Navy SEAL Protector

by Bonnie Vanak

  “But what if you don’t sell?”

  “Beaufort must think all he has to do is wait. Wait for the bank to foreclose on the ranch and then offer them a cash deal. With our acreage, he’d have the last parcel needed to build his park.”

  Shelby couldn’t stand liars. But swindlers were worse.

  “You know what this means, Shel. Whoever is doing all those things on the ranch to ruin our business is getting desperate, probably hoping to sell to Beaufort before the bank forecloses. Make a profit before it’s too late.”

  His troubled gaze met hers in the yellow glare of the parking lights. She didn’t need him to spell it out.

  They had been looking at outsiders with a vested interest in forcing a sale of the Belle Creek to Chuck Beaufort. Natalie was the prime suspect. But no longer. Not with this news.

  Whoever was doing all these things on the ranch wasn’t an outsider after all. But someone with a prime interest in forcing Nick to sell before it was too late. And she could think of only one person that desperate, who had a wife with champagne taste and a beer budget.

  His cousin Dan.

  * * *

  After lunch the next day, Shelby made Timmy a birthday cake, with real cinnamon icing. She looked over the brightly wrapped gifts purchased in town. Not much. Not what he really wanted—the new Nintendo. Heather had sent money for a birthday party, but it wasn’t enough. Her sister’s wire transfers had dwindled each month, and it made no sense. Timmy’s parents loved their son, and wanted the best for him. Why were they being stingy with the monthly cash they sent Shelby for his care?

  Shelby wanted to throw him a big party, but finances prohibited it. They did have roast beef for dinner, his favorite, and ice cream and cake, and Dan and Felicity promised to decorate the house with balloons and streamers to make Timmy feel special.

  Wiping her hands on a dish towel, she looked out the kitchen window with its splendid view of the barn and stables. The ranch was bustling today. Not only had Natalie taken Fancy for a ride, but their other boarders had also decided to ride on the southern trail. Jake and his girlfriend, Lynn, accompanied them.

  She should drag out her old laptop, review her résumé and start looking around for a new job. They needed the cash. No, she needed the cash.

  But the afternoon was so pretty, and she was caught up on the bookkeeping, and it had been too long since she’d ridden. What good was it to live on a ranch and never take advantage of the trails? Might help to check out the fork on the old north trail, see if it needed work, and scope out the land for hunting. Deer season was popular in this area. They could open it for hunters or fall rides if Dan didn’t sell that parcel, for the trail wended through the acres Silas had left him.

  Every penny counted these days.

  Minutes later, wearing a backpack stuffed with a water bottle, snacks and binoculars, she headed for the stables. Shelby wore her oldest jeans, a comfortable sweatshirt and her Western boots. She fetched Pantser from the pasture and saddled her. In the barn, the sharp machete they used for cutting back brush was missing. Instead, she grabbed big garden clippers and stuffed those into her pack. She decided to grab a rifle as well, just in case. Then she headed back to the main house. With all the incidents around here, she wouldn’t take unnecessary chances.

  Dan, working on the old tractor outside the barn, looked up as she rode by. He stood and wiped his hands on a stained cloth. “Where you headed?”

  “Thought I’d take her on the north trail near the abandoned cornfield.” Shelby scanned the distant field and frowned. “It only needs a little more clearing before we can bring in guests to ride on it. Want to come?”

  His gaze darted away. Dan shook his head. “Got to get this tractor running so I can stack that hay from the field.”

  “Where’s Nick?”

  His cousin shrugged. “Out, I guess. He didn’t say.”

  She knew he’d headed out early in the morning, had heard the front door open and close as she showered. And she was an early riser.

  The roan snorted with impatience as Shelby leaned forward. “Where’s everyone?”

  “John, Mario and Hank are working on the south trail for tomorrow’s group. Since this month is Halloween, I thought we could put out some scarecrows, pumpkins, spruce the trail up to make it more interesting.”

  “Sounds like a good plan.”

  She nudged Pantser onward.

  Dan had good ideas, he just wasn’t good at managing the money. Silas had been the one who kept things running smoothly. Grief pinched her. She missed him so much, his business sense and his keen sense of frugality.

  Felicity didn’t understand budgets or restraint. She supposed the woman had her good points. She was a good mother, and adored her sons. And Felicity hadn’t always been so tense. Only in the last year, when finances started to dwindle, had she become more high-strung. Shelby had diplomatically suggested to Dan that he control his wife. Dan didn’t listen.

  But someone had to lay down the law to the woman. Maybe it was time to stop being nice and start playing dirty. Dark days meant dark action. Nick would agree. He wouldn’t put up with Felicity’s antics or complaints. He hadn’t put up with Natalie, either.

  Her stomach gave a pleasant jolt at the thought of Nick giving her a thorough once-over in her panties. Even in the dim light she’d seen the appreciative gleam in his dark eyes, the hunger. If she had been more welcoming, he’d have wound up in her bed.

  Bad idea. Forget that Timmy slept only a few feet away and the walls were cardboard thin. Giving Nick Anderson access to her bed, and her body, was more dangerous than a lit match near that gas can they’d found. She’d combust all right. Go up in flames in his arms. No doubt he was a skilled lover. But after, he’d leave her cold and empty and aching.

  Because it couldn’t last. Nick couldn’t last. He was a fleeting pleasure, as temporary as the pretty spring wildflowers that bloomed in the fields.

  The sun glared overhead in the sky, a few storm clouds scudding across the bright blue. Her thoughts drifted to Nick, and the vulnerable, painfully emotional teen she’d been when he kissed her.

  From the moment she and her family moved onto the ranch, Shelby had been too aware of the gorgeous, rebellious Nick with his tousled dark gold hair and cool brown gaze. Tall and gangly, and quiet, he stirred inside her feelings she’d never had. Her childhood had been spent trying to glue her family back together like a shattered china cup. After each drunken episode, her parents would fight, threaten to break up and Shelby would play referee.

  Nick was the first person she’d ever met who looked at her as if he could see past the thin veneer of her brittle armor, into the real person that she guarded so fiercely from getting hurt. They would ride horses along this very trail, Nick egging her to race him, and her silly little girlish heart would beat faster.

  They’d search for Henry’s treasure on the property and swim in the water hole on long, lazy summer days.

  And at night, they’d sit on wicker chairs on the wide wood porch of his family’s home and talk about music, horses and their dreams. Nick loved country music and wanted to be a singer. Or a Navy SEAL—strong, invincible and tough. Shelby wanted to study art in Paris. It didn’t matter that Nick was three years older. He was a good friend, and she had a crush on him.

  But their friendship only mattered on the farm and gradually it faded. When she entered high school, it turned into a sweet memory to tuck away in her scrapbook. Her time with Nick was memorialized in an autumn leaf of brilliant crimson he’d found for her, the napkin he used to scribble song lyrics, a photograph of them sitting on sleds on the property’s snowy hillside. In school, Nick was the tough, athletic track star who had a flock of adoring fans following him like ducklings waddling after their mother. He was older, too cool to associate with her, and she understood.

 
She could worship him from afar. Dream about a life with him, pretend there was hope.

  When he’d kissed her in Henry’s old cabin ten years ago, all her hopes and dreams collided like a meteor crashing to earth. And like that meteor, the shining moments turned into dust when he left and never said goodbye.

  Shelby entered the woods flanking the cornfield, where the sun dappled the red and gold leaves littering the forest floor. A tangle of thorny blackberry bushes grew thick and wild, partly blocking the trail. The canes were thick and drought had left these dead.

  Shelby dismounted, retrieved the clippers and began cutting. It was arduous work, for the canes were thick. Shame these bushes were dead, for she’d enjoyed picking the berries in the warmer weather and Felicity made excellent jam.

  So much land. It would make a wonderful dude ranch. She’d even proposed it to Silas two years ago, suggesting they turn the main house into a bed-and-breakfast, even have a real homestead with chickens the guests could feed, and the big kitchen could easily be turned into a classroom, where Felicity could teach them how to can blackberries and cook real Southern dishes.

  Silas had scowled and turned down the idea, saying he didn’t want strangers on his family’s land.

  Well, tough luck. Look at us now, strangers getting ready to foreclose on the house and ranch.

  She worked steadily on the thorny bushes as Pantser stood patiently by, swishing her tail.

  How could Nick give all this up? This corner of Tennessee was sheer heaven. She loved it here, loved the clear open skies and the sounds of horses neighing across the valley in the early morning when they were turned out. On cold, crisp nights in winter, the stars seemed to burst out from the sky, so vibrant and sparkling and close it almost felt like you could touch them...

  “Shel.”

  Shrieking, she jumped as a hand touched her shoulder. Shelby put a hand to her racing heart and carefully lowered the clippers. “Sweet Jesus, don’t do that! Didn’t you ever learn not to scare a woman with a weapon in her hand?”

  Nick jammed his hands into his front pockets. His dark gold hair was as tangled and messy as the thick blackberry bushes. The blue-and-black-plaid flannel shirt hung loose on him, tucked neatly into his jeans. He wore his customary black leather jacket and a black Stetson, and a backpack was riding on his broad shoulders.

  Cowboy biker, she thought absently, and then she scowled. “What are you doing out here, how did you get out here and what the hell do you mean, creeping up on me?”

  Nick considered. “Lot of questions. Which do you want answered first?”

  Shelby peered past him, didn’t see a horse. “How did you get here?”

  “Walked.” He gestured to the woods. “Wanted to check out this trail. It’s long, nice and flat for beginning riders. Thought it would make a good trail for riding again if we cleared it.”

  He cleared his throat as she gave him a pointed look and raised the clippers. Nick grinned.

  “Nice knife. But you’ll never get this cleared with that.”

  Removing the backpack, he fished out a long machete. He held it up and his grin broadened. “This is a knife, sweetheart.”

  Nick took a pair of thick yellow gloves from his back pocket and donned them. “We can clear all this faster if I hack and you pile.”

  They began a steady rhythm, Nick chopping the dead canes and Shelby clipping the thorny stems into smaller sections and piling them on the side of the trail.

  Shelby shook her head as she cut a thick cane. “I should have known you took the machete.”

  “I don’t mess around when it comes to hard work.”

  “You mean you work hard or you hardly work?”

  The joke didn’t coax a smile to his face. “According to Dan, I’m guilty of the latter.”

  Shelby sighed. “Give him a chance, Nick. You only got back and he’s been running things here and helping Silas since the day you left. If not for him, the ranch would have gone belly up long ago.”

  He straightened and looked at her. “I give everyone a chance, Shel. Too bad no one around here is giving me a chance and they want to kick me out.”

  Bitterness tinged his voice. Troubled, she put a hand on his arm. “I think Dan is shell-shocked that Silas left the ranch to you. No one wants you gone, Nick.” She squeezed his arm, feeling the thick muscle and sturdy bone. “I certainly don’t.”

  When he gave her a long, thoughtful look, she blushed and removed her hand.

  “Someone wants me out.” He stabbed the machete into the ground, reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper.

  Written in block letters was an ominous message:

  You’re worthless and useless. Leave now because no one wants you here.

  She stared at the note. “Who would do such a thing? I don’t recognize the handwriting.” It wasn’t a clear threat, but a taunt.

  He took the note and stuffed it back in his pocket. “I found it in my pack this morning. Left the pack outside to air out. Whoever put that note in there either lives or works here.”

  Shelby’s stomach tightened with anxiety. “It’s a childish thing to do.”

  “It’s the third one I found, Shel. Don’t tell anyone else. I’m fighting an uphill battle as it is, trying to figure out how to find enough money to pay the bank.”

  Suddenly she was glad she’d brought the rifle. She’d been thinking of wild animals, not human threats. But the biggest threat they all faced walked on two legs, not four. They returned to work, Shelby lost in thought.

  “Do you think whoever wrote the note is the one doing all the vandalism?” she asked.

  “Not sure.” His gaze hardened and he suddenly looked dangerous. “But I plan to find out. Don’t go out alone anymore, Shel. I don’t like you being alone and unarmed.”

  Shelby shrugged. “The worst I have to worry about on this trail is wild hogs. We used to get a few of them around here and Silas would shoot them, and we’d have a big pig roast. He’d invite all the local business leaders. It was good for business relations. In the last four years, he got more and more cranky and antisocial. No more pig roasts.”

  “You do know the best way to bait wild hogs?” He hacked a thick vine and tossed it aside.

  “Bacon?”

  Nick’s low laugh sent a shiver of pleasure down her spine. Not going there.

  “Cupcakes. With vanilla icing.”

  Shelby wrinkled her forehead. “Are you serious?”

  “I’m always serious about my hunting.” He finished cutting back the bushes and eyed the results piled in the middle of the trail. “We could burn those, but not in this weather. I won’t risk it.”

  Absently, she gathered the last handful of canes to push them to the side of the trail. A thorn pierced the thick fabric of her gloves.

  “Ow!” Shelby tugged off the glove. A small droplet of blood oozed from her right forefinger.

  “Want me to kiss it and make it better?”

  Before she could speak, Nick took her hand, studied her injured finger. Then he raised it to his mouth and kissed it, his gaze never leaving hers. Her heart rate kicked up, and she remained motionless. Nick was a flirt, experienced in seducing women. But she was no longer that vulnerable teenager, desperate for his attention, who thought the sun rose and set on Nick Anderson.

  Shelby tugged her hand free. “I’ll live.” The less contact she had with Nick, the better.

  The sun shone high and bright in the sky when she’d set out, but it was getting later. “I want to go a little farther and then I need to get back. I want to finish preparations for Timmy’s party.”

  As she untied Pantser’s reins from a nearby bush, Nick’s eyes twinkled. “Care to give me a ride?”

  Riding with him on the motorcycle had already stirred up ol
d feelings best buried. Shelby shook her head. “I don’t want to strain Pantser. The exercise will do you good.”

  Nick’s expression became guarded. “When are you ever going to forgive me, Shelby?”

  Her heart kicked up a beat. “For what?”

  “For whatever I did to you before I left here.”

  Her pride had been wounded enough. She shrugged. “It’s in the past. I’m only looking to the future now, and trying to save this place from bulldozers.”

  His fingers gently encircled her wrist. “So am I. Let’s walk, Shel.”

  The mere touch of his hand sent shivers coursing through her. Shelby didn’t want to walk with him. She needed to focus on the practical. But the day was lovely and the man beside her tempting. Grabbing the reins, she led Pantser along the trail as Nick accompanied her. The path looked clear and wide, unlike her own personal path, which had grown very uncertain.

  She began asking him questions about what he’d done since leaving the navy, learning that he had wandered across the country. Nick answered briefly, turning the tables on her. She began telling him about life on the ranch, and how challenging it was to care for a young boy.

  A few minutes into their walk, Shelby asked the question burning in her mind since the day he’d left Belle Creek and hadn’t returned. Until now.

  “Why did you leave, Nick?” She gripped the reins tight, the leather making her palms sweat. “Did you run away from us? Me?”

  “It was time.”

  “Why did you stick around so long? Why didn’t you leave when you turned eighteen and you could legally join the navy?”

  Why did you break my heart after we kissed and tell me I was too young?

  He stopped, turned, his body tense. “That’s a private matter.”

  “You ask me to share information about my life and you don’t do the same.”

  Nick’s jaw tensed. He stared at the trail ahead. Finally he looked at her, his gaze steady. “I stayed because of you, Shel. I wanted to make sure you would be okay. Remember that incident at the park when those boys teased you, and threatened you? You came home that day, crying, your knee all skinned, and you told me about it?”