by Ruth Langan
At least, for tonight, they’d won a reprieve. But knowing the old man’s temper, they’d have to unravel this mystery quickly. Harlan Brady wouldn’t be willing to stay under their roof one day longer than was absolutely necessary.
Chapter 12
“Gramps.” Ally, fresh from her morning shower, hurried across the room to where her grandfather sat on the edge of his bunk, running a hand over Buster’s head.
Ace remained in the doorway, unwilling to intrude on the old man’s apparent happiness. It was bad enough that he’d spent the night in Ally’s arms. He didn’t want to appear to be gloating in front of her grandfather.
“How’s our old boy?” Ally knelt beside the cage and joined her hand to Harlan’s, smoothing, stroking the dog’s scorched fur.
“He woke up a couple of times through the night. Started howling until he saw me and Billy. That seemed to settle him down.”
“Poor old thing.” She smiled at her grandfather. “Aren’t you glad you stayed?”
“Yeah.” He glanced at the man in the doorway, then back at his granddaughter. “Where’d you sleep?”
“In the guest room.” She flushed at his scrutiny and was relieved to see Hazard and Erin just coming in to check on their patient.
“How did Buster do last night?” Hazard asked.
“You were right. He woke up howling a couple of times. But he settled right down when he saw me.” Harlan glanced up. “I hope you don’t mind. I let Billy sleep beside him in the cage.”
“Good idea.” Hazard knelt and checked Buster’s vital signs, then straightened. “His heartbeat’s stronger. His breathing easier.” He shook his head. “That’s one tough old dog. I think, barring any complications, he’s going to be just fine.”
“When can I take him home?” Harlan watched as Hazard prepared a fresh intravenous solution.
“Let’s keep a close eye on him today. That’ll give me a better idea of just how soon he can be turned loose.”
“Fair enough.” Harlan sank back on his cot. When he saw his granddaughter’s look of alarm he gave her a quick, reassuring smile. “Guess maybe I need another day myself. Not as strong as I thought I was.”
“You take all the time you need.” Hazard sat on the edge of the cot and took the old man’s pulse. Satisfied, he stood. “Nothing wrong that a little rest won’t cure. Why don’t I have your breakfast brought in here? That way you and Buster and Billy can have some quiet time together.”
“I’d like that. Thanks.” Harlan squeezed his granddaughter’s hand. “You go have your breakfast with the others, Allycat. I think maybe I’ll just snooze for a while.”
“All right.” She nodded toward the bell. “If you need me, just ring.”
“I will.” He closed his eyes.
Ally watched him a few moments, before following Hazard from the lab. In the doorway she stepped into Ace’s arms, and gave a long, deep sigh.
Ace gathered her close to press a kiss to her cheek. “They’re both going to be just fine, Red.”
“I know. But I worry.”
“Yeah. So we’ll worry together. Come on. Let me feed you.”
Behind them the old man watched from beneath lowered lids. They had just confirmed his worst fears. Despite all his warnings, nothing had changed between Ace Wilde and his granddaughter.
He turned away and, pushing aside his agitation, managed to drift back to sleep.
“I should be going to work with you.” Ally stood on the porch beside Ace. Breakfast had been a hurried affair, with the three brothers scattering in three different directions immediately afterward. Chance had flown off to Laramie. Hazard had driven off in a truck with a group of wranglers. Already the helicopter sat idling on a pad a short distance from the house, its blades spinning, awaiting Ace. “I hate seeing you going alone.”
“Yeah.” Ace nibbled the corner of her mouth. “I hate it, too. If I had you up at the mine, I could lock my office door and have my way with you.”
She laughed. “You did that last night.”
“So I did.” He gave her one of his heart-stopping grins. “Well, at least I’ll manage to get some work done without all those distractions I have to fight when you’re around.” He gave her a quick, hard kiss. “See that your grandfather stays put.”
“I’ll try. But you know Gramps.”
“Yeah.” He shook his head.
But as he walked away Ace realized that was part of his problem. He didn’t really know Harlan Brady at all. Yet. But he intended to. He intended to learn all he could about the man and the cause of the grudge he was still nursing after all these years.
Minutes later, as the helicopter skimmed the fields dark with cattle, Ace held the cell phone to his ear and strained to hear above the roar of the engines. “Thorpe? Anything new on Marla Craine?”
He listened, frowned, then shouted, “All right. Stay on it. Sooner or later she has to make a move. Now, I have another job for you. This one has to do with my father, and a man named Harlan Brady. I need to know what happened between them years ago. See what you can dig up. And Thorpe?” He paused. “I know I’m sending you off in a lot of different directions, but I’d appreciate whatever speed you can put on this.”
When he rang off he dropped the phone into his pocket, then slipped on his sunglasses and stared out the window. The sight of this vast stretch of land never failed to stir him. But today he was unmoved as he saw, in his mind’s eye, something else. The pall of smoke. The roar of flame. And one old man, battered and defenseless, staring at him with a look of horror and revulsion. Harlan Brady’s fear and loathing weren’t fake. The damage done to him was real, as was the danger that still existed somewhere out there.
Someone was going to great lengths to make the Wilde family look like selfish monsters. But who? Why? Who could possibly benefit from such a lie?
Agitated, Ace tapped a hand on the briefcase beside him, then he suddenly plucked the cell phone from his pocket and punched in a series of numbers.
Hearing Cody’s voice he said, “Where are you?”
“In the barn. Working on that scooter.”
“How’s it going?”
“Okay. I think I’ll be able to get it running today.”
“Good. Cody, I want you to stick close to the house today.”
There was the slightest pause. “Any particular reason?”
Ace fought to keep his tone even. “I’d just feel better knowing you’re keeping an eye on…things.”
The old cowboy cleared his throat. “Agnes has some repairs she wants made around the place. This might be a good day to see to them.”
“Thanks, Cody. I appreciate it. I’ll be home early.”
He rang off and continued staring out the window. When the helicopter landed at the mine, he leapt clear of the craft and headed toward his office, deep in thought.
“So, Ally, tell us.” Maggie looked up from the sink. “Are you really a better pool player than Ace?”
The two sisters-in-law had spent the better part of the afternoon in the kitchen with Ally. Maggie was baking bread, one of her passions. She had put Erin to work at the sink, washing the fresh vegetables she’d picked from her small garden beside the barn. And Ally was loading into the dishwasher the plate, bowl and utensils she’d just hauled from the lab, where her grandfather had enjoyed a late lunch. She was concerned about his lack of appetite.
“Ace is good. No doubt about it.” Ally separated the silverware and stowed it in the basket.
“But you think you’re better?” Maggie checked the oven temperature before placing the pan of dough on the rack.
Ally shrugged. “It’s hard to say. The first time we played, I had the advantage.”
“Why?” Both women looked up with interest.
“Because he didn’t know I could even play the game. He was so busy being dazzled, he wasn’t really giving a thought to winning. He was just trying not to beat me too badly.”
“Poor Ace.” Maggie couldn’t hel
p giggling. “He’s always been so proud of the fact that he’s a hustler. It had to be humiliating to be beaten at his own game. And by a woman.”
“Yeah.” Ally dried her hands on a kitchen towel. “I really took unfair advantage wherever I could.”
“How?” Erin paused in her work to look over.
“By batting my lashes and acting so…helpless. Guys just eat that up.”
Erin shook her head. “Just think of all the things I’ve been denied.”
Ally looked puzzled. “What does that mean?”
Maggie giggled again. “Erin led a very sheltered life before coming from Boston to Wyoming. She had actually never even flirted with a guy before Hazard.”
Ally stared at her in surprise. “You’re kidding.”
“No.” Erin shared a smile with her sister-in-law. “Maggie’s telling you the truth. I really had no clue. I guess that’s one of the things Hazard loved about me.”
“Yeah. What guy wouldn’t?” Ally studied her more closely. “How are you adjusting to life in Wyoming?”
“I’m thriving.” Erin set out the clean vegetables on layers of paper toweling as precisely as she handled the instruments in her laboratory. “I’ve even learned to wear jeans and boots, and Hazard is teaching me to ride horseback.” She saw the smile of pleasure on Ally’s face. “I take it you like to ride?”
“I love it. I’m as comfortable in the saddle as I am in my grandfather’s old truck.”
“Then you’re glad to be back in Wyoming?”
“Oh, you can’t imagine.” Ally looked up as the kettle whistled, and Maggie filled a teapot with boiling water. Soon the three women were sitting at the kitchen table, sipping tea. “I went to college in Minneapolis. That’s where my mother settled after my father left us to work on an oil rig in the Atlantic. I was eleven years old, and I hated every day that I was separated from my grandfather. Throughout my entire childhood, he had been my best friend. I kept telling myself it would only be for a year or two. But the years stretched out into more than fifteen. And in all that time, I never stopped yearning to be back with Gramps. It didn’t matter that his place wasn’t much of a ranch, or that he wasn’t much of a rancher. All that mattered was that we’d be together again.”
“What took you so long?” Maggie asked gently.
“My mother. She was alone, and in very frail health, and absolutely determined to never return to life on a ranch. She’d hated it. And as much as I yearned for it, I was all the family she had.” She sipped, then set her cup down, staring into the amber liquid. “And now I’m the only family Gramps has. And I’m being asked to put my own life on hold all over again, for the sake of someone else’s.”
Maggie and Erin exchanged a look.
Maggie put a hand over Ally’s. “Don’t give up hope yet, Ally. Erin and I have learned that the Wilde brothers are very determined when they want something. And from the look on Ace’s face, I’d say he has no intention of giving you up without a fight.”
“Oh, Maggie,” she whispered fervently. “I hope you’re right.”
The three women looked up at the sound of a bell being rung from the lab. Agnes scurried in from the other room, muttering under her breath.
“No need to worry about your grandfather. I can tell he’s feeling as good as new.”
Ally arched a brow. “How can you tell, Agnes?”
“Hear that bell? When a man starts demanding another glass of water, and another pillow, it’s a sure sign he’s got nothing better to do. Between him and that bell, and Cody underfoot all day fixing things, I may have to commit murder and mayhem.”
While the others chuckled, Ally touched a hand to the old woman’s arm. “I’ll go see what my grandfather wants.”
“It’s my job,” Agnes protested.
“You didn’t ask for this. My grandfather and I have created too much extra work for you. You sit down and have a nice cup of tea. I’ll see to him.”
As she rushed from the room, the old housekeeper stared after her. “Huh. She thinks I don’t know what she’s up to.”
Maggie retrieved another cup and saucer and returned to the table. “What is she up to, Agnes?”
“Trying to soften me up, that’s what.”
“Why?”
“Because I saw Ace coming out of her room this morning. Looking like the cat that swallowed the canary. Poor boy doesn’t have any idea what kind of trap’s being set for him. But I know. And she knows I know. Women have an instinct for that kind of thing.”
Maggie arched a brow. “What kind of thing?”
“She’s after my boy.”
Maggie and Erin refused to look at one another, knowing if they did they’d burst into gales of laughter. Instead Erin covered her mouth with her napkin, while Maggie busied herself pouring tea.
Both women were remembering their own cool receptions by this woman who had appointed herself the defender of “her boys.” But there was simply no help for it. Ally would have to find her own way into Agnes’s good graces.
“Look, Allycat.” Harlan turned to the old dog in the cage. “Come on, boy.” He beamed with pride as Buster stood and took two tentative steps before sitting back on his haunches.
“Oh, Gramps. That’s just wonderful.” Ally hugged him, then knelt down and petted the dog’s head.
Buster rewarded her with a lick of his tongue across her hand before dropping his head on his paws.
“If he keeps this up, we ought to be able to leave here by tomorrow.”
“Let’s leave that up to Hazard, Gramps.”
He seemed about to argue, when he heard the sound of the helicopter overhead. His eyes narrowed as he watched Ally race to the window to watch it land.
Minutes later Ace strode into the lab, followed by Cody, riding in the scooter.
“Look at this.” Ace paused, allowing Cody to edge past him and come to a stop next to Harlan’s cot.
“You fixed it?”
“Good as new.” Cody stepped off and motioned for Harlan to climb aboard. “Give it a try.”
Harlan eased himself from the cot to the scooter. With a simple touch of the button he was skimming around the lab. By the time he brought it to a stop beside Cody, he was smiling. “I really thought it was beyond repair.” He shook his head. “You’re a miracle worker.”
“That’s what I told him when he fixed our old truck, Gramps.”
“It was Cody who fixed it?”
She nodded.
Harlan hesitated for several seconds, then stuck out his hand. “Then I thank you. Twice.”
Cody held back, wiping his palm on his jeans, before accepting his handshake. “I’m happy I could help.”
To ease the awkwardness between them, Ace knelt down beside Buster’s cage. “How’s our old patient today?”
In reply, Buster eased himself up and took a step closer, sniffing Ace’s outstretched hand before licking it. Following his lead, Billy hurled himself into Ace’s arms and licked his face.
“You’ve had quite a scare, haven’t you old boy?” Ace picked up the little dog and scratched its ears. “You figured you’d lost your best friend?”
Billy gave a yip of agreement.
Even Harlan found himself smiling at the dog’s antics.
When Ace knelt down and released him, Billy crawled into the cage to cuddle up beside Buster.
The others looked up when Agnes paused in the doorway. “Maggie said dinner’s ready.” She stared at Harlan. “She wants to know if you want yours in here.”
Harlan was about to nod his head when he saw Ace lower a hand to Ally’s shoulder and whisper in her ear. At once his spine stiffened. “Now that I’ve got my wheels, I guess I’ll just go along with everybody else to the kitchen.”
Agnes walked away smiling. She’d just been spared another chore.
Behind her, Harlan steered his scooter along the hallway, while Cody trailed behind.
As Ally started to follow, Ace drew her back and closed the door to the l
ab.
“What are you doing? You heard Agnes. Maggie has dinner ready.”
“Yeah.” He framed her face with his hands and brushed his lips over hers. “But first, give me the welcome I’ve been waiting for all day.”
At once the spark leapt between them, and she twined her arms around his neck, drawing him closer.
“Oh, Red.” He kissed her slowly, savoring her lips as though they tasted of the most exotic flavors in the world. “This was definitely worth waiting for.”
Minutes later, as the heat rose between them, Ally lifted her head and dragged air into her lungs. “Ace. We can’t do this. We’ll be missed.”
“Yeah.” He pressed his forehead to hers and struggled to bank the fire. “That’s the trouble with sharing a house with this big family. There’s never any time for…appetizers.”
She smiled and kissed the tip of his nose. “Don’t worry. I have something special saved for…dessert.”
He threw back his head and roared. “You see? That’s one more reason why I love you, Red.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and opened the door, before walking with her toward the kitchen.
As she moved beside him she thought about the word he’d just spoken so lightly. Love. Did he mean it? Or was this handsome charmer so used to saying such things, they just spilled from his lips without thinking?
All afternoon Maggie and Erin had regaled her with stories from his wild and reckless youth. He’d given his brothers too many heart-stopping moments. But from what she’d heard, they never held such things against him. In fact, they loved him without reservation. And his sisters-in-law adored him. As for Agnes, she’d made her position abundantly clear. Ace was hers. The youngest of the three she’d been tending since they were motherless boys.
Was that why she loved him, as well? Ally nearly stumbled as the thought struck her. She wasn’t just in love. She loved. Completely. Desperately.
“Hey. What’s wrong?” Ace’s hand tightened at her shoulder, and he drew her close against him.
“Nothing.” She felt oddly breathless. Her heart racing, her palms sweating at the sudden realization. She did love him. For the patience he showed to her grandfather. For the cool, competent way he’d taken charge when their world around them seemed to be spinning out of control. And for the tenderness he’d shown an ornery old dog. But it was more than all that. She just simply loved him. Because of himself. She loved his humor. His strength. His honor.