The New Cowboy

by Rebecca Winters

  When she pulled up in front of Zane’s house, he was waiting for her on the porch. He looked so good lounging against the post in a black silk shirt and jeans that her legs went weak. The man possessed a sophistication you didn’t see in the average cowboy, that was for sure.

  Forget his time in the SEALs, he loved ranch life and the mountains with the kind of passion to match hers, otherwise he wouldn’t have transplanted himself from San Francisco.

  That was what killed her. He’d met another woman. Even though she knew he’d found her attractive, it crushed Avery that she’d never been on his emotional radar.

  But because he was such a decent human being and so close with her family, he would always show her deference. She was Jarod’s sister after all. Zane had deep affection for the man who’d married Sadie. Jarod and Ralph had made it possible for Zane to buy the Corkin ranch. That was why his promise to protect Avery hadn’t been lip service.

  “A welcoming committee, too?” she called out to him with a smile. The best thing to do was maintain the friendship forged a year ago.

  His eyes played over her. They had a glint that told her he liked what he saw. If he only knew the truth about her.

  Zane straightened at her approach. “I can’t get enough of the blue sky. Have you ever noticed those cotton balls up there? They’re whiter than white. You can only see that color in nature over Big Sky country.”

  She looked up into the fading light, knowing what he meant so exactly it was if he could read her mind. What he didn’t know was that not even the blue of a Montana sky could match his eyes...

  “When Lewis Meriwether came through Montana in 1805, he said it seemed as if those scenes of visionary enchantment would never end. Then he quoted one of the Indians, ‘I shall vanish and be no more, but the land and sky over which I now roam shall remain, and change not.’”

  Zane opened the door wider for her. “Maybe now you’ll understand why I enjoy being with you so much. Every time we’re together, you share a portion of your brilliant mind and enrich me more than you know. Come in.”

  “Mmm. I smell rolls baking,” Avery said to hide emotions that were getting the better of her. She followed him through the house and out the doors of the dining room to the patio. A cry of surprise escaped her lips to see the table set with a cloth and cutlery. He’d lit candles around a centerpiece of tulips and daffodils. They had to have come from the garden at the edge of the grass.

  She spun around. “I can’t believe you’ve gone to all this trouble.”

  He cocked his head. “I wanted to. Make yourself comfortable while I bring out the steaks and put them on the grill.”

  The first thing she noticed was that he didn’t try to help her into a chair. Normally he would have. After the way she’d reacted in the trailer, he’d learned his lesson. It pained her that she’d done that to him.

  In another few minutes they were eating sour cream topped baked potatoes and sizzling steaks fresh from the grill. He served them a fabulous green salad topped with avocados and a creamy garlic dressing. Millie was probably responsible for the yeast rolls. This was no ordinary dinner. He’d gone to a huge amount of trouble, but she just couldn’t figure out why.

  “Did you make the chocolate cheesecake from scratch?”

  “You like it?”

  She finished her coffee. “Have I eaten all of my serving?”

  His eyes smiled. “I picked it up on my way out of Billings.”

  She wiped her mouth with a napkin. “The whole dinner was delicious. Zane—please don’t think I’m being ungrateful, but why have you done this for me? You and I both know there’s someone else who might have wanted to be your guest for dinner.”

  “You mean the woman I mentioned to you?”

  “Who else?”

  A subtle change came over him. His eyes turned a darker blue and his body stilled. While she waited for an answer, she felt a strange tingling sensation. Then he spoke in that deep voice of his. “What if I told you I’m looking at her?”

  Chapter Six

  Avery’s heart jumped to her throat. Surely she’d misunderstood him. “I—I didn’t know you were a tease,” she stammered.

  “You mean you really had no idea I was talking about you the day of our stakeout?”

  She rubbed her temples. “Be serious.”

  “Avery...the second I met you at Daniel Corkin’s funeral, I found myself intensely attracted to you. After staying with you for two weeks, I found myself in love with you. Why else would I have asked you to go on the stakeout with me as soon as I could?”

  Blood pounded at every pulse point in Avery’s body. Shock waves passed through her, making her go hot, then cold.

  “To be honest I’d hoped to transfer back here much sooner. A year is a long time to have to wait for certain dreams to become reality. I was with a few women before I moved from San Francisco, and I’ve been with a few during my time in Glasgow, but in all honesty you’ve blown every other woman away. Now that I’m home for good, I want to spend time with you, exclusively.”

  She stared blindly at the flowers. “I had no idea,” she whispered.

  “During those two weeks I stayed at your house, I fell hard. You and your brothers are a lot alike, you know that? You’re solid and true to yourselves. Those qualities are unique and hard to find in a woman or a man. I admire you more than you know.”

  Stop talking, Zane. You’re killing me. His comments were getting too painful for her. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “I realize this seems to have come out of the blue, but because my former marriage was the result of a whirlwind encounter, I decided not to rush things with you. I’ve learned the best things in life are worth waiting for. Over their eight years apart, Sadie and Jarod found that out because deep down they knew they could only be happy with each other.”

  Avery lowered her head. “I’m positive there wasn’t a moment in Jarod’s life when he didn’t know Sadie was the woman for him.”

  “It happens that way sometimes,” he murmured. “It happened that way when I first laid eyes on you. I know I’m eight years older than you, and I have a past. I’m hardly a catch, but I’m hoping you’ll give me a chance to get to know you better without my having to find a legitimate excuse of some kind to be with you. This dinner is my way of letting you know how I feel.”

  Panic set in. She was the woman who’d captured his interest?

  It was impossible.

  Avery’s fear was so great, she found herself saying it out loud.

  “Why is it impossible?”

  She trembled over and over again. “You don’t know the real me.”

  “Not completely, no. That works both ways, hence the point of this dinner. I couldn’t do this before now. Too many of my cases kept me away days and weeks at a time. Because of that distance, a relationship with you was always out of the question. When I drove in from Glasgow and saw you with Agent Durant, I was afraid I might have been too late.”

  She had to clear her throat before she could talk. “You know I won’t be seeing him again.”

  He leaned forward. “But you’re being so quiet, I’m starting to wonder if there is someone else in your life.”

  She eyed him frankly. “No. There’s no one.” If it was possible to die from a bald-faced lie, she was the prime candidate.

  A faint smile broke one corner of his mouth. “I happen to know you’re not indifferent to me.” She had no doubt her cheeks were glowing hot. “Avery Bannock, would you do me the honor of spending time with me on a daily basis? I’ve been thinking about it for a whole year and don’t want any more wasted time to go by.”

  While she was still reeling from the one proposal she could never have anticipated coming from him, he shocked her a second time by getting to his feet. “I promised you an earl
y night and I meant it. I’ll walk you out. Tomorrow I’ll come by the dig site on your lunch hour with a picnic basket and we’ll talk.”

  Her head was spinning.

  “Don’t worry. If your answer is a flat-out no because I’ve misread your feelings for me, I’m a big boy and can take the rejection. We’ll always be friends and no one will ever know what transpired between us.”

  Again he allowed her to get up from the table on her own. Zane had a shocking effect on her equilibrium. She started through the house to the porch on shaky legs. He stood aside.

  “Zane—”

  “We’ll talk tomorrow,” he interrupted her. “Drive home safely. Text me when you’re in the house.”

  She took a few steps before turning to him. “I will. Thank you for the delicious dinner.”

  He stayed where he was. “Thank you for not shutting me down at the table. At least you’ve left me with some hope that you were listening.”

  Hearing those words, she rushed out to the truck and drove away as fast as possible, ignoring his warning. By some miracle she reached the ranch house without incident, but she didn’t get out.

  What was she going to do? She could hear what her psychologist would say. The man who assaulted you has been arrested. This man you love has just told you what your heart never expected to hear. Are you brave enough to take the next step? He’s left it in your hands.

  Joy and terror warred for supremacy. Avery pressed her forehead to the steering wheel. It took an hour before she finally went inside the house and let him know she was home, but she was still out of answers. The accelerated beat of her heart kept her awake for the rest of the night, knowing she’d see him tomorrow.

  * * *

  ZANE GOT UP at six on Tuesday morning to meet Matt Henson at the pasture. He’d given Zane the job of keeping an eye on the young calves for signs of illness. Matt taught him to look for scours and pneumonia. If they spotted a cow that wouldn’t accept its calf or would steal another cow’s calf, he would deal with that problem, too.

  Around ten-thirty he returned to the house to shower. After making lunch for him and Avery, he checked his email. The news he’d been waiting for from the lab revealed he’d been right about the tracks of an ATV. The foam casts confirmed it had been mounted with Maxxis twenty-five by eight–inch tubeless tires in front, twenty-five by ten–inch tires in the rear.

  With some checking he found out that brand and style of tire had only been sold for the past six months. That particular size fit the Honda Rubicon. Two people could fit on it if necessary, but it wasn’t advised.

  There’d been two sets of footprints inside the grid but they were too faint to be cast. Since no information came back on any of the ATVs registered to members of the archaeological crew, it meant the desecration was probably done by a couple of vandals.

  Zane would go to the other vandalized site and see what kind of tracks he could find. If there was a match, he could solve both crimes once he’d apprehended the culprit. The detailed information from the crime lab made it much easier for him to find the dealer where the tires and possibly the ATV were originally purchased and go from there.

  He phoned in the information to the police, who would start watching for an ATV of that description. Tonight he’d send out emails to all the known dealerships of all-terrain vehicles in the Billings region where the Honda Rubicon was sold.

  A fingerprint had been lifted off one of the Pall Mall Menthol Black cigarette butts. They should have results from the database search on the dig researchers in another twenty-four hours. The peppermint pattie candy wrapper revealed no prints, but could indicate the preference of the culprit if the wind hadn’t blown it in from someplace else.

  Pleased with this much progress, he returned Margaret’s call. After three rings she picked up.

  “I’m glad it’s you, Zane.”

  “Sorry it took me this long to get back to you.”

  “No problem. I thought you might like to hear about the latest gossip. A guy was arrested for stealing artifacts from the Mitchell Indian Village in South Dakota. He did some blabbing.

  “There’s a network covering Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska and Montana. This guy has positively implicated people in the BIA who’ve been aiding and abetting the transportation of artifacts across state lines. Things are really corrupt, Zane. There’s been another theft reported at the Pike-Pawnee Village site in Webster County, Nebraska.”

  Every time the BIA was mentioned, Zane’s thoughts went to Mike Durant. He didn’t like it. He didn’t like it at all. “I hear you and I’m indebted to you for this info, Margaret. We’ll talk again.”

  After hanging up, he left for Absarokee. En route he stopped at the only shop in White Lodge selling jet skis, motorcycles and ATVs. After a search, the manager couldn’t find a record of a sale of that tire within the past six months. As for the Honda Rubicon, he provided the names and addresses of four owners within the past three years. Zane sent that information to the police after he’d returned to the truck. Now he could cross this business off his list and meet Avery.

  Before long he reached the site and found her and a male crew member sifting dirt on a sorting table. They’d set it up in the field near the damaged foundation part of the site. As Zane pulled up next to her truck, their eyes met. She cast him a faint smile before she said something to her partner. The man nodded and kept working while she made her way toward Zane.

  It went against his instincts to let her get in the truck by herself, but after reading the material from the booklet the doctor had given him, he knew to be careful. The wrong move could alarm or frighten her. He knew it was essential she remain in control.

  “Hi,” she said in a quiet voice, closing the passenger door. She pulled off her gloves and turned to put them on the backseat. The sun had brought color to her cheeks. She’d fastened that sensational mane of sable-colored hair at her nape, accentuating the classic oval shape of her face. Today she wore jeans and another snap-up Western shirt, this time in yellow. His dream of being with her all the time was starting to come true. He’d do whatever he could to make it permanent.

  “I thought we’d eat at the park over in town.” She avoided his eyes during the short drive. He parked the truck beneath some trees facing south toward the Beartooth Mountains. “I hope you’re hungry. I brought ham and cheese sandwiches.”

  “After that wonderful dinner you served last night, you wouldn’t think I could be ready for another meal, but I am.”

  He reached for the basket with their food and the thermos. “Coffee?”

  “Not right now, thanks.” She took one of the sandwiches and unwrapped the foil.

  “Any more signs of damage when you got out here this morning?”

  She’d started making inroads on her sandwich. “No, thank heaven. How’s the investigation coming?”

  “Very well as a matter of fact.” He brought her up to speed. “I’m going to catch whoever’s doing this.”

  Her chest rose and fell visibly. “I don’t doubt it.” She wadded up the foil in her palm.

  Zane finished off his cup of coffee and put everything in the backseat. “Since you probably have to rejoin your group at the site before long, I’m anxious to hear what you’ve decided about us.”

  In the next breath she turned against the door so she could face him. “There is no us, and never can be.”

  He’d been ready for that answer. “Because you’re not in love with me?”

  She averted her eyes, but he could see the nerve throbbing crazily at the base of her throat. “You’re a good family friend, Zane. You know how grateful I am for all you did to help Sadie both in California and here.”

  That was nice to hear. “Have you forgotten you were the one who put me on to the idea of working for the BLM? You weren’t exactly pushing me away with that i
dea. It was the night of Ralph’s birthday party, the night I held you in my arms for the first time while we danced.”

  Avery couldn’t look at him.

  “Are you telling me you didn’t want to go on dancing with me all night? Or that night in Las Vegas after Liz and Connor left to go back to the trailer? As I recall, neither of us could stand to let go of the other when Jarod signaled that it was time to return to the hotel. How about all those nights at your house when neither of us wanted to go up to bed after your grandfather said good-night?”

  A tortured sigh escaped her lips.

  He kept on talking. “I couldn’t believe that all the time Sadie was dying to be back in Montana with Jarod, he had a sister like you growing up on the Bannock ranch. I thought I must be hallucinating that the most beautiful woman I’d ever met seemed to want my company. Though we didn’t act on our feelings, we ached for each other, Avery. We’re aching for each other now. Those aren’t the feelings of a person who only wants to be a friend. We’re beyond that.”

  “Even if I don’t deny that,” she said, “what you’re suggesting won’t work for us.”

  Dr. Lindstrom’s warning rang in his ears. Your journey is going to be difficult. She may see herself as a tainted woman, unworthy. Your job will be to help her get past that. It won’t be an easy task.

  “Why don’t you think on it a little more? I’ll come by for you after you get home from work this evening. I thought we’d take a ride in the mountains. It’s possible we’ll see some wild horses. There’s supposed to be a bright moon. We won’t need the goggles tonight.”

  “Are you inviting my brothers, too?”

  She hadn’t forgotten what he’d said about them going in a group. Since she hadn’t said no, he made a snap decision.

  “I’ll get home before you and call them. Give me a ring after you’re back at the ranch and we’ll go from there. But before we do anything else, we need to exchange cell phone numbers.”