by Sable Hunter
“You can ask her, but I’ll answer your question. No. She didn’t file a claim because she doesn’t have insurance on the ranch. When the choice came down to health insurance for Sally or coverage on the ranch assets, she chose Sally.”
“Where’s Sally’s father?” Dallas asked lowly, leaning closer to George. He didn’t really know why he was asking this question. It wasn’t part of his investigation.
George answered, equally quiet. He looked over toward the little girl, but Sally didn’t seem to be paying them any mind. She was happily coloring and watching cartoons. “Who the hell knows? Lennon doesn’t even know where her cousin is these days.”
“Sally isn’t Lennon’s daughter?” Dallas was confused.
George narrowed his eyes at Dallas. “Not that it’s any of your business. Sally is Lennon’s daughter in every way that matters, but her first cousin is the birth mother.”
“I live with Lenny, she needs me.” Sally announced calmly from across the room.
“Hearing like a little elephant, that one.” George chuckled. “Lennon took me in after my wife died and I had nowhere else to go but the old folks home. We have an odd little family here, Mr. McClain, but it’s still a family. You can do all the investigating you want, but all you’ll find is that little girl in there is as good as gold. Someone’s stealing from her and it’s your job to stop them.”
“Dinner’s ready!” Lennon suddenly announced from the doorway.
Dallas rose and handed Mr. Morgan his cane. The little girl scampered in ahead of them. His stomach rumbled as the aroma of the ribs wafted out to meet him. When he entered the kitchen, it was to find the table already set and filled with food, including a three-layer coconut cake–his favorite. Now, his mouth was watering.
“Have a seat here, Ranger McClain.” Lennon held a chair out for him. “I hope you’re hungry.” He nodded, sitting across from George. Sally sat beside him and Lennon was to George’s left, seemingly as far away from Dallas as she could get. Was she hiding something?
“Company first.” Lennon passed the ribs to him across the table.
“We’re like a fambly,” Sally said with a smile.
No one said anything. Dallas felt a sharp ache in his heart. The pain of his loss was great. Carly hadn’t wanted their child and this woman made room in her heart for someone else’s. I’m never going to have a family, he thought. It was safer. You couldn’t lose what you didn’t have.
CHAPTER THREE
“You go on out and let Lennon show you around,” he motioned to Dallas, then pointed to the door. “Sally and I will clean the kitchen.” George rose slowly, holding on to his cane.
“Leave them, I’ll do the dishes when we get back.” Lennon protested.
“When you get back, you have to tuck me in and read to me!” Sally informed her loudly.
“I can handle it all, I think.” Lennon gave them both a hug. “What would I do without you two?”
Feeling awkward, Dallas stood back until she was ready to go. After the little girl had announced they were like a family, things had grown very quiet. He wasn’t the one who’d been the most self-conscious, however. Lennon had blushed and given him an apologetic whisper of ‘sorry about that’.
“Ready?” she asked with a smile.
“Yes, and that was one fine meal, Ms. Haley. One of the best I’ve ever had, especially the coconut cake. Thank-you.” He patted his full stomach, noting that the praise seemed to surprise her.
“You’re very welcome. Let’s take the horses. I assume you can ride?”
“I can. I’d rather ride. I was cooped up all day on the road.” He held the door for her.
She gave him a slight smile. “Well, I wanted to be sure. I know you’re a city-boy.”
The unexpectedness of her teasing made him laugh. “I’m a by-God Texas Ranger, cowgirl.”
“I think I rode a horse before I could walk. I barrel raced for a while, but my father made me quit. When his health deteriorated, I had to assume more responsibility here, so I had to quit the rodeo circuit.”
“Do you miss it?” They’d come to the barn and he stepped forward to open another door for her. His courtly manners were getting a work-out.
Ranger McClain’s unexpected chivalry made Lennon shiver. She wasn’t used to it, at all. “I did, but there was no way I could spare the time to compete. After he passed, I found another way to participate in the rodeo that didn’t take up quite so much time.”
A loud, desperate bawling noise splintered the air. “What the hell?”
Lennon giggled. “Come here, I’ll show you.” She led him to a stall where a small black bull calf stood on wobbly legs. “This is Lancelot. He’s hungry. His mom didn’t live through the birth. We’re bottle-feeding him. George had lunch duty, I’ll feed him supper when we return.”
“Patience doesn’t seem to be one of his virtues.” Dallas grinned as the little calf licked her hand and butted her knees with his big hard head.
“He’s a man, I think that’s a common trait.”
He laughed again, she was surprising him. “Hand me a bridle and I’ll help.” She opened the tack room and soon they had two horses saddled and ready to go. Remembering what she’d said, he asked, “What did you mean when you said you found another way to participate in the rodeo?”
With reins in hand, she headed her horse to the gate. Not waiting for him, she dismounted, opened it and waited for him to ride through. “Don’t laugh when I tell you,” she said as she led her horse through, closed the gate and remounted.
“I can’t promise. What are you, a rodeo clown?” He was teasing. She was probably going to tell him that she sold concessions or something. He could almost see her hawking peanuts.
“Yea, something like that. Basically I wear a costume and entertain the crowd.” He was making fun of her, so she decided not to elaborate. What she didn’t tell him was that they were called bullfighters now, not rodeo clowns. Wearing red long-johns and waving a bra in the bull’s face, it was her job was to distract the big animal until the cowboy could get to his feet and safely away. The crowd loved her character and so far she’d saved a few lives. She wasn’t the only female bullfighter, there was other she knew about down in Texas.
Her sketchy explanation seemed to satisfy him. “So, you think the fence was cut?” Dallas asked, lifting his hat so he could see more clearly.
As they talked, they’d ridden a good distance. “Yes, not too far from here. I’ll show you.” She gave her horse his head and they sped up. “See.” She pointed, dismounting. “The tracks are about gone now, but this gap wasn’t here before.”
Dallas came to stand by her. He looked at the fence, then glanced around at the rolling landscape punctuated by hills and cactus. “This is desolate country. No one to witness much of anything. Let’s ride around a little more. I want to get a better look.” He held her horse while she climbed on.
“Thank you, Ranger.”
“Call me, Dallas,” he offered.
Despite her troubles, Lennon felt lighthearted. “Is Dallas your real name?”
“Nope, a nickname.” He left out the sordid details. “I’m William Walter McClain. Don’t ask me who I was named for, I have no idea what my mother was thinking.”
His answer was evasive, but she seemed to find it amusing. Laughing, she confided her name to him. “I’m Lennon Starr, my mother was a Beatle’s fan.”
“Nice.” Dallas sat up straighter in the saddle. “What’s over there?”
He pointed and they headed toward something lying on the ground. “Is it a cow?” she asked, concerned.
“No, it’s a mule deer. Gunshot.” Dallas jumped to the ground to check. He knelt and laid a hand on the deer. “It’s been dead for a while.”
“A poacher, you think?” She looked at him with a worried expression on her face.
“Probably.” Dallas wasn’t sure. “A hunter will usually harvest the meat, or at least carve out the hindquarters.”
&nb
sp; “Maybe they shot the deer and it ran off before it died. They might have looked for it, but didn’t find it.”
Her explanation was plausible. “It could happen. Let’s head back. It’s getting dark, we’d best get to the house.”
The sun was sitting right on top of the mountains, coloring the sky a brilliant purple, orange and pink. “Beautiful sunset,” Lennon remarked.
“Yea, it is.” Her words weren’t said in any romantic tone, but it was best not to encourage the woman. “I don’t notice sunsets very much.” In fact, Dallas wasn’t really watching the sky. He had a funny feeling, as if they were being watched. Scanning the horizon, he didn’t really know what he was looking for. “What mountains are those?”
“The Finlay Mountains, the tallest peak is called Round Top. There are also mountains on the east portion of our property, but none as high as Round Top. We have six thousand acres at Apache Springs and two thousand more leased from the Texas Land Grant Association. About a third is pasture land and there’s also nine miles of Rio Grande riverfront.”
Dallas jerked his head toward her. “I didn’t know that. Do you ever have any trouble with people coming across from Mexico?”
Lennon shrugged. “Sometimes. This is a hard place to cross on foot. The Chihuahuan Desert is on both sides of the river. People die from thirst and exposure. I remember Daddy found a little girl’s body when I was younger.”
“Sad.” Dallas pulled his hat down over his eyes and squinted. His eyes were playing tricks on him. That couldn’t be another… “Lennon, look.”
She did, then urged her horse quickly forward. “Oh, no. One of my bulls has been shot.” She looked at him. “Do you think it was accidental, like the deer?”
“No. I don’t really think either one was an accident.” Dallas was honest with her. “I think you have a problem.”
* * *
“I don’t know what I’m going to do.” Lennon was honest as she accompanied Dallas to the old lodge, her arms full of linens. “I can’t afford to hire help to patrol the fence line. Repairing everything that’s been vandalized has drained my bank account. I’m even a few days behind on my monthly note.”
“Your father left you with a mortgage?” This information surprised him.
“No, he didn’t.” She shook her head. “I borrowed money against the ranch to pay the court costs to adopt Sally and the hospital bills from her birth.” When he cast her a questioning glance, she explained. “My first cousin and I were close growing up. She moved away and fell in with the wrong crowd. I’m just glad she chose to have the baby, even though she had no desire to keep her.”
Bile rose in his throat. Carly had chosen to kill his son. “I admire you for what you’ve done.” Just like that tapestry on her wall declared–this woman was patient and kind.
“There was really no other choice.” When he didn’t say anything, she went on. “So, what am I going to do? It’s not like I’m going to get any help from local law enforcement.”
By now, they were standing on the lodge porch. “And why is that?” he asked, more out of curiosity than anything else. She opened the door, but he beckoned her to enter first.
“This way. I haven’t renovated the common areas yet.” Lennon led him to a cozy room. “Sit and rest while I put the sheets on the bed.”
“Let me help.” He moved to the opposite side of the bed and accepted the corner of the fitted sheet she tossed to him. “What is it with Ferguson?” he repeated. “I sensed some animosity toward you.”
Lennon was struck by the intimacy of the situation. She and a man were alone in a bedroom, both touching the same bed. Lennon shook her head at the strange way her mind worked. He wore no wedding ring, she’d checked. Of course, that didn’t mean he didn’t have a girlfriend–or that he’d want her if he didn’t. Oh, well. “It’s nothing,” she sighed. “Just left-over high school drama.”
“And?” Dallas raised an eyebrow as he caught the top sheet and began to tuck it in at the bottom.
Lennon shook her head. “I had a crush on him, you know how young girls can be. We worship a guy from afar, and woe if anyone ever finds out. I was teased unmercifully. The popular kids set me up at this dance. I went convinced that Colin had asked me out and they made a spectacle of us both. I was humiliated and he was mortified. It was like a scene from a movie. No one ever let me forget it and afterward Colin hated me more than ever.”
“He’s not being very professional.” Dallas felt sorry for her. He could certainly sympathize with her situation. He well remembered being mistreated for things beyond his control.
“True.” She shrugged, fluffing his pillows. “Thank you for coming, Ranger McClain. I know this isn’t your regular job. You’re doing a favor for your friend and I’m the one benefiting. Of course you’re welcome to join us for breakfast in the morning, but if you’d be more comfortable, I could bring you a tray.”
“Thanks.” He appreciated the suggestion. Sitting down with the trio could become even more uncomfortable if he didn’t nip it in the bud. “If you’ll prepare the tray, I’ll be glad to come pick it up.”
Even though she’d made the offer, Lennon felt her heart sink. She enjoyed being around him. “Okay. The bathroom is through here,” she stepped to a connecting room. “And remember, you can use the bathhouse. There’s a separate entrance, but you can go through a connecting hallway at the back. Here’s the key.” She pressed it into his palm. “There are four small pools. No one will bother you. I go sometimes, but usually its after midnight when I can’t sleep.”
“Okay. Great. Thank-you. I want to go with you when you feed the livestock in the morning,” Dallas told her. Noticing she only came to the middle of his chest, he was struck by how small she was compared to the burdens resting on her shoulders.
“Fine. I’ll be ready as soon as I feed Lancelot. I noticed tonight that he’s growing like a weed. George can sleep in with Sally. You can drive and I’ll spread the hay.” She knew she was talking too much. Lennon wanted to linger, but it was time for her to go. “Sleep well, Dallas. If you need anything, let me know.”
“I’ll throw rocks at your window,” he teased, then wondered why he did so. He certainly had no thought to encourage her. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.” The steps it took to get back to the front porch of her house were made reluctantly. She kept looking back over her shoulder, wondering what he was doing, imagining how he looked unclothed. The lights shining forth from her windows weren’t as welcoming as usual, but when she opened the door Lennon was met by people who loved her and needed her.
“Will you read to me, Lenny?” Sally ran forward with a book in hand.
“Lenny, if you have time, I need a button sewn on this shirt. I don’t think I can do it. My arthritis is kicking up again.”
She smiled indulgently at them both. “Of course, I’ll sew on the button really quick, then read you to sleep, Sally. How’s that?” As she passed the front window, she gazed toward the lodge. Lennon knew who’d be the star of her dreams tonight.
Over in his room, Dallas finished his shower. He toweled his body dry, his thoughts running rampant. This assignment was turning out to be more than he bargained for. If it were just a simple case of cattle rustling, that would be one thing - if you could call cattle rustling simple. But it was the seemingly focused acts of vandalism that gave him pause. What was the motivation? Was it just kids acting out? Or was something else going on?
And even more puzzling than the case was Lennon Haley herself. She was an enigma, a puzzle, a riddle that seemed to tease him to probe deeper. Every moment he spent with her only added to the mystery and he didn’t know why. She wasn’t his type; she couldn’t even be called pretty. Lennon was plain, she did nothing to enhance her pleasant features. It was only when she smiled that he could get a glimpse of her potential. Maybe it was just the times they lived in. All of the women he’d been around never left the house without wearing full makeup. It was as if they wore a mask to
face the world. Lennon didn’t; what you saw was what you got with her…except for her clothes. She wore loose, bulky, work clothes like a suit of armor. He’d give a pretty penny to peel away the layers to see what her body was really like.
Returning to the bedroom, he remembered making the bed with her. She’d been friendly–helpful. But there’d been no teasing, no flirting. If any credence was given to Sheriff Ferguson’s words, he would’ve expected Lennon to do something to attract him…but she didn’t. He wondered why. As he pondered, he smirked. Man, he was a piece of work. He just assumed any woman would want him. As long as they didn’t know the truth about William McClain, all females seemed to find Dallas sexy as hell. He shrugged - maybe Lennon was satisfied with her life, maybe her circumstances pushed any thoughts of attraction from her mind. But sometimes–sometimes when their eyes would meet, he could sense loneliness, a desperate void that she didn’t expect to ever fill. It was in those times, Lennon seemed like a kindred spirit to Dallas. Or maybe it was just his imagination, maybe he was projecting his own weaknesses onto her. Oh well, this wasn’t a puzzle he’d solve tonight.
Dallas removed the towel he’d tied around his waist and pulled on a pair of lounge pants. The bed looked inviting, but he wasn’t sleepy. Lennon’s invitation for him to use the bathhouse was just too good to pass up. Throwing the towel over his shoulder, he decided to take a walk first, then head to the pools from there. He’d only taken a few steps outside when he heard a mourning dove sound its lonely cry. Dallas froze. How unusual, he’d never heard one at this hour of the day. It sounded again and he felt himself shiver. Nothing in the world sounded so lonesome. Back home, after he’d buried Carly and was left to face the fact his child was lost to him, he’d hear the cry of the whippoorwill and all the shame of his life would come crashing down on him like a ton of bricks. Every call of the mysterious night bird would land on his skin like a lash from a cat-o’-nine tails–Whip-poor-will, Whip-poor-will–whip poor William until he breaks.