Courted by a Cowboy

by Mindy Neff

  Anna’s fingers sifted through her hair. Sunny remembered her mother doing that same thing when she was a child…when she’d been inconsolable after seeing Jack with Lanette.

  Anna’s gesture was a loving one. Yet Sunny had dismissed the good qualities of her mother, taken them for granted, had always been on the alert for the expected criticism.

  Didn’t that make her just as bad? She criticized her mother’s behavior and never openly acknowledged the good.

  “You used to rub my head for hours when I had a headache,” she said, her cheek still on Anna’s lap. “Did I ever tell you how much that meant to me?”

  “There was no need to tell me, hon. When your babies grow up, you miss the times they let you hold them in your arms, cuddle them. And when your child hurts, you want to soothe her. I was filled with love and pride and purpose because I could hold you and ease your pain.”

  Sunny lifted her head and took her mother’s hands in hers, then kissed the soft knuckles that smelled like homemade chocolate cake. “Why didn’t I know that? I should have seen it. Was I so self-centered?”

  “No. You’ve never been self-centered, Sunny. It’s not in you. And you didn’t know it because I was subconsciously repeating behavior I’d been taught. I just didn’t realize it until today—until your tears. My own mother had a difficult life, and there were six of us children to take care of. Don’t get me wrong—Grandmother Dee loved us, and we had a good family life for the most part. But she pointed out our faults, and she wasn’t comfortable showing affection. Especially in public. I promised myself I wouldn’t be like her when I had my own children. That I would teach them to kiss and hug. Unfortunately, the trait of criticizing followed me. But look on the bright side. When you have your children you’ll be a perfect mother because you’ll have the love and the kind disposition to go with it.”

  “You’re kind, Mama. But that’s the thing. What if I never find anyone to have children with?”

  “What about Jack? He’s perfect, you know, and—” Anna stopped, closed her eyes. “I’m doing it again.”

  Sunny patted her knee. “You do give good advice. On occasion,” she added with a wink.

  “Actually, it’s a mother’s job to give advice. Grown children don’t have to take it, mind you.”

  “Just listen out of respect and let things go in one ear and out the other?”

  Anna smiled. “That’s what I did with my mother.”

  With her arm still on her mother’s lap, she propped her chin on her fist. “What should I do, Mama?”

  Anna cupped Sunny’s chin and lifted her head. “About being in love with Jack?”

  She nodded. “Do you have ESP, or am I that transparent?”

  “Not transparent. There’s much more to you than that. And I’m not just saying that because of what we discussed earlier. I’m very proud of you, Sunny Leigh. I wish you didn’t live so far away, because I miss having you close by. But I understand that you’ve worked hard to get where you are, and I also understand how loyal Jack is to his land. Still, when the two of you are in the room together, one thing is clear. The love is blinding. I don’t even think your daddy ever looked at me the way Jack Slade looks at you. It brings tears to my eyes.”

  “Are you sure it’s not just the look of a guy who’s dying to have sex?”

  “Oh, that, too. As a mother, that gave me some trouble, but mark my words, hon, what’s plain as day in that man’s eyes goes many layers deeper than just physical wanting. It’s a touching thing for a parent to realize that someone else besides you truly, truly loves your child. Knowing your child will be happy gives a parent peace.”

  Sunny thought about everything she and her mother had discussed. She’d run away ten years ago with a desperate need to prove herself in her mother’s eyes, to be good enough that Jack would see exactly what he’d so carelessly tossed away for a cheap night of thrills. For ten years, she’d believed something was lacking in her.

  “I sought the wrong goals for the wrong reasons, Mama.”

  “No, hon. You just took a different path, that’s all. Everything happens for a purpose. We don’t always know why. Why did Daddy die? Why did Storm get shot? Why did you suffer so terribly? All I can do is speculate. I spent thirty-five of the happiest years of my life with your daddy, and I’d give up my plans to go into business in a heartbeat if I could have him back—”

  “What business?”

  “Oh, I hadn’t meant to say anything about that yet. Wanda’s selling the diner. I want to buy it.”

  “Mama, that’s wonderful.”

  “Well, at my age some might say it’s foolish. I don’t have the details worked out, but we’ll talk about that another time. The point is, bad things might happen, but they always set us off in a new and sometimes better direction. Storm’s getting shot brought him home. I don’t know where that will lead him, but at best we’ve reconnected. Your suffering took you to California, where you got a fine education. Now the world is wide-open to you. You have the skills to go anywhere you want with your career, choose your destiny.”

  Sunny’s stomach felt as though it had vaulted right up into her throat. The only thing truly stopping her from taking a chance was fear. Fear of jumping off the deep end, dumping a well-paying job and an entire lifestyle and starting over. Fear of making herself vulnerable, putting her heart fully in someone else’s hands, trusting that person not to hurt her.

  But darn it, if her mother had enough guts to start up a business at this stage in her life, Sunny ought to have enough courage to do the same.

  She leaped up and gave Anna a smacking kiss on the cheek. “You’re brilliant!”

  “Where are you going?

  She was already halfway out the front door. “To take another path.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Sunny took a shortcut on back country roads from her mother’s house to Jack’s ranch, her tires churning up a heavy cloud of dust on the gravel before she finally reached car-friendly asphalt. One minute she wanted to laugh out loud, and the next she nearly hyperventilated in panic.

  So many loose ends were swirling in her mind. She still had to go to Washington next week—she was already committed. She’d have to give notice at work, of course, pack up her furniture and ten years of accumulated stuff…

  Oh, God. What if none of this worked?

  Her heart thudded when the ranch came into view. She took a breath, ordered herself to stay calm, and turned into the driveway. Her tire treads were still spitting stubborn bits of gravel that pinged against the wheel wells. A tractor blocked the way between the two-story ranch house and the horse barn, so she eased the Suburban around and parked in the side yard next to Jack’s horse trailer.

  Before she could reach for the door handle, her cell phone rang and she nearly jumped out of her skin. She checked the caller ID, then punched the button. “Hey, Stormie.”

  “You’re still a pain in the butt, Pip.”

  “But you love me anyway. What’s up?”

  “I checked into Stanley Levin’s whereabouts, like you asked. There’s nothing funny going on. His girlfriend came into a sizable inheritance and had to be in Tennessee right away to sign papers or the stepsister would inherit by default. I didn’t get all the details, but that’s pretty much why they packed up and left in a hurry. I talked to Stanley. He and Lucinda are happily living on her family’s estate, and they’ve started their own clinic.”

  “Well, I’m glad it worked out for him.” The man was in love, and she’d been half convinced he might be nuts, somehow responsible for Jack’s dead cattle. Now she felt guilty. Had she done the same in regard to Duane? That poor man had lost his wife and child. No wonder Jack had snapped.

  “Anything else I can help you out with?”

  “Nope. I’m—” She frowned, leaning over to see past the horse trailer. “That’s weird.”

  “What?” Storm asked.

  “Hang on.” She slid out of the Suburban, left the door ajar and sto
od by the front fender, where she was still hidden from view by the three-axle trailer. She saw Duane Keegan walk into the feed barn. That wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, and his demeanor wasn’t at all furtive.

  What struck her as odd was the denim jacket he wore. Especially since it was eighty-five degrees out, with ninety percent humidity.

  “Listen, I’ve got to go, Storm. I might be wrong, but to be on the safe side, send a deputy to Jack’s ranch. Now.” She was so nervous she ended the call. In hindsight, as she approached the feed barn, she acknowledged that keeping the line open might have been best.

  She eased around the corner of the barn, held her breath, trying to keep her footsteps silent. She needed a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dim interior, which smelled of grain and hay. A forklift sat empty by a neatly stacked row of barrel-shaped hay bales and blocks of salt.

  Duane was standing at the waist-high workbench at the opposite end of the barn, his back to her. She felt like a fool. If he was up to no good, he wouldn’t be there in clear view of the open doorway. She didn’t have the nerve to stroll down the center aisle, so she skirted the wall and stopped ten feet away from the wooden workbench.

  Staying hidden between huge bins holding various grains, she watched Duane pinch off a hunk of fodder. Then he reached inside his jacket and pulled out something flat, and Sunny’s eyes widened when she saw it snap open into a four-sided box.

  My God. A collapsible bucket. She tried to stand still, but it was difficult. He could be on a legitimate mission, something to do with ranch business that she didn’t know about—although she was pretty darn knowledgeable when it came to nutrition and an animal’s diet.

  He dumped the handful of dried grasses into the container, took an opaque, dark-blue bottle from his pocket and poured a liquid substance over the feed. Oh, God, she should have kept Storm on the line. Or run for Jack. But now there wasn’t time.

  Outrage pumped adrenaline through her veins, yet five years of self-defense training helped her channel the emotion. That didn’t stop the rapid beat of her heart, or the tremors shaking her; it merely gave her the confidence to initiate a confrontation. As she’d told Jack out by the creek, a good aim with a gun wasn’t her only asset. But she’d never been forced to test her fighting skills outside of competition or controlled class environments.

  On silent feet, she walked up behind Duane. He was so overconfident he hadn’t once darted a glance around to see if he was being watched.

  “I hope that’s a vitamin tonic recommended by the resident veterinarian you’re using there.”

  He didn’t even flinch. He turned, leaned casually against the workbench and crossed his arms. “Since you’re obviously the resident vet at the moment, seems you’d know that answer.”

  Although he appeared relaxed, the frigid eyes drilling into her held the frightening stare of madness. This wasn’t the quiet, respectful, helpful man she’d worked beside for the past three weeks. This was a man who’d been bucked off one too many rodeo bulls.

  “I don’t particularly like the answer I’m coming up with,” she said. “You really had me stumped, you know? I’ve been testing for toxic residue in the overall feed supply and troughs. Your eagerness to help takes on new meaning now. You knew I wouldn’t find anything.”

  “Score one for the lady doc.” He smirked, and she suddenly realized that aside from probable insanity, this was a man who didn’t particularly like women. She’d gone up against his kind more than once.

  She made herself relax, tried to edge closer to the blue bottle to get a better look. He took a step to the side, blocking her move.

  “As a professional, I’m really curious how you did this, Duane. If you want to know the truth, I’m actually impressed. I thought I was pretty good, but you’ve got me and the best lab people in the country beat hands down.” She saw the slight change in his expression, the spark of pride and ego.

  “I’d never have thought of a collapsible feed bucket,” she continued. “But it’s perfect. Carry it out into the pasture, pick a cow at random and offer it a snack, and you never leave a trace. Do you use an herbal composition or a pharmaceutical?”

  “You might call it a combination of both.” He grinned, and she could see he was caught up in his own sick world. “It’s amazing what you can buy right over the Internet. Complete with detailed instructions and information on stuff that’ll never show up in an autopsy.”

  She surreptitiously noted her surroundings, imprinted a firm image in her mind of her escape route. She could probably outrun him if need be. A deputy was on his way, or likely Storm himself. She had enough evidence to send Duane to jail. But she couldn’t take the chance that his tenuous hold on sanity might break—and lock away the rest of the answers she desperately wanted to know.

  “I’m glad to find out we’re not dealing with a transmittable disease that could wipe out all the livestock in the valley.” She forced an easy smile, felt her eye twitch, hoped like hell he’d confirm her statement.

  “Hey, I’m not stupid. I only wanted it to look like a contagious disease. I didn’t expect it to be so fast-acting, though. Figured there’d be at least a couple of days when the cow would stumble around, cause more of a stir. I already knew it worked fast on humans, but that wasn’t an accurate gauge, since the stuff’s compounded in doses meant for a thousand-pound animal.”

  Sunny swallowed back panic. He’d murdered a human being as well as two animals?

  “Why Jack’s cows?”

  “Because they should have been mine. He stole them from me. Like he stole everything else.”

  Her gaze sharpened when he shrugged off his denim jacket and pulled a gun from the waistband of his pants. A deluded psychotic with a thirty-eight-caliber pistol was very likely more than her hand-to-hand defense skills could handle. She could block an assault, but not a bullet.

  She held up her hands, took a careful step back. “Now, let’s just calm down here. I’m only a veterinarian. Infectious disease is as far as my jurisdiction or expertise goes. Anything other than that is none of my business, and I don’t get involved. The only reason I came in here in the first place was that I saw you and wanted to make sure I had a chance to say goodbye. My vacation time’s up and I’m headed home. Only scientific curiosity made me even ask about the pharmaceutical compound.” She was talking too fast, made herself slow down, concentrate on acting nonchalant.

  “If you’ve got a beef with Jack, I’m the last person who’ll stop you. I erased him from my favorite-people list a long time ago when he dumped me for a waitress.”

  Instead of pointing the gun at her as she’d expected, he merely laid it on the workbench. A power play to shake her up? Direct hit.

  She followed the movement of his hand. The fraction of relief she felt sent a rush of dizziness to her brain, a distraction she knew better than to allow. If it wasn’t for her body’s helpless reaction, she would have never made the mistake of taking her eyes off her opponent’s.

  “I know,” Duane said. “Lanette was mine. And she was pregnant with my kid.”

  JACK YANKED OPEN the front door, every muscle in his body bunched tighter than a catch rope around a steer’s neck. Simba bounded out before the door closed, nearly mowing him down, then sat at the edge of the porch and looked back hopefully.

  Sunny was still at her mother’s and Beau had taken Tori with him to the market, so the dog had made himself at home in Jack’s office, sitting politely in the wing chair that faced his desk. Jack hadn’t had the heart to make him get down.

  He paused and patted Simba’s huge head. The dog licked his wrist, his soft brown eyes darting away as though he was suddenly entranced with the puffy flowers on the hydrangea bush by the porch. Silly mutt. A person couldn’t help but be crazy about him. He was the size of a small pony, with the heart of a kitten, and not a single aggressive gene beneath that brown coat.

  “Well, come on, then.” Dog tags jangled as Simba rushed to follow, panting happily as he
trotted beside Jack, matching his pace as they headed toward the bunkhouse. “I don’t know how the hell you do it. I’m ready to tear somebody’s head off and you make me feel guilty. Never thought I’d consider a d—”

  Jack stopped, censored his words, remembering the times Sunny had covered her dog’s ears, insisting Simba got his feelings hurt easily. The woman flat-out charmed him.

  And he honest to God didn’t know if he had the strength to let her go. He needed to talk to his brother. Linc was the only one who’d understand the turmoil inside him.

  But Jack had something else to deal with first. He wanted to know why Duane Keegan hadn’t told him about his involvement with Lanette.

  He figured Duane would still be in the bunkhouse, catching a nap before he left to relieve the other men guarding the herd. Maybe Duane had kept quiet about Lanette because he’d worried it might cause hard feelings and jeopardize their friendship. But Sunny’s earlier comments, and the telephone conversation he’d just had as a result, sent cold fingers of unease down his spine. Had he been sending the fox to guard the henhouse?

  He’d find out soon enough. The bunkhouse was the next building over from the feed barn. He didn’t care if Duane had been sleeping with Lanette. He just wanted everything out in the open—especially with this cloud of doom hanging over his ranch.

  Simba gave a menacing growl and stopped in his tracks by the entrance to the barn, the fur on his back standing straight up. Jack slid his fingers around the dog’s collar. “What’s wrong, boy?”

  He looked through the open doors of the barn. Rage consumed him. He wasn’t sure if he let go of the dog’s collar or if Simba broke free, but a second later both of them were racing forward at a dead run.

  Like a dream in slow motion, Jack saw Simba loping down the center aisle of the barn, saw his own boot in midair, one step behind. He heard a roar of outrage—his own—and saw Duane’s fist glance off Sunny’s cheek, just as the force of Simba’s flying leap knocked the man back.

  The surreal haze seemed to go on forever, though it couldn’t have lasted more than seconds. Part of Jack’s brain registered that Sunny was struggling to get up off the ground. Forward momentum and unbridled fury had him driving his fist into Duane’s face. Knuckles connected with flesh and bones three times before Simba intervened, shoving them both off balance.