He glanced out the front window, as if searching for her car—or maybe looking for his buddies? Who was Willy?
Somehow, the kid didn’t seem like a tweaker. In fact, he didn’t seem dangerous at all, and he had obvious respect for the teensy weapon in her hand. Good. It needed to stay that way. “Answer me!”
His attention refocused on the pistol. “I’m Gavin Farmer, and I live across the lake at the boys’ ranch. I’m not doing anything bad over here, honest. I’m sorry, I thought nobody lived here.” His gaze swept past her, out the window again. “You’re alone?”
“I’m never alone.” She fingered the small pistol of pepper mace. “And I plan to live here for a while. As I said, you’re trespassing.” It had been a long time since she’d knocked a man to his knees, but she still knew the moves, even for a big, tough kid. Still, something about him didn’t seem tough.
“They said this place wouldn’t ever sell, that it was tied up in some dead woman’s estate,” the kid said. “Austin Barlow send you here?”
“No.”
“The sheriff, then. He send you?”
“Do I look like a deputy?” she asked.
“I don’t know many deputies.” There was some familiar emotion in his voice, in his movement. It wasn’t anger so much as resentment. Despair, even.
“I’m not under arrest, then?” he asked.
She studied the shadows of his face for a moment. “Why would you think you were under arrest?”
“Well, for one thing, you’re still holding that gun.”
“I think I’ll hold it a little longer, if you don’t mind. Are you cooking meth in this house?”
His eyes widened. “Meth! You mean drugs? No way!”
Her instincts said he was telling the truth, though she didn’t know how far she could trust her instincts these days. She lowered the mace slightly, and heard him release a quiet sigh.
“Ardis Dunaway sent me here,” she said.
“Don’t know him.”
“Obviously not,” Cheyenne said dryly. “You climbed through the bathroom window?”
He nodded. “It wasn’t latched.”
“Just because a door isn’t locked doesn’t mean you have a right to trespass on someone else’s property. Who’s Austin Barlow?”
He lowered his hands to his sides. “The mayor of Hideaway, population a thousand plus some change.”
“Who’s Willy?”
“Another ranch boy like me.”
Okay, things were beginning to make a little more sense. Not a lot, but some.
“So what are you doing here?” Cheyenne asked. “And why would the mayor call the sheriff on you?”
“Because he doesn’t like my hair and he doesn’t like my nickname, and he likes to blame the ranch boys for everything that goes wrong around here.”
“In that case, don’t you think it’s time you got back to the ranch?” she asked.
“You going to tell Dane about this?”
“I don’t even know Dane.” She waited for him to make for the door, but he just stood there in the middle of the living room. Something about this kid intrigued her—and he was definitely stalling for some reason. Were the police actually looking for him? “You never told me what you were doing in my house.”
“Thought you said it was Ardis Dunaway’s house.”
He had a good memory for names. “It is, and I’m going to sleep here tonight, so if you don’t mind—”
“No electricity.”
“Good. I like to camp out.”
“You won’t like the ghosts.”
“Right.” Ghosts?
“And you’ll have to use the old outhouse, because without electricity there’s no water.”
“That’ll be my problem, won’t it? Go home.”
Still he hesitated.
Her internal tension meter kicked back up a notch. Why wouldn’t he leave?
He glanced at the pistol she still held in her hand. “That a twenty-five caliber?”
“No.”
He nodded and gazed around the room.
“Is there something else you need to tell me?” she asked.
“This place has cockroaches.”
Lovely. “Do you plan to do something about that?”
“No, but ol’ Bertie Meyer says all you have to do is throw a few hedge apples under the house and the bugs’ll leave.”
“Who’s Bertie Meyer?”
“Your nearest neighbor. She and Red are eighty-something and going strong.”
“What’s a hedge apple?”
He frowned at her. “You sure you want to stay here? You got a lot to learn about farm life.”
“I didn’t say I was a farmer.”
“You’re moving in here? All alone? You just came out here to live all by yourself?”
She glared at him. Her hand automatically tightened around the pistol. What was his game?
“All I’m saying is, don’t you need some help carrying your things in?”
“No.”
Without turning her back to him, she reached for the front door and shoved it open wide. She hadn’t completed the task when she heard the slap of shoe leather on concrete behind her on the porch. The long spring on the screen door twanged as it opened.
“Blaze, I guess you know you’re dead.”
Cheyenne pivoted with her flashlight and her pistol as a hulking, short-haired Santa Claus in denim filled the doorway like a mafioso hit man.
He looked at the gun, then looked past Cheyenne toward the kid and lunged forward.
“No!” the kid shouted. “No, don’t shoot! He’s—”
Her scream and the contents of her pistol blasted at the same time as she scrambled away from him. The man fell backward onto the porch with a cry of agony. Cheyenne caught the rebound effect of the spray in her face. It burned like fire, blinding her.
“Dane! No!” The kid shoved past Cheyenne. “You shot him? I can’t believe you shot him!”
Chapter Nine
“I didn’t shoot him, I sprayed him.”
“This is Dane!” Blaze’s voice barely reached through the curtain of fire that scorched Dane’s face and eyes. “This is the director of the ranch, how could you do that?”
“I’m sorry, we can—”
“He wasn’t hurting anybody, he was just coming to find me and take me home. Dane, it’s okay, we’re going to get you help. Just hold on!”
Dane groaned a response, writhing in agony on the concrete.
“Help me get him to water,” the woman said. “Quickly! It’s pepper mace. If we can get to water, we can dilute the pain. Where’s the nearest—”
“Get away, I’ll take care of him myself! You just get back.” Gentle hands urged Dane to his feet. “Come on, let’s get you to the lake, it’s just down the hill. I can’t believe that crazy woman did this to you.”
“I’m sorry,” the woman said again. “I didn’t know—”
“I said get back, just leave him alone! Haven’t you done enough? It’s okay, Dane, we’re going to take care of it right now,” came the tender voice Blaze used with injured or frightened animals. “Just walk with me. No, not you, lady. You just stay right here and keep that gun in its holster.”
“I need the water too, if you don’t mind,” the woman snapped. “I caught the spray in my face. It isn’t as if I do this kind of thing every day. I didn’t know it attacked everything in a five-foot—ouch!”
“Watch that hole,” Blaze said.
“Thanks.”
The cloud of pain stalked Dane as he allowed himself to be guided across the yard. His groans persisted as if as if he had no control over his voice. When they finally reached the lake, Blaze told him to kneel, then splashed the frigid water into his face.
The relief was sweeter than anything Dane had ever felt in his life. He bent forward and plunged his whole head beneath the lake’s surface, held his breath until his lungs threatened to burst, then emerged only long enough to inhale, then plu
nge again.
Several moments later, after the burn began to subside, he realized Blaze had gone silent. The only sound he heard was splashing.
“Blaze?”
The splashing stopped. “He left,” came the mellow feminine voice of his attacker. “Are you okay?”
“Much better. You?”
“I’m fine, but you took the brunt of it.” She didn’t sound like a mad mace sprayer. She sounded like a reasonable human being.
He dashed the water from his hair and beard with his hands and glanced up at her shadow in the darkness. “Wow. I can’t believe the difference a lakeful of water can make.”
“It’s pretty dramatic.” She switched on her flashlight, illuminating her drenched face, hair, red flannel jacket. “Come on, let’s get to the house before we freeze. Your ranch hand already excused himself.”
“You mean he went back to the ranch?”
“No, up to the house, I think. I wasn’t paying much attention at the time.”
“I can’t believe he just took off like that. It isn’t like him.” Dane pulled out his own flashlight and joined her.
“You must have been underwater when he said he was leaving. He’s pretty upset with me.”
“He has a lot to learn about women.”
“Oh, really.” There was an edgy pause as they walked side by side up the steep slope of the yard, shoes crackling the overgrown grass. “I take it you’ve been maced before.”
Ah, yes, that mellow voice sharpened nicely. In spite of his recent shock, he felt his lips twitch with a smile that was probably unwise at the moment. “What I meant was that he needs to understand that any woman in her right mind would have done the same thing, accosted by two strange men out in the middle of nowhere.”
There was another pause as she glanced sideways at him, as if to determine his sincerity. “Good save.”
“Thank you.” The smile would not behave. He knew it was a reaction to the relief he’d just experienced, but he’d learned long ago to look for the humor in any situation. He could enjoy a slapstick comedy routine on occasion—and this was definitely that. “I apologize for frightening you, and when I hunt Blaze down, I’ll beat an apology out of him, too.”
Too late, he realized how that must sound. He felt her disquieted gaze. “Figure of speech,” he said. “I don’t beat my boys.”
“You called him Blaze?”
“It’s his nickname, and believe me, it isn’t a slur. He chose the name himself.” He glanced at her. She had an expressive face that revealed her continued concern. Dark eyes that seemed warm, intelligent. She was only three or four inches shorter than his six-foot frame, with straight black hair, now heavy with lake water, that fell in layers across her neck and forehead.
She took the porch steps with athletic grace, then turned to him. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am about this.”
He stepped into the beam of her flashlight. “I know it’s a little late for the amenities, but I’m Dane Gideon. I run the boys’ ranch across the lake.”
“So I gathered from Gavin. I’m Cheyenne Allison. A friend of mine inherited this place, and I’m on…I’ll be staying here for a while. Does Gavin have a habit of wandering away from the ranch in the middle of the night?”
“On occasion. He’s accustomed to more solitude than he gets with us. I’d like to keep him at the ranch more consistently, but I’ve decided to use my own discretion about discipline with this kid, instead of going strictly by the rules. Until now, Blaze hasn’t let me down.” He opened the screen door and held it for her.
She hesitated, thoughtful eyes focusing intently on him.
Right. She was less confident about the situation than she appeared. “Actually, I don’t need to go inside,” he said. “I just need to collect Blaze and take him home. I’m not sure what it is about this place that draws him, except that it’s peaceful here. Its previous inhabitants were very kind people, and they took good care of the house.” Why was he chattering all of a sudden? Perhaps it was the superastute gaze of those dark eyes.
“Come on in,” she said at last, stepping over the threshold. “Gavin doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to go back to the ranch. Do you know anything about Austin Barlow calling the sheriff about him?”
As she passed, Dane caught a faint scent of vanilla. “I don’t think Austin would do that. He has no reason to.”
Blaze wasn’t in the living room.
“Maybe he bolted again,” she said.
“He wouldn’t,” Dane replied. What was Blaze up to? He glanced around the room. “Obviously you don’t have electricity yet. Did you just get here?”
She nodded, looking around the barely furnished room—complete with cobwebs—with an expression of dismay.
“You know, there’s a cozy bed-and-breakfast about a mile from here, on the lakeshore,” Dane said. “I’d be glad to call Shatzi and see if there’s a room available for the remainder of the night.” He would negotiate a good price for her—it was the least he could do after terrorizing her tonight. “There’s usually a vacancy this time of year. That way you could have a nice hot breakfast before you come back out here to finish unloading your car and put everything in order.” He was talking too much again.
She gave him an enigmatic smile. “Thanks, but I’ll be fine. The owner will have the power turned on first thing in the morning—she just didn’t expect me to arrive so early.” She raised her voice. “Gavin, are you in here?”
They heard a thump and a mutter of unintelligible words through the door at the western end of the room.
Dane opened the door and stepped through. “Blaze? We need to go home now, son.” He aimed the beam of his light around the plain, paneled bedroom, which contained a twin-size bed and small dresser in the southwest corner. There was a brown mess of stains in the center of the bare mattress. Something stank.
A grunt drew his light to the closet, where a denim-covered derriere presented itself to them. “Blaze.”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, you want to let me in on the little mystery?” Dane asked. He felt the victim of tonight’s onslaught step up behind him. He turned to her. “I’m sorry about all this, really. Crazy as it seems, Blaze usually has a reason for behaving the way he…does. Blaze, we see your photogenic side, now would you show us your face and try hard to explain why you’re hiding in a closet in a stranger’s house?”
“Not hiding,” Blaze muttered. “Seeking. Come here, little darling.”
Dane could almost feel Cheyenne Allison’s alarm. She must think he ran a ranch filled with lunatics.
“Aha!” Blaze said. “There you are, you little fighter. Come here, let me take you to some milk. I bet you’re starved half to death. Where’s the rest of your family?”
Dane cleared his throat. “Blaze.”
“Ah, gotcha!” Blaze backed out of the closet, cuddling four mewling balls of golden kitten fluff beneath his chin. “Finally found them. You know the cat that was executed Saturday? I’m pretty sure these are her babies.”
Cheyenne caught her breath. “Somebody executed a cat?”
“We have a repeat offender who likes to vandalize the community every so often, “Dane explained. “Blaze, how did you—”
“I was hoping I could do this without getting in trouble.” Blaze nuzzled one of the kittens, then wrinkled his nose. “Phew, you stink. Didn’t Mama teach you how to use the kitty litter?”
“Blaze.”
“Okay, okay, but you’re not going to write me up over this, are you?”
“I’m not sure I—”
“I heard them crying the first time I came over here a couple weeks ago.” Blaze untangled one kitten from two of his dreadlocks and squatted to place them all on the floor. “I couldn’t tell what the sound was, and before I could find out, Cook caught me and made me go home, then ratted me out to you.”
“But of course you had to come back and investigate,” Dane said.
“Not for a few days, and that was
when I saw Mrs. Potts’s cat coming in through the window. I only did it then because—”
“I know, you were afraid there was some animal trapped in here.” Dane strolled over to the bed and studied the stains. “Apparently, she gave birth to them in the bed.” He glanced at Cheyenne. “Sorry. It’s a mess.”
“I’ll sleep on the sofa tonight.”
“The babies have been without food at least since Friday night sometime,” Blaze said. “We need to get them fed. Can we keep them in the house tonight?”
“Nope. Barn.”
“Oh, come on, Dane, they don’t need to be alone tonight.”
“They won’t be alone. You know the rule about animals in the house.”
“But we kept the racing pigs in there last week.”
“That’s different. Cook isn’t allergic to pigs.”
Still grumbling, Blaze went to the other room. “Fine, I’ll just get the bag and close the bathroom window.”
Cheyenne picked up one of the kittens that had wandered from its siblings. The kid was right, these kittens needed to be fed soon.
She looked up and studied Dane Gideon’s face more carefully in the dim glow from their flashlights. The hair wasn’t Santa Claus white, it was more silver-blond, and carefully trimmed. Dane’s silhouette was craggy, with intense green eyes, slightly prominent nose and firm chin outlined by the short silver-blond beard.
Gavin’s words finally sank in, and Cheyenne frowned when he reentered the room with the bag. “Racing pigs?”
Dane and Gavin looked at her as if she should know exactly what they were talking about.
“You race pigs?” Had she just stumbled onto the SciFi cable channel?
“Sure, Dane told me they do it at the September festival every year,” Gavin said. “We brought ours into the house when the old sow got cantankerous and started hurting them.”
“And you kept them in the house?”
“Lady, don’t you know nothing about farm life?”
“Apparently not.”
“Blaze,” Dane warned. “You’re in enough trouble already. Count your blessings that I’ve decided not to write you up about tonight. Now let’s leave Cheyenne in peace.”
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