Cassidy's Cowboy (Search For Love)

by Karen Rose Smith

  "And after that?" she pressed some more.

  Raking his hand through his hair, he said, "I haven't planned it out. Maybe I'll head up to Alaska and climb a few glaciers."

  Lucy didn't blink an eye. "What are you running from, Zack?"

  Her insight brought his anger to the surface. "I'm not running. I'm exploring. And I didn't realize when I accepted this job that I'd be grilled about my life. Or are you reconsidering your offer?"

  "No, the offer holds. If you still want the job."

  For some insane reason, he wanted it more now than when he'd ridden his bike under the wooden sign where letters carved into the wood read RISING STAR.

  "Mr. Burke. Aunt Lucy. Are you coming?" Josh yelled again, holding the door open for them.

  After waving to her nephew, Lucy waited for Zack's answer.

  When her brown eyes searched his face, Zack realized this woman might have the power to make him feel again. "Look, I want the job. But I want my privacy, too. Let's just stick to the here and now."

  Her brows arched. "A man without a past and without a future. We can try it, Zack. But I can't promise my family won't ask the same questions I have. You might get tired of fending them off."

  With a grimace, he shook his head. "Let's go look at Josh's saddle. I'll worry about fending off your family when I have to."

  As he strode toward Josh, Zack realized Lucy's words were more of a prediction than a warning. At least he'd be ready.

  And he would be prepared. He wasn't about to open wounds that were finally starting to heal.

  ***

  Zack met the McIntyres as they straggled in for Saturday night supper. Josh introduced each member as if it was the most important job he ever had. Zack suspected Esther McIntyre had suggested the procedure to Josh as an exercise in social skills but also to make Zack feel more comfortable. He was definitely a fish out of water in this family atmosphere.

  Mary Jo McIntyre, Rick's wife, dressed in jeans and flannel blouse, her light brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, sparkled with the same enthusiasm for life as her son. "It's good to meet you, Mr. Burke. I hope Josh hasn't been too much of a bother."

  "No bother at all. He makes a great tour guide."

  Mary Jo smiled and ruffled her son's hair. "He knows more about this ranch than I do. He sees and hears everything."

  Zack laughed. Twice in one day. How long had it been since laughter had been part of his life?

  When Rick McIntyre shook Zack's hand, his grip was firm, his gaze friendly. "Lucy asked me Josh's very-important- question. How about you and I take a turn around the place on your bike sometime before I give Josh the okay?"

  Zack heard the amusement in Rick's suggestion. "No problem. In fact, you might even want to try it by yourself."

  Rick grinned like a teenager. "I was hoping you'd say that. I think you and I will get along just fine."

  When Tom McIntyre came in, he went to the kitchen, hugged his wife and dropped a kiss on her cheek. Then he joined the group in the living room. With a grip as strong as his oldest son's, he shook Zack's hand. "I understand you roared in here on a motorcycle. Maybe we can convince you a Quarter Horse is a much better means of transportation."

  Lucy crossed to her father with a smile. "Better watch it, Zack. He's the best salesman in the state of Wyoming."

  Her father grinned at her affectionately. "You know as well as I do our horses sell themselves. I just find them good riders." He looked Zack up and down. "Something tells me, this man is a good rider."

  Before Zack could respond, the door flew open and everyone turned toward it. A younger version of Tom McIntyre stood in the doorway, a load of firewood stacked high in his arms.

  Tom said in a low voice to Lucy, "We actually got some work out of him today. Maybe he's gonna stop mopin' about that girl."

  "Dad..." Lucy chided.

  "He's got to get on with his life. You know that better than anyone."

  Lucy glanced quickly at Zack, then looked away. But not before he saw the shadows in her eyes, not before he saw her chagrin that he'd overheard her dad's remark. Apparently something...or someone...had hurt her.

  Marty dumped the logs on the hearth by the fireplace, then turned toward the group gathered around it. Unlike the other McIntyres, he made no move toward Zack.

  After a moment of silence where the atmosphere in the room suddenly became awkward, Lucy introduced the two men. "Marty, this is Zack Burke. He'll be working with us for a while."

  Marty's dark brown eyes focused on Zack, switched to his sister, then back to Zack. "So you did it. Fine. I didn't know bringing in hired help was an occasion for a party, though. We usually only have this commotion on Sundays."

  Esther, standing in the doorway to the living room, addressed her son. "We're a family everyday. I wanted Zack to feel welcome."

  "Welcome to the ranch," Marty said automatically, with no real feeling, but because it was expected of him, then he headed for the stairs and disappeared before he could be chided for his rudeness.

  Zack couldn't help but be curious about this member of the McIntyre family who was so different from the others.

  Lucy came to stand beside Zack, her arm brushing his. "I'm sorry about his attitude. He's had rough going lately."

  Rick frowned. "A lot of that rough going is his own fault. More than once I told him Angie wasn't ready to get serious, but he wouldn't listen. He wouldn't take advice then, just like he won't take advice now. He's as hard-headed as they come."

  Mary Jo nudged her husband's arm with a small smile. "As if you know nothing about being hard-headed. Lucy's the only one of the McIntyre siblings who knows how to bend."

  "Are you saying I'm stubborn?" Rick asked with mock indignation.

  Mary Jo laughed. "That's a pleasant way of putting it."

  Tom shook his head. "Stubborn or not, that boy better get his head together. Lucy, try to talk some sense into him again, will you? Of any of us, he listens to you best."

  "I'll try, Dad."

  When she turned toward her father and her elbow brushed Zack, electric charges danced up his arm.

  Esther beckoned to them. "Come on! Supper's ready. When we're sitting around the table, maybe Marty will realize how much he still has."

  Josh maneuvered to sit on Zack's left. Lucy sat on his right. When Marty rejoined his family, he positioned himself across from the two of them.

  It had been over two years since Zack had sat down and eaten a home-cooked family dinner. The night before his camping trip with Kay...

  Rick asked, "So...Zack. What do you do besides ride around on a bike?"

  Zack accepted the platter of roast beef Lucy passed to him and considered his options. He didn't want to lie to these people but he also didn't want to answer questions that would lead to areas he'd rather avoid. Noticing Lucy's "I-warned-you" look, he answered, "Along with working on ranches, some construction jobs. I've done a little bit of everything. Mr. McIntyre, I hear that construction is particularly slow in Wyoming. Why do you think that is?"

  Fortunately for Zack, the conversation turned to the housing market and the economic conditions in Long Brush and the surrounding area. Then he concentrated on his food and tried to keep his mind off Lucy as she reached for the salt shaker. Her hair swayed along her cheek—silky, soft, natural.

  Suddenly, she leaned close to his shoulder. "You managed that one like a pro."

  If Zack turned his head, his chin would brush her hair. He tightened his hand into a fist, inhaled her scent, and said as casually as he could manage, "I know a secret. Most people like to talk about what concerns them."

  "I'll remember that," she said with a smile in her voice.

  He turned his head then and his chin did brush her hair. His chest tightened and all his senses went on red alert until suddenly Josh tugged on Zack's arm. Turning from Lucy, he felt Marty's stabbing gaze on him as he leaned down to the five-year-old.

  ***

  After supper, Marty followed Zack to
the living room.

  Zack stood at the fireplace and waited. If Lucy's brother had something to say, he might as well get it off his chest.

  It didn't take long until he did. "Lucy hired you mighty quick."

  Zack faced Marty squarely. "You don't trust her judgment?"

  "I don't trust a stranger who looks at her the way you do. I'm just warning you—we protect our own. So watch your step."

  Zack wondered just how he did look at Lucy. As if he wanted to touch her, and kiss her, and wrap his body around hers? He thought he was more guarded than that. Yet, there was no point denying his attraction to her, and he wouldn't lie about it. "Lucy and I are adults. What happens between us is our business."

  "Lucy is a McIntyre."

  "That doesn't mean you can run her life."

  "No, but I can watch out for her like I always have."

  As Rick and Mary Jo entered the living room, Marty moved away, leaving Zack to realize more fully what it meant to be a member of a family. An ache for the wife and son he'd lost filled him...an ache he'd managed to deny for over two years.

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  Excerpt from ALWAYS DEVOTED:

  Chapter One

  "What do you believe happened to your sister?"

  Emma Henderson felt her throat tighten and she found swallowing difficult. She hated the glare of the television lights and found her gaze swinging away from the camera to offstage where Linc Granger stood. The successful TV producer, who garnered high ratings with his specials, had convinced her this interview might help find Paige. That was the only reason she'd agreed to do it.

  "I don't know what happened to Paige, Ms. Kahill. She left one afternoon to drive to San Francisco for the weekend and I haven't seen her since." Emma's voice cracked.

  She almost felt Linc Granger take a step forward. To do what? Stop the interview with journalist, Tessa Kahill? To comfort her? To tell her everything was going to be okay when she knew it wasn't?

  "Her car was found on the shoulder of the highway and she was missing. Can you tell me what your thoughts were when you found out?" the world-renown journalist asked.

  "I was stunned. I couldn't believe it. At first we all thought she might have been kidnapped. But there was no call...no note for ransom...nothing."

  "You were on the police list of persons of interest for a while, weren't you?"

  "Tessa!" Linc Granger's deep voice rent the air with authority. He told the technicians to cut and take five. Then he strode up beside the interviewer.

  His gaze connected to Emma's for a heart-stopping moment.

  She tore her eyes from his and took a deep breath. She shouldn't have this reaction to him. He'd been compassionate toward her, protective even, and she was grateful. That's all there was to it.

  But as Linc and the beautiful, curly-haired interviewer argued over the questions for the remainder of the interview to be aired later in the week, Emma knew she felt a spark of something with Linc Granger she'd never felt with her late husband Barrett.

  After another minute or two of discussion, Linc crossed over to her chair and towered over her. He raked his hand through his dark brown hair, his green eyes turbulent. "Tessa insists she has to go this route. She thinks it's better if everything is out there in the public's face. I don't necessarily agree. I know you lost your husband a year ago and this is hard. If you'd rather Tessa go in a different direction—"

  As Emma shook her head, her honey-blond hair fell over her shoulder. "The family is always questioned. The family is always of interest. It's okay, Mr. Granger."

  "It's Linc," he said gently. As cutting as his voice had been a few moments before, it was so different now.

  Ever since their first meeting, she'd felt strangely out of breath. She was a mother with a four-year-old, and her sister was missing. She couldn't think about anything else.

  Squaring her shoulders, she assured him, "I can handle Ms. Kahill's questions."

  As Linc Granger studied her, she felt almost all of the air get sucked out of the room. What was it about him that made her so flustered? He was older, between thirty-five and forty she guessed, and she felt young at twenty-six for the first time in years. She'd taken on a lot of responsibility early.

  After a few moments, he reassured her again. "If anything makes you too uncomfortable, you can say so. I'm sorry I wasn't here when the interview started. I would have laid down some ground rules." He glared at Tessa as she was studying her notes.

  "When you offered me the opportunity to publicize Paige's disappearance again, you said Tessa Kahill was the best. Maybe you should let her do her job. Before we started, she told me she has to be on a plane out of L.A. tonight to Afghanistan."

  "You like her," Linc noted with a wry smile.

  "We talked before the interview. Yes, I do. And I respect her."

  "Good." He sounded relieved. "Then I'll let her continue and I won't interfere again. But I would like to discuss something with you when this is over. Do you have time?"

  What could he want to discuss with her? They'd spoken at length about what had happened to Paige, the little bit she knew, and Emma's desire to stay out of the spotlight for her daughter's sake. But he seemed to have something important to say and she did want to hear it.

  "My next door neighbor is watching Becky. I'll have some time."

  He was quiet for a few moments, but the intensity of his expression suddenly gave her the knowledge that Linc Granger was a very different man than Barrett Henderson had been.

  It shouldn't matter.

  But she found herself wanting to listen to Linc, even though she suspected that simple conversation with him could unsettle her life even more.

  ***

  What a stupid thing to do!

  Linc never interrupted the flow of an interview. When he'd asked Tessa to do this, she'd told him she could fit it in during a layover in L.A. She'd been in Mexico interviewing some diplomat, and then she was gone again for Afghanistan to tape a special report.

  So why had he jumped in?

  Because Emma Trent Henderson fascinated him. She and her four-year-old daughter had been through the cable newsringer when her sister had disappeared three months ago. Yet she'd somehow retained her dignity and poise. Still, the lost look in her expressive brown eyes when she spoke about her sister, Paige, haunted him.

  From her first press conference, he'd been intrigued by her and her story. Maybe because he knew someone who could help her if she wanted to be helped. Unorthodox means weren't for everyone, but he had the feeling Emma had exhausted the usual channels.

  The cameras were rolling again and Tessa was asking more questions. As he listened to the rest of the interview, he became more sure about the information he wanted to give Emma. When he heard Tessa end her questions with, "Tell me how you feel as a widow, with a four-year-old to raise and no idea where your sister is," he listened hard.

  Emma didn't hesitate to say softly, "Sometimes I feel as if I'm in limbo. I'm searching for answers and I don't know if I'll ever find them."

  Linc knew he had to tell Emma about Gillian Bradley and her special gift.

  ***

  When Emma finished the interview, she felt wrung out. Not a new feeling these days. But after she thanked Tessa, she turned to find Linc waiting for her. It was easy for her to think of using his first name and she wasn't sure exactly why.

  She'd worn a flowered sundress for the interview, a dress she often wore when taking sales orders in her gift basket shop, Occasional Baskets. But now she wished she'd worn something a little more sophisticated...because Linc Granger in his custom-tailored suit, tie and expensive shirt shouted sophistication.

  Who was she kidding?

  She'd never been sophisticated. Hard working and tasteful, maybe, but never sophisticated.

  After the camera lights shut down and she stood, Linc took her elbow. She felt the heat from his fingers through her whole body. It was an odd, wake-up feeling
that she'd never experienced with Barrett.

  Barrett. He'd only been gone a year. How could she even be attracted to someone else?

  Okay, so that's what this feeling was toward Linc Granger...attraction. So much for that. He certainly didn't drive his car in her neighborhood.

  Linc glanced around the set where techs were bustling by and men in suits strode purposefully here and there. He frowned.

  Even frowning, his face was ruggedly handsome with character lines around his eyes that cut deep. From laughter? Or worry?

  Turning his focus back to her, he asked, "My car service picked you up, right?"

  "Yes, thank you. It was nice to relax for a change driving into the city."

  He smiled, and then the smile slipped away. He actually looked uncertain for a moment, but only for a very fleeting moment. "We're not going to find privacy here," he explained. "Even in my office I'm constantly interrupted. Would you consider taking a drive? I have a place on the beach—"

  At her surprised expression he held up his hand in a "stop" gesture. "This is not a proposition," he assured her, his voice lowering. "I can even provide you numbers of a few good friends if you want to check me out. I just believe we need privacy for this discussion."

  And just what discussion was it? "I checked you out before I agreed to do this interview," she admitted. "At least as much as I could."

  He looked mildly amused. "So, what did you find when you checked me out?"

  "I found out that everything you do pretty much turns to gold. You went to Cal State for a degree in Cinema and TV Arts. You directed a couple of small films, afterward turning that money over into investments. Then you started gathering professionals around you who wanted to make the same films and then TV shows that you did. You've produced cable documentaries as well as network hits. But that all involves business, not your character or your personal life."

  "My personal life is off limits to reporters." That was said without any amusement at all.

  "I did find a couple of Google images with you escorting celebrities or models to charity functions and social galas. But that really didn't tell me much."