Outlawed!

by BJ Daniels

  “Is that when you gave up rodeo? And rodeo cowboys?” he asked, shooting her a teasing grin.

  “Yes, McLeod. I hated the rodeo after that. It terrifies me.” The grin disappeared from his face. His eyes darkened as he realized how serious she was. “My father tried everything to get me to come see him again. But I never did.” It opened a fissure between them that the years made into a canyon. And now she’d fallen for a rodeo cowboy, a rodeo cowboy with that same kind of good looks and easy charm and that same need to ride rough stock and risk his fool neck.

  “I’m sorry,” Cooper said softly. “I didn’t know.”

  She turned away and finished buttoning up the shirt.

  “I don’t like the idea of you being here alone,” he said after a moment.

  “I won’t be,” she said, looking around for her nightgown. “I’m going to Butte to see Marguerite Drummond.”

  “Ty’s mother?”

  She nodded as she picked up her gown from where Cooper had tossed it the night before. Her skin warmed with the memory. “If my father’s will leaving everything to Ty is a forgery, then I would imagine she’s in on it. I need to find out for myself.”

  He stood up and pulled on his jeans. “And you think Ty’s mother is just going to admit that to you?”

  She made a face at him. “No, but talking to her should at least give me an idea of what I’m up against.”

  His look held both sympathy and worry. “You sure you want to meet your father’s ex-mistress alone? If you wait, I’d go with you.”

  She nodded, realizing how much she’d like that but at the same time knowing she needed to do this alone. She couldn’t depend on this rodeo cowboy. Thinking she could would be a terrible mistake. He was riding in a rodeo today. Who knows where he’d be tomorrow. Last night and this morning hadn’t changed that.

  “Thanks, McLeod, but I’ll be all right. You’d better worry about your own neck around Jared Kincaid and Hell’s Fire.” She shook her head at him, fighting sudden tears. “So help me, McLeod, if you go and get yourself killed—”

  He grinned and pulled her to him. Carefully he planted a kiss on her lips. “For luck.” He held her for a moment longer. “Be careful.”

  She nodded and broke the physical connection between them as she turned and walked away. When she reached the house she touched her fingers to her lips. She just hoped he was right about the kiss. They both needed luck today.

  COOPER DROVE to the Kincaid ranch thinking about Delaney. And their lovemaking. He felt shaky and unsure of himself. This morning he was all set to tell her everything about him. But she’d stopped him. And now he wasn’t sure where he stood with her. He’d wanted more after their lovemaking. As much as he couldn’t believe it himself, he wanted a relationship. Not some one-night stand under the stars. Yet he’d gotten the impression from Delaney this morning that’s all she wanted.

  He shook his head, thinking of the times that was all he’d offered a woman. And now the shoe was on the other foot and he didn’t like it one bit.

  The turnoff to Kincaid Ranches wasn’t far past Nelson, Montana, the cribbage capital of the world. Nelson, a town of only two houses, wasn’t even a wide spot in the road. Kincaid Ranches ran along the western edge of the Rockin’ L. Cooper drove up into the ranch yard, not surprised to see it filled with other rigs. According to Delaney, the annual Kincaid Ranches Rodeo had begun as a little ego thing for Jared, but had grown since he started buying rough stock and inviting circuit cowboys.

  Cooper recognized Ty’s beat-up old pickup and Buck’s rig. Angel was leaning against the front fender, looking bored. As she saw him pull up, recognition in her expression, she pushed herself off the truck and headed into the crowd before Cooper could get out of his pickup. Cooper had to smile. So she’d remembered where she’d seen him before. Maybe Jamison was right. If she was a reporter, investigating Rattlesnake Range on the Rockin’ L, then she didn’t want her cover blown any more than Cooper did. For the same reason, she wasn’t going to say anything about him and Delaney visiting her cabin. “What a tangled web we weave,” he thought as he got out of his pickup.

  Cooper knew he didn’t have a lot of time, so he started with the horse barn—a huge expensive thing with an arena in the center. It appeared Jared Kincaid didn’t do anything halfway.

  Cowboys wandered in and out of the barn. Cooper checked each stall, pretending just to be admiring the horses, but at the same time keeping an eye out for Jared. As the rodeo got into full swing, the barn emptied out. Cooper hurried, knowing he didn’t have much time left.

  At the second to last one, he leaned in to check a Pinto mare, when he heard a noise. The shaft of sunlight coming through the barn door at the other end of the building suddenly filled with shadows. Cooper ducked into the stall, squatting next to the Pinto. She stomped restlessly. He spoke softly to her and hoped she didn’t kick him before he could get out.

  “No more excuses,” said a rough male voice.

  “I told you—I’ll get the money.”

  Cooper recognized that whine. Ty Drummond.

  “You just have to give me a little more time.”

  “You’ve had more than enough time,” said another deep voice.

  Cooper edged his way up the side of the stall to peek over the side. Two large men in western wear had Ty between them. Even at this distance, Cooper recognized the threat in their voices, in their stances. He’d never seen the pair before and got the impression they weren’t from around these parts.

  “I can give you a little now.” Ty dug into his jeans and pulled out a handful of bills. One of the men grabbed them.

  Ty stumbled back. “I just need more time. You know I’m good for it.”

  The one man had finished counting the money. He swore and, without warning, buried his fist in Ty’s stomach. Ty folded with a groan to the barn floor. The other kicked Ty in the side with his boot. Ty cried out and curled into a ball.

  “Twenty-four hours, Drummond.” The two turned and left.

  Ty lay on the floor, sucking for breath between sobs. Slowly he pushed himself to his feet with one hand, holding his stomach with the other. He looked around to make sure no one had seen the incident, then straightened a little and walked out into the sunlight.

  Gambling debts? Loan sharks? It really didn’t make any difference. Ty Drummond had now become desperate and that made him more dangerous than ever, Cooper thought as he gave the Pinto a pat on the neck and stepped out of the stall. He couldn’t help wondering where Ty had gotten the money he’d given the men.

  He hurried down the row of stalls after Ty. At the doorway, Cooper hung back to watch Ty head straight for the ranch house—and Jared Kincaid. At Ty’s knock, Jared came outside in the shade of the back porch. It was clear that the two were arguing. A moment later, Jared reached for his wallet, pulled out some bills and practically threw them at Ty.

  Cooper shook his head. At least now he knew where Ty got his money. The question was, why was Jared giving it to him? Was Ty working for Kincaid Ranches? Jared always seemed to know everything that was going on with Delaney. Maybe Ty was being paid for information. Or maybe Ty was blackmailing the sheriff. But for what?

  Cooper could hear the announcer in the outdoor arena as he started for the last stall. The calf roping was almost over. That meant Cooper didn’t have much time before his ride. He wondered how Delaney was doing with Marguerite. He just hoped she’d find out something that would help her save the ranch from the likes of Ty Drummond.

  Just as Cooper reached the stall containing a dark-colored quarter horse, a male voice asked, “Looking for any kind of horse in particular?”

  “Just admiring yours,” Cooper said, turning to flash Jared a grin. “This one appears fast.” Unfortunately, it also didn’t have a barred shoe.

  Jared studied him with open suspicion. “I thought maybe you’d chickened out. You aren’t hiding in here to keep from riding, are you?”

  The insult raised Cooper’s hackle
s. He laughed at the challenge he’d heard in Jared’s voice. “If I was going to hide I can think of better places. The York Bar, for one. There’s cold beer there and the people are friendlier.”

  Jared actually laughed. “You know, McLeod, I think I could grow to like you.”

  Cooper doubted that. “So,” he said, turning away from the last stall with disappointment. He’d been so sure the horse with the barred shoe would be Jared’s. “Where’s this bronc that no one can ride?”

  Jared slapped him on the back companionably as they headed for the open doorway. “Wait until you see Hell’s Fire,” he said, chuckling to himself. “Just wait until you see him.”

  MARGUERITE DRUMMOND worked at a place called Katie’s Kut and Kurl on the hill in the center of downtown Butte, not far from the famous mile-deep, five-mile-across open pit mine.

  The outside of the beauty shop was old brick much like the rest of the downtown area. But unlike the many empty buildings with their dirty windows and sad-looking interiors, the Kut and Kurl had a festive look.

  Delaney stepped through the door, not sure what to expect. The walls were done in bright hot pinks and purples, the stations in striped pastels to match. The place smelled of perm solution and mint shampoo. There were six stations, but only three of them were busy. Delaney had called ahead to be sure Marguerite would be working. She was.

  “I’m here to see Marguerite Drummond,” Delaney told the young receptionist, eyeing the three women at the stations. She had an idea what Marguerite would look like based on her father’s “type.” Her gaze stopped on a tall bleached blonde in tight stretch pants who was talking fast as she cut an older woman’s hair.

  “Marguerite!” the receptionist called back.

  A small dark-haired woman in her early fifties turned in the middle of a customer’s shampoo. Her hair and dress were understated; her look soft and assured. Her fingers slowed, then stopped, as her gaze settled on Delaney. She turned on the water and rinsed the soap from her hands. She said something to the older woman in the tub, then asked one of the other hairdressers to take over for her.

  Marguerite smiled as she approached the counter. “I wondered when I’d finally get to meet you.” She extended her hand. “I’ve heard so much about you, Delaney.”

  Delaney took the woman’s hand, too surprised to speak at first. “You know who I am?”

  “Of course. Come on, let’s get out of here,” she said, taking off her trim white uniform jacket.

  They walked down the street to a small café. It wasn’t until the waitress had set two cups of coffee in front of them that Delaney asked, “How do you know me?”

  Marguerite looked down in her coffee for a moment. “When you were a baby, your father started showing off pictures of you. And he and I kept in touch over the years.”

  Delaney shook her head. He’d showed pictures of his family to his mistress?

  “You were the light of his life,” she said, smiling at Delaney.

  She’d always thought rodeoing was the only thing that had meant anything to Hank Lawson. She tried to imagine him showing off pictures of her and couldn’t. “I can’t understand why you waited more than twenty-five years to tell my father he had a son.”

  Marguerite shook her head. “Hank would have felt compelled to do something honorable like marry me. He was already married and he’d proven he wasn’t good at it.” A sadness filled her brown eyes. “The truth is, I didn’t want Ty coming up like his father, riding rough stock in rodeos. And I knew how much your father wanted a son—” She realized her remark had hurt Delaney. “I’m sorry.”

  “Everyone knows how disappointed Hank was when he didn’t get a son,” Delaney said, fighting the familiar anger and hurt. But that wasn’t what she’d driven to Butte to talk about. “Based on Ty’s age, I assume my father hooked up with you not long after I was born, about the time my mother became ill and couldn’t have any more children.”

  Marguerite stared down into her coffee. “When I first met Hank, I didn’t know about you or your mother.” She smiled in memory. “Hank was so handsome and he could turn on the charm like water from a faucet. But that wasn’t what appealed to me. It was the sadness in his eyes. A deep hurt that at the time I couldn’t explain. It wasn’t until later, when he told me about you and your mother, that I understood.”

  “He killed my mother, you know,” Delaney said, unable to hide her anger. “When she got sick, he started staying away from the ranch even longer. My mother blamed herself for his rodeoing, for his infidelities. She believed that if she’d given him a son, he would have stayed on the ranch.”

  Marguerite shook her head. “Nothing could have kept Hank on the ranch, honey. Not a dozen sons. He was so young when he met your mother and fell in love with her. He thought he could change, that he could be what she needed and wanted. When you were born…” She hesitated. “He said it was the most amazing day of his life. But also the scariest. He just couldn’t face the responsibility. I think that’s why he wished you were a boy. He felt you wouldn’t need him as much.”

  Delaney thought of all the times she’d needed her father and he hadn’t been there. “He dumped the ranch on my mother and me. After my mother died, I almost lost the place and he still didn’t care enough to come home.”

  Marguerite took a sip of her coffee. “He blamed himself for your mother’s illness, and just the sight of her made him feel—”

  “Guilty?” Delaney asked. “He should have felt guilty.”

  “I was going to say inadequate. He couldn’t make her well and he didn’t know how to make her happy.”

  Delaney laughed bitterly. “He didn’t want to.”

  Marguerite reached across the table and took her hand. “You’re wrong about that, honey. He loved her. He just couldn’t live up to what he thought your mother expected of him.”

  Delaney freed her hand. “Hank Lawson was a selfish, inconsiderate man who didn’t have the backbone to do anything but take the easy way out.”

  Tears filled the older woman’s eyes as she pulled her hand back. “I’m sorry you feel that way about your father. Not that I blame you. But he loved you more than his own life.”

  “Is that why he left the ranch to Ty?” Delaney demanded, hot, angry tears blurring her vision. “That’s how my father showed how much he loved me?” She’d finally voiced her greatest fear. That her father had left everything to Ty, that Ty wasn’t lying about the will. “My father knew what the ranch meant to me. He knew how hard I’ve worked to save it. And he left it to a stranger he didn’t even know. His son.”

  Marguerite cradled the cup in her hands, her eyes downcast. “I’d always hoped that Hank would never find out about Ty.”

  “How did he?” Delaney demanded, trying to still all the years of anger at her father.

  “When I found myself pregnant with Ty, I broke it off with your father. I told Ty his father was a rodeo cowboy, a bull rider, but that he’d been killed. When Ty started rodeoing just to spite me, he met Hank and found out that Hank and I used to date. Hank and I have seen each other off and on for years. I think Ty always suspected Hank was his father—he found some old letters. Just recently he got a call from someone who had uncovered the truth.”

  “Do you know who?” Delaney asked, realizing it didn’t really matter.

  Marguerite shook her head. “I should have kept lying.”

  “So Ty went to my father with the truth?” Delaney said, beginning to see what could have happened. “When was this?”

  “Just days before Hank was killed.”

  Delaney felt her heart break as she realized that for Hank, finding out he had a son would be a dream come true. “So Hank changed his will?”

  “I guess so. I wasn’t there when Hank made the new will, but Ty showed it to me. It was in Hank’s writing. I’m sorry. I never wanted anything from Hank.”

  “But Ty does. He wants everything, but just for the money. I’m sure he plans to sell the ranch as quickly as possi
ble.”

  Marguerite looked away for a moment as if the truth were too hard to take. “He feels cheated because Hank was never a father to him.” She smiled through fresh tears. “I know, Hank was never a father to either of his children.” She took a long breath and let it out slowly. “I wish Ty were different. I know now that I spoiled him and that’s probably why he’s never wanted to work for anything.”

  “Maybe he just took after his father,” Delaney said, getting to her feet. “I’d hoped the will Ty had from my father was a forgery. I know now that my father could have changed his will to leave everything to his newly found son.”

  “I wish that weren’t the case,” she said, genuinely sorry. “Ty has no business with your ranch.”

  Delaney stood for a moment, not knowing what to say to the woman. “Thank you for telling me about my…father.”

  She smiled, tears in her eyes. “He loved you, Delaney. I know he did things that hurt you, but he never stopped loving you. Or your mother.”

  Delaney left Marguerite sitting in the café, staring down into her coffee. She’d wanted to hate the woman, but instead she’d ended up liking her. And feeling sorry for her. Marguerite had just been another one of Hank Lawson’s casualties.

  COOPER CLIMBED up the side of the chute and swore when he saw the rank horse waiting for him. He’d seen his share of horses like Hell’s Fire. Halter-broken rebels with a strong inclination to come apart whenever anyone tried to ride them. They were horses that just plain didn’t like to be ridden. And they’d fight from hell to breakfast to throw any rider with the stupidity to get on them. The good news was that very few attempted to attack a thrown rider. But Cooper figured Hell’s Fire could prove the exception. This horse was a man killer.

  He stared at the horse and felt a shot of pure adrenaline. Bronc riding was one of the most dangerous of rodeo sports. Also one of the most thrilling. He felt that old pull and admitted he hadn’t agreed to this just to check Kincaid’s horses. He wanted to ride again. Delaney had been right about that, he realized guiltily.