
“Would you like to sit down? I do. We both do. He owns the Double-C Bar north of town. I’m his Business Manager and Isobell manages pretty much everything else that needs to be managed.”
They saw him hesitate for just a second then nod. “Sure, I’ll sit down for just a second. I have
to keep moving but I’ve got a few minutes. You’re new in town, right? I’ve seen you before, Ms. Garcia. But not you,” he said as he looked from Hailey to Isobell then back again.
“I am. I haven’t been here long. You’re from here, Officer?”
He shook his head and said, “You can call me Mitch. I’m from Montana, but not Bozeman. I grew up over around Missoula. I’ve only been in Bozeman a few months. You’re from the South, right?”
Hailey laughed in surprise and said, “Do you know that you are the first person here who has asked me that? I’m from New Mexico. Everywhere I’ve been since I left there, people have commented on the southern accent. But not one person in Montana has even mentioned it.”
Mitch smiled at her and shrugged his shoulders. “Montana’s a big vacation place. We get them from all over the country. I guess we probably grow used to all of the different accents after a while. We hear it, peg where they’re from, and don’t need to ask.”
“Then why did you?” Hailey asked candidly then took another sip of coffee.
Mitch chuckled slightly in surprise and shrugged his shoulders again. “I was making conversation, I guess. Maybe I just wanted to know where in the South.”
“Trying to find out who this person is you seem to keep having to run interference for?”
Isobell bit her bottom lip when the smile on the man’s face widened even more. “Something like that. I really do have to get going. Maybe I’ll run into you again sometime. Hopefully without Mr. Yates.”
Hailey laughed and rose with him then extended her hand again. “We can both hope for that. It was very nice to meet you, Mitch. And you can call me Hailey.”
“Hailey. That’s a pretty name. I’ll see you around, Hailey. It was nice to meet you both. Ms. Garcia,” he said as he nodded to Isobell then smiled back at Hailey before he finally released her hand and started to walk away.
Hailey turned to watch him go then sat back down and looked straight at Isobell with a deep frown. “Exactly how small a place is Bozeman? I’ve been into town exactly four times since that first day when I went by and paid Yates off. Out of those four times, I’ve run into Yates three of them, and now this cop three of them. What the hell?”
Isobell shrugged her shoulders and laughed quietly. “I don’t know. What I do know is that another time or two and that one will be asking you for a date.”
That made her frown deepen as she turned to look in the direction he had disappeared then back to Isobell again. “Did I give him the wrong impression? I mean did I say something or…”
Isobell laughed again and shook her head. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Hailey. You’re a beautiful woman, you’re friendly and out-going. He’s obviously single and likes what he sees. He’ll ask. All you have to do is say no.”
That didn’t make the frown go away. Instead she opened one of the boxes in front of her and ran her fingers across the silver belt buckle. “Maybe I should just stay on the ranch,” she murmured thoughtfully.
“Oh, come on, Hailey. What’s wrong with knowing men are interested? You don’t have to bite, honey. Enjoy it.”
“Maybe,” she said with the frown deepening even more.
“That is far too pretty a face to be in such a frown.”
Hailey shook her head in disbelief and turned to look up at Isaac. “Good morning, Isaac. How are you? You know Isobell, don’t you?”
“I do. How are you, Isobell?”
“I’m fine, Isaac. You look well.”
“Thank you. And why does this one have such a frown on her face?” he said as he let his head nod slightly towards Hailey.
“One that’s gonna get a lot deeper if you continue to talk about me like I’m not here. Your daddy does that and it irritates the hell out of me,” Hailey said evenly.
Isobell flattened her lips when she saw the wide smile spread across Isaac’s face before he turned back to her. “Now, God knows I would not want to do anything to irritate you. Even worse that I should do anything like my old man.”
Hailey sighed and dropped her head for a few seconds then rose and faced him squarely. She lifted her head and made herself smile up at the man and extend her hand in front of her in spite of her irritation at running into anybody else named Yates.
“I’m sorry. I’ve had any number of run-ins with him lately. I don’t mean to take it out on you.”
“Oh, I am used to that. I know that you’ll find this nearly impossible to comprehend, but you’re not the first person he’s rubbed the wrong way,” Isaac said as he dropped his voice to a conspiratorial tone.
Hailey and Isobell both burst out laughing and Hailey motioned to one of the chairs. “Would you like to have a seat?”
“Sure. I was just on my way down to one of the art shops. I have a friend there who lets me know any time they get in a new Jeff Harwell painting and he just brought one in this morning.”
“He must be very good if you make it point to know when he has something new,” Hailey said.
“He is very good. One of Montana’s finest. But then again we have a lot of talented artists who would fit into that category. But he is my favorite. He does mountain scenes. They’re just beautiful. Did you get settled in okay out at the ranch?”
Hailey nodded and said, “I did, yes. I love it there. At the risk of offending you, can I ask you a question?”
“I don’t offend easily, Hailey. What’s your question?” Isaac asked pleasantly.
Hailey hesitated for just a second then turned and pulled a sheet of paper out of her bag then laid it in front of him.
“This is a list of the women who have had my job for the last six months. Would you tell me if you know any of them?” she asked quietly and cut her eyes to Isobell in time to see her frown slightly.
Isaac scanned down the list and the looked up to her. “Yes, I know some of them. Why?”
“Can you tell me if your father knows any of them?”
Isaac finally nodded. “Ah. This is about what he said to you, isn’t it?”
“You know what he said?” Hailey asked evenly.
“Yes. And you want me to help you prove that he sent some of these women out there to destroy Clay.”
Hailey shrugged her shoulders and said, “I’m just asking you for a little information, Isaac. Unless of course you agree with what he does.”
Isaac held her eyes for a few seconds then shook his head. “You haven’t been here long enough to know what he’s done. For your information, I have a world of respect for Clay. You don’t know what it was like for him. I think the fact that he managed to not kill that bastard speaks to just what kind of man he turned out to be. And I can guarantee that neither his daddy nor mine had anything to do with that.”
“I know about his daddy. And I know about how he grew up.”
Isaac’s gaze didn’t waver. “Yeah? Do you know about the day he drove off and left Clay here in town to walk home on his own in the dead of winter with four feet of snow on the ground?”
“What?” Hailey gasped as she looked to Isobell and saw her nod slightly in agreement.
“Then I guess you don’t know everything about how he grew up. Clay was a loner. He had to be. We’re the same age and we were in the same grade, but he never made any friends. And if Daddy ever found out that I even tried to talk to him, I got tanned good.
“Clay’s daddy brought him into town for a haircut about once every two or three months. That old bastard had a really nice truck. I mean real nice. Anytime he brought Clay in, Kathy came, too. Kathy rode in the truck. Clay had to ride in the back. It didn’t matter what the weather was, Clay rode in the back. We were nine years old and it was cold as hell that day, pretty close to zero. But there he was in the back of that truck. When they got ready to go home, they stopped by the store to pick up some things. I walked outside when they were loadin’ up. I heard Clay ask him if he could ride up front just once.”
He stopped and looked down at the table for a few seconds and shook
his head before he looked back up at her and went on. “That bastard spat on the ground and told him he’d let a cur dog ride in there before he would Clay. Then he told him if the back of the truck wasn’t good enough for him, he could walk. And he got in that goddamned truck and drove away with Kathy screaming for Clay at the top of her lungs. I…”