Colton Cowboy Protector

by Beth Cornelison

  He raised the currycomb to continue his work, but Tracy strode over and caught his wrist. “Would you stop that long enough to hear me out? My cousin was not the monster you’re making her out to be!”

  He heaved a put-upon sigh and tossed the currycomb aside. “No one said she was a monster,” he said under his breath. Then, only a little louder, he added, “I wouldn’t have married her if she were a monster. She had her good points, and at one time, I thought I loved her.”

  He angled a look over his shoulder at Tracy. She was swiping at the sweat on her face with her wrist, her pale skin flushed from the heat. He stepped over to the shelf where he kept his personal tack equipment and fished a bandanna out of his saddlebag. He held it out to her, and she eyed it suspiciously. “It’s clean. I promise.”

  With a murmured thank-you, she dried her face and neck, and ambled closer to a fan so the current of air blew in her face. “As I was saying...I want the chance to spend time with Seth, to get to know him. After Laura died, I promised her...” Tracy paused and swallowed hard. To his dismay, Jack thought he saw tears fill her eyes. God, no tears! Please! He hated seeing a woman cry. Tears were worse than splinters under his fingernails, and he’d do anything to avoid them.

  After a slow breath, Tracy seemed more composed—thank the Lord—and continued. “I promised Laura that I would make sure her son knew how much she loved him, the kind of woman she was and everything she did for me. She deserves that.”

  Jack folded his arms over his chest and leaned against a wall. “What she did for you?”

  Tracy nodded. “The day of the car accident that killed her...”

  “Yeah?”

  “...she was helping me. I was in the car with her when she died. She’d saved me from a really bad situation, helped me escape...” Tracy wet her lips and glanced away for a moment before continuing. “The man who ran us off the road was my husband.”

  Clenching his jaw, Jack recalled what he’d been told about the accident. “He was arrested for vehicular manslaughter. Right?”

  She nodded.

  “So he’s in jail now?”

  “He was. But...he was shanked the second night he was in jail and died on the way to the hospital.”

  Jack arched one eyebrow. He hadn’t known that tidbit. “I’m sorry.”

  A sad smile tugged the corner of her mouth. “I’m not.”

  Jack stared at her. Read between the lines. “He abused you.” It was a statement, not a question. Abuse would explain a lot of the vulnerability he sensed with her.

  She said nothing for a minute. Finally, her shoulders slumped, and she nodded. “Verbally. Mentally. He was spiteful and mean. Loved making me cry for sport.”

  Jack felt a hot ball of rage well in his gut toward the man.

  “He only hit me once, though.”

  Jack barked a laugh of disbelief. “Just once?”

  Her eyes rounded, and she took a step back. “Y-yeah.”

  “As if that makes it all right or wins him points?” He drilled a finger at her. “Once is one time too many.”

  Her hand fluttered to her throat, where she dabbed again at the sweat collecting there. “I agree. But my point is...I owe Laura. I know how much Seth meant to her and how much it would mean to her—how much it would mean to me—if I could spend some time with her son.”

  Jack rubbed the bridge of his nose. “For what purpose? So he can have another woman walk out of his life in a few days?”

  “Who said I wanted to walk out? I don’t have a child of my own. Maybe I’m looking for something long-term, something permanent.”

  Ice slid through Jack’s blood, and he lurched away from the wall. “Excuse me?”

  Tracy blinked, confused. “I said I wouldn’t walk out on him. I want—”

  “If you’re looking to sue for custody or visitation rights, you should know that the divorce agreement Laura signed denies her or her family the right to come back here and try to take Seth from me.”

  Jack stalked toward Tracy until she’d backed against the far alley wall, and he loomed over her. “Seth is mine. All mine. I have sole custody, and that’s how it’s gonna stay.”

  She hunched her shoulders, trying to make herself smaller, and he realized how his power play must have appeared to her. Intimidating, threatening, hostile... Okay, he had meant to intimidate her and drive home his point. But he’d forgotten for a moment how that tactic would play with an abused woman. Damn it!

  He eased back a step, giving her breathing room, while still making his point that he was unyielding on the question of custody. He would fight her to his last dollar to keep his son. When he drew a calming lungful of air, he inhaled the sweet scent of her. Heat unrelated to the summer temperatures skittered through him. His pulse kicked harder as he imagined what it might be like to pin her against the wall and kiss her full, frowning lips. Standing this close to her, he could see her chin quiver and hear the agitated rasp of her breathing. Damn the man who’d scarred her psyche this way! And damn himself for finding Tracy so alluring, so sweetly sexy and begging for protection.

  He was far more likely to need protection from her and her plans for Seth than she needed protecting.

  “I don’t want to take him from you.” Her voice trembled, and when she raised her gaze, he saw moisture in her eyes. But also defiance. “I don’t want to be at odds with you on this matter but...if I have to go to court to win the right to see Seth—” her throat convulsed as she swallowed “—I will.”

  Chapter 3

  After Tracy threw down the gauntlet regarding visitation with Seth, Jack hustled her back to the party, driving one of the MULE side x sides this time, and ordered her off the ranch. He’d not have any relative of his ex-wife blackmailing him into visitations with Seth. Especially not if those visits included the possibility of Seth hearing upsetting truths about his mother. Or if said visits could lead to an attempt for shared custody. Or...cripes, the possibilities chilled Jack.

  He let Tracy out at the pool area and directed her to leave immediately, before he moved the MULE to the edge of the lawn. When he returned to the party to look for Seth, he spotted Brett near the buffet line, yukking it up with some slick-looking customers in Stetsons too clean and crease-free to be real cowboys. Brett caught his eye and waved him over.

  Seeing no graceful way out, Jack crossed the lawn and gave the men with his brother a half smile as he approached. He could smell big-city investors and rancher wannabes from a mile away. These guys reeked of money and little practical ranching knowledge.

  “Jack, I’d like you to meet some gentlemen. Bill and George here are from Dallas and are interested in helping us get started in horse breeding.”

  Nailed it. Jack gloated silently as he shook the men’s hands.

  “I’ve been telling them how I found that stud in OKC with papers and a great bloodline.”

  Jack lifted one eyebrow. “What stud?”

  “I told you about him when I talked to you last week about my idea for breeding cutting horses.”

  Drawing a slow breath, Jack pinned his brother with a level stare. “As I recall, I told you we weren’t making any changes to the business plan for the ranch. I have no interest in breeding cutting horses.”

  Brett gave the businessmen an awkward grin. “Well, yeah, but I’m interested, and so is Daniel. I’ve been looking into it, and George here says he has connections that can—”

  Jack took his brother’s arm and pulled him aside. “Excuse us for a minute, gentlemen.”

  Brett muttered a curse under his breath and glared at Jack. “Don’t blow this for us, man. You know Daniel is looking to set up his own breeding program, and if the Lucky C doesn’t provide him with the resources, he’ll take his talents, and his profits, elsewhere.”

  “If he wants to leave the ranch, he should.”

  Brett scowled and angled his head. “You don’t mean that. He’s family! He belongs at the Lucky C. That means giving him reason to stay here, and Gero
nimo is a fantastic reason.”

  Jack exhaled slowly and shoved his hands in his back pockets. “He only belongs here if he wants to stay. I won’t be party to strong-arm tactics or guilting him into staying.”

  Brett squared his shoulders. “He’ll want to stay if we own Geronimo. He has the best bloodline in Oklahoma and Texas. I’ve been trying to get these guys to invest in our horse-breeding program for months, and I’ve got them on the hook.”

  “The Lucky C doesn’t need outside investors. We’ve done quite well on our own and don’t need city boys poking their noses in our business.”

  Brett met Jack’s gaze with a stubborn frown. “We do if you’re unwilling to front the cash from the ranch funds to buy Geronimo.”

  “We’re not buying Geronimo or any other studs.” Jack leaned close to his brother and kept his volume low but his voice unflinching. “And we’re not shifting any resources to raising cutting horses, saddle broncs, race horses or any other wild scheme you’ve got up your sleeve. Period. I’m the manager of this ranch, and I decide how and where to spend money. Cattle have gotten us where we are today, and they’ll continue to be our business as long as I’m in charge. I see no good reason to change direction and risk everything Big J built.”

  Brett shook his head, clearly frustrated. “Damn it, Jack. I know what I’m doing! Daniel knows his business, and he’ll take his business somewhere else if we don’t make some changes around here.”

  Jack scoffed. “What did Daniel say when you proposed all this to him?”

  Brett flinched. “I...haven’t yet. I wanted to secure the deal before—”

  Jack cut him off with a grunt and a head shake. “You wanted more ammunition to lure Daniel to stay here. But he needs the freedom to decide his life without manipulation or bribes or guilt.”

  “I have his best interests—the ranch’s best interests—in mind.”

  Jack rubbed his eyes with the pads of his fingers before speaking again. “And you’re sure the two are one and the same?”

  Brett looked confused. “Why wouldn’t they be?”

  Why, indeed. Except that Jack had often wondered what he’d missed by passing up the chance to strike out on his own when he’d been younger. He’d let the pull of the family business, his role as the eldest son, lock him into a life running his father’s empire. He didn’t regret his choice, exactly, but sometimes he just felt...constrained.

  “Look, Brett, leave the business decisions to me. Okay? Tell your city slickers thanks, but no thanks, and drop this horse-breeding nonsense. Got it? If Daniel wants to stay at the Lucky C, he will...for his own reasons.” Jack clapped his brother on the shoulder as he stepped back.

  “Jack...” Brett’s hands fisted, and his face hardened with displeasure and frustration.

  But Jack felt it was better he settle the issue now, no holds barred, than have Brett continue to bug him about it and string the city slickers along. With a nod to the men from Dallas, he stepped away to look for his son. Seth had had plenty of time to change clothes and return to the party.

  “Jack Colton!” His sister’s voice pulled him up short as he passed the patio doors to the living room. “How dare you!”

  He groaned internally as he turned. Now what?

  Beside Greta stood a certain caramel-haired china doll, her eyes red from crying. Before he could repeat his order for Laura’s cousin to get off the ranch, his sister seized his arm and dragged him through the crowd in the living room to an isolated corner of the foyer. Tracy followed.

  “I am ashamed of you, Jack Colton!” Greta said, releasing his arm and scowling darkly. “I just found Tracy at our front door, crying. She says that you ordered her off the property. I hope I heard her wrong, because I can’t believe any brother of mine would be so rude and inhospitable. This is my engagement party, and you have no right to say who attends and who doesn’t.”

  Jack dragged a hand over his mouth, tamping down the irritation building in his blood. “She’s not here because of your party, Greta. Or did she forget to tell you that part?”

  “Did you kick her out?” Greta asked pointedly. “Did you not understand that she is family?”

  He braced his hands on his hips and dug deep for patience. First Brett wrangling to tie Daniel to the ranch, now Greta shoving this woman’s connection to Laura down his throat. He loved his family, but sometimes...

  “She’s Laura’s family. Not ours. And yes, I asked her to leave. We’d said all that needed to be said.”

  “As Laura’s family, that makes her Seth’s family. And that, then, makes her our family.”

  Jack groaned long and loud. He could see where this was going. “Greta, don’t interfere—”

  “I’ve invited her to stay.” His sister lifted her chin in a way that said the matter was settled. Being the youngest sibling and the only girl, Greta had gotten her way more often than not growing up. He wouldn’t call her spoiled—not exactly—but Big J doted on her, and she was clearly and unequivocally Abra’s favorite.

  Jack glanced at Tracy, who was studying her shoes and gnawing her bottom lip. “She didn’t come here because of your party. She came to cause trouble with Seth.”

  Now Tracy’s head jerked up. “I did not! I told you the last thing I wanted was to hurt Seth. I just want to meet him, get to know him, spend some quality time with h—”

  “And I said no.” He straightened his spine and clenched his hands at his sides. “Hell, no. No way. Not in a million years.”

  “Jack!” Greta scolded.

  “I’m not stupid,” he continued, undeterred by his sister, feeling his blood pressure rise and pulse at his temples. “I know this is a ploy to weasel your way into his life and establish some thin case you can take to a judge, trying to get visitation or shared custody or money or—”

  Tracy was shaking her head, her face pale. “You don’t listen so well, do you, cowboy? I’ve told you I don’t want custody or your money!”

  “But you do want to fill my son’s head with stories about his mother.” Jack aimed an accusing finger at her. “Things that will only raise more questions and—”

  “He has a right to the truth!”

  Greta gave a shrill referee-like whistle. “Both of you, to your corners!”

  Abra appeared in the foyer, her eyes shooting daggers at the trio. “What is going on out here? I have guests! Greta, you have guests! And it is almost time for the official announcement. Shouldn’t you be freshening up and finding your fiancé and a glass of champagne about now?”

  Their mother added a look that said the question was actually a command, and she wouldn’t be disobeyed.

  “I’ll be right there, Mother.” Greta faced Jack again. “I have to go now, but Tracy is not going anywhere. I’ve invited her to stay as my guest. Not just for the party, but for an extended visit. She can have one of the spare rooms here in the main house.”

  Jack stiffened, feeling as if he’d been kicked in the chest by a bull. “You did what? Greta!”

  “I hope for your sake and your son’s that you will change your tune about letting her spend time with Seth. He has a right to know the truth, a right to know his maternal family.”

  Jack turned to glower at the blonde, whose expression had brightened. A pink blush tinted her cheeks, and her dewy blue eyes watched him with a light of expectation and hope. The odd tangle of lust and protectiveness he’d felt toward her in the stable reemerged, sending a shot of heat to his core. Tracy was the first woman in years to turn his head and stir this carnal reaction in him. And she’d be staying at the main house, just a short ride from the old ranch house where he lived with Seth. A cool drink in the midst of a ranch full of hot, thirsty brothers and hired hands. He didn’t like the idea of that one bit, nor the flair of possessive jealousy that tickled his gut.

  Tightening his jaw, he tore his gaze away, pushing aside the niggling desire.

  She might look like an innocent china doll, but he feared she’d prove to be the Bride of C
hucky.

  He searched for an out and offered, “What is she supposed to do for clothes? I don’t see a suitcase.”

  “She can borrow some of mine,” Greta returned.

  “Actually...I have a suitcase in my car. I’d planned to stay at a motel in town during my stay in Oklahoma. But if the parking valet could bring my car around from—”

  “You planned to stay?” he asked, cutting her off.

  She swallowed, then straightened her shoulders. “I hoped to have a few days to spend with Seth.”

  “See there? All settled.” Greta nodded in satisfaction. “You can...supervise her visits or...lay out parameters or something, if it makes you feel better.” Greta waved a hand, clearly making up her suggestions off the cuff. “But since she’ll be my guest, you cannot kick her off the ranch.”

  His sister smoothed the skirt of her sundress and stepped back. “Now, I have to go announce my engagement.” She added a smile that reflected a touch of nerves. “Make nice, you two.”

  As she sauntered away, Greta gave him a little gloating grin, as if she’d bested him.

  Jack knew better. Greta could allow Laura’s cousin to stay in the main house, but he’d see to it Tracy got nowhere near Seth. His son was his whole world, and he’d protect him at all costs.

  * * *

  Tracy stood by herself in the cool marble foyer for long seconds after Jack gave her a warning glare and stomped off to join the party. She’d expected to have to sway Seth’s father to her idea, but she’d never imagined he’d be quite so hostile and suspicious of her.

  Laura had said there was no love lost between them after the divorce. Jack took his wife’s leaving personally, she’d said. Understandable. Broken relationships had a way of being personal. But the wall Jack had erected to keep any hint of Laura or her memory out of his son’s life was overkill in Tracy’s estimation. She had her work cut out for her, breaking down his defenses and earning his trust.