No Getting Over a Cowboy

by Delores Fossen

  “Lucky McCord doesn’t work for me,” Garrett told her. “He was at the ranch to pick up his wife, Cassie.”

  She nodded. “I remember. I also remember that Lucky had a thing for your sister at one time.”

  Garrett hadn’t known that, but when it came to his kid sister’s sex life, he preferred to believe it was nonexistent. It was sort of like parent sex. Just not something he wanted in his head.

  The door to the diner opened, and Clay came in with a woman. Candy Halverson, no doubt. She was in her early thirties, younger than Garrett thought she’d be. Since their John Doe had been dead for about twenty-one years at most, he hoped she could remember enough about the ring to give them an identity to go along with it.

  Clay made the introductions, and Candy took the seat next to Nicky so that she was facing Clay and him.

  “Garrett Granger?” Candy immediately questioned. “As in the owner of Granger Ranch?”

  He nodded but felt uneasy with the question. They were a big operation, but Houston was three hours away. And Candy didn’t look like a rancher or a cowboy groupie. Of course, Candy might know about him from Meredith’s sex tape. That kept turning up like a bad penny.

  “I didn’t expect you to be here,” Candy said, her question just as puzzling as that comment.

  “The body was found on the ranch,” he told her, though that really didn’t explain why he had come. Wanting to spend time with Nicky wasn’t something he intended to admit. Plus, he did need this cleared up. The story was attracting folks from the news media who wanted stories. Attracting more of those ghost hunters, too. Garrett didn’t want either group out at Z.T.’s house to pester the widows.

  And therefore give the Ellery sisters something else to complain about.

  Clay took out the ring from a clear plastic evidence bag, and he put it on the table in front of Candy. “You can touch it,” he said.

  She did, after she leaned in and had a good, long look at it. When she finally did pick it up, Candy rotated it, reading the inscription.

  “‘Forever wrapped around you,’” she said in a whisper. She slipped the ring onto her right middle finger. The fit was perfect. “Yes, I’m pretty sure this belonged to my uncle.”

  “Pretty sure?” Clay questioned.

  Like Garrett, he didn’t want any qualifiers here. He wanted the woman to be certain.

  “Sure enough.” Candy took a deep breath. “His name is Felix Drummond. Was Felix Drummond,” she corrected. “So, he’s been at the ranch this whole time.”

  “Where did you think he was?” Garrett asked.

  Candy lifted her shoulder, and he didn’t think it was his imagination that she dodged his gaze. “We didn’t know. When I was in middle school, he asked his wife for a divorce and then told us he was leaving. I was heartbroken because he was my favorite uncle. I adored him. And so did his wife. We were all stunned when he did that.”

  “Did he actually file for a divorce?” Clay pressed.

  “No. He just disappeared. So, of course, we thought he’d just gone on to his new life.”

  Well, he sure as heck hadn’t. “When exactly did he go missing?” That from Nicky, and because Candy was visibly upset, she slid her hand over the woman’s.

  “I was in seventh grade so it must have been a little over twenty years ago.”

  Clay exchanged a glance with Garrett. The timeline fit as well as the ring had. So, they might finally be able to stop calling this guy John Doe.

  “Twenty-one years?” Clay asked. “Because we found a receipt near his clothes that fits the timeframe.”

  She nodded. “His wife, Marie, is still alive but in a nursing home. I’m not sure how much she’d be able to tell you though since she has dementia. Both my folks are dead so asking them is out, too. But I used to keep diaries in those days. I’ll look through them and try to pinpoint the exact date he left.”

  “Thanks, that’d be helpful.” Clay paused. “Did your uncle have any health problems?”

  “No.” Something flickered in her eyes. “But I remember hearing my mother and Aunt Marie talk. They said Uncle Felix was leaving her to be with another woman.”

  And here he’d ended up at the ranch. Garrett didn’t like the unsettling feeling he got in his stomach.

  “The newspapers picked up the story of the body,” Garrett explained. “You didn’t see any of the articles?”

  “No. I’m the mother of twin boys, and I’m a teacher. I don’t have a lot of free time. But I wish I had seen them, so I could tell my aunt. She’s been waiting for him, you see. Waiting all this time for him to come back to her.”

  Candy looked at Garrett, and he saw something in her eyes. Not sadness. Not entirely anyway. More like anger.

  “Your mother is still alive?” Candy asked him.

  He nodded, felt that unsettled feeling go up a notch. “Why do you ask?”

  “Because according to what I heard, Uncle Felix was having an affair with Belle Granger.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  GINA READ NICKY’S text five times, and it still didn’t make sense. Belle certainly didn’t look like the affair-having type. But apparently that’s what the dead guy’s niece was accusing her of.

  “Keep this quiet for now,” Nicky had added in the text. “I’ll be home in a few.”

  Nicky hadn’t said if Garrett had called his mother about this, but she was betting he had. If he wasn’t in shock, that is. Or maybe in denial. Hard for a man to accept something like this.

  Especially since “this” was linked to a death.

  Nicky also hadn’t mentioned if Clay thought Belle had something to do with that death, but it was possible the police chief would investigate it as a homicide. And Belle wouldn’t necessarily be the main suspect. The guy’s wife would be. She’d watched enough cop shows to know that jealousy was a big motive.

  Gina cringed. Poor guy. Poor Belle. And poor them. Because when the story broke, the place would probably be crawling with reporters. Considering Nicky’s situation, that wasn’t a good idea. Best not to draw any more attention to herself or to this place.

  She looked up from her phone to make sure Kaylee was still napping. The little girl was sacked out on a quilt on the floor. It had become her favorite napping place, mainly because it was also her favorite place to play. She was asleep amid the strewn books, tea party makings and dolls.

  Gina made her way back down the stairs, intending to go to Nicky’s office so she could see if there was any paperwork she could do for her, but she came to a stop when she saw Jake in the doorway. Not alone, either. The Ellery sisters were there with him.

  “Is everything okay?” Gina immediately asked.

  Jake held up a blue apron. “They want me to wear this. Apparently, my man parts offend them.”

  One of the sisters gasped. “Talk to him,” the gasping sister told Gina, and the trio hurried away.

  “I’m sorry,” Gina told Jake right off. “Did they show you the list?”

  He patted his shirt pocket. “They gave me a copy so I could help them address it. I’ll put that in a special place when I get back to the bunkhouse.”

  She could only sigh and silently curse the sisters. Dick size was not something she wanted to be discussing with a flirting, hot cowboy who made her body remember something very important.

  That he was a man. One with a dick.

  And she was a woman. One who on occasion liked a dick.

  “The sisters want me to stop the cow sex, too,” Jake went on. “And they said if I didn’t, they would go out in the pasture and shoo the bull away. Not a good idea, by the way. Bulls tend to get testy when interrupted.”

  Gina hoped the sisters wouldn’t indeed try to stop something like that, but with them, you never knew. They had become the prude police of the Wid
ows’ House.

  “If you think they’ll listen to you, tell them to especially avoid any bull with a nose ring.” He touched her own nose ring. “We only put those in the more rambunctious ones.”

  “Why are you here?” Gina asked Jake just to be saying something. While she was at it, she stepped back so that he wouldn’t touch her nose ring again. It seemed intimate.

  Felt it, too.

  Maybe speaking would prevent her from drooling. But he was certainly drool-worthy in those chaps, jeans and denim shirt. He smelled like warm saddle leather and other things, manly things.

  “Garrett called and asked me to come,” Jake answered. “I’m supposed to see if his mother is here.”

  Because Gina was spinning a sex dream of him in her head, it took a moment for her to get that. “No. At least I don’t think she is. I’ve been upstairs, though, with Kaylee so it’s possible she came in.”

  But if she had—why? Was Belle returning to the scene of the crime?

  “Follow me,” Gina instructed, and she immediately started leading Jake through the house and toward the kitchen. Not that she was certain Belle would go there. If she had indeed had something to do with John Doe’s death, that should be the last place she’d go. Still, it was a starting point.

  Cassie was in the middle of a group session so Gina shut the door but not before hearing Lady talk about missing blow jobs. Jake didn’t comment. But she got another flash of that dimple.

  “Have you reconsidered going out with me?” he asked. “I mean, since I made the well-endowed list, that should give you some incentive.”

  She already had enough incentive. The attraction. But she held up her hand to show him that she was still wearing her wedding ring. Gina wouldn’t mention that she’d nearly taken it off after she had finished signing the final papers regarding her husband’s estate. Nor would she bring up the sex conversation she’d had with Nicky. No, it was best to mull on this a little longer.

  She stopped in the formal dining room just short of the kitchen, and she turned to tell Jake that she needed more time.

  Or not.

  That was because he leaned in and kissed her. It was a test kiss, like someone dipping their toe in the water to check the temperature. He must have decided the temp was just fine because he dove in for more.

  And Gina let him.

  It’d been a year since she’d been kissed and never by a cowboy. She was suddenly regretful that she hadn’t added that to her personal résumé sooner.

  He was smiling when he pulled back, and Gina realized she was still leaning in. As if waiting for more. More was out. Because if he came back for thirds, she might insist on getting a look at his overly endowed man parts.

  “All right, I’ll go out with you,” she heard herself say. It was the lust talking, but it was making some sense. Well, as much sense as lust could make. Still, a date wasn’t a lifelong commitment. It was just a date.

  She hadn’t thought that smile could get any better, but it did. And while she would have liked to have stayed put and continued this kissing/smiling/flirting session, the timing was all wrong.

  “We should be looking for Belle,” Gina reminded him. Reminded herself, too. And she forced herself to get moving again.

  Belle wasn’t in the kitchen, but the back door leading to the yard was wide-open so Gina went there. Only to smack right into Nicky. She really had meant she’d be home in a few when she’d sent that text.

  “I don’t think Belle is here,” Gina told her right off. “And Garrett must be worried about her because he sent Jake here to look for her.”

  Nicky thrust her purse into Gina’s hands. “I just saw her out on the trail. She’s on horseback—wearing a dress and heels. And she was crying. I would have followed her, but I can’t get the SUV down there.”

  Jake cursed. “I’ll go after her.”

  “No. I will,” Nicky insisted. “If you don’t mind, I’ll take your horse.”

  He made a you’re-welcome-to-it gesture, and Nicky took off running.

  * * *

  NICKY HADN’T RIDDEN a horse in years, but that didn’t stop her. She climbed into the saddle and got the stallion moving. She moved, too, bouncing like a jumping bean and trying to keep control of the animal.

  She hadn’t heard what Garrett said to his mother when he called her shortly after Candy had dropped that bombshell. Garrett had stepped outside to make that call while Clay finished talking to Candy. But Nicky had watched Garrett’s body language, and she could tell he’d asked Belle one very important question.

  Is it true?

  Judging from the fact that Belle was on the run, Nicky thought that it might be.

  She heard the creek waters just ahead. Heard the crying, as well. And Nicky finally spotted the woman by the water’s edge. Belle definitely looked out of place with her blue flowered dress and white shoes. Nicky got off the horse, leaving it next to Belle’s, and went to her.

  “Please tell me you don’t believe I could do something this horrible,” Belle said, looking up at Nicky.

  Nicky sat down beside her and decided it was best just to put her arms around the woman and try to calm her down.

  “Garrett said the man’s niece believed I was having an affair with him,” Belle went on. “I wasn’t. I’m not that kind of woman.”

  “I’m sure Garrett knows that,” Nicky assured her.

  “Then why would he call me and tell me what that Candy person said?”

  “Because he wanted to let you know what we’d learned.” She paused. “We’re not even sure the man we found is Felix Drummond. Clay said there’ll have to be tests done. And if it is indeed Felix, the cops will have to piece together what happened.”

  “Well, I don’t know what happened,” Belle insisted while more tears came. She stopped, turned to Nicky. “Wait, yes, I do.”

  Everything inside Nicky went still, and she braced herself in case this was about to be some kind of confession. She considered asking Belle to go to the police station with her, but that would probably only send the woman into flight mode again.

  “I think Matilda must be behind all of this,” Belle went on. “She probably used my name when she was meeting with that man, and now his family thinks I’m responsible for what happened to him.”

  That would have made sense if Felix had died twenty years earlier when Matilda had lived in Z.T.’s house. And maybe he had. If she went with her theory that the receipt could have been a misprint. Or maybe someone dropped it there later. Nicky didn’t know who exactly would have done that, but it was possible.

  “Why don’t we go back to your house?” Nicky suggested. “And you can tell Clay and Garrett everything you just told me. They’ll believe you, and we can get all of this straightened out.”

  Belle looked at her, blinked. “You think so?”

  “Yes. Of course.” She wasn’t certain of that at all, but Garrett and Sophie were probably worried sick by now. She fired off a text to Garrett to let him know they were on their way back.

  Nicky helped Belle to her feet, and they started walking. They didn’t get back on the horses, but instead led them along the trail toward the house. It would make the trip longer, but it would save Belle from having to get back in the saddle in that dress.

  “If I’d wanted to cheat,” Belle went on, “I wouldn’t have had to look outside Wrangler’s Creek for a man, you know? There were plenty of hands, especially Hester Walter. That man was such a looker. His boys are, too.”

  Nicky made a sound of agreement. “His son, Jake, lent me his horse to come after you.” And judging from his and Gina’s body language, there was something going on between them. Nicky hoped that something was sex.

  Belle made a sound that was part whimper, part sob. “I suppose everyone knows I went on the run.”

&nb
sp; Probably. But Nicky kept that to herself, too.

  “Of course, they might just think I was out for a late-afternoon ride,” Belle went on. She wiped away her tears, hiked up her chin. “I do that sometimes.”

  Yes, but she likely didn’t do it in heels. Nicky caught her when Belle stumbled on one of the rocks that littered the trail and then maneuvered her around some animal poop.

  “Did you ever think about cheating on your husband?” Belle asked.

  “No,” Nicky answered honestly. Maybe because he’d been doing enough cheating for both of them. “My marriage wasn’t a good one, but I would have just divorced him if I’d wanted to be with another man.”

  “My point exactly. I mean, we’re not in the Dark Ages. There’s absolutely no reason for me to have done something like sneak around and have sex with another man. I’m not prudish like the Ellery sisters,” Belle continued. “But I mean a woman only needs one man to take care of things down there.” She made a vague motion toward her panty region.

  Nicky really didn’t like talking about this with Garrett’s mom, but there was no polite way to stop her. Plus, Belle was going through hell and back right now and just needed to keep on venting.

  Which she did.

  “And you know how I feel about a girl’s first,” she added. “The first is the one who joins together with your soul.”

  Interesting outlook. And Nicky hoped that Belle wasn’t fishing for details about Garrett. It didn’t help, though, when Belle said his name. Not just any ordinary way of saying it, either. It came on one of those whimpering sobs.

  “This must be just tearing Garrett apart,” Belle said. “It’s probably bringing back all sorts of memories about what went on with Meredith.”

  Mercy, she hadn’t even thought of that. But Belle was right. Heck, it was bringing back memories for her, too, and she hadn’t gone through anything nearly as public as Garrett had.