Her Cowboy Hero: Rodeo Knights, A Western Romance Novel (Cowboys of Ransom Creek)

by Debra Clopton

  “We’ve done it too. And the Knight Investigation Agency is looking into the horses since it happened at a WRC sanctioned rodeo.”

  “Do you think they’re related incidents?” Vance was the first to ask.

  Trip shrugged. “We’re waiting on an update from them today. But I’m not sure if the two are related or not. The deal is, we don’t know who to trust. It could be an inside job from someone on the ranch, as it often is. Or your ranch. And then the rodeo, so who knows. We don’t want to accuse the two men who were responsible for the trailer of horses but Sean Knight is suspicious. He’s the brother who came out the day after it happened and looked around and asked questions. It could also be personal because we let some men go when Lori took over the ranch.”

  Drake stared hard from one to the other. “So what do you plan to do? And what do we need to do?”

  “Right,” Cooper said. “Whatever you need we’re here to help.”

  Five, tough cowboys stepped forward to flank Trip and six pairs of eyes focused on Lori. Her knees went weak at the powerful show of support.

  “There you go,” Trip said. “Your own posse.”

  Marcus Presley’s black Dodge truck drove up the lane and crossed the gravel yard to come to a halt in front of them. Marcus climbed out and strode toward them. Clearly concerned as he looked at the group. “What’s up? Lori, I just got a call from a friend who told me you had horses stolen in Mesquite?”

  “And leave it to Dad to be the one who hears the news,” Drake said, giving a dry laugh.

  Marcus hugged her and looked down at her before he let her go. “Have you come to let us in on this, darlin’?” he asked. “Because you know we’re not going to stand for this.”

  “Thanks, Marcus. Yes, we’ve been telling the guys about it. And we’re about to try and get together a plan of action.”

  He let her go. “Good, glad I got here when I did.”

  Trip filled Marcus in and then looked at Vance. “You’ll be in Fort Worth riding in the saddle broncs and I was hoping that you could keep your ears open for anyone saying anything that might seem suspicious.

  “You’ll know what to look for, just anything out of place. If you notice anybody slipping around back there or trailers maybe that shouldn’t be there. We don’t know that someone isn’t going to steal someone else’s stock. This might not be only targeted at Lori.”

  “True,” Drake agreed.

  If I think anything is off I’ll say so,” Vance said quickly. “I’m all in.”

  His brothers echoed his sentiment.

  “I think we can all make the rodeo under the guise of watching Vance compete,” Marcus said. “But the reality is we’ll be mingling and asking questions.”

  “Let’s do it,” Cooper said and all his brothers agreed.

  Lori was overwhelmed again by their support. “You guys are going to make me cry, I mean this is just too much to ask.”

  Trip put his arm around her and pulled her into his side giving her a gentle hug. His action touched her deeply and made their fight the day before seem small.

  Drake smiled. “It’s what friends are for, you know?”

  “Yes, and I’m so blessed to have all of you. Daddy is smiling right now I’m sure.”

  Marcus grinned. “He’d be haunting us if we weren’t helping you.”

  “You’re probably right.” She laughed as did everyone, because her dad had been so strong-willed it fit his personality. She missed him so much but felt him there with her, surrounded by this wonderful support network of friends.

  With a plan of attack she and Trip headed home.

  “You’re not alone,” Trip said, quietly as they started driving.

  “I know.” She had good neighbors and friends and it helped knowing that she had all those strong, great cowboys with her. “Thank you, Trip. We have some past that we need to let go of, I agree. But Daddy knew what he was doing when he worked so hard to hire you back on as manager. I’m sorry I was so mad yesterday.”

  He took his right hand off the steering wheel and took her hand but kept his eyes straight ahead as he drove.

  “The reality is you had a right to be.” He slowed the truck on the quiet country road and turned to face her. “Lori, I’m sorry. We’re…complicated, I’ll admit that. But, what you need to know is that I’m here for you, just like the Presleys are. I can’t guarantee you’ll get your horses back before Oklahoma, but if they’re still alive and breathing out there we will find them. I promise.”

  She believed him. His words meant a lot. “I think so too. Thank you.” His hand on hers felt so good. Since her dad died she’d felt alone and distant but right then she didn’t.

  She turned her hand over so that their palms touched. She wrapped her fingers around his and squeezed tightly. He squeezed back and butterflies lifted and fluttered through her chest taking light to all the dark corners of her heart.

  And it scared her to death…because it was opened up to being broken again.

  They made it to the ranch and Trip’s heart was racing and it was all he could do not to pull Lori into his arms and kiss her like he’d always dreamed of doing. But he didn’t need to do that right now. She just needed him to do his job and be there for her. She was still adjusting to losing her dad. And then losing the cattle and horses on top of that. She had too many things to deal with right now. But that didn’t make it any easier on him.

  As he stopped in front of the ranch house his phone rang. “It’s Jesse Knight. He’s the last one of the brothers I talked too. I’ll come into the house with you so we can take this together.”

  She nodded and got out. He answered the call as he followed her up the walk and into the house. “Hey Jesse. Good to hear from you.” He followed Lori into the office.

  “I have some news.”

  “Great. Lori’s here with me in her office. I’ll put you on speaker phone.”

  “That’s good,” Jesse said. “Hi, Lori. I think you both might be interested in something we’ve dug up. Your man, Harvey once worked for Kramer Stock. Did you know that? I figure since Lori just got involved with the ranch workings again that she wouldn’t now but maybe you knew, Trip?”

  Trip frowned. “No, I didn’t know. He was here during my dad’s time as manager but I think Ray hired him. He’s been less than cooperative since the horses were stolen.” Trip didn’t like it. “Though we’ve taken precautions on the hunch it could be an inside job I’ve been holding out hope that it wouldn’t be.”

  “Me too,” Lori said, looking pained by the news.

  “I get that,” Jesse agreed. “But this doesn’t look good. Stan Kramer doesn’t have the best reputation out there among other rodeo stock contractors but its undeniable that he does have some bucking stock moving up the ranks.”

  “Tell me about it,” Trip grunted. He’d had his run-ins with Kramer. “His horses might buck good, but I question his treatment of them. And we had a horse colic the month after I took this job. I couldn’t pin on Kramer but we had suspicions about them tampering with our feed. And it just happened that his horse got to fill the spot on the ticket when we had to pull out.”

  Lori’s eyes widened. “Did Dad suspect him of tampering with the horse feed?”

  “He did. But to steal a trailer full of horses would be bold of him. Since his five automatically would fill the ticket it seems a little too bold.”

  “Yes,” Jesse agreed. “But if he was desperate he might do it.”

  Trip’s adrenaline spiked. “And is he?”

  “Sean, Michael and myself believe he could be. We’ve got a source that says the bank is on his heels hard. And my wife, Carly, also has had her own run-in with the man with her stock contracting company. She’s not surprised by any of this either. We’ve quietly opened an investigation into Kramer’s dealings and wanted to let you know.”

  “So what should we do about Harvey?” Trip asked. But his gut told him the man was too sensitive about being questioned.

&nbs
p; “Don’t do anything for now. Let us dig deeper. But it goes without saying that you need to keep your eyes open. And we will all be in Fort Worth if possible. We’ve got several investigations going right now but we’re zeroed in on this.”

  “Okay, thanks, we’ll see you there,” Trip said.

  “Thanks, Jesse. I’m grateful for your help. See you in Fort Worth.” She was frowning as he ended the call. “I hate this. I know Harvey has been defensive this whole time but I still don’t want to believe it. He’s been here for so many years.”

  “Yeah, I hate it too. But, my gut is telling me it isn’t a coincidence. He’s been testy ever since I signed on. Look, everyone is working cattle in the north section today and I need to go check on things. But then I’m going to check on the cattle in the south pastures near where the Presley’s cattle went missing. We may have been hit too and not know it yet.”

  “I’ll come too. I’m sick of this, Trip. And I’m done feeling lost in all of this. This is my ranch and someone has a reckoning coming if they think I’m an easy mark.”

  Trip couldn’t help smiling. He saw the spark of fire back in her eyes. “Well, well, well. Welcome home at last Lori Calhoun.”

  She laughed despite everything. “Thanks. This has been one evolution of a day for me. Now lets go check on the cattle. And then we’ll come back and take a look at the books on our rough stock. I want to see the records on that sick horse you just told Jesse about. The one that got replaced by Kramer’s horse. I know you and Daddy had plans to make our rough stock into the best program around and I want that too, Trip. Especially now.”

  “Especially now?” he said with a question in his voice.

  Her eyes twinkled. “Now that I’ve decided I’m not leaving. I’m making my stake here Trip. Can you handle that?”

  His heart slammed against his ribs. “I can handle it.”

  Chapter Eight

  Later, they drove up to where the men were branding and vaccinating the herd of cattle. Before they had a chance to get out of the truck Harvey galloped over on his horse to Trip’s side of the truck and glared down at him.

  “Do you not think I can handle working the cattle now?”

  Lori’s temper shot to the sun. “What did he say,” she hissed, not believing her ears. Trip reached out and put a hand on her arm. She kept silent.

  “Harvey,” Trip said and his hand gently squeezed her arm. “I have no doubt you can handle this, but our boss wanted to look at her cattle,” Trip said with a calm voice edged in steel. “It has nothing to do with you. We’re just here to watch for a minute. Then we’re moving on.”

  “Right. Like I’ll believe that.” He whirled his horse around and galloped back to the cattle.

  Trip got out of the truck and she did the same. She was fuming. “Who does he think he is?” she snapped.

  “Hang on, boss,” Trip chuckled. “I’m not sure what he thinks he’s accomplishing but let it slide for now. I’m actually here to push his buttons. We want him to mess up. So I’m not going to take his bait. I’ll have my moment.”

  “Fine. For now. But he’s not making it easy.”

  He winked at her. “Patience. For a few minutes and then we’ll head out to the other pasture to check on the other herd.”

  “Okay, go for it. But I’m not feeling particularly forgiving at the moment so he better not cross me.”

  He chuckled. “Feisty, I like it.”

  Lori was hotter than she could remember ever being when they got back in the truck and headed across the pastures to the far side of the ranch. The fact that Harvey could be so belligerent and probably responsible for taking or helping steal her horses got under her skin like a hot poker. She hadn’t been this angry since the year Trip pulled away from her and went another direction from their friendship and the future she’d hoped to have with him.

  But she was moving on from that and pushed that aside. She could not keep going back to the past…she had to let it go and focus on the here and now. On the ranch. Harvey might very well be messing with the legacy her father built for her and also with the business that she and Trip shared. And if he wasn’t the culprit then he was not doing himself any favors with his behavior.

  “You doing okay over there?” Trip asked finally. “You cooling off any. I could tell you were about to blow a gasket back there.”

  “Harvey has a chip on his shoulder. And it’s not just about the horse trailer stock gone missing. His behavior is bizarre and I just can’t take it.”

  Trip shot her a narrowed-eyed glance. “But you did good. We didn’t need to make him think we have any suspicions. Let him be that way, I’m going to nail him if he stole those horses.”

  “I’m with you, just furious at the moment. I have a hunch that he thought the manager’s position was his. I think he has a grudge against my dad, which would mean the ranch and me and you also because you got the job he thought my dad was going to give to him.”

  “I think you might be right but we will see. Soon.”

  “I hope so. Maybe they’ll slip up and the Knights will dig up something more on them too. Or who knows, maybe we’ll catch them. I’m looking forward to catching them, honestly, I’m angrier about this than I’ve been in a very long time. I’m as mad as I was when you put distance between us and found new friends then left for college—” The words just flowed before she had time to stop them. Trip went still, his hands tightened on the steering wheel and his jaw muscle flexed with tension but he didn’t look at her. Didn’t say anything.

  Maybe getting how angry she’d been out in the open was a good thing. Trip had had his reasons for doing what he did—which she didn’t completely understand but that didn’t diminish how hurt she’d been. Wounded.

  Still, the little voice of reason in her head reminded her, he’d been her friend but he’d never said he loved her. He had no obligation to her back then or now. And she needed to come to grips with that fact.

  It didn’t matter if she’d loved him because that fact didn’t mean he had any obligation to her whatsoever.

  She bit her lip as the war in her head and heart waged on. She glanced at him but he was staring straight ahead and as tense as she’d ever seen him.

  They’d reached the ranch boundary fence and she saw the cattle at the bottom of the hill. Trip stopped the truck and rammed the gear into park. Tension filled the cab like a thick fog. He pushed open his door and got out, slamming it behind him.

  It hit her then exactly how upset he was. Maybe she’d gone too far. Heart thundering she went after him.

  Chapter Nine

  Trip could barely think straight. He told himself to calm down but clearly Lori didn’t get what he had gone through when he’d pulled away from her. He couldn’t take it anymore. He strode around the front of the truck and met her. Pain was in her eyes.

  “Trip, I didn’t mean to bring that up agai—”

  “Lori, I had nothing to offer you. It didn’t mean I didn’t want you…” He pulled her into his arms and saw her eyes flare wide just before he covered her mouth with his.

  He heard her small gasp and then she melted into him, her arms went around him and she responded to his kiss. He loved her with a depth she had no idea about but it was true.

  He felt her heart pounding against his own, felt the curve of her body against him and the softness of her lips moving beneath his… He broke the kiss, needing to pull back. “Lori, I’m warning you, when we find our horses I plan to move forward not backward. I love you, always have.”

  Tears filled her eyes.

  “Don’t cry, I don’t want to ever hurt you again. I only want to make you smile.”

  She smiled gently. “I may never stop smiling now.”

  “And then I’ll be a happy man.” He smiled.

  She kissed his lips. “I love you and thank you for opening up to me.”

  “I couldn’t stand to see you hurting because of something I did. I just thought I needed to give you time to heal from your
grief and then the cattle and horses got stolen and I didn’t want to add any more stress to you. But by holding back I realized I was adding to your stress.”

  She laid her head against his chest. “Daddy isn’t coming back. And I’m coming to terms with that and I’ll always miss him. But feeling so alone was the hardest thing. And then, after having adjusted somewhat over time to losing you, I had to come back here feeling alone and try and work with you every day and not be affected…it just intensified everything.”

  His arms tightened around her. “You’re not alone, darlin’. I’m here for you. And it feels so good to have you in my arms.” He rested his head against hers and they just held each other.

  Lori couldn’t believe she was finally in Trip’s arms. That he’d told her he loved her and was promising to be in her life.

  She sighed and opened her eyes, looking across the land they’d roamed together as kids. “I have so many memories of us, roaming this ranch together. It feels so right to have you here with me.”

  “I’m thrilled to be here with you.”

  Her gaze rested on the knee tall grass. “Are those tracks?” she asked, lifting her head from his chest.

  “Where?”

  She pointed a few feet away. Trip released her and moved to where the grass was bent down.

  “Yes, it is. And I haven’t had men over here for a couple of days. I think we’ve had unwanted visitors.”

  Trip’s mind whirled. “I have a suspicion that someone was scouting your herd. Rustlers took cattle from the Presleys next-door and checked yours out the same night. From what Vance said they took a trailer load so probably plan to come back for these. Soon.”

  “We need to do a stakeout,” Lori snapped, anger on her pretty face. “I’m so done with this.”

  He smiled, despite everything. “Me too. I am going to start spending the next few nights on stakeout watching and waiting.” He strode further down the hill following the tracks through the tall weeds.