The New Cowboy

by Rebecca Winters

  They left his place in the Volvo under blue skies dotted with puffy white clouds. The day was so gorgeous, it hurt. But it wasn’t just the weather and the season. She had to admit it was Zane Lawson’s presence that filled her with a sense of happiness and well-being she’d forgotten existed.

  “I take it the owners you talked to last night haven’t called.”

  “No. I really didn’t expect them to. Whoever these culprits are, they’ll probably wait a while before making another move. When that happens, I’ll be ready for them. Does your crew ever work on weekends?”

  “Not that I’m aware of.”

  He darted a glance at her. “I’m curious. Did you always want to be an archaeologist?”

  “Not at first. Jarod got me interested in the Crow culture when he took me out to the reservation. I loved their stories and their ways. I guess I was always fascinated. When he spoke Crow with his family, I wanted to do the same thing so I started taking lessons. I learned that Crow is a Siouan language. By the time I was ready for college, I decided to learn about the Plains Indians. One thing led to another and before long I was hooked.”

  “That was in Bozeman?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did you live in an apartment?”

  Why did he ask her that? Her hands went clammy. “No. A residence hall with several female roommates.”

  “How did that work out for you?”

  She realized he was just making conversation. If only her heart would stop pounding. “Fine.”

  “I had roommates in the SEALs. They saved my life on many an occasion.”

  Dr. Moser had advised her to stick with those roommates for emotional and physical safety while she dealt with her trauma. They’d turned out to save her life, too. But she wanted to get off the subject. “Did you love your life as a SEAL?”

  “Love is an odd word. I enjoyed it and found the life stimulating, but you’re living at a high level of intensity all the time. I prefer the life I’m living now.”

  “Supersleuth without burning all cylinders at the same time.”

  His chuckle wound its way through her. “Something like that. And I love the scenery.”

  He stared at her as he said it.

  Avery felt as if she was suffocating. This hadn’t been a good idea, but she couldn’t ask him to take her back home. “Your divorce must have been very hard.”

  “Not at all. What was hard was finding out Nedra had a lover and wasn’t committed to me or the marriage. I kept hoping for children and discovered she’d been on the pill part of the time without telling me.”

  “Zane—” she said, shock in her tone.

  “That was the hard part. When the time came, it was easy to walk away. I’ve never looked back. Sadie needed help with Ryan. I was glad to leave San Francisco and be able to support her and my nephew. Sadie had always longed for the ranch. When we got here, I could see why she and Eileen had loved it so much.”

  Avery hadn’t known all this about him. He’d lived through a lot of pain. “I’ve never seen anyone fit in so fast. Matt says you’re a natural at ranching.”

  He grinned. “Since I hired him, he has to say that, doesn’t he? Even though I know next to nothing about the difference between heifers and cows.”

  Her eyes smiled at him. “The point is, you’re a quick study. When he says something he means it, so you should feel complimented. You should have seen Connor’s first wife, Reva. She couldn’t stand ranch life. It tore my brother up for a long time.”

  “Obviously ranching isn’t for everyone and not every marriage takes no matter how hard you try. I’d say Connor hit the jackpot with Liz.”

  “Grandpa always said they were two peas in a pod, but neither of them knew it until they went to finals together.”

  “Your family has found paradise here. I figure if I’d come out to Montana in the late 1800s, I would have bought up a piece of land right around here the way your great-great-grandfather did. But it doesn’t matter if I’m a hundred and twenty years late because I’m here now and not going anywhere.”

  “I’m happy for you, Zane.”

  “So what about you?” The questions kept coming. “Is the man you were with the other night someone important to you?”

  She angled her head away from him. “No.”

  “How many men have there been in that long string of hopefuls who asked you to marry them? Don’t tell me there weren’t any because I wouldn’t believe you.”

  She was starting to feel sick. Please no more personal questions. “To marry? Not many.” Blaine Robertson’s proposal in high school was the only one. Ben, their family’s former foreman had hinted at it. “What about you? Have you met anyone since your divorce who tempted you to marry again?”

  “One woman has captured my attention, but these are early days yet.”

  Her heart plunged to her feet and she wasn’t even standing. “You’re a mentally healthy man to be able to say that after what you’ve lived through.”

  “If you mean I haven’t lost the ability to trust after what my wife did to me, you’d be right. But the fact is, not everything was her fault. Before we married I questioned if it was a good idea or not. Being married to someone in the military and making the marriage work takes extra dedication. I went into our marriage with doubts. That alone should have told me not to do it.”

  “You’re an honest man, too. You remind me of Connor. He said that when he married Reva there was a part of him that feared she’d never be able to take to ranching. It turned out he was right.”

  “Yet we learn from our mistakes. I know I’ll never make the same one again,” he vowed in his deep voice. “Look at Connor now. Second time around he found the perfect woman for him.”

  Avery was still struggling with what he’d told her. With the air frozen in her lungs, she turned to look blindly out the passenger window. They’d already reached the airport. She sat there in physical and emotional pain while he went inside to ship the evidence he’d gathered. He came back out with a smile before she’d had time to think.

  “I’m glad we’re going to see the site in broad daylight. I’m curious to find out if there’s been more damage. That’s where you can help me. It’s easy to miss clues in the dark. Is there anything you need before we leave town?”

  “No, but thank you for asking.”

  Zane drove fast, totally unaware of what his admission about a woman he had his eye on had done to Avery. While they headed for Absarokee, he spoke about the desecration of some tepee rings in the Pryors he needed to investigate. Clearly he didn’t intend to talk anymore about his romantic leanings. She couldn’t have handled it if he’d said another word.

  Avery was glad she didn’t know more. All this time she’d been secretly pining for Zane, he’d been interested in someone else. Wait till she told Dr. Moser. Now the burden of ever having to tell Zane her secret could stay buried.

  One thing was certain. She planned to move to the reservation soon. Her grandfather wouldn’t like it, but she would need to do it for a total separation from the past.

  “That’s quite a conversation you’re having with yourself.” Zane’s comment brought her back to the here and now. They’d been walking around the site. No one from the crew was there. The field looked deserted.

  “Sorry. I was thinking about the people who did this destruction.”

  “There’ve been too many of them over the years nationwide. With tens of thousands of Indian sites in North America alone, thieves have had a field day.” After they’d visited each excavated spot, he turned to her. “What do you think?”

  “Nothing more seems disturbed.”

  “I agree.”

  “Do you think they’ll come back?”

  “That’s hard to say. Let’s head for White Lodge and have dinner before
we go home.”

  Now that she knew Zane’s interest in her was only platonic, she felt wooden inside. Though she couldn’t believe it, evidently all the vibes she’d felt from him were only her own wishful thinking, which was crazy since she’d been afraid to get close to him. “Good idea. I didn’t realize how long we’ve been gone.”

  Once again they were on the road. In a few minutes Zane’s cell phone rang. He checked the caller ID, but didn’t answer.

  She eyed him covertly. “I take it that wasn’t an emergency.”

  “I doubt it.”

  “Even so, it could be important. Why don’t you pull over and talk? We’re not in a hurry.”

  “The person phoning me can wait until I call them back.”

  “Uh-oh. That must mean it’s someone from your fan club.”

  “Come again?”

  “Sadie says you leave women in the dust all the time and don’t even know it,” she teased. “Connor had the same problem.”

  He flashed her a beguiling smile. “Let me satisfy your curiosity. It’s one of the rangers from Glasgow. I left before she knew I was being transferred. Sometimes she helped me on a stakeout.”

  “Is she married? Single?”

  “Divorced. For a lot of reasons my transfer came at the right time.”

  “You mean she’d been hoping you’d ask her out.”

  “Maybe, but I was never interested.”

  “That doesn’t stop a person from hoping.”

  “She sent me an email yesterday expressing her surprise that I’d already gone. I responded and wished her well. I’ll get back to her in a while. Right now I’m with you and I’m enjoying it. You can’t imagine how happy I am to be running the office out of my own home.”

  “After your personal sacrifice in the military, you’ve certainly earned the right.”

  “It feels good to be doing what I want at last. I like working alone with the freedom to carry out plans my own way.”

  “I hear you. Being on a crew at the dig site is only part of what I do. Research takes up most of my time and it’s something I can do alone on my own schedule.”

  “We’re lucky to love the work we do,” he murmured. They came around the bend. White Lodge lay straight ahead. “Let’s go to the Rosebud, shall we? I hear their Saturday night barbecue isn’t half-bad.”

  Avery chuckled to camouflage her torn-up emotions. “Such praise, Agent Lawson.”

  He pulled into the parking lot. They got out and entered the crowded restaurant. Zane had his name put on the list before walking back to her. “There’s a ten-minute wait. Shall we go in the bar on the other side till they call us?”

  “Sure.”

  He ushered her through the crowd with a certain authority that took her breath away. Avery saw the way the women stared at him. He wore a navy blue crew-neck sweater and jeans. With his strong, tall build and medium cropped dark brown hair, no male in the whole state of Montana could begin to compare.

  Zane found them space at the end of the bar. There was only one stool. With his hand on her back, he urged her to sit. The second she did and turned, she found herself staring straight into the unfriendly black eyes of Mike Durant. Oh, no.

  Avery couldn’t believe he was seated on the stool next to her. He appeared to be alone. Good manners required something of her. She spoke first.

  “Hello, Mike.” Zane was watching them. “Mike Durant? May I introduce you to a family friend, Zane Lawson.”

  He nodded to Zane. “I take it you’re the guy who’s come back to White Lodge.”

  “That’s right. How did you know?”

  “Avery mentioned it the other night on our date.”

  Mike was really angry or he wouldn’t have been so bold. She took a quick breath while Zane reached out to shake his hand. “It’s nice to meet you. Was that your BIA truck in front of her ranch?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What a coincidence. I saw it before I pulled into my ranch next door. I’ve been transferred to the Billings BLM Law Enforcement Division. With all the vandalism going on, chances are we’ll be bumping into each other from time to time on patrol.”

  Mike finished his beer. “We probably will. Good night.” He gave up his stool. The guy sitting on the other side of him got up, too, and they left together, working their way through the crowd.

  Avery felt as if she’d been shoved off a cliff.

  Zane took one look at her and said, “We haven’t been served yet, so why don’t we leave? It’s a short drive home.”

  She didn’t need any urging.

  “When we get there I’ll fix you an omelet even Ryan gobbles down.”

  Everything Zane said and did was getting to her.

  Again she’d been so preoccupied with thoughts of him, she hadn’t noticed the BIA truck in the parking lot. All of this could have been avoided. As he walked her to his car, she saw the truck take off down the street going faster than was legal.

  On their way home Zane looked at her. “He was angry enough to make you uncomfortable. Why was that?”

  “When he brought me home the other night, I told him I couldn’t go out with him again. I hated hurting him so I used the excuse that someone I cared about had come back into my life unexpectedly. You can’t imagine my shock at seeing him in there.”

  “That explains why he wanted to flatten me. There was something about him. I felt his negativity. How long has he lived in the area?”

  “He was assigned here from Nebraska after the holidays. The elders at Crow Agency are depending on him to help track down the people stealing the artifacts.”

  “Have you ever seen the guy he was with before?”

  “No.”

  After a moment’s reflection he said, “I don’t blame him for being upset that I came in with you. Every man in the restaurant would have loved to deck me in order to be with you tonight. Under the circumstances you have to admire his self-control.”

  “You’re good on a woman’s ego, Zane.”

  “Since you used me as your excuse for turning him down, I think we’re even.”

  Heat crept into her face. “Before I went upstairs to get ready that night, Grandpa told me the news about your coming home. It was the first thing that came to mind when faced with my dilemma about telling him I couldn’t see him anymore.”

  “I used you, too, when I replied to Margaret. I told her I’d come home to the people I love and have missed.”

  Avery’s heart nearly failed her to hear him say that. “You’ve convinced me that ranger has a crush on you.”

  “You’ve heard the saying ‘out of sight, out of mind,’” he murmured. “Make me a promise, Avery. If Durant comes near you again in a way that makes you at all nervous, I want to know about it.”

  “I’m sure he won’t.”

  “Sadie wasn’t careful enough where Ned was concerned and we know how that turned out. I promised your brothers I’d look after all of you now that I’m back.”

  When did he tell them that?

  She shook her head. “Ned wasn’t normal from my first memory of him. It’s very sad what happened to him. He did a horrific thing to Jarod and Sadie by keeping them apart all those years ago, but I also have a hard time forgiving him for what he did to Cassie and her husband, even if he is in a mental facility.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He bad-mouthed Logan to my uncle Grant and told lies about him sleeping with Cassie that weren’t true. That’s why Uncle Grant told Cassie he fired Logan even though she swore nothing happened and that she loved Logan.

  “My uncle was always afraid of Ned. Everyone in their family was. Because of that, Uncle Grant was beyond listening to reason and warned Cassie that if she married Logan, he’d cut her off and she wouldn’t be welcome at home
anymore.”

  Zane’s body unexpectedly tensed. “Does anyone else know the truth about that story?”

  “No, I’m the only one. Because Ned frightened her, she spent most of her time with me to get away from him. It was easy because our houses were so close together on ranch property. We ended up sharing everything.”

  “Has your uncle made his peace with Cassie and her husband yet?”

  “No. Uncle Grant is a mess with so many regrets, he and my aunt are still on shaky ground. He needs counseling.”

  “I couldn’t agree more. Sounds like your cousin Cassie needs it, too.”

  “Since their family had to go in for a psychiatric evaluation because of Ned, she’s getting it now, thank heaven.”

  “Counseling’s a good thing. I know I’ve needed it.”

  “You?”

  “I didn’t get out of the SEALs without some collateral damage.”

  She stared at him. “You have PTSD?”

  “I do, but for the most part I have it under control.”

  “I didn’t know that about you.”

  He shot her a glance. “Does that alarm you?”

  Not when she’d been diagnosed with it herself. “Of course not. Anyone who’s lived through war has demons.”

  “But what if you found yourself in love with someone with PTSD? How do you think you would feel?”

  “My heart would go out to him.”

  “But it wouldn’t turn you off or frighten you?”

  Was he afraid this woman he was interested in would be afraid? “Not at all.”

  “That’s reassuring to hear because I have a favor to ask.”

  What?

  “After I fix dinner I’ll tell you about it.” They pulled into his ranch and parked in front under a darkening sky.

  “I don’t need an omelet, Zane. A peanut butter sandwich will do me just fine. I’ll make it.”

  “You and Connor are a lot alike,” he quipped. “While I check my emails, make me one, too. Peanut butter’s always been my favorite.”