by Janet Dailey
He clasped her fiercely. “Thank God,” he muttered. “When I heard somebody was here . . .” He let the words trail off. Thrusting her a little away from him, he looked into her eyes. “Are you all right? I was worried about you.”
“I have visitors inside—my Mexican brothers. I’ve told you about them. Until tonight I wasn’t even sure they were alive. But they just showed up. They know Bull, and they’re hoping he’ll take them in. I—don’t know what to do about them.”
“It’s all right. I’m here.” He took her hand and walked with her to the trailer. She stopped him just outside.
“There’s more, Tanner. They say they were forced to work for the cartel and that they’ve run away. I haven’t told them that I’m hiding from the cartel, too, or about the man I killed. Bull doesn’t know about that, either.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t mention it.”
“I’m scared, Tanner. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
“Rose, I’m here for you. Take me in and introduce me to your visitors.”
His presence reassured Rose, for now at least. She ushered him into the trailer’s crowded sitting room and made the introductions. Joaquin and Raul spoke fair English, so they had little trouble communicating.
“Rose tells me that you already know Bull,” Tanner said, making conversation. “There must be a story behind that.”
“There is,” Joaquin said. “Our father worked as a cook on the Rimrock. Some bad men murdered him for his beautiful old car.”
“Where is that car, Rose?” Raul asked. “They said you took it when you left Río Seco.”
“Sadly, I had to sell it,” Rose said. “I suppose it was really yours. I’m sorry.”
“Que lástima.” Raul shrugged. “Too bad.”
“I remember that car,” Tanner said. “It was beautiful. But I want to hear the rest of the story.”
“Before he died, my father asked for his body to go back to Río Seco to bury next to our mother,” Raul said. “Bull drove him back. Joaquin and I, we were living with his brother, Don Ramón. We had to find the men who killed our father and make them pay. So Bull took us back to Texas and gave us jobs.”
“And did you find the men?”
“Sí, we did. It was easy because they had the car. Our father saw them before he died, so he could tell Bull what they looked like.”
“And you made them pay?” Tanner asked.
“They died in a very bad way, and we took the car back to Mexico,” Joaquin said. “So you see, Bull is a good friend. He will help us for sure.”
“In that case,” Tanner said, “why don’t we go see him now? Come on. You can ride in the back of my truck. Rose, do you want to come?”
“I think I’d better. I just hope we don’t wake everybody up.”
Raul and Joaquin grabbed the backpacks they’d left by the chicken coop and climbed into the bed of Tanner’s pickup. Tanner opened the passenger door for Rose, then went around to the driver’s seat.
“Thank you.” She laid a hand on his knee as he started the engine. “I just hope this ends happily.”
“Well, there’s no room for them to sleep in your trailer,” Tanner said. “Besides, I still have plans to get you all to myself tonight.”
“I love you, Tanner.” Rose hadn’t meant to say it—especially since she’d never said those words to any man. But somehow it seemed to fit the moment.
He touched her hand. “You know what? I love you, too, Rose.” He laughed. “I’m glad we got that settled.”
* * *
As was his habit, Bull stepped outside before bedtime to get a breath of fresh air and calm his mind. The sky was clear, the moon bright enough to cast long shadows across the yard. Two nighthawks, with white-tipped wings, zigzagged through the darkness, their gaping beaks catching insects in midair. A single light glowed in the upstairs window of the bunkhouse—that would be young Fred Bushman, who kept a stack of books by his bed and dreamed of traveling the world with his earnings as a cowhand.
Everything was peaceful, Bull assured himself. So how to explain the tension in his gut—the baseless sense that something was about to happen—something apt to turn out badly?
He was about to forget his premonition and go back inside when a pair of truck headlights, coming from the direction of Rose’s place, swung into the yard. At first he thought maybe Rose had decided to stay in the duplex after all. But the truck wasn’t Rose’s. As it pulled up to the house, he recognized Tanner McCade at the wheel.
And Tanner wasn’t alone. Rose opened the passenger door, jumped to the ground, and came racing up the porch steps. Now Bull could see two more men in the back of the truck. They appeared to be Mexicans, but even though they looked familiar, he couldn’t place them.
Rose had reached him. He read excitement and worry in her face. “What the devil’s going on, Rose?” Bull demanded.
Her manner was apologetic, almost embarrassed. “Raul and Joaquin—they showed up at my trailer. They need work and a place to stay.”
Raul and Joaquin. A memory flashed through Bull’s mind—Carlos’s old Buick vanishing down the dusty back road, headed for Mexico—leaving behind the bodies of the murderers the boys had captured and dragged almost to death.
Bull had finished off the killers with two pistol shots and walked away. It had been his twenty-first birthday, he recalled. And he had never expected to see Carlos’s sons again.
Now here they were, on his doorstep. And he couldn’t expect Rose to take them in. They were about to become his problem.
The two brothers had climbed out of the truck. Bull came down off the porch and shook their hands. Smooth hands. Whatever they’d been doing, it hadn’t been ranch work.
“I’d invite you in, but my sons are asleep and I don’t want to disturb them,” Bull said. “Have you eaten?”
“Yes, Rose made sandwiches.” Joaquin was the taller one, Bull remembered now. The last time he’d seen them, they were barely out of their teens. Now they were men, their faces hardened by time and experience.
“Now that the roundup’s done, there’s some vacant space in the bunkhouse. Downstairs hallway, last door on your right. You can bunk there tonight, and we’ll talk in the morning. Keep quiet. All right?”
“Yes. Gracias. We know the way.” They lifted their backpacks out of the truck bed and headed across the yard to the bunkhouse.
Rose hovered by the truck, as if she had more to say. Tanner had climbed out to stand beside her.
“Sit down.” Bull sank onto the top step, leaving room next to him. Rose took a seat. Tanner moved to stand beside her.
“So tell me what this is all about,” Bull said.
“They just showed up, out of nowhere,” Rose said. “I was happy to see them at first, because they were like brothers to me, and I hadn’t even been sure they were alive. But now that I’ve brought you into this, I’m worried.”
“You didn’t have much choice about bringing me into it,” Bull said. “With you or without you, they’d have come to me. But what is it you’re worried about?”
“They told me they’d been forced to work as drug runners for the Cabrera cartel. According to them, they ran away and hitched rides to get here.”
That explains their soft hands, Bull thought. But what he’d heard so far didn’t sound good. “Do you think they’re telling the truth?” he asked her.
“I don’t know why they’d make up a story like that. But what if there’s more to it? What if the cartel comes looking for them?”
“It could happen. But why would the cartel go to so much trouble for a couple of flunkies? They can always get more hired help.”
Rose’s gaze dropped to her lap. When she looked at him again, he saw fear in her dark eyes. Tanner laid a hand on her shoulder, as if giving her support.
“There’s something I haven’t told you, Bull,” she said. “Something I should have told you when I first came here.”
Little by little the story emerge
d—how the brother of Refugio Cabrera had raped her, how she’d waited until he came for her again, then killed him to avenge her foster parents and to save her own life. “I took the car and fled in the night, to the only place I could call home. I knew Refugio would never stop looking for me, but I hoped I would be safe here. I was wrong. And now I may have put all of you in danger.”
“You don’t know that for sure,” Bull said.
“If Joaquin and Raul could find me, so could the cartel. For all I know, the two of them may have even been sent to track me down and report back.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what to do. I only know that this is my own fight, and I don’t want to involve the people I care about.”
“You could go to my family’s ranch in Wyoming,” Tanner said. “You’d be safe there, and I know my brother and his wife would be happy to have you.”
She laid her hand on his. Seeing them together, Bull remembered what it was like to be so much in love with a woman that you’d do anything to protect her. He would have done the same for Susan.
“We don’t know that we’re in danger,” he said. “If we were, it wouldn’t be the first time. We know how to fight. We know how to defend our land and our loved ones.”
“But it mustn’t come to that,” Rose said. “I would leave before I let it get that far.”
“It’s too soon to know,” Bull argued. “Joaquin and Raul may be just what they say they are—two scared men running from the cartel. If that’s true, the safest place for them, and us, is right here, where we can keep an eye on them. Send them away, and they’re bound to get picked up by Immigration and deported back to Mexico. Now that they know you’re here, we can’t let that happen.”
Rose’s shoulders sagged. “I’m sorry for this mess, Bull.”
“It’s not your fault. If I’d brought you home like I promised, we wouldn’t have anything to worry about, would we?” Bull rose, stretching his limbs. “Go on home to bed, now. I’ll keep an eye on that pair, and we can sort all this out in the morning.”
Bull watched the truck drive away. In the bunkhouse, all the lights had gone out. The bunkhouse phone was out of order, so nobody would be ringing their buddies in Mexico. But he needed a solution to the problem of Raul and Joaquin by tomorrow morning, which meant he would likely spend a sleepless night thinking about it.
Satisfied that everything was under control, he went back into the house and locked the front door behind him. On the way down the hall to his bedroom, he looked in on his sleeping boys. The sight of them tugged at his heart, or what was left of it after the loss of his wife. He swallowed the lump that had risen in his throat. Nothing mattered more than his boys. To keep them safe, he would give his life a hundred times over.
Would he have to make that choice in the days ahead?
* * *
Night-flying insects swarmed in Tanner’s headlights as he drove back to Rose’s trailer. Beside him, Rose was quiet, as if lost in thought.
“Are you all right?” he asked her.
“Just worried.”
“I know.” He slid an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “If it’ll give you a diversion, I have some other news. I found out that it was Ferg who had your lambs killed. One of his hired thugs did it.”
“Ferg! I should’ve known.” She sighed and shook her head. “But why? The property’s out of his reach now.”
“He knows that. But he wanted to stir up trouble between you and Bull. It almost worked.”
“Yes, it almost did. I’m really glad it wasn’t Bull. He’s no saint, but I’ve never known him to act out of pure meanness.”
“When I went to see him, Ferg also admitted to having you spied on. He claims it’s his legal right to keep an eye on the neighbors from his own property. I met the little creep who’s been watching you. He’s just a kid—doesn’t look dangerous. You could probably knock him over with one hand. But you won’t want to give him any entertainment.”
Rose was silent for a moment. “No!” she exclaimed.
“No?”
“Why did you go to Ferg, Tanner? You should have left that to me. Those were my lambs he killed, and I’m the one he’s spying on.”
“I was trying to protect you, Rose,” Tanner said.
“I’ve had it with being protected!” Rose’s fist came down on the dashboard. “And I’ve had it with Ferg Prescott. If he thinks he can bully me and make my life miserable, he’s wrong! I’ve had enough! I’m going to drive out to the Prescott Ranch tomorrow and give him a piece of my mind!”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“I don’t care if it’s a good idea or not. I’m sick and tired of being treated like a child—by Ferg, by Bull, and even by you.”
“Do you want me to go with you?”
“No. I’m a big girl. I can handle this myself.”
“Your choice, lady.” He was secretly proud of her. His woman was all spunk. But Ferg was a sore loser and a dangerous foe. Tanner couldn’t help being worried about her.
But at least, for now, he’d managed to take her mind off the two Mexicans.
They pulled up outside the fence, next to Rose’s pickup. Switching off the engine, he turned to her. “Are we still friends? I want to make sure you’re not mad enough to run me off.”
She laughed. “Not a chance of that, mister.”
Tanner locked his truck and took a moment to check around the trailer, in the trees, and across the creek. If Ferg’s creepy little spy was around, at least he was nowhere in evidence.
Once he was satisfied, he followed Rose into the trailer and locked the door behind them. It had been an unsettling day for both of them. The last thing they needed now was to be disturbed again.
“Maybe you should get a guard dog,” Tanner said.
“And have somebody kill it, like the lambs? I couldn’t stand that. It would break my heart.”
“For a tough woman, you’re such a tenderhearted thing. Come here.” He caught her close and swept her back to the bed. After unbuttoning her cotton shirt, he buried his face between her breasts—small, perfect breasts, the nipples as dark as raisins. Hearing her say that she loved him had thawed a frozen place in his heart. Until Rose, he’d stopped believing that he was worthy of love, or that he could ever love again. But he’d been wrong. They were two broken people—but somehow the shattered pieces seemed to fit together, making them whole.
He left her before dawn, bending down to kiss her sleeping face. She opened her eyes with a whimper and caught his neck to deepen the kiss. Once his first rotating partner arrived at the new office, he would miss these nights with Rose. But he wouldn’t subject her to the gossip that would arise if he openly spent his nights with her. They could only make the most of the time they had.
After checking the yard for signs of intruders, and finding none, he climbed in his truck and drove away. Right now, the future was too uncertain to make plans. But he could no longer imagine a life without Rose. Somehow, he would find a way to make things work out for them. Meanwhile, he had a job to do.
* * *
Rose woke again at first light. For the space of a few breaths, she lay still, her body warm with the memory of Tanner’s lovemaking. Then the concerns of the day flooded in on her—first and foremost, Raul and Joaquin. Were they all right? Was Bull’s family all right? What if she’d made a terrible mistake, trusting them enough to leave them at the Rimrock?
She flung herself out of bed, pulled on her clothes, splashed her face, and tied back her hair. After feeding the chickens, she grabbed her keys off the hook by the door, locked the trailer, and headed for the Rimrock in her pickup.
In the east, a flaming sunrise greeted the day. The rains had ended, leaving the land summer dry. Soon the Rimrock cattle in the lower pastures would be coming to the water tank to drink, testing the strength of her fence. If she didn’t want her yard trampled, she would have to think about reinforcing the posts and wire.
A plume of dust trailed b
ehind her wheels as she drove into the ranch yard. The place looked surprisingly peaceful, with cows and calves grazing in the paddocks and a couple of ranch hands filling the water troughs.
Bull was sitting on the porch, drinking coffee. He stood as she drove up and parked below the steps. “I’ve been wondering when you’d show up,” he said as she climbed out of the truck. “Come on in and have some breakfast.”
She took the steps two at a time. “Where are Joaquin and Raul?” she demanded. “Is everything all right?”
“Everything’s fine. At least I hope it is. Raul and Joaquin are on their way up to the line shack in the mountain pasture. Jasper and Sam took them in the pickup this morning, with a load of supplies. Our Mexican boys will be up there tending cattle for the summer months. They’ll have horses, but no vehicle. If they stay put, they should be safe enough, and hopefully so should you.”
“What if they don’t stay put?” Rose was still worried.
“Let’s hope we won’t have to answer that question.” The dark look Bull gave her expressed more than words. There was another side to this man, a side she’d only glimpsed at times like this. When it came to protecting his land and his family, there were no limits to what Bull Tyler would do.
Something told her that the decision to send the two men to the line shack had not been made lightly.
“Come on in,” he said with a jovial smile that didn’t fool her. “Bernice is making flapjacks. I’ll have her throw on a couple extra. Will and Beau will be in once they’re ready for school. They’ll be glad to see you.”
“Did you tell them about the lambs?”
“I told them. They cried, but it’s time they learn that life on a ranch isn’t always pretty. Bad things happen.”
The table was set in the dining room. Rose took a seat and helped herself to some coffee. “Tanner found out who killed the lambs. It was somebody working for Ferg.”
“I could’ve told you that.” Bull forked a couple of flapjacks from the platter on the table and dropped them onto Rose’s plate.
“What I can’t understand is why.”
“I could’ve told you that, too. Ferg hates sheep even more than I do. But I’m guessing that what he really wanted was for you to blame me so he could move in and show some sympathy, maybe worm his way into your good graces and eventually get some concessions on the water rights. Think about it. It almost worked.”