Cardwell Ranch: The Next Generation ; Justice at Cardwell Ranch

by B. J Daniels

  Hank glanced at her. “I think we’re good with that.”

  * * *

  FRANKIE HELPED HERSELF to another stack of silver-dollar-sized pancakes, slathered on butter and then drowned them in chokecherry syrup. She couldn’t remember ever being this hungry.

  So much had happened and in such a short time. She would have worried about that before Hank. She was no longer worried about it happening too fast. Instead, she was ready for the future in a way she’d never been before. She felt free, everything looking brighter, even before she’d heard the news about J.J.

  Trent had been arrested and confessed everything, including killing the cop. He’d said it was self-defense, that J.J. had been reaching for his gun. But the Glock hadn’t been found on the cop—or at the scene—because Frankie had taken it.

  After hearing what all the cops had against him, including assaulting Hank and dealing drugs, along with killing an unarmed cop, Trent decided to make a deal for a lesser sentence for what he knew about the drug ring and Darrel’s part in it.

  Frankie could feel Dana watching her eat and smiling. “So you’re a private investigator,” she said. “Sounds dangerous. I was thinking that if you were to get married and have babies...”

  Swallowing the bite in her mouth, Frankie grinned at her. “Hank hasn’t asked me to marry him and you’re talking babies.”

  “He’ll ask. I’ve never seen my son happier.”

  Frankie thought about the hot shower she’d stepped into last night after they’d returned to their cabin. Hank had joined her, sans his clothes this time. Their lovemaking had been so passionate under the warm spray that she felt her cheeks heat at the memory even now.

  “He makes me happy too,” she said and took another bite of pancake.

  “I can tell,” Dana said with a secret smile. “You’re glowing this morning. If it wasn’t too early, I’d think you were pregnant.”

  Frankie almost choked on her bite of pancake. True, last night in the shower they hadn’t used protection, but pregnant? She swallowed.

  “Would that be so awful?” Dana asked.

  She thought about it for one whole instant and smiled. “Not at all.” The thought of her child growing up on this ranch made her happy. She and Hank had talked about the future last night after their shower. He’d asked how she’d feel about living on the ranch, if she would still want to work as a private investigator, if she wanted children, how she felt about dogs and cats and horses.

  She’d laughed as she’d listened to his questions and grinned. “I’d love living on this ranch, I’d probably want to be involved in ranching with you rather than continue working as an investigator, I do want children, and I love dogs, cats and horses. After that horseback ride with you, I’m hooked.”

  “Was it the horseback ride or me that got you hooked?” he’d asked with a grin.

  “By the way, where is my son?” Dana asked, interrupting her thoughts.

  Frankie helped herself to a slice of ham and just a couple more pancakes. “He went to say goodbye to Naomi.”

  * * *

  HANK PARKED IN the pines beside the Gallatin River as he’d done so many times before. This time he was anxious to reach the water. He climbed out and wound his way through the tall pines. A breeze swayed the tops of the boughs, whispering. The sound of the river grew louder. He could feel the sun as it fingered its way through the pines. He breathed in the scent of pine and water as if smelling it for the first time.

  Ahead, he got his first glimpse of the cliff. It was dark and ominous-looking, shadowed this morning until the sun rose high enough to turn it a golden hue.

  It seemed strange to make this trek after everything that had happened. He wasn’t sure he could ever forgive Naomi for what she did. He and Frankie had almost gotten killed because of a bag full of money. He still couldn’t believe that she’d died protecting it.

  He broke out of the pines and stood for a moment at the edge of the trees. The breeze was stronger here. It rippled the moving surface of the river and ruffled his hair at his neck. He took off his Stetson and turned his face up to the breeze, letting it do what it would with his normally tousled dark hair. He couldn’t help but think of Frankie’s fingers in the wet strands last night as she pulled him down to her mouth. The memory of the two of them laughing and making love in the shower made him smile for a moment before he dropped down to the edge of the river.

  He listened to the gentle roar of the water as it rushed over the rocks and pooled at his feet. The breeze lifted his hair as he looked up. The ledge was a dark line cut across the rock surface. For three years it had lured him back here, looking for answers. Now he knew it all.

  He thought of Naomi standing on that ledge that night with Tamara. He’d always thought of her as helpless, defenseless, fragile and delicate. He’d always felt he had to protect her—even her memory. He could almost see her teetering on that ledge. Would they have let her live if she’d given them the money? They would never know. But he knew now that she was willing to die rather than give it up.

  Hank hated what that said about her. He thought of her mother working all those years to support herself and her daughter. Was that what had made Naomi think she had to steal? Or was it a sickness that had started with shoplifting and had gotten away from her?

  Naomi’s mother had made a life for herself with a man who loved her. Lillian would survive this since he suspected she knew her daughter much better than he ever had.

  He waited to feel Naomi’s spirit, to see a ghostly flash of her. He expected to feel her presence as he had so many times before. He’d always thought she was waiting here for him, pleading with him to find her killer.

  Now he felt nothing but the summer breeze coming off the cool surface of the river. He stared at the ledge through the sunlight, but felt nothing. Naomi was gone—if she’d ever really been here.

  As he settled his Stetson back on his head, he realized it was true. Naomi’s ghost had been banished for good. He felt lighter. Freer. The cliff no longer held him prisoner. Neither did Naomi.

  “Goodbye,” he said, glancing once more at the cliff before he started back to the pickup. He realized that he could walk away without ever looking back, without ever coming back. It felt good. He felt good. He couldn’t wait to get to Frankie. They were leaving today, but they would return.

  He drove toward the ranch, excited about life for the first time in three years. He couldn’t wait to see Frankie. But first there was something he had to do.

  * * *

  HUD LOOKED UP to find his son standing in the doorway of his office. “Is everything all right?” he asked, immediately concerned. Hank had an odd look on his face.

  “I need to ask a favor.”

  He and Hank hadn’t talked much since everything had happened. His son’s statement about what had transpired at the cabin had filled in a lot of the blanks. He’d wondered how Hank had taken the news about Naomi and if he would finally be able to put the past behind him—with Frankie’s help.

  “Name it. If there’s something I can do...”

  Hank came into his office and closed the door behind him. His son seemed nervous. That, he realized, was what he’d been picking up on the moment he saw him standing in the doorway. He’d never seen him nervous. Angry, yes. But not like this. He realized that whatever his son had to ask him, it was serious.

  “When I asked you for Grandmother’s ring—”

  Hud swore. He’d forgotten the day that his son had come to him and asked for his grandmother’s ring. Since he was a little boy, Hank had been told that his grandmother Cardwell’s ring would go to Mary, but that his grandmother Savage’s ring was his for the day that he met the love of his life and asked her to marry him.

  But when Hank had asked for it, saying he was going to marry Naomi no matter what anyone thought because they were all wrong about her, Hud had
turned him down.

  “I’m sorry, son. I can’t let you give Naomi the ring.” He and Dana had discussed it numerous times in the days before Hank had come to him. They’d seen that Naomi was pushing marriage and could tell that their son wasn’t ready. Add to that Naomi’s...problems, as Dana referred to them.

  “She’s a thief,” Hud had said. “Not just that. You know she’s pressing Hank to leave the ranch to work for her stepfather.”

  “Maybe it’s what he wants.”

  Hud remembered being so angry with his wife that he’d gotten out of bed and pulled on his jeans, had left. He and Dana seldom argued. But that night he hadn’t been able to take any more. He’d driven up to Hebgen Lake to see his father, Brick, an old-time lawman. Hud had named one of his twin son’s after his father; the other one after Dana’s father, Angus.

  He and his father had often been at odds, and yet that night, the old lawman was who he’d gone to for help. It was the same year that Brick had passed away. He remembered waking him up that night. Why he chose his father was a mystery since the two of them had spent years at odds.

  But Brick had given him good advice. “Stick to your guns. He’s your son. You know him. He won’t love you for it. Quite the contrary.” He’d seen the gleam in his old man’s eyes and known that he was talking about the two of them and the years they’d spent knocking heads. “You’re doing him a real disservice if you just give in to keep the peace.”

  He’d stayed the night, driven back the next morning and told Dana that he wasn’t giving Hank the ring if he asked for it again. She’d been furious with him, but he’d stuck to his guns, even though it had cost him dearly both with his wife and his son. He’d never known if Hank would have married Naomi anyway if she’d lived.

  “When you’d asked for my mother’s ring, I thought you were making a mistake,” Hud said now. “I didn’t want you giving the ring to the wrong woman and later regretting it when you met the love of your life.”

  Hank shook his head. “It was your decision since my grandmother apparently put you in charge of it.”

  “Actually, it was your grandpa Brick,” he said.

  “Did he also advise you to not give it to me?” Hank asked.

  Hud wanted to be as honest with him as possible. “Your mother and I argued about it. I had to leave, so I drove up to your grandfather’s place and asked him what I should do.”

  Hank’s eyes widened. “You actually asked your father for advice?”

  “It happens,” Hud said and smiled. “Admittedly, it took years before I found myself doing that.”

  With a grin, his son said, “It’s hard for me to admit that you were right.”

  “I understand.”

  “But I’m back. I want to give Grandmother’s ring to Frankie, and I’m not taking no for an answer this time. Rightfully, it’s my ring to do—”

  “I totally agree.” Hud reached into the drawer where he’d put the ring after meeting Frankie.

  “You have it here?”

  “I had a feeling you’d want it,” he said.

  Hank shook his head as he took the small velvet box. “I will never understand you.”

  “Probably not.” He watched his son lift the tiny lid and saw Hank’s eyes light up as he stared down at the diamond engagement ring.

  “Do you think she’ll like it?” The nervousness was back.

  “She’ll love it because she loves you.”

  * * *

  FALL WAS IN the air that late day in August. The seasons changed at will in Montana and even more so in the canyon so close to the mountains. One day would feel like summer, the next fall, and in the blink of an eye snow would begin.

  Dried leaves rustled on the aspens as Frankie rode her horse out of the pines and into the wide meadow. She breathed in the crisp, clean air, reined in her horse and dismounted at the edge of the mountain to wait for Hank. He’d been acting strange all day. She knew it had to be because they would be leaving here—at least temporarily.

  Last night they’d lain in bed, wrapped up in each other after making love, and talked about the future.

  “Are you sure you’d be happy at the ranch? Because if not, we could—”

  She’d kissed him to stop the words. “Hank, I love the ranch. I can’t imagine living anywhere more...magical.”

  He’d eyed her suspiciously. “You aren’t just saying that because you’re crazy in love with me.”

  “I am crazy in love with you, but no, I wouldn’t lie to you.” He’d told her that the ghost of Naomi was gone, but she wondered. He still thought that because Naomi could never be happy at the ranch, neither could any other woman. She knew it would take time for him to realize that she was nothing like Naomi.

  “Look at your mother, Hank. She loves this ranch just like her mother did. Isn’t that why your grandmother left it to her, passing on the legacy? And all the women your uncles are married to. They’re all happy living here,” she continued. “Isn’t it possible I’m more like your mother than...?” She wouldn’t say “Naomi.” “Than some other woman might be?”

  He’d nodded and smiled as he kissed her. “I feel so lucky. I keep wanting to pinch myself. I guess that’s why it’s so hard for me to believe this is real. I never dreamed...” He kissed her again. “That I could be this happy.”

  Now, as he rode up beside her, his Stetson hiding much of his handsome face, she felt almost afraid. He’d been so quiet all morning and it wasn’t like him to hang back on his horse the way he had. As she watched him slowly ride toward her, her heart fluttered. She was crazy in love with this man, just as she had told him. And yet maybe this was too fast for both of them.

  She thought of J.J. and quickly pushed it away. Hank wasn’t J.J. Whatever was going on with Hank—

  At a sound in the pines, she looked past Hank to see Hud and Dana come riding out of the trees. Behind them were Mary and Chase, and behind them were Stacy and the rest of the family.

  Frankie blinked. “What?”

  Hank looked up and grinned. “I am terrible at keeping secrets, and this one was killing me this morning,” he said as he dismounted and took her in his arms. “I hope you don’t mind.”

  Mind that he’d invited his entire family on their horseback ride? She felt confused, and yet as everyone rode toward them, they were all smiling. One of the uncles brought up the rear with a huge bunch of helium balloons.

  “Hank?” she asked. He only hugged her tightly. She could see the emotion in his face and felt her heart take off like a wild horse in a thunderstorm. “Hank?” she repeated as they all began to dismount. His uncle was handing out the balloons. “I think you’d better tell me what’s going on.”

  The family had formed a circle around them and seemed to be waiting, just like Frankie. Hank turned to her, taking both of her hands in his.

  “I know this is fast, but if I’ve learned anything, it’s that when things are right, they’re right,” Hank said and cleared his voice. “You are the most amazing woman I’ve ever met. You’re smart, talented, independent to a fault, stubborn as the day is long, courageous—way too courageous, I might add—determined and...beautiful and loving and everything I could want in one unique woman.”

  She tried to swallow around the lump in her throat. “Thank you, I think.”

  A murmur of laughter rose from the group gathered.

  “You saved my life in so many ways,” Hank continued. “I can never thank you enough for that. And you’ve brought just joy to my life when I never thought I’d ever feel again. Frankie...” He seemed at a loss for words.

  “Come on. Get on with it,” someone yelled at the back of the group, followed by another burst of laughter.

  Hank laughed with them. “They all know that I’m like my father, a man of few words.” Yet another burst of laughter. “But if I forget to tell you all of these things in t
he future, I wanted to be sure and say them today. I love you, Francesca ‘Frankie’ Brewster, with all my heart.”

  She watched him drop to one knee to the applause of the group.

  He looked up at her, his blue eyes filled with love. She felt her own eyes fill with tears as he asked, “Will you do me the honor of marrying me?”

  The tears overflowed and cascaded down her cheeks as she nodded, overwhelmed by all of this.

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box. “This ring was my grandmother Savage’s.” He took it out, held her left hand and slipped it on her finger.

  She gazed down at it. “It’s beautiful,” she said as he got to his feet. Looking into his handsome face, she whispered, “I love you,” and threw her arms around him.

  As the two of them turned, his family let out a cheer and released the balloons. Frankie looked up toward the heavens as dozens of colorful balloons took flight up into Montana’s big sky. She’d never seen a more beautiful sight because of what they all represented.

  Hank hugged her and then everyone else was hugging her, the meadow full of love and congratulations. “This is only the beginning,” he said with a laugh. “You always wanted a big family. Well, you’re going to have one now.”

  “I never dreamed...” she said and couldn’t finish. How could she have dreamed that one day she’d meet a cowboy and he’d take her home and give her a family?

  * * *

  Justice at Cardwell Ranch

  This book is dedicated to my amazing husband. He makes all this possible along with inspiring me each and every day. Thank you, Parker. Without your love, I couldn’t do this.

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three