The Right Cowboy

by Rebecca Winters

  “I believe you.”

  Tamsin smiled sadly at her sister. “No, you don’t, but I’m going to prove you wrong.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “To talk to Dean. Try to get some more sleep, Sally. I’ll see you later.”

  “Okay.”

  Duke stayed by her sister while Tamsin walked through to the kitchen. “Your wife is comfortable now, Lyle. She’s going to catch up on some sleep.”

  “Good.” He looked relieved and had made breakfast. She joined them at the table. “Dean’s going to help me load the horses to take over to the Ingram ranch.”

  “I’m going to help you, too. It’ll go a lot faster. Did you phone Dad?”

  He nodded. “Sally and I did it together earlier. They’re coming home today. We talked about whom to hire to start rebuilding the barn.”

  “How upset was he?”

  “Your father believes it’s someone working for the forest service who has a grudge against the government and some of their policies. Your dad has seen this behavior before. A few crazies out there try to take the law into their own hands and start fires. In your father’s case, they want him to stop allowing his cattle to graze on forest land even though he has the legal right.”

  “That’s horrible.” She looked at Dean. “Do you think Dad’s insurance will cover the arson damage completely?”

  “I’d have to take a look at the policy.”

  “When the police catch the man who did this, I hope he goes to prison for the rest of his life!”

  On that note, they finished eating. Lyle got up from the table first. “While I go in and check on Sally, will you find the keys to the horse trailer rig? Then we’ll start loading the horses.”

  Tamsin nodded. “They’re in Dad’s study. I’ll get them. Be right back.” She hurried through the house and got the keys out of his desk. When she returned to the kitchen, Dean was loading the dishwasher.

  “You don’t need to be washing our dishes.”

  He turned his attractive head in her direction. “What if I want to?”

  Dean was that kind of guy and so rock solid. She could never find a better man who would always be there for her. Loving him for those qualities, she walked over and gave him a hug.

  “You’ve done enough. Let’s go load the horses.”

  He kissed her thoroughly before they left the house. For the last month he’d wanted to take their relationship to a more intimate level. Tamsin had held back, but for the life of her she couldn’t understand why. He was a terrific man and had been so understanding the other night about breaking their date.

  Because he and Lyle were brothers, he was over at the ranch a lot. The cozy situation threw the four of them together all the time. She and Dean didn’t have enough privacy. Maybe that needed to change. Not for the first time had she thought about getting her own apartment.

  What was she waiting for? Seeing Cole again made her realize she’d been living in a deep freeze while he was out having the time of his life. It was time to do something about it.

  The more she thought about it, the more she realized she needed her independence. It was long past time Tamsin lived on her own. She’d stayed around her family too long. They’d been there for her after Cole had ridden out of her life, helping her to recover. And she’d gone along allowing it to continue.

  She’d saved enough money to get a place of her own. With the horses having to be boarded for at least a couple of months away from the ranch, now would be the time to leave. Her family could wait on Sally.

  Once Tamsin was on her own, maybe she would discover just how in love she was with Dean. It was time to find out. After seeing Cole again, all she knew was that she needed perspective to get her head on straight. His arrival in town seemed to have served as a wakeup call, pulling her out of a deep sleep.

  All this and more ran through her head while she and Dean helped Lyle load the horses from the paddock and drive them to their new temporary location. Before the day was over, she planned to get online and see what housing rentals were available. The sooner the better.

  Two hours later, they’d accomplished their objective. Tamsin did everything in her power to make the horses comfortable in their temporary home, especially her mare Flossie. While she fed her some treats, Dean put his arm around her shoulders.

  “You love her the way some people love their children.”

  She chuckled. “I guess I do.”

  He turned her around. “Last night I almost lost it when I thought you might have been hurt in that fire. It’s all I’ve been able to think about.” With that admission he gave her another long kiss she welcomed.

  “I was so thankful you came over when you did!”

  “I never want to be separated from you. I wish I didn’t have to leave now, but I have an important meeting at work. I’ll call you later and we’ll get together tonight.”

  “I’d like that.” She meant it. Cole had come home and she’d survived seeing him again. But it was Dean she cared about now and she wanted to show him.

  * * *

  AT EIGHT O’CLOCK Tuesday morning Cole walked into the fire station wearing jeans and one of his long-sleeved denim shirts. He’d been getting ready to go to work on his new job when Chief Powell summoned him to attend an emergency meeting.

  When he entered the conference room, he saw a large group of firefighters assembled plus Chief Powell and Commissioner Rich, head of the arson unit. Other men had been called in, too, several of whom wore police uniforms.

  Wyatt sat in one corner and signaled to Cole, who joined him in the empty seat next to him. “What’s going on with the big confab?”

  “I guess we’re going to find out.”

  Another couple of guys walked in the room and found a seat before Chief Powell got to his feet. “Gentlemen? Thanks for coming on such short notice. We’ve had a serious arson problem here in Sublette County for the past three months. Commissioner Rich, the head of the Arson Task Force, has called a meeting of all of us for help. As I read your names, will you please stand?

  “Whitebark Police Chief Holden Granger—

  “Director Arnie Blunt of the Wyoming State Fire Services Department—

  “Norm Selkirk, head of Sublette County Law Enforcement—

  “Orson Perone, regional head of Wyoming forestry that includes fire prevention—

  “Thank you, gentlemen. Now I’d like to turn over the meeting to Commissioner Rich.”

  The sixtyish-looking, sandy-haired man got to his feet. “I’ve been interviewing the owners of the other ranches who’ve been hit with fires in the last three months. I’ve just come from interviewing the owner of the Circle R Ranch, Howard Rayburn, the latest victim in this rash of fires. It happened just two days ago.

  “He wasn’t home at the time, but he believes he’s being targeted for using forest land to let his cattle graze there despite his legal right. Occasionally someone comes out of the woodwork upset over this practice. He’s seen it before.”

  Cole bowed his head. The memory of those few painful moments with Tamsin in the paddock were still too fresh not to be affected by what he was hearing.

  “What I’d like is to get an opinion from each of you, especially the crew from this station who fought the fire the other night. Anything you tell us in this meeting could be valuable no matter how insignificant you think it might be.

  “Before I call on you one at a time, I’ll pass out a map that shows the location of each fire and read the list I’ve compiled of what we know about them. In all cases, a ranch was targeted.”

  Once the maps were distributed, he began talking. While Cole listened, he kept studying the areas of Sublette County where the fires had been set and thought he saw a pattern in their locations. His mind kept harkening back to something his mentor had explained in detail during the last year
of his graduate studies.

  “They were all started in the middle of the night with no witnesses, and an accelerant was used every time,” the commissioner explained.

  “Eight fires were set inside the fencing that holds the stacked hay bales. None were locked. No lightning was involved.

  “The other two were set inside barns where it was estimated that the large fire load of hay inside the barn must have been burning twenty to thirty minutes before it was detected. The electrical wiring and all other potential accidental causes of the fires have been ruled out and no lightning was involved.

  “The public outcry is mandating a response to solve these crimes despite the availability of only circumstantial evidence. These fires have now become a priority for the criminal justice system. We’re preparing a flier to distribute to every rancher in the county. They need to be alerted to the impending danger to their property and figure out ways to safeguard it.

  “We’re hoping those warnings will make a difference, but we need to pick the brains of you men who fight these fires every day. Your instincts could help to save lives and millions of dollars. Why don’t we go around the back row first and get your opinions? Please state your name and tell us how long you’ve been with the department.”

  Cole heard a lot of grudge theories, but nothing specific. When it came to his turn, he got to his feet. “I’m Cole Hawkins. I grew up right here in Whitebark and went to college in Boulder, Colorado. While I was studying, I also trained to become a firefighter with the Boulder Fire Department. I planned to come home to the ranch after graduation and combine my work with firefighting the way my dad did.”

  He looked at the commissioner. “When you were giving the statistics, I was curious to know if this kind of an outbreak with this same set of circumstances is unique to this year only.”

  The older man shook his head. “We saw this happen last year to six ranches, but this year’s number of outbreaks has increased and summer isn’t over.”

  “Were the fires set at the same time of year last year?”

  “Come to think of it, yes, around the end of April and running through August.”

  “If you had a map of last year’s locations of fires, where would they be?”

  He stared at Cole. “I’m not sure.”

  Chief Powell broke in. “I’ll get on the computer right now and we’ll find out.” Within minutes he had the answer. “All of them were near the Winds.”

  Cole got excited. “Then that cycle fits with the fire locations on the map you just handed out to us. Notice that every ranch targeted this year and last is close to the Bridger Wilderness.”

  At this point he’d caught everyone’s attention.

  “There’s a war going on between the ranchers hunting the elk coming down from the mountain onto their property, and the ranchers who are against elk hunting.”

  “Go on,” the commissioner urged him.

  “Years ago, the elk in the snow country came down to the desert to find food, hay particularly. They ate in the cattle feed grounds where the cattle carried brucellosis disease that caused the cattle to abort. It was transferred to the elk. By the 1930s, calves were dying and humans started getting sick with undulant fever, until pasteurization came along. It’s been a battle ever since to eradicate the disease.

  “You want a reason for these fires? I believe they’ve been set to warn the ranchers allowing the hunting. The conservationists want the elk rerouted down to the desert in different migration paths that don’t come into contact with the cattle feed lines so the disease won’t spread.

  “But other ranchers want to bring in the big game hunters who pay a lot of money for the elk hunt. With the hay left out and exposed, the elk are lured to the ranches, thus ensuring plenty of elk for a good hunt. A lot of hay could feed a thousand cattle a day, and the elk, too.”

  “How do you know so much about this?”

  “When I was young, my father used to complain about the brucellosis disease that caused cattle to abort. He hoped that one day it would be eradicated. By the time I went to college, I decided to go into that field and ended up getting my master’s to be a brucellosis ecologist.

  “I learned that some cattle brought into the States by early European settlers carried this disease. In my role as an ecologist, we’re trying to manage the disease and lower it in the elk herds so it’s less likely to spill over into cattle.”

  Orson Perone stood up. “Mr. Hawkins is absolutely right about this. A few years ago there was a small town near the Owl Creek Mountains where the elk had spread disease to a local cattle herd. The fish and game had to depopulate the herd. This caused the ranchers to go bankrupt and the pattern is still the same today. Unfortunately it made for bad relations.”

  The commissioner looked at Cole. “So it’s your contention that there’s a group of cattle ranchers sending messages to the ranchers who allow elk hunting to stop luring the elk with hay, and they’re resorting to arson to make their point.”

  Cole nodded. “It makes sense to me considering that all sixteen fires were set in an attempt to destroy the hay as soon as it’s harvested.”

  A collective silence filled the room. The older man smiled at Cole. “Well, aren’t we glad you came back home and joined our fire department? I think you’re really on to something here.”

  “I know he is.” Holden Granger had gotten to his feet. “I was born and raised in Cody, Wyoming, before I moved here. Our family’s ranch suffered a loss of cattle from that disease when I was young. No one ever established a link with the diseased elk that often came to the cattle feed grounds from the Absaroka Mountains.”

  At this point Chief Powell took over. “Now that we’ve been educated, we’ll explain about the disease in the warning fliers and have them ready by next Monday. By hand or through the mail we’ll make certain they’re distributed to all the ranchers, urging them to take emergency precautions to ward off the arsonists plaguing parts of Sublette County.”

  “Excellent,” Holden commented. “With this information, I’m going to get together with the county prosecutor. With the cooperation of Norm and Orson, particularly, we can start making lists of ranchers who’ve never applied for hunting licenses or permits. I’d like to know when and where this group of arsonists meets. That means we’ll need a warrant from the judge.

  “Setting fires isn’t the solution to eradicating the disease. We’ll canvas every store that sells accelerants. This is only the beginning.” He nodded to Cole. “I’d like to talk to you alone. When you have time, drop by the police station.”

  “If you want, I’ll come now because I’ll be leaving for the mountains on my job as soon we’re finished and be gone four days.”

  “Then come with me.”

  Cole turned to Wyatt. “I’ll see you when I get back.”

  “I plan on it.”

  Everyone shook Cole’s hand before he left with the sheriff. But he was weighed down with worry because Tamsin’s father had been targeted and it could happen again before the summer was over. He needed to talk to her and warn her, but he’d have to do that when he got back.

  While he was packing his gear to leave for the mountains, he got a text from Patsy Janis.

  Call me ASAP. I’ve got big news.

  Cole shook his head. He’d only been home five days and already she couldn’t leave him alone. She never gave up. He’d met the good-looking local country singer two years ago in Colorado at a concert in Boulder. He’d grown up on country music, playing the guitar and composing his own songs. Early on he’d made certain to sign up with ASCAP to get his songs copyrighted.

  Patsy had a lot of talent and was featured weekends at a local club near the campus with lots of college students and wannabe musicians who got together to jam. It was definitely his kind of place and a great outlet when he’d had a surfeit of studying and needed to get away from i
t for a little while.

  She’d found out he composed music, too, and coaxed him to let her sing some of his songs. Pretty soon, he was accompanying her on his guitar while she sang his tunes for their enthusiastic audience. Everyone wanted to hear more.

  Little by little, she encouraged him to do a few recordings at the studio with her just for fun. It wasn’t long before they’d recorded two albums.

  But he could see where this togetherness was leading when she invited him to her apartment one night after a session. He wasn’t into Patsy that way and had to tell her as much. Tamsin had ruined him for other women.

  “I hate your honesty, Cole Hawkins,” she said with a bitterness in her tone. “So, ‘Stranglehold on My Heart’ was about her?” He nodded. “In fact all the songs you’ve written about the woman with the bluebell eyes were about her, right?”

  “Yes. I fell in love with her years ago, and never fell out. I’m sorry, Patsy.”

  “So am I.” Her pain sounded real. “You and I make great music together and could earn a lot of money. I could see a future for the two of us on the road.”

  “That’s your dream, but I’m a cowboy at heart. I thought you knew that. I traveled around the country on the circuit, but the truth is, I miss home.”

  “And the girl you’re still hung up on?” He frowned at her persistence. “When are you going to do something about her?”

  “Just as soon as I get home next week.”

  “You’re leaving that soon?”

  He nodded.

  “What if she doesn’t feel the same way about you anymore?”

  He didn’t want to think about that possibility. “That’s something I plan to find out.”

  “Would you hate me if I told you I hope it doesn’t work out? You and I could be so good together if you’d give us a chance, Cole. I thought you realized I’m in love with you.”

  “We both love making music and have that in common, but I never saw it as anything else.”

  “Not ever?” she questioned.

  “I was always in love with Tamsin, but you have to know I didn’t mean to hurt you. All along I’ve been convinced you’re on your way to the big time in Nashville and I couldn’t be happier for you. You have an amazing talent.”