“The cattle don’t have a GPS, Bane. They don’t know the difference between your land and mine.” Johnny exhaled loudly. His agitation showed in his beady eyes.
“That’s why there’s a thing called fencing. To keep them in.” Bane laughed and looked back at his foreman who gave a thumb’s up approval.
“There was a barbed wire fence up here a week ago,” Rogue interjected. Once upon a time he was a hot-head, but since he’d aged and matured some, he was spending less time with a bottle and more time on the ranch. “Know anything about its sudden removal, Bane?”
“Good question. What happened to the fence?” Kace asked. Having only been sheriff for a year, he’d already been called out five times to break up arguments between the neighbors. He and Johnny went way back, but it was important to keep things unbiased.
Bane’s ranch was about the size of Rhode Island after he’d been buying up neighboring property right and left. He’d been putting the pressure on Johnny to sell so he could expand even more, but Johnny refused, even though he’d been offered seven figures, double what it was worth. Kace had a feeling things were going to get worse before they got better. Greediness for land in the untouched Wyoming mountains made men act like children—and criminals. Coming to the small, quiet town of Bohannan, Kace had no idea that he’d have to babysit the neighbors to keep them from killing one another.
“Now, Sheriff. What makes you think I’d know anything about some barbed wire fence?” Bane smugly adjusted his collar. He had the arrogance of a man who always got his way. “Posey here thinks he can prove these are his cattle, but my boys and I looked and didn’t see one brand.”
“Johnny, is your cattle tagged?” Kace asked, looking at the man in question.
The man’s agitated expression answered the question.
“Everyone needs to clear out,” Kace ordered.
He gritted his teeth at Bane’s satisfied grin.
“Those are my cattle, son,” Johnny said through pinched lips.
Kace resituated his Stetson. “I believe they are, Johnny, but this is a civil matter. There’s nothing I can do without proof. Why the hell didn’t you tag them?”
“We’re a little short of hands right now.”
“Big mistake.”
“And we’re just going to let that bastard steal cattle?”
“I’m not letting him do anything. Now everyone move on or I’m going to take you all in for disturbing the peace!” My peace.
Bane’s men laughed and muttered under their breath as they gathered back into their trucks, some onto the saddled horses to corral the cattle.
The Posey hands reluctantly climbed back into their trucks.
Johnny looked like he could chew through nails.
Kace shifted in his dusty boots, feeling a stab of guilt, but he had to follow the law and his hands were tied. Johnny was a good, hardworking man who didn’t need all the added stress in his life.
The trucks kicked up dust and dirt as they spun their tires and Kace and Johnny stood aside, watching the Bane hands round up the beef.
“This ain’t fair, you know,” Johnny mumbled and spit onto the ground. “Back in the day men got shot for less.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of. You and Bane are acting like fools and this is going to escalate.”
“The man’s a thief.”
“Think about it. If the cattle aren’t tagged, how do either of you know who the owner is? They just happen to be on his land. Make sure your beef are tagged, my friend.” Kace shook his head. “Build the fence back up and keep a man on the line twenty-four seven. If Bane steps onto your property, then give me a call.”
“You know he’s willing to do anything to get my land. He had his men take the fence down. Plain and simple. He’s also the one who’s slaughtered a few of my livestock.”
Going back to his truck, Kace leaned against the hood. He understood the man’s agitation and wanted to help. “You think he’d waste his time?”
“I think he enjoys toying with people. A cat playing with its prey. Since that man came to Bohannan he’s done nothing but crush people.” Johnny looked into the distance, watching the cattle in a cloud of dust.
Crossing his ankles and tucking his thumbs into his front pockets, Kace sighed. “Stand your ground, Johnny, but we both know you and Bane can’t keep going at each other like rams, waving your shotguns around. Someone’s bound to get hurt. It’s not worth it.”
“The hell it ain’t. That bastard, Bane, is taking over everything.” With a shrug, Johnny dragged his worn hat off. He was a large man, strong as an ox too, but here lately he was showing his age in the deep wrinkles in his tanned skin. “I’m sure by now you heard Tyler’s back. Even more reason to keep the ranch in the Posey hands. My hope is she’ll take her place next to Rogue.”
Kace looked at the bright blue sky wondering if all hell was going to break loose. “I heard. She staying over at the Posey ranch?”
“Nah.” The corners of Johnny’s mouth dipped. “She still refuses to talk to me more than a few sentences. Stubborn as her momma, that’s for danged sure.”
“Looked in a mirror lately?”
“Hmph. I’ve got a few stubborn streaks, but my girl owns the corner lot. She blames me for her sister’s death.”
Even now, after fifteen years, the mention of Tyler made Kace’s heart hitch and his stomach twist. “Blames you for Susannah taking her own life?”
Johnny swiped the toe of his boot through the dirt. “You know how it was. There at the end Susy wasn’t herself. I couldn’t trust her not to steal me blind to pay for her fix. I loved her, but I had to stay firm. It wasn’t easy, and I had no clue…” He looked away and Kace saw the man’s shoulders lift and drop as if he carried the weight of the world.
Kace pushed off the truck. “You did what you thought was right. Sometimes we can’t control the decisions others make.” He knew that firsthand.
“I’ve screwed up with my kids, Cade. They needed their mother, but I wasn’t enough to keep her here in Bohannan” There was a new strain to his voice, proving he was becoming softer hearted with age.
“You didn’t screw up. They’ve made a few bad decisions, but look at how far Rogue has come for instance? And Tyler, well, she’s independent. Smart. Beautiful. Can shoot a shotgun better than most men I know and catch fish big enough to make a grown man cry.” Realizing where this was headed, Kace cleared his throat and adjusted his hat.
Johnny’s eyes lit. “Maybe you can check in on her. She’s staying at the Belleview Street rental.”
Making sure he didn’t show his emotions through his expression, Kace said, “Sir, with all due respect, I think it’s best your daughter and I steer clear of each other.”
“Ah, come now, son. You and my girl…you could always seem to reach her when no one else could. I know that she’s been hurting since Susy’s death. I’m afraid with her being back here she’ll feel an overload of emotions and take off again. She has a place on the ranch, along with Rogue. This is her home.”
Giving the other man a long look, Kace shrugged. “She has friends here. They’ll help her.” Since he’d rather not talk about the girl who’d broken his heart, he headed for the truck, climbed in and closed the door. “How’s everything else? Still seeing that heart specialist in Cheyenne?,” he asked through the rolled down window.
“I’m surviving, but the kick isn’t as high as it used to be.” He chuckled, but it fizzled. “As far as that nutjob in the white coat, he wants me to cut back on red meat and potatoes. Said it’ll be the death of me. Hell, if I eat all those green, orange, and purple vegetables, I’ll die from starvation. An old man can’t win, I tell ya.”
“That’s a fact for most of us, pal.” Kace turned the key and the engine roared alive. “If you need me, you know where to find me. Keep the guns at home.” He gave the older man one last wave and headed back toward town.
He had work to do, but his mind wandered down a path where it didn’t
belong. Tyler Posey. He’d heard a few days ago that she was back, even received a few calls from her, but he had no clue how long she’d stay. In the meantime, he’d steer clear of her.
~~~**~~~
Ordering a drink so she didn’t look conspicuous, Tyler took her bottle to the end of the highly-polished bar at Lolli’s Honky Tonk and slid onto the torn vinyl stool, settling her gaze on the front door with the flashing neon sign. It was more than the bright red light that kept her attention. Her best friend, Isla, had said that Sheriff Cade came into the bar and grill most evenings to grab takeout, and because he refused to return any of her calls, she had no other choice but to ambush him at his favorite go-to. She’d thought about going to the Sheriff’s station, but their first meeting—after fifteen years—should be casual. If she planned to ask him for a favor she had to be careful how she approached him. Tyler already guessed he’d be stand-offish.
Two beers, a handful of sad songs about cheating and heartbreak, and watching a dozen or so patrons come and go and still no Kace Cade, she was starting to believe he’d gotten the lowdown that she was here and was dodging her. He couldn’t hide forever. Eventually, their paths would cross.
“Want another?” the bartender, Mandy, asked.
“No thanks.” Her stomach was already turning from nerves.
“You’re not from around here, are you, darlin’?”
At the sound of the deep, male voice, she lifted her chin and followed the fancy pearl-buttoned shirt all the way to the man’s smile. “And what gives you that impression?”
He tipped his hat and slid onto the barstool next to her. “Oh, I’d remember if I saw you before. Can I buy you a drink?”
“I already have one.” She chipped at the corner of the label on the beer she’d been nursing for the last hour. The door opened and she darted a glance that direction, disappointment making her shoulders slump. It wasn’t the cowboy she was waiting for. She took a long sip from the bottle and winced. It had long grown warm.
“Looks like you’ve been stood up, ma’am.”
“Looks about like that.” Although technically she wasn’t, she certainly felt let down. She’d told herself over and over that she needed to see Kace to convince him to reopen the case of her sister’s death, but another part of her, a bigger part, was interested in seeing him after all these years. The memory she had of him in her mind closely resembled that of a superhero. It wasn’t possible. No man was a superhero. She knew because she’d dated some real zeroes over the years. Tyler accepted that when she did see Kace again, he will have aged. Maybe have a large belly, missing teeth, unsightly warts all over his face. Then she might finally put the image of the Greek God Cade out of her mind.
“I wouldn’t stand up a purdy thing like you, but today’s your lucky day. I’m here. The name’s Tim.” He winked.
“My lucky day, huh?”
“I’m a free man and nowhere to be but here. Tell me, what’s a classy lady like you doing in Bohannan?”
She gave him a half-smile. “As they say, “home sweet home’.”
“Ah, so you are from around these parts. What made you come back, sweetheart? Let me guess…an old flame? High school reunion? Your ten year? Am I close?”
“Do you think you’re close?”
“I’m hoping I’m getting warmer.” A sloppy smile carved his clean-cut face and he leaned closer, picking up a tendril of her hair and wrapping it around his knuckle.
“My turn.” She winked. “You’re in construction. Bruised knuckles, leather skin and dusty work boots give it away. I’m also going to guess that you’re contracted in, maybe to work with a local construction company?”
He swiped a hand down his jaw, looking a little pale around the edges. “You’re pretty good. How about we grab a six pack and take this somewhere else? I have a room over at the Inn.” He jutted a chin toward the door.
“Let’s see if I’m on a roll. When you said you were a “free man” , you must have been talking free-spirited because your wagon is hitched. A wife, two and a half kids and picket fence around that place you call home. I’m curious though, does the wife know you like to use the tool after working hours?”
He frowned and shot down his tequila. “A man deserves to have a bit of fun, little lady.”
“Sure he does as long as it’s not the ‘lying and cheating’ kind of fun.”
“I made a mistake.” He grunted. “I like my women warm.” He slammed the shot glass to the bar a little too loud which grabbed the bartender’s attention. Mandy and Tyler went way back and there was question in the woman’s gaze. No doubt she had a shotgun hiding behind the bar and wasn’t afraid to use it if needed.
Tyler leaned closer. “And I’m not into men who shame a woman’s intelligence by sliding off the wedding band and slipping it into his front pocket thinking she won’t see the tan line.” She stood and laid a five-dollar bill on the bar. “Growing up with a daddy who owns Posey Construction, I got used to the shenanigans that happen after the machinery is put away for the day. My daddy certainly warned me enough about the likes of men who worked all day and played all night.”
He blinked three times. “You’re Johnny Posey’s daughter?”
“He works the family ranch more these days, but yeah, he owns the company.” She smiled when Tim’s bottom lip protruded. “A word of advice, Tim. Bohannan’s too small to play the same lines on every female that comes along. Go home before you’re served divorce papers. Some contracting job in the middle of nowhere isn’t worth losing your family.”
“And what the hell would you know?” He sniffed loudly.
“Enough, considering my momma fell for a sweet-talking, deep-dimpled, well-dressed man just like yourself. Twenty years later and the pick-up lines are all the same. He promised her they’d see the world together, make love every night and he’d treat her like a queen. She packed a bag at record speed and left her husband and kids, ready for the fantasy trip of a lifetime that lasted about two days. Once she met her lover’s wife and four kids in some two stop-light town in Ohio, things got a little crowded.” Tyler wasn’t sure what was redder, Tim’s face or the bright neon sign over his shoulder. With a smile, she waved at Mandy. “Bye, Mandy. Tell your ma I said hello.”
“See you, Tyler. Stop over to the house when you get a chance. She’d love to see you.”
There was a gentle mist outside as Tyler headed across the parking lot, her plans thwarted again. Kace was playing hard to get.
Her phone vibrated and she reached for it, checking the screen. It was her father. She couldn’t deal with any of it tonight, so she dropped her phone back into her purse. They didn’t always see eye to eye. In fact, they’d butted heads a lot since Susy passed away. Tyler was having a hard time getting over many things, especially him refusing to come see her in New York, even when she’d played in her biggest role as Juliet. He’d used excuse after excuse, but she’d finally turned a deaf ear. Her father had never liked the idea that she didn’t stick around Bohannan, work on the family ranch, and marry Kace Cade. What was she supposed to do? Rope him and tag him as hers? Once upon a time she’d hoped something more would come of her relationship with the handsome cowboy, but things just sort of fizzled, and when she’d told him she was leaving Wyoming to pursue her dreams, he hadn’t once asked her to stay.
“Well, well. Look what the cat drug back into the backwoods.”
Swirling around on her heels, she almost jumped out of her brand-new boots. “Rogue Posey. Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes, boy. Last time I saw you that was all high and tight.” She reached up and tugged on the hair that touched his collar. “I bet you’re giving Daddy a coronary with all that fringe .”
“Ain’t you one to complain, sassy.” He gave her a big hug and swung her around, lifting her feet off the ground for a long twirl, just like he did when they were kids. When he set her back down, his expression became firm, but his eyes stayed warm. “Why aren’t you staying at the ranch? That’s home. Your
home.”
She pulled back slightly, placing her hands on her hips. “Keep your nose where it belongs, mister. I’ve only been back in town for a week and I ain’t looking for a lecture from my little brother.” She waved a finger at him.
“I’ve missed you is all. This thing where you come to visit every few years isn’t enough.”
“Well, last I knew, the road travels both directions.” She tried to hide her hurt. From the time he was born, three years after her, she’d nestled him under her wing and taken care of him, and Susy. After their mother had taken off, Tyler had become more like a mother than a sister.
“Come on, sassy. You know New York ain’t a place for a man like me. I’m a redneck cowboy and wouldn’t fit into the big city mold. How about you let me take you for ice cream? That always makes a blue-eyed girl feel better.”
Burying the wounds, she tucked her fingers around his elbow. “I can’t think of anything I’d rather do than spend time with my favorite brother.”
“I’m your only brother.” He dipped his hat. “But I’ll still take it as a compliment.”
“Maybe you can tell me all about the one who’s stealing my brother’s heart. You know she’ll have to pass my checklist, right Ro?”
“That’ll be a short conversation, unless you’re talking about the horses. It seems they’re about the only fillies I’ve been keeping company with these days. Dad runs the ranch like a drill sergeant, especially since he’s hung up his hard hat for a full-time Stetson. You know that. He likes things run like a well-oiled machine. I think he can’t seem to stay busy enough.”
“Yeah, I know how he keeps his expectations high.” She couldn’t manage to keep the disappointment from her tone.
“Ah, now, sass. It’s time you and Dad patch things up. He’s not getting any younger. You have a place at Posey Ranch, working right next to him and me. We both want you there. It’s time to put away those shit kickers and get a real pair of boots.” He snickered.
Pour me a Drink (Tarnation, Texas Book 3) Page 18