A Real Cowboy
It was almost nine that night when she tucked a happy and exhausted Sammy into bed. She kissed him on the cheek, but before she could leave he grabbed her hand and indicated he wanted her to sit next to him.
She sat on the edge of the mattress, wondering if he wanted to talk about what had happened at lunch. “I want to stay here forever,” he said. “I don’t ever want to go back to New York. I like it here.”
She looked at him in surprise. “Honey, you know we can’t stay here forever. This is Cassie’s home, not ours, and she isn’t planning on staying long. We have our home in New York.”
He sat up. “We don’t have our own home in New York. We have Cassie’s apartment. Why couldn’t you and me get a home someplace around here where we could visit with Cowboy Lucas all the time and I could always be a cowboy?”
“Sammy, honey. My work is in New York. I have the shop to work in. I can’t just pick up and move here. This isn’t where we belong.”
Sammy flopped back down on his back. “I think we could belong here if we wanted to.”
She leaned over and kissed him on the forehead and then stood. “Just enjoy being here now, Sammy. Besides, Cassie hasn’t made up her mind yet about what the future holds. Who knows what might happen. Good night, my sweet cowboy.”
“Good night, my sweet mom,” he replied, and she left the room to the music of his soft laughter.
“Got the little bug tucked in?” Cassie asked from the sofa when Nicolette entered the great room.
Nicolette collapsed into the comfort of a big easy chair. “He wants to stay here forever.”
“It didn’t take long to get the city out of him. I wonder how long it will take to get the country out of him when we go back home,” Cassie said.
“I have a feeling he’ll have to outgrow those boots before he willingly stops wearing them,” Nicolette said.
“How did Lucas know what size to buy?” Cassie mused. “He got it right on the money.”
“No idea how he did that. I imagine he and the salesman just made a lucky guess.”
“I sure didn’t feel any welcome from anyone around town today,” Cassie said. “We’re definitely the outsiders.”
“Daisy was nice,” Nicolette said.
“Daisy is probably a smart business owner. She has to be nice to everyone who comes into the café.”
Nicolette gazed at her friend thoughtfully. “You should be glad that nobody was particularly friendly. You’re the one who said we shouldn’t get friendly with people since we aren’t sticking around.”
“I know. I’m just feeling perverse. It would have been nice if somebody acted like they wanted to meet the new owner of the ranch.” She curled her slender legs up beneath her. “Adam told me Cass was something of a legend around here. I have a feeling that even if I decided to stay on, I’d never be able to live up to her in the eyes of everyone here.”
“You don’t have to live up to anyone, Cassie, and you’re stronger than you think you are. But thank goodness you don’t have to make any decisions at the moment. There’s still plenty of work to do around here before you make a final decision about selling or staying.”
Cassie nodded. “Adam told me that tomorrow most of the men are going to work on cutting up the trees the tornado blew down. He said the wood would be stacked both here at the house and at the bunkhouse for the fireplaces in the winter.”
She yawned and then continued. “You know that missing woman I mentioned that was in the paper? I guess one of the ranch hands here, Nick Coleman, was seeing her before she disappeared.”
“What have the police said about it?” Nicolette asked.
“They think it’s possible she just left town. Apparently she’d only been in town a couple of months. Adam said there’s no way he believes that Nick had anything to do with her disappearance.”
“Sounds like you and Adam are getting quite cozy,” Nicolette said.
“Strictly business,” Cassie replied. “Tomorrow he’s going to take me on a tour of the entire ranch so I can make notes on what I think needs to be done, and to explain more about the everyday operations.” She yawned again. “And on that note, I think it’s time for me to head to bed. I’m exhausted.”
“It’s all this fresh air and sunshine.” Nicolette grinned. Cassie got up from the sofa, and with good-nights exchanged, she went upstairs.
Nicolette thought about going out on the porch and sitting for a little while, but when she realized that part of her reason for doing so was in hopes that Lucas might show up and share part of the night with her, she dismissed the idea.
They’d been here for only two days and one evening and already she was spending far too much of her time thinking about Lucas Taylor. She should be focusing on what her future would look like when they returned to New York.
Although she hadn’t mentioned it to Cassie, Nicolette was considering having Cassie buy out her half of the business, and that would give Nicolette enough money for her and Sammy to get their own place. Nicolette could finish her schooling and get a teaching job.
Of course, it all depended on what Cassie decided to do, and while she knew Cassie’s initial decision had been to sell the ranch, who knew how her friend would feel in two or three months from now? By then the cowboys wouldn’t be just names on paper, they’d be real people, and that might make it more difficult for Cassie to just walk away.
Realizing she was more tired than she’d thought, she decided to head upstairs. She turned off all the lights and climbed the staircase, trying not to worry about the future or think about Lucas.
As always as she passed Sammy’s bedroom, she paused to peek in at her sleeping son...and saw a person with a ski mask on at his window.
For the space of a heartbeat she froze, her brain not understanding how a man could be at the second-floor window. His glittering gaze caught hers, and it was at that moment she screamed.
Chapter 4
Lucas jumped off his bed at the sound of the big dinner bell ringing through the night, adrenaline instantly exploding inside him. He pulled on his jeans and grabbed his holster and quickly buckled it, the weight of his gun familiar on his hip as he opened his bunk door.
Other men were coming outside, as well. “What’s going on?” Dusty asked.
“Maybe one of them wants one of us to make a cappuccino run,” somebody else replied.
Lucas didn’t pay attention to anyone. He ran, his heart racing, vaguely aware of the sound of running feet behind him. He knew something was wrong...somebody was in trouble. Otherwise that bell would have never been rung.
All he could think about was that the house held two defenseless women and one young boy and something bad had happened or was happening.
The distance between the bunkhouse and the main house had never seemed so far. When he was halfway there the bell stopped ringing, the sudden silence creating even more anxiety in his chest.
He didn’t bother with the back door, but rather ran around the house to the front where the big bell hung. His gun was in his hand as he reached the front door.
Cassie opened it for him. “Thank God,” she exclaimed. He released a deep sigh of relief when he saw Sammy in his mother’s arms on the sofa.
Adam came in just behind him, along with most of the other dozen cowboys, all of them armed and ready to protect their own.
“There was a man,” Nicolette said, her voice trembling with fear and her eyes simmering a deep green. “He...he was at Sammy’s window.”
A couple of the cowboys left the house, and Lucas knew they’d be checking it out and scouting around the area for anyone who didn’t belong.
“The police are on their way, but I rang the bell after Nicolette screamed and grabbed Sammy out of bed. We knew you could get here quicker than law enforcement,” Cassie explained.
Nicolette’s eyes were huge, as were Sammy’s, and a swift sense of protectiveness rose up inside him. What in the hell had somebody been doing looking into a second-floor window? There was nothing he wanted more than to find the person who had put such fear in Nicolette’s and Sammy’s eyes.
Instead he holstered his gun and walked over to where they were cuddled together. “You both okay?”
Nick Coleman came back in from outside. “There’s a ladder against the house. We didn’t touch anything, but it’s definitely not one of ours.”
“Spread out all the men and see if you can find who was on that ladder,” Adam said. “He can’t have gotten too far. Lucas and I will stay in here to wait for Chief Bowie and his men to arrive.”
As if to punctuate his sentence, a siren became audible in the distance. Lucas remained next to the sofa, and despite the circumstances he couldn’t help but notice the evocative scent of Nicolette mingling with the minty soap scent of a freshly bathed little cowboy.
Who would have been at the window? Was somebody trying to harm Sammy, or had his window just been an accidental choice for a break-in? And if it was a break-in attempt, why not come through the front or back door instead of trying to gain entry on the second level, where the culprit had to have known they would all be sleeping.
Maybe the perp had seen lights on downstairs and had just assumed nobody would be in bed already. It still seemed a stretch to believe that somebody wanting to rob the place had decided to come and go from a ladder at a second-floor window. What did he intend to carry out?
These thoughts created a tighter, more powerful knot in Lucas’s chest as he wondered what the real motive of the person might have been.
He was glad to see Chief of Police Dillon Bowie walk through the door. Lucas and Dillon had become friends throughout the years, and there were few people Lucas trusted as much as he did the tall, broad-shouldered, dark-haired keeper of the law in Bitterroot.
Adam made the introductions and Dillon took Cassie’s hand in his. “I’ve been meaning to stop by to meet Cass’s niece before now. I’m sorry we have to meet under such circumstances. Now, tell me exactly what happened.”
Lucas listened intently as Nicolette talked about going up to bed and peeking in on her son, only to see a person with a ski mask at the window.
Two of Dillon’s men entered the room. Officer Juan Ramirez nodded to everyone and then looked at his boss. “There is a ladder against the house going up to the bedroom window. All the ranch hands say it isn’t one of their ladders.”
“Print the whole thing, although I imagine since whoever it was had on a ski mask, he probably had on gloves, as well,” Dillon replied.
He motioned Cassie into the nearest chair and then he pulled a pad and pen from his pocket. “It’s possible that whoever tried to get into the house knew that you all were city folks and it might be easy pickings for a robbery. Or it could be some local kids out for a little mischief who didn’t realize you all had arrived in town yet. I can’t imagine that you’ve been in town long enough to make any enemies.”
“Actually, we did have a little incident today at the café,” Nicolette said.
Lucas looked at her in surprise. “What kind of an incident?” he asked before Dillon got a chance.
She tightened her arms around Sammy. “Sammy accidentally spilled his milk and it splashed on a man’s jeans. He went off, calling Sammy a spoiled city brat and then...” She paused and then continued. “And then I threw my iced tea at him.”
“He was sitting at the counter with a bunch of other men and they all gave us the evil eye when we came in,” Cassie added.
Lucas’s stomach tightened at the thought of any man accosting Nicolette and Sammy. And he was oddly pleased that she had enough mama bear in her that she’d added to the milk insult by tossing her tea at whoever it was.
“Did you get a name?” Dillon asked.
“Lloyd. Daisy called him Lloyd,” Nicolette replied, the tremor back in her voice.
“That has to be Lloyd Green. He’s the only Lloyd around,” Lucas said and then looked at Nicolette. “Why didn’t you tell me about all this when we met in town after lunch?”
She pointedly glanced down at the boy who, despite all the excitement, had the droopy eyelids of exhaustion. “I didn’t think it was the time or the place.”
Dillon frowned. “Lloyd is definitely a hothead, but I can’t imagine him taking any grudge to this kind of a level. Still, I’ll check him out, see what he has been up to tonight.” He gazed at Nicolette and then back at Cassie. “Anyone else giving you any problems?”
“No, like you said before, we’ve scarcely been in town long enough to meet anyone.” She looked at Adam. “And I don’t think we’ve made anyone angry here at the ranch.”
“It wasn’t one of our men,” Adam replied firmly. “Nobody here would want to bring harm to Cassie or Nicolette or Sammy. We’re all trying to rebuild things since Cass’s death, not destroy them.”
“I just want to know that my son is safe,” Nicolette said softly. In the past few minutes Sammy had drifted off to sleep, and she gently stroked his dark hair from his forehead.
Lucas found himself wondering what her touch would feel like across his forehead, what it would be like if she were his woman, if Sammy was his child. He focused back on Dillon, knowing his thoughts were about to take him into dangerous territory and there had already been enough of that on this night.
“I’ll have my men check the window upstairs,” Dillon said. “And if it’s any consolation, I wouldn’t assume that whoever was at the window intended harm for your boy. It’s more likely it was just a matter of chance that that particular window was used.”
“I hope you’re right about that,” Nicolette replied.
“I’m going upstairs to check out the window, and I know your men and mine are combing the area, but I think the excitement is probably over for the rest of the night.”
As Dillon went upstairs, Nicolette shifted the sleeping boy in her arms and Lucas sat on the sofa next to her. Adam stood at the side of the chair where Cassie sat clad in a blue lightweight robe, her eyes still filled with fear.
“You don’t have to worry,” Adam said to her. “I’ll have a man patrol the perimeters of the house for the rest of the night.”
“And you also won’t have to worry because I intend to move in,” Lucas added. “I can bunk in with Sammy during the nights until Dillon gets this figured out, and that way nobody will be able to get past me to hurt anyone.”
Nicolette stared at him in obvious surprise, but he also saw a hint of relief in the green depths of her eyes. “You don’t need to do that,” she said, but it was only half a protest.
“Maybe I don’t need to, but I want to,” he replied. He looked to Cassie, who he knew would have the final say in the matter.
“You could at least stay in the extra bedroom in a queen bed rather than bunking in with Sammy on a twin,” Cassie replied.
He looked at the kid, his handsome little face a picture of innocence in slumber. He’d been sleeping when his mother had screamed. He’d heard about a man at his window. He’d probably be afraid to sleep alone in that room ever again.
“I’d rather sleep in the small room with Sammy. He might need a roommate for a few nights after all the trauma,” he replied.
He would have slept on a cow patty on a wintry night to receive the soft, grateful gaze that Nicolette gave him. What was wrong with him? He had never felt this protective surge for anyone except Cass, who had saved his life, his very soul by having him come to this ranch.
He would have died for Cass, and it shocked him that in the brief time he’d known Sammy and Nicolette he was starting to feel the same way about them. It didn’t make sense, was completely irrational considering how little he knew about Nicolette, but it was there, nevertheless.
“While Adam and Dillon and his men are here, I’ll just go get some things from my bunk,” he said, suddenly feeling as if he needed some distance from the very scent of her, from the emotions she evoked in him.
As he stepped out the front door and headed around the house where the ladder still stood leading up to Sammy’s bedroom, a new fiercely burning knot formed in the pit of his stomach.
He dismissed his crazy thoughts about Nicolette and instead his mind filled with all kinds of questions. Had the incident in the café with Lloyd Green prompted some sort of crazy attempt at retribution?
Everyone knew Lloyd was a mean soul, but a little milk on his jeans didn’t warrant this kind of reaction. Still, with Lloyd and his group of buddies there was no telling for sure. He might have just thought it would be fun to terrorize Sammy and Nicolette.
Lloyd worked for Raymond Humes on the ranch next to Cass’s. Throughout the years there had been plenty of bad blood both between Raymond and Cass and the cowboys who worked for each of them.
Lucas’s feelings toward Nicolette and Sammy were definitely confusing, but the ladder against the house felt ominous, and as he reached the bunkhouse, he smelled more than a hint of danger in the air.
* * *
Dillon and his men finally left. By the time they did Nicolette had laid Sammy on the sofa and she was pacing the floor, trying to wrap her mind around that unexpected and frightening face in the window.
Cassie and Adam were in the kitchen seated at the table and talking about rotating men outside the house each night for the next couple of nights or until Dillon came up with a guilty party and a reason for the ladder.
Nicolette heard only the murmur of their voices as she was mentally focused on the vision of that ski mask and those eyes that had appeared to hold such glittering malevolence.
Who could it have been and what had he wanted? Was it just an accident that he’d been about to enter the room where her vulnerable son was soundly sleeping? Dillon had told her the window was still closed, but that didn’t mean if Nicolette had been three minutes longer climbing up the stairs the man wouldn’t have been through the window and into the bedroom.
And then what? She couldn’t imagine, for everything she thought of was too terrifying to contemplate.
She stopped pacing as Lucas came in the front door, carrying an oversize duffle bag and a sense of security she welcomed. The only thing better than the sight of him would have been if he’d cradled her in his arms to steal away the cold wind that had blown through her since the instant she had seen the man at the window.
As if reading her mind, he dropped his duffle bag to the floor and stepped forward, his arms open to welcome her. She didn’t hesitate. She ran into his embrace, a sob escaping her the instant he enfolded her tight.
His body was hard against hers, yet seemed to meld around her. He stroked her hair with one hand while his other slowly rose up and down her back in an obvious effort to comfort her.
“I was so scared,” she whispered.
“There’s no reason to be scared anymore,” he replied.
She buried her face in his chest, breathing in the scent of night and the faint fragrance of a spicy cologne. She told herself it wouldn’t matter whose arms she was in, as long as they were big and strong, but she knew that wasn’t true. She needed his arms, Lucas’s arms around her.
She’d known him for only three short days, but it didn’t matter. Already he’d become safety and security for her and her son.
She didn’t know how long they stood together, locked in an embrace, before she realized the cold that had been inside her was gone and she wasn’t just warmed, but a new fire had begun to burn in the pit of her stomach. It was a fire that had nothing to do with comfort or a feeling of security, and when she recognized it for what it was, she finally stepped away from him.
“Sorry about that,” she said, her gaze not meeting his. “Just chalk it up to a moment of weakness.”
He stepped toward her and took her chin in his fingers, forcing her gaze to meet his. “It’s going to be all right,” he said. “Dillon is a good man. He’ll figure it out, and in the meantime I’m here to make sure nobody gets inside this house.” He dropped his hand back to his side, and at that moment Adam and Cassie came into the room.
“Sawyer is going to keep an eye on the house through the rest of the night,” Adam said.
“That really isn’t necessary since I’m going to be in the house,” Lucas replied.
“We’ll have him on duty tonight and then tomorrow figure things out.” Adam raked a hand through his hair, his gaze lingering on Cassie. “I don’t want you to worry. We aren’t going to let anyone harm you. I’ll talk to you in the morning.” He looked at his watch. “It’s already after midnight. Why don’t we plan to meet here around ten.”
“That’s fine with me,” Cassie replied. “And now that the excitement is over, I’m going to bed.” She looked at Nicolette. “Are you coming up?”
Nicolette shook her head. “I’m too wired to sleep. I’ll be up a little bit later.”
Adam left, Cassie disappeared up the stairs and Lucas looked at Nicolette. “Do you want me to carry Sammy upstairs?”
“Only if you’re going up now.”
“I’m a little wired myself,” he replied. “Why don’t we go into the living room, where we won’t bother Sammy,” he suggested.
She nodded and followed him from the great room into the smaller, more formal living room. She sat on one side of the sofa and he sat on the other.
“You should have told me what happened in the café when we were in town this afternoon,” he said.
“I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it in front of Sammy. He was so upset when it happened and the only thing that made his world okay again was a cookie and ice cream from Daisy and the cowboy boots from you.”
“Still, I could have settled it with Lloyd right then and there.” His jaw clenched tightly, making him even more handsome and slightly dangerous looking.
She smiled. “Then I probably would have had to figure out how to get the money to pay bail for you.”
His jaw softened and he returned her smile. “You got that right. Lloyd and his fellow cowboys are nothing but a bunch of bullies and thieves. Cass couldn’t abide Raymond Humes or any of the men who worked on his ranch. The bad blood goes both ways, which is unfortunate since his ranch is next to this one.”
“Why the bad blood?” she asked curiously.
Lucas shrugged. “I don’t know where it all began. Things were already bad when I first came here, and that was fifteen years ago.”
“Fifteen years—you must have been a baby.”
“I was just shy of seventeen years old and I hadn’t been anybody’s baby for a very long time.” He paused and took off his holster and set it with his gun on the coffee table before them. “What’s your story? How did you come to be here with Cassie?”
She leaned back against the sofa. “In order to tell you that I have to start at the beginning when I got married, and it’s a long story.”
“We’ve got all night,” he replied easily.
“I can sleep in tomorrow, but you have chores to do.”
“Tomorrow is my day off, so there’s no problem,” he replied.
Nicolette had a feeling his questions were less about wanting to really know about her past and more about wanting to take her mind off the horrible events of the night.
“I met Samuel when I was working as a salesperson in an upscale dress shop during the day and going to night school in the evenings. It was obvious to me that he probably didn’t have to look at price tags and it was equally obvious that he was flirting with me. But, he told me he was looking for a dress for a woman about my size and wanted shoes to match.”
She paused a moment, remembering the first time she’d seen her future husband. He’d had sandy brown hair, earnest brown eyes. He possessed boyish good looks and was exceedingly charming.
“Anyway, he bought a ridiculously expensive dress and shoes and after I rang up the purchases he told me to wear the clothes and meet him that night at a fancy French restaurant. Before I could protest, he left the store.”
“And so you went to the restaurant to meet him?”