A Cowboy's Pride

by Karen Rock

  “Thanks, Mary. Would you help me with something?”

  “Sure, honey. Anything.”

  “Could you get me out of this shapewear and then burn it?”

  Mary grinned. “My pleasure.”

  When she emerged, Cole cupped her elbow and led her aside. “You did a good job in there,” he said gruffly. “Thank you for—for showing the truth.”

  Her senses sang at the approval in his voice. “I always do, even when it’s confusing and messy. Cole...the other day when I kissed you—”

  Cole shook his head, cutting her off. “I’ve had time to cool off. You don’t know your mind yet. Neither of us has figured out how to make things work.”

  “But we want to,” she whispered when a couple of crew members ducked past them, rubbernecking.

  “Yes...” Cole glanced back into the living room at Joy and Boyd. “Hearing my pa talk about Joy, how he remembered so much of their first dance, reminded me of us. I’ve never forgotten how pretty you looked when I picked you up for my birthday party.” One side of his mouth tipped up, and he shook his head. “I still couldn’t believe you’d said yes. And when you opened the front door in your yellow sundress, white daisies in your curly hair, a little pearl necklace around your throat, I thought I was the luckiest guy in the world.”

  Her knees dipped at his confession. “I felt that way, too. You were the first person who’d ever noticed me. And in your blue dress shirt and tie, I’d never seen anyone handsomer. I’ll never forget that night—how you looked, but mostly how you made me feel. Special.”

  “I grew up stuffing down everything in my life, whether it was family secrets or my feelings. I wanted to hide who I was. Then all the negative attention after Ma killed herself... I wanted to just disappear...” He paused and cupped her face. “But you wouldn’t let me—you always wanted everyone to know who you were—and I was just the guy who discovered you first.”

  “The only man that’s ever counted.”

  He blinked at her. “You mean that?”

  “I—I do. There’s been no one else.”

  Cole’s hands dropped to her waist and squeezed, his smile wide. Pure, unadulterated happiness. “I want a second chance with you.”

  Her heart exploded at his confession. When she opened her mouth to answer, he shook his head and continued. “I’m a one-woman man, Katie-Lynn. When I gave my heart twelve years ago, I gave it for keeps. All those things we talked about in our Say Anything tree... I’ve never told them to anyone else. A part of me belongs only to you, maybe more than it even belongs to myself. I’m still yours if you want me.”

  “I do, Cole,” she gasped, her breath coming too quick to catch. “It’s just...how could it work?”

  “Would you consider coming home for good? I’ve seen you with your family, the community. You’re happy here. And you’re miserable in LA. I can fulfill you, Katie-Lynn, shower you with more attention than you’ll ever want. So much, you’ll probably be begging for privacy...if you’d give me the chance.”

  Her brief laugh trailed off as the sobering reality of what he’d proposed sank in. “So, you still won’t compromise? I’d have to give up everything to be with you?”

  “Think of what’d you be gaining.”

  “I—I—” She hesitated.

  This interview reminded her of how much she loved her job. Yet she loved Cole, too. Why did she have to give up one for the other? A niggling sense of foreboding took hold; he won’t give up anything but expected her to?

  She swallowed back her concern as she drank in his tender, vulnerable expression. Surely, he wouldn’t be that selfish. They’d work out the particulars later.

  Cole framed her face with both hands, and his eyes delved into hers. “You don’t have to give me an answer now, but will you think about it?”

  “Yes,” she whispered before his lips captured hers in a kiss as soft as a dandelion’s wish.

  “For now,” Cole said, pulling back, “let’s focus on a mystery we can solve.”

  At her relieved nod, he continued. “The swimming spot Joy mentioned...” His eyes were a deep, intense blue as he peered down at her, willing her to see the significance.

  Her thoughts raced backward, rewinding the interview then stopped. Understanding snatched every bit of air from her body.

  “It had a spring-fed brook,” she gasped.

  Cole gripped her hands, excitement coursing from his fingertips. “And a tall Scotch pine to jump from. It could be Maggie and Everett’s meeting spot.”

  “We need to talk to Joy and Boyd to pinpoint the spot.”

  Cole peered out the window beside them. “I’ll ride out. Should be able to make it back in time for the rehearsal dinner.”

  “You’ll wait for me?”

  Cole released her hands to cup her face, his calloused palms so gentle, she ached. “I always have.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  COLE GUIDED CASH up the rocky incline, closely eyeing the rugged terrain leading him and Katie-Lynn to his father’s swimming hole. Nervous anticipation left him restless and shifting in the saddle. Would they find the jewel? Solve the mystery? Hearing Joy’s hope for a reconciliation spurred his mission to clear his family’s name and resolve the feud.

  But solving the mystery meant ending his time with Katie-Lynn if she chose LA over him again. He snuck a glance at her as she squinted over her mount’s head, concentrating on the treacherous ground. In a pink shirt tucked into faded jeans, the tips of her black boots peeking out from the hem, she looked herself, which was to say, as pretty as a summer dawn. Yet she’d looked professional and polished earlier when she’d interviewed his parents, her skill impressing him deeply. She was good at her job. What’s more, she enjoyed it.

  Seeing her in action made him question if she really was miserable in LA. The lifestyle might be lacking, but the work—the spotlight—set her aglow. If she gave it up, could he make her as happy as she’d looked in front of the camera? Or would she feel as miserable and penned-in as his mother?

  His jaw clamped. Katie-Lynn wasn’t his ma. She was a strong woman who knew her mind. She wouldn’t abandon her dreams for him. That wasn’t what he was asking...or was it?

  She said she wanted a second chance, too. Like all Lovelands, he prided himself on his patience. When it came to Katie-Lynn, though, his fortitude failed him. He wanted to know, now, if they had a shot at happiness. If she left again, she’d take his heart with her. Without her, he’d have no need of it, anyway.

  He could follow her to LA...

  Cash stumbled slightly as they crested the bluff and emerged atop a tree line. “Whoa, boy,” Cole muttered, steadying his paint horse. Katie-Lynn rocked in the saddle as Spirit clamored up and over the edge next.

  Compromise. He’d never considered it before, but now he wondered. He’d given her an all-or-nothing ultimatum when they’d been engaged. Had he played a part in driving her away by trying to hold her back? If he hadn’t been so adamant about her leaving, maybe things would have worked out between them.

  Was he repeating the same mistake this time around?

  If you keep doing what you’ve always done, don’t expect a different result...

  “That was steeper than it looked,” she gasped, once they moved onto the flat-top, needle-covered ground.

  He dragged in a gulp of crystalline air: pine, fresh water and the wildflowers coloring the path. “It’s no wonder Joy’s parents thought Pa reckless for coming here.”

  A twig snapped behind them. Cole twisted in the saddle, peered at the shadowed brush, then faced front again.

  “Did you get a chance to read over the documents J.D. sent over?” The exertion colored Katlynn’s face and drops of moisture dotted her brow.

  He doffed his hat and waved it in front of his hot face. “Daryl needed my help with the backhoe. Anything interesting abo
ut the Crystal River Railroad’s grant?”

  “It confirmed Maggie’s journal account. Shortly before she died, the land grant office issued a letter of intent to audit Clyde’s company for ‘misappropriation of funds.’”

  He sucked in a quick breath. “He’d been skimming money from the grant?”

  “Yes. The completed audit proved a large amount of the grant was not accounted for, the books falsely inflated.”

  “What’d he do with the money?”

  “J.D. wondered that, too. Knowing Clyde was from Chicago, he did some digging and found old tender notes between Clyde and a gambling outfit there.”

  Cole resettled his hat on his head and pulled the brim low over the strong sun slanting through the pine canopy. “Tenders, as in monies owed?”

  “Right. And he was in debt up to his ears. He needed to marry Maggie Cade fast to get her jewel and settle his accounts.”

  Silence reigned as he digested the information. Clyde had ample reason to force a pregnant Maggie to marry him.

  Another crack splintered the quiet. Cole whirled in the saddle but caught only the slightest movement, a flash of brown. Was an animal stalking them? The hairs on the back of his neck rose. A grizzly? He unsnapped the fastener securing his pistol to his saddle.

  “An animal?” Katie-Lynn glanced over her shoulder briefly, her hand clenched around the reins.

  “Sounds like.”

  “Grizzlies are hungry in the spring.” Katie-Lynn’s voice dropped to a whisper. Her face paled.

  “Let’s pick up the pace.” He squeezed Cash’s sides, easing him into as fast a trot as he dared with the bluff falling away on either side of them.

  “It makes sense now why Clyde moved up the date of the wedding.” Katie rode straight-backed beside him. Her eyes darted over her shoulder.

  Cash snorted, a trumpeting sound he usually made when he sensed danger. “Easy boy.” Cole patted Cash’s soft neck.

  Spirit nickered in answer. Did he fear a predator? Cole drew his pistol and rested it on his tense thighs.

  “The government would have pulled his grant if he failed to return the missing funds. He married a Jane Eleanor Prescott, a whale oil heiress from Maine, shortly after Maggie’s death and settled up his account.”

  “How long did she last?”

  “Long enough to give him a son...or someone’s, anyway. She actually outlived him.” Katie-Lynn eyed Cole’s gun. “You think we should stop?”

  Cole twisted round in the saddle, spied nothing unusual, then shrugged. “Whatever was following us must have stopped. Besides. We’re here.”

  They dismounted, tied their horses to an oak tree and began scouring the area. No mulberry bushes, Cole noted with disappointment. Or Scotch pines. Maybe Joy’s memory had been off?

  “For you.” Cole picked a flower and tucked the purple bloom behind Katie-Lynn’s ear. Her wide, delighted smile rose to her sparkling eyes.

  When he leaned forward, she pressed a hand to his chest, stopping him. “We agreed to focus on this mystery for now.”

  He slid his hand down the length of her slim arm to tangle with her fingers. “Never said we couldn’t have fun while doing it.”

  Her mock-frown lasted all of two seconds before she broke off laughing. “You’re incorrigible.”

  “Persistent.”

  She looped her arms around his neck. “An attractive quality in a man.”

  He slid his arms around her and flattened his palms against her slim back. “Oh, yeah?”

  “Yeah.” The teasing smile playing on her lips fired him up from head to toe.

  A thump to their left sent them stumbling apart. Cole grabbed his gun from the back of his waistband, pushed Katie-Lynn protectively behind him, and peered at the thick, swaying brush. Their short, quick breaths mingled with the soft slap of water twirling against the rocks below.

  “Grizzly?” she whispered in his ear, shivering.

  “No,” he said grimly, nodding at the pair of rabbits chasing each other through ferns. “They’d smell it.”

  “Mountain lion?”

  “I think it’s a bigger predator.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Follow my lead and act normal,” he whispered in her ear. “I think someone’s following us.”

  “Well. Don’t see any mulberry bushes,” he said loudly, wandering closer to the source of the sound.

  “And these trees aren’t Scotch pines,” Katie-Lynn pointed out, nonchalant. If she was nervous or scared, she hid it well.

  Not much frightened Katie-Lynn, he thought, pressing his lips together to hold back a grin as she prodded a large stone with her boot, her movement exaggerated. “Though these would make a perfect hiding spot for Cora’s Tear.”

  At a muffled gasp from the bushes, Cole pounced, grabbed a crouching man by the scruff of his neck and hauled him out. “Who are you, and why are you following us?”

  Katie-Lynn froze in place, gaping at the man twisting in Cole’s grasp.

  “I-I’m just out taking a walk.” The stranger ducked his head and pulled his hood tighter around his face. “Same as you.”

  Circling him slowly, Katie-Lynn eyed their captive. She stopped and slipped off his hood. “I know you... You’re part of my crew. Jerry Stubbs. A gaffer. But why...?”

  Cole’s grip loosened in surprise, and the man tore loose.

  Stubbs was aptly named. The middle-aged man was no taller than Katie-Lynn, but roughly twice as wide, with a broad, cherubic face, wide blue eyes and a petulant droop to his small mouth.

  “Please, Ms. Brennon,” Jerry pleaded. “I don’t want any trouble.”

  “Won’t be any trouble if you start explaining yourself,” Cole growled.

  “What’s going on, Jerry?” Katie-Lynn prodded gently. “We’ve known each other a long time. Just last month I was at your daughter’s christening. Frances Jean. Such a pretty little girl. Now, tell me why you’re following us?”

  Jerry’s shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry, Ms. Brennon.”

  “I appreciate that, Jerry, but what I really need is an explanation.”

  “My wife, she’s on unpaid leave and with Frances Jean coming along, money’s tight.”

  Cole opened his mouth to demand Jerry get to the point, spotted Katie-Lynn’s sympathetic nod and shut his trap. No one knew how to draw a story from a person better than her.

  “I understand,” she murmured, her voice soothing. “A man needs to provide for his family. You’re in a tight spot.”

  Jerry’s mouth curved into a grateful smile. He looked ready to throw himself at Katie-Lynn’s feet. “When that man offered me money to follow you, I—I said no at first. Then he upped it to triple the amount...and diapers...they’re expensive, you know?”

  “Very expensive,” Katie-Lynn agreed. “And this man...he sounds extremely persuasive. Who did you say it was again?”

  “Clyde William something or another. The fourth.” Jerry clapped a hand over his mouth and spoke through his fingers. “Wasn’t supposed to say his name to anyone.”

  Shock locked up every joint in Cole’s body. Why would Clyde have them followed unless...a dark suspicion took hold.

  “You didn’t tell just anyone. You told me.” Katie-Lynn’s friendly smile disguised the surprise she had to be feeling. “What’d he want you to do?”

  “First off, I wasn’t going through with all of it, push come to shove, so to speak.”

  Enough.

  Cole leaned down, stopping just an inch from Jerry’s face. “What were you supposed to do?” he barked—ready to bite.

  Jerry shook in his boots. “I-I’m supposed to follow you and report everywhere you go.”

  Katie-Lynn made a sympathetic noise. “Doesn’t sound so bad.”

  “It gets worse, Ms. Brennon,” Jerry sighed.


  “Then it’s a good thing you’re confessing everything now.” Katie-Lynn nudged Cole aside to step in between him and Jerry. “Otherwise you’d have lost your job when I reported you. That’s the last thing you want given your financial struggles.”

  Jerry’s face turned ashen, and Cole marveled at the genius of Katie-Lynn. She had a way of sneaking up on a person, disarming them, making them believe she was harmless and then, just when your guard was down, wham, she blindsided you.

  “Since you’ve decided to do the right thing, though, we’ll keep this between us, okay? And the sheriff.” Her white-gold hair flowed over her left shoulder as she cocked her head, her expression serene. No sign of the clever mind working fast behind her guileless baby blues...

  Jerry jerked his head up and down. “I want to do the right thing.”

  “Tell us what gets worse, then,” Cole demanded, bad cop to Katie-Lynn’s good.

  “He said you were searching for some old brooch, and if you found it, I was to take it from you and bring it to him.” Jerry pulled a handgun from his pocket and passed it over to a wide-eyed Katie-Lynn. “By any means possible.”

  Cole’s gut burned. Clyde William Farthington, the man who’d been trying to purchase this land from his father, whose ancestors before him had attempted the same, was hunting Cora’s Tear...and was prepared to kill Katie-Lynn for it.

  “You’ll go to the sheriff with this story?” Katie-Lynn asked.

  Jerry nodded. “I’m sorry, Ms. Brennon. I wouldn’t have gone through with it.”

  “I believe you.”

  An hour later they dropped Jerry off at Travis’s office, hopped in Cole’s truck and headed down the highway to Clyde William Farthington’s mansion.

  “How does Clyde know Maggie hid Cora’s Tear in this area?” Katie-Lynn rested her heels on her seat, circled her arms around her raised knees and dropped her cheek to them.

  Cole pressed harder on the accelerator. “Not sure, but we’re about to find out.”

  * * *

  “I’M AFRAID MR. FARTHINGTON is indisposed,” intoned Renata, Clyde’s maid, as Katlynn stood beside Cole on the mansion’s front steps. “Please check back tomorrow, or, preferably, call first.”