Big Sky Cowboy

by Jennifer Mikels

  Every morning Colby saw that wood carving, but until Tessa had mentioned it, he hadn’t thought about when he’d received it. Since his aunt’s death, he hadn’t let memories of her come. For all her outward gruffness, his aunt had shown him her soft heart often. He’d been touched by her affection and compassion. When he’d been a kid, before she’d left for Boston, he’d lost his cat, Rennie. He’d fought tears. If his mom had been around, he’d have let the sadness out, but she’d been in Boise, taking care of Colby’s grandmother. His father had gone through the rituals, helped him bury the calico. His aunt had gone one step further.

  She’d met him after school the next day. She’d brought the flowers and the small wood cross with the name Rennie on it. They’d put the cross and the flowers on the grave, and then she’d wrapped her arms around him and had let him cry.

  She’d been the one who’d forced him to grieve. Ironically, he couldn’t do it now for her. Instead pain bottled within him. Like a pressure cooker, he sometimes felt as if he’d explode from it. Then he’d move away from thoughts of her, and the feeling would ease again—until the next time he’d remember how special she’d been to him. If wishes worked, he’d wish for a couple of seconds that he could be six again.

  Colby dropped her off at the store, and Tessa spent the morning unpacking crates of new merchandise. She’d taken a financial chance, ordering more items, but she thought business would pick up by the end of the month after a psychic fair in another town.

  Her back aching from bending over the crates, she straightened and stretched. She thought about the vision she’d had at Colby’s house. Poor Harriet. How short-lived her happiness had been. At the end of her life, she’d become so sad. At the end, she’d been so frightened.

  “Tessa, Tessa,” Marla said in a loud whisper. “We have a customer.”

  Puzzled by her need to make such an announcement, Tessa wandered to the storeroom doorway and found herself face-to-face with Diana Lynscot. The next few moments might not be pleasant, she decided. “Hi,” she said with her brightest smile. “Is there something in particular you’re looking for?”

  Diana’s eyes moved over her. “No. I came in to see what you have that is attracting people to your store.”

  People meaning Colby.

  “I suppose there are those who might be amused by the notion of the unusual and of love potions and trinkets.”

  Tessa wasn’t letting her devalue the store. “We have customers who take a more serious approach to what’s offered here.”

  Standing by the counter, Marla slapped a hand over her mouth to hide her smile.

  Diana’s chin went up to a regal angle. “I don’t see anything interesting here,” she said with a visual sweep of the store.

  Tessa drummed up a wide smile. “We don’t try to please everyone, only a select and special type of person.” Lord, she couldn’t believe she’d really said that. Her message was clear.

  “Meaning Colby?” Smoke practically puffed out of Diana’s ears. “You’re different. But he’ll tire of you quickly,” she said with a bluntness that was meant to sting.

  She could be right, Tessa knew, watching Diana whirl away in a huff.

  “Oh, Tessa,” Marla said on a giggle as the door slammed shut behind Diana. “She looked furious.”

  Tessa thought so, too. She wondered if the woman was worrying needlessly. At one time, Colby had loved Diana, wanted to spend his life with her. They had history, memories. And despite the happiness Tessa had been enjoying with Colby, he’d never said that he wanted anything lasting with her.

  “Tessa, can I step outside for a moment?”

  She focused on Marla. Through the front window, Tessa saw a man pacing on the porch. The old boyfriend, Tessa knew. That was good news. “Sure, go ahead.”

  She wished her future looked as bright as Marla’s. She could try to peek. No, that rarely worked for her. The future for other people was so much easier to see.

  Frowning, she wandered behind a counter. With the ring of the bell, she looked up.

  “You’re frowning again.”

  She worked up a smile to match Colby’s. “I’m a deep thinker. You smile a lot, you know,” she teased.

  “Because I’m staring at you.”

  She skirted the counter to step up to him. “I didn’t expect to see you so soon.” She couldn’t remember a time in her life when she’d felt so happy around someone.

  “You must have cast a spell. I couldn’t stay away.”

  Leaning into him, Tessa draped an arm over his shoulder. “Poor Colby.”

  With an arm at her waist, he tugged her closer. “You need to display more sympathy.”

  “Hmm. Let me think of a good way.” She kissed a corner of his lips. “Like this. Is that what—” At a movement to her left, she paused and angled a look at the opening door.

  Her hand out in front of her, Marla rushed to her and flashed an engagement ring at them.

  “Oh, Marla!” Tessa met her halfway for a hug. “How wonderful. When?”

  “Well.” She placed a palm against her flat belly and spoke low to Tessa. “It’ll have to be soon. I’m pregnant.”

  “I’m so happy for you.” Peripherally she saw Colby slowly shaking his head in the manner of someone coming to grips with news.

  He, too, offered good wishes before Marla left.

  “Told you so,” Tessa said when they were alone again.

  “I’m not asking how you knew. But I’m surprised you’re happy. I thought you didn’t like the tool sales man.”

  “He’s not the father. Her old boyfriend is.”

  He draped an arm around her shoulder, absently rubbed his hand up and down. “She broke off with the tool salesman?”

  Tessa leaned into him as he stroked her arm. “All by herself.”

  “Pleased, aren’t you?” With the ring of his cell phone, he gave her a wry grin as he checked the caller ID. “My mom.”

  Tessa finished unwrapping the last few items in the crate while he talked to Louise, but their conversation was brief.

  He came near and lifted a wooden sculpture of a bull’s head from the crate for her. “She called to tell me that the woman Harriet helped is in town.”

  Straightening, Tessa snagged a towel from the top of her desk to wipe off her hands. “The one who left the abusive husband?”

  “That one. Where do you want this?” He scowled. “What is this for?”

  “Fertility.” As he arched a brow, he almost looked as if he was contemplating buying it and hanging it in the stall with Ladyfair. “You need to talk to that woman, find out about her ex-husband, where he is, where he’s been.”

  “That wasn’t in my plans. But yeah, I do.”

  Tessa set down the towel. “Where is she?”

  “In a motel nearby. Go with me. She might feel more comfortable talking to a woman.”

  Tessa didn’t hesitate. She’d been useless so far. She’d do anything to help them. “Does your mother think the man may have killed Harriet?” she asked, after giving a few instructions to Marla.

  “She’s looking for answers anywhere she can, even from this woman, though she’s a stranger.”

  “It’s so difficult for these women. They’re the really brave ones.” She thought again about her vision. “Harriet was shot with her own gun, wasn’t she?” she asked after they climbed into his truck.

  “That’s right. If you need to know the particulars, you could learn them from Chelsea.”

  “I know them.”

  Before negotiating a turn onto Main Street, he angled an askance glance at her.

  “And a pillow was used?”

  “A pillow? Yes, there’s a pillow missing. You heard about that?” he asked.

  So still he didn’t believe. She gave him a strained smile. She’d heard nothing. She’d seen it. “I guess I must have. Did the bruise on her hip match the chair railing?”

  He was slow to respond. “It did. They thought she bruised it when—”
r />   “She tried to run.”

  “Yeah,” he said so quietly she barely heard him. “That’s right.”

  Colby thought about her questions during the drive. Had she talked to Holt or Chelsea? She must have. Otherwise, how could she have known all that? What if she really could see more than other people? She was uncannily accurate about his aunt’s death.

  He glanced at her. Staring out the window at the passing scenery, she’d been quiet for several minutes. Had she had a vision, seen his aunt’s killing and kept that to herself for his family’s sake? If she’d seen the killer, he was sure she would have said something. Damn, what did he know for sure? Though he didn’t understand anything about psychics, he wasn’t so skeptical anymore.

  “This motel?” she asked, breaking the silence.

  Colby nodded and turned into a parking space. “Unit two.”

  The woman was thin with long, fair-colored hair. In a bright blue playpen with a duck design, a little one with round cheeks and dark hair cooed while she shook a set of colored keys. “My other kids are in Boston. I didn’t want to take them out of school, but I had to come. I’m real sorry about your aunt.”

  “Thank you.” Colby perched on the edge of the desk in the motel room.

  Tessa moved closer to the woman, then sat on a chair across from her. “Why did you come?”

  “I wanted to talk to Harriet’s sister. Your mom, huh?” she asked Colby. “She’s a real sweet lady. I wanted her to know how good her sister had been to me. When I was living in Rumor, she came to the trailer court, told me if I needed help, she’d be there for me and my kids. Lenny came home while she was visiting, told her to get the hell out. Harriet stood up to him.”

  Colby wasn’t surprised. His aunt wasn’t easy to know, allowed no one to push her around. He recalled an incident between her and Henry when he’d been mayor. He’d insisted the town couldn’t afford to build the new library. Fearless, she’d arrived at the town council armed with books. How could they not give such treasures a decent home? she’d demanded to know. Colby recalled his mother telling him the story over the telephone when he’d been at a rodeo in Colorado. Harriet wouldn’t leave the library. Five hours later, everyone agreed that the fundraising money the townspeople had collected should include funds for the library. Sadly Colby wondered if his aunt’s stubborn streak had frustrated someone and caused her death.

  “Harriet told him that she’d leave when I asked her to,” the woman said. “I was so—well, you know, no one had ever stood up to him like that before or did that for me. He was so drunk. He didn’t care what she’d said. He turned around to leave and stumbled down the trailer steps. That’s when she said to me, ‘You need to leave now,’ and I did. I went with her. She drove me to a motel, paid for me and the kids, even got us something to eat and stayed with us till morning.”

  Tessa hunched forward. “What happened then?” she asked quietly.

  “Harriet knew someone in Boston who’d give me a job. There was a shelter there, and the kids and I stayed there for a while. Once I got enough money, we moved into a place of our own. Harriet did that for me. When I heard she’d died—was killed—” Her voice broke. She bowed her head for a second. “When I heard, I thought about Lenny.”

  “Would he do it?”

  She raised her head slowly. “Yes, he would.”

  “Has anyone seen him around Rumor?” Tessa asked when they were in Colby’s truck. She wished the woman had something that belonged to her ex-husband, something Tessa could touch. But understandably the woman had wanted nothing of his.

  “Henry insists a stranger he saw in town a while back might have been the woman’s ex-husband.”

  “Why would he be in town? The woman had left and was living in Boston.”

  “But he didn’t know that. The sheriff’s theory is that he might have come to Rumor to see my aunt and learn his ex-wife and kids’ whereabouts from her.” Colby shrugged. “Dave’s looking for anything that might make sense. It’s a possibility. If Henry was right.”

  She, too, knew Henry’s reputation for speaking before verifying. She looked up, noticed Colby had driven them to Mystic Treasures. A pang of disappointment swarmed in on her. She’d thought, she’d hoped he’d want to go to the ranch, that he’d want them to be alone. If he was bringing her to the store, wasn’t he worried about her anymore? Tessa frowned with her next thought. Had her going to his ranch been only about a couple nights in his bed?

  “I bought two.”

  She snapped herself from more ponderings about her sex life. Imagine. Tessa Madison had a sex life now. “Two of what?” she asked, noticing he’d already shut off the engine.

  He held up a bag. “Locks for your doors. I’ll install them, and then—”

  “And then?”

  “We could go back to the ranch.”

  “But I’ll have locks on my doors.”

  “Okay.” He gave her a wicked grin. “I’ll install them tomorrow.” Shifting on the seat toward her, he cupped the back of her neck.

  His breath warmed her face. His lips tempted as they worked slowly over hers. “You’re trying to weaken my knees, aren’t you?”

  A laugh rode on his words. “Am I doing that?”

  “With a kiss.”

  For her sake, Colby believed she’d be better off at the ranch. He thought it was best to avoid someone seeing him leave her house. She had enough trouble without him adding to it.

  A ray of sunlight streaked between the slim opening of the drapes. With Tessa curled against him, he would have preferred to stay in bed longer, but seconds ago, the persistent ring of the doorbell had awakened him. Annoyed, he eased off the mattress and snatched his jeans.

  In bare feet, wearing only jeans, he padded down the staircase. The last person he expected to see at that time of the morning was the sheriff.

  Dave Reingard looked puzzled by his scowl. “I thought you got up at sunrise, Colby.”

  “Most mornings.”

  “It’s seven o’clock.”

  “I know what time it is,” he said, not veiling his annoyance. “What do you want, Sheriff?”

  “Brought you something. Since you’re executor of your aunt’s estate, you can have these papers now.”

  Colby accepted the brown accordion folder. “Thanks for bringing these over.”

  “Sure.” He grinned suddenly as he looked past Colby.

  Without a glance back, he guessed that Tessa had come down the staircase. He watched Dave turn away. He didn’t think the sheriff passed his day gossiping.

  “See ya,” Dave said over his shoulder.

  “Yeah.” Colby closed the door and headed for the kitchen. Better Dave had seen Tessa, and not Henry, who’d been Harriet’s lawyer. He’d have felt honor-bound to tell his good friend Leone about what he’d seen. The woman didn’t need more ammunition to put down Tessa.

  The smell of coffee brewing greeted Colby when he entered the kitchen. Standing at the counter, Tessa looked up from pouring herself a glass of orange juice while she munched on last night’s popcorn. “Did the sheriff say anything?”

  Colby shook his head. “He won’t spread gossip.”

  He dropped the folder on the table. Her hair was tousled from sleep and his hands. She gave him a dreamy smile, and he felt the nudge inside his chest again. He liked having her here, too much, he realized. They’d gone into this with an understanding that there would be no promises. He hadn’t expected to want any. He still didn’t think he wanted them, but he doubted he’d forget the image of her in his robe, sitting at his kitchen table, or how she felt in his arms.

  “What’s in that?” she asked.

  He traced her stare to the folder Dave had brought over. “Harriet’s papers.” Papers he needed to read.

  “You’re executor?”

  He released a short, mirthless laugh. “I haven’t been in charge since the sheriff began his investigation.” Ever since his aunt’s death, he’d felt frustration. “Everything was close
d by court order.”

  “Patience doesn’t come easy, does it?” she teased.

  “Never has.” He straddled a chair and slipped papers out of the folder. “Insurance policies.” He perused them quickly. As expected, his mother was the beneficiary.

  Tessa withdrew a white packet. “The deed to her house is here.”

  Colby held Harriet’s last will and testament and a living trust.

  “Was the house left to Louise?”

  He nodded, distracted as he skimmed another paper. He couldn’t help grinning. “Parrish is on his way out.”

  While Tessa read the information on the document he’d discovered among his aunt’s papers, he left the room to finish dressing. She understood his pleasure about the paper he’d found. She was happy for him and Louise. Though his family still bore many unanswered questions, one of their problems was over. Did she feel so good because Colby did? Was that part of loving? Was it being as one with someone, so their joy or sorrows became your own? What would he think if she told him, I’ve chosen you, Colby? You’re the one I want to be with first—last—forever.

  “Tessa.” He ambled into the room buttoning his shirt. “Let’s eat in town tonight.”

  Had he thought of some other place to go? She believed that only being in Harriet’s house might incite more positive visions for her, and it was still sealed by the sheriff. “Do you want me to try something different?”

  “Is the Calico Diner okay with you?” Stepping near, he absently fingered strands of hair brushing her shoulder. “They have a good pot roast special tonight.”

  She didn’t think that was his reason for choosing the diner. “Are you going to tell me why we’re going there?”

  “It’ll be crowded, and the town’s biggest gossip works there,” he said about a waitress known for knowing everything.

  “What are you planning?”