He knew the ranch hands he employed would be out in the fields. But at least once a day Jake headed out on horseback to check the livestock and just enjoy the fresh air and alone time.
Alone time. Jake didn’t feel as though he’d been truly alone since the moment of his conception. And it was what he longed for more than anything. As much as he loved Jeff and Kerri, he couldn’t wait for their house to be finished and to have the house to himself. He just wanted the time to come when nobody needed anything from him ever again.
Still, as he saddled his horse his thoughts returned to Grace. Maybe things would have been easier if she was more like Justin’s usual women. Justin’s normal types were tough, life-weary women who knew the score where he was concerned. They knew how to fight for what they wanted and they didn’t always fight fair. They also knew to expect nothing from Justin and that’s usually what they ended up with where he was concerned.
Grace had a quiet elegance about her. She worked as a schoolteacher, and he’d believed her when she’d told him she wasn’t the type to fall into bed easily with any man.
Minutes later he was racing across the pasture, shoving thoughts of the beautiful brown-haired woman out of his head. When his parents had died and left this large ranch to the three young men, Jake knew it would never work with three cooks and no chef.
He knew that Jeffrey had never wanted to be a rancher. He preferred working with numbers, loved being an accountant and had no desire to have anything to do with the ranch except help keep the books.
Justin didn’t have the work ethic necessary to keep it a successful, functioning business and so Jake had offered to buy them both out. They’d banged out the details, worked with the bank and a lawyer and now the land was his, except for the plot where Jeffrey and Kerri were building their place.
Both Justin and Jeffrey got a payment each month from the profits the ranch made and would do so until their part of the inheritance was paid off.
He rode until just after noon and then headed back to the house for lunch. The three little girls were already in their high chairs, chattering and taking turns laughing as if enjoying each other’s conversation.
“Are they always so happy?” he asked as he walked over to the sink to wash up.
“Pretty much all the time,” Grace said. She was already seated at the table while Kerri stood at the stove stirring a big pot of vegetable soup. “The only time they’re at all fussy is if they get overly tired.”
“That’s the only time I get fussy,” Kerri said with a laugh. She began to ladle the soup into a large tureen.
Lunch was a quiet meal. Grace seemed pulled into herself, her gaze lingering often on her three daughters as they ate their finger food.
Jake tried not to notice the sadness that wafted from Grace, a sadness he knew his brother was responsible for. Not my problem, he reminded himself over and over again. But when lunch was finished and the girls were down for their naps, the sight of Grace sitting alone on the sofa in the living room made it impossible for him to just leave her there and disappear into his study.
“How about a walk outside for a little fresh air?” he said to her. “I’ll show you around the place.”
She glanced toward the stairs and then looked at her watch. “Okay, that sounds good. The girls usually nap for about an hour and a half and they just went down.”
“I’ll let Kerri know we’re going out. She can keep an ear open for any of the girls waking up,” he said. It took him only a moment to alert Kerri of their intention, and then he and Grace stepped out on the porch into the midafternoon spring sunshine.
“Ever been on a ranch?” he asked.
“No, I’ve always been an urban girl,” she replied. “Although I sometimes take my class to a petting farm in Wichita for a field trip. Looks as though you have a lot of land.”
He nodded. “It’s almost six hundred acres. I use some of it for crops, but most of it is for cattle.”
“You run it all alone?”
They walked in the direction of the barn in the distance, the sun warm and the air spiced with the scents of flowers and pasture. “No, I’ve got several men who help out.”
“I haven’t seen anyone around.”
“They’re usually out in the fields by this time of the day. I’m sure if you’re here long enough you’ll eventually see them.”
“No offense, but I hope I’m not here that long,” she replied.
“Already tired of our company?” he said, half teasing.
“You all have been wonderful, but I came here with a specific purpose in mind and now that I’ve accomplished what I set out to do, I’m eager to get home.”
And he wanted her gone, he reminded himself, although it was difficult to maintain that feeling when she looked so beautiful and smelled so good. “You didn’t exactly accomplish what you wanted,” he said.
A tiny frown danced in the center of her forehead. “Your brother is obviously not cut out to be much of a family man.” She looked up at him. “What about you? You have a girlfriend with plans to marry and fill this big place with lots of children?”
“No,” he replied firmly. “Never. I know it sounds crazy, but with my brothers I feel as if I’ve been parenting most of my life. Once Kerri and Jeffrey move out, I am looking forward to being alone. The last thing I want is the responsibility of a wife or kids.” He realized he sounded harsh and he tempered his words with a smile. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not ready to step up as an uncle.”
“I appreciate that. I’d just hoped…” She allowed her voice to trail off.
Jake didn’t know how to reply. He couldn’t make his brother into the man she wanted him to be, although heaven knew he’d tried over the years to make him into some kind of a responsible man.
At that moment his cell phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket and realized it was a call he had to take and he needed to be in his study in order to refer to some documents. “I’ll call you right back,” he said to the man on the other end of the line.
“I’m sorry, I’ve got to get back inside,” he said to Grace. “That was a business call I need to return. Shall we head back?”
“If you don’t mind, I think I’ll walk around a little bit longer. It feels good to be out here in the fresh air and sunshine.”
Once again that protectiveness surged up inside him. She looked lost, and he knew the disappointment of the morning with Justin weighed heavily in her heart. He steeled his own heart against her. “Okay, then I’ll just see you inside in a few minutes.”
As he walked back toward the house, he fought the impulse to turn and get one more look at her. He told himself again he wasn’t going to get sucked into this drama, that Justin and Grace were going to have to figure it all out on their own.
That protective streak Jake had in him had resulted in many a beating throughout his youth from their father, who had handed out corporal punishment for any infringement, slight or imagined. Jake had taken more than one beating for Justin, and he was determined to never take another on behalf of either of his brothers.
It took him nearly twenty minutes to take care of the business that needed attending. He was just leaving his study when he heard the unmistakable sound of a gunshot.
What the hell?
He raced to the front window and looked out, stunned to see Grace with her back pressed against the side of the barn. Another shot split the air and it was immediately obvious to him that somebody was shooting at her. The shots were coming from a thickly wooded area on the right of the property.
Jake’s heart leapt in his throat as he raced back into his study and grabbed his gun from his desk drawer. Somebody was shooting at Grace. It didn’t make sense. His mind couldn’t wrap around it. As another shot exploded he only hoped he could get outside before whoever it was managed to kill her.
Chapter 4
Grace pressed against the rough wood of the side of the barn, terror clawing up her throat as another bullet splintered
the wood precariously close to where she stood.
Her brain had stopped functioning when the first bullet had whizzed by her. If she hadn’t heard the explosion of the gun she would have assumed the loud buzz was an annoying insect too close to her ear.
When she’d realized what was happening she’d slammed herself against the barn in an effort to make herself a more difficult target. If she could, she’d push herself right through the wood and into the barn itself.
Who was shooting at her and why? None of this made any sense. But there was nobody else around, no way to mistake that those bullets were intended for her.
She cursed her bright yellow T-shirt that made her an easy target as her eyes darted around frantically seeking some sort of a safe escape.
Her heart pounded so loudly in her ears she couldn’t hear anything else. Why was this happening? What was going on? The sight of Jake barreling out of the front door with a gun in his hand forced a sob of relief to escape her lips.
He fired several shots into the woods where the original bullets had come from as he ran toward her. Jeffrey appeared on the porch with a rifle and he began to fire into the woods as well, providing cover for Jake as he approached where she stood.
Jake slammed against the barn next to her. “You all right?” he asked, his voice a terse snap of tension.
She gave a curt nod, unable to find her voice. Her terror had stolen it clean away from her.
“We’re going to get you back into the house,” he said, his eyes narrowed to dangerous-looking slits. There had been no more gunfire coming from the woods since he’d appeared.
“I’m afraid to move,” she finally managed to reply.
“We need to move,” he replied. “Did you see anyone?” he asked, not taking his gaze from the woods.
“No, I just felt the first bullet buzz by my head and I ran, but I didn’t know where to run to.” A tremble tried to take hold of her body but she fought against it, knowing she couldn’t give in to her fear until she was safe and sound.
She certainly felt safer with Jake by her side and with Jeffrey on the front porch, but someplace out there was somebody who had apparently just tried to kill her not once, not twice, but three times.
There could be no other explanation for what had happened. Any one of those bullets could have hit her…killed her…and she wasn’t safe yet. They still had to get from the barn back to the house.
Several men appeared on horseback, rifles pulled and faces grim. “The cavalry,” Jake muttered beneath his breath.
One of the men pulled up in front of Grace and Jake, providing an effective barrier. “We heard gunfire,” he said. He was a big man, with shoulders as wide as a mountain and a paunch belly to match, but his eyes were dark and dangerous as he gazed first at Grace then at Jake.
“It came from the woods over there. Maybe you and the boys can go check it out while I get Grace safely back into the house,” Jake said.
The cowboy gave a nod of his head and then he and the other two took off riding toward the woods. “Can you run?” Jake asked her.
“Not as fast as usual with my arm in this sling, but I’ll do the best I can,” she replied. She’d do whatever she could to get away from this barn and into the house.
Her babies. She needed to be with her babies. She needed to kiss their plump cheeks, smell their baby sweetness and hug them tight.
“I’m going to wrap my arm around you,” he said. “And then we’re going to go as fast as we can to the house. Ready?”
He put his arm around her. For a moment she wanted to bury herself against him, to meld into the hard safety of his arms, to lose herself in his scent of sunshine and woodsy cologne.
“Ready,” she murmured.
They took off and it was the most terrifying run Grace had ever experienced. With each step she expected a bullet to pierce through her back, to hit her body and slam her into the ground. And with each step her shoulder jarred, shooting pain through her and making her wonder if they’d ever reach the safety of the house.
All she could think about were her babies. If she died who would take care of them? Natalie certainly wasn’t at a place in her life where she would be a fit parent. Justin definitely wasn’t an option. Grace had to get back to the house safe and sound.
Jake used his bigger body as a shield. When they reached the porch and stumbled past Jeffrey and into the house, Grace wrapped her good arm around Jake’s neck and clung to him as tears of fear and relief mingled together and finally erupted.
He remained stiff and unyielding for a long moment and then his arms went around her waist and he held her as tight as her slinged arm would allow.
“It’s all right. You’re okay now.” His deep voice reached inside her and soothed some of the jagged fear that still spiked through her as one of his hands slid up and down her back in a soft caress.
She buried her face in the front of his T-shirt as the tears fell freely. Someplace in the very back of her mind she recognized she liked the way he smelled, she liked the feel of his strong body so close to hers.
She didn’t cry for long, but after the tears had stopped she was reluctant to leave his embrace. He felt so solid, so capable, and she hadn’t realized until this moment how desperately she’d hungered for a man’s embrace. For just a moment to be able to lean on somebody, anybody other than herself.
As Jeffrey came through the front door, she reluctantly released her hold on Jake and stepped away from him. Kerri grabbed her by the arm and led her to the sofa. Grace sank down and allowed the shudder that had threatened earlier to work through her.
“What on earth is going on around here?” Kerri asked, obviously distraught as she moved from Grace to her husband’s side.
Everyone looked at Grace. Her shoulder ached, her heart raced and she still couldn’t wrap her mind around what had just happened. “I don’t know. I was just walking, enjoying the fresh air and sunshine. I heard the gunshot at almost the same time I felt the whiz of a bullet go by my head.”
She began to tremble, the motion causing her shoulder to ache more and bringing with it a headache that screamed across the back of her skull. “At first I didn’t realize what was happening, but when I did, I didn’t know what to do. So I pressed against the side of the barn and then it was as if I was pinned there. Whoever it was kept firing. I thought I was going to be killed.” She was rambling, her mouth working almost faster than her brain.
“Call the sheriff,” Jake said to Kerri, who immediately went into the kitchen to use the phone in there.
A knock at the door whirled Jake around, his gun still drawn. Grace felt her breath catch painfully in her chest in frightening anticipation of more trouble. She relaxed as the cowboy Jake had sent to the woods came through the door.
“Somebody was out there,” he said in a deep, booming voice. “Looks like whoever it was had been there for a while. The grass was tamped down and a blanket of some sort had been spread out.”
“A blanket?” Grace stared at him in horror. That implied somebody had been sitting out there just waiting for her to make an appearance, just waiting to put a bullet through her.
“The sheriff is on his way,” Kerri said as she came back into the living room.
“By the way, Grace, this is Jimbo Watkins, my ranch manager. Jimbo, this is Grace Sinclair, a visitor here on the ranch,” Jake said.
Jimbo tipped his black cowboy hat. “You brought some nasty critters with you when you arrived here from wherever you came from?”
“Wichita. And, no, I don’t even know any nasty critters,” Grace said, aware of the slight edge of hysteria in her voice. She was a schoolteacher, for crying out loud. She didn’t know people who laid in wait to shoot a helpless woman. She knew eight-year-olds who had trouble with math and talked out of turn.
“Me and the boys will check out the rest of the property, but I’d say whoever was there is probably long gone by now,” Jimbo said.
“You find anything else you come let
me know,” Jake said.
With another tip of his hat to Grace and Kerri, Jimbo left the house.
“Could this have been some sort of a mistake?” Grace finally ventured. “You know, a hunter taking some wild shots?”
“Honey, you are from the city,” Kerri said drily.
“This was no mistake,” Jake replied. His dark blue eyes lingered on Grace. “This isn’t hunting season and there’s no way anyone could confuse you with a wild turkey or a deer.”
“So somebody just tried to kill me.” The words fell from Grace’s mouth and hung in the air as she stared at the people around her, hoping somebody would negate her words or at least somehow make it all make sense.
Instead, she heard a cry from upstairs and knew that the triplets were awake from their naps. “Go on, I’ll let you know when the sheriff arrives,” Jake said to Grace and Kerri.
As the two women climbed the stairs, Kerri grabbed hold of Grace’s hand. “I can’t imagine how frightened you must have been,” she said as she squeezed Grace’s fingers. “Nothing like this has ever happened before.”
“I feel like it’s all a horrible dream,” Grace replied.
“It has to have been some sort of terrible mistake,” Kerri replied as she dropped Grace’s hand.
Only the sight of Abby’s, Bonnie’s and Casey’s sweet little faces grinning at her over the tops of the cribs could finally calm some of the fear that had iced Grace’s heart for what seemed like forever. “Hey, girls,” she greeted them with a forced bright smile.
It took several minutes to change diapers, and with Abby and Casey on Kerri’s hips and Bonnie riding Grace’s good side, they went back down the stairs.
By the time they had the girls happily settled on the floor with toys surrounding them, the sheriff had arrived.
Sheriff Greg Hicks was a tall, gray-haired man with kind brown eyes and a deep cleft in his chin. “Would you get a load of these little beauties,” he said with a look at the girls after Jake had made the introductions. “They’re like peas in a pod and cute as buttons.”
Cowboy's Triplet Trouble Page 5