Cowboy Deputy

But those statistics didn’t begin to really describe the woman who stood before him. Yes, her short curly hair was auburn, but it shone with a luster that made his fingers itch with the need to touch. Green was too ordinary a word to describe her eyes, which sparkled with tiny shards of glittering gold.

The orange sweater she wore complemented the burnished highlights in her hair and intensified the color of her eyes. Something about her stirred him in a way he hadn’t been stirred in a very long time.

“I’ll walk you out,” she said, casting a meaningful look at him.

“Walt, as always, thanks for the meal and the chess game,” Benjamin said.

“Thanks for the company,” Walt replied, obviously unaware that his previous words had upset his granddaughter. “Edie, you can pull your car into the garage. I sold my car a year ago. I got tired of paying for insurance.”

Edie nodded. “Thanks, Poppy, I’ll do that.”

As Benjamin walked out with Edie, he caught a whiff of her perfume, something subtle and spicy that reminded him of tangy fall air and cinnamon.

“I’m the one who called you,” he said when they were far enough away from the front door that Walt wouldn’t hear. “I’ve been worried about him.”

In the illumination from a nearby streetlight, he could see the confusion on her pretty face. “I didn’t catch the name of the person who’d called me and once I got here I thought maybe it was just a cranky neighbor upset because the yard needs some work. He seemed so normal.”

“He appears to be normal in every way except for the little issue that he thinks space aliens are trying to take over Black Rock. It wouldn’t be a big problem but he’s often out in the middle of the night alien hunting and I’m afraid he’ll get hit by a car or fall down someplace where nobody will be able to help him.”

“How long has this been going on?” she asked. She still looked overwhelmed by this news and as he remembered the things she’d told him when he’d pulled her over for speeding, he had a crazy desire to take her into his arms and assure her that everything was going to be all right.

Instead he rocked back on his heels and frowned thoughtfully. “About six months. My brothers and I have tried to assure him that there are no space aliens in town, but he’s adamant in his belief and gets downright cranky when you try to tell him different. Look, I’d recommend you take him into his doctor and get a full checkup done. Maybe this is some sort of a medical issue.”

“I guess that’s as good a place to start as anywhere,” she replied. “Well, thanks for all your help with him. I guess I’ll see you around over the next couple of days, but hopefully not in my rearview mirror with your lights spinning.”

He grinned at her. “As long as you’re not a fast woman, we won’t have any problems in that area. But I can’t promise I won’t follow you just because I think you’re pretty.” Someplace deep inside he recognized he was flirting a little bit.

She must have realized it, too. But her eyes cooled and she took a step back from him. “I am a fast woman, probably way too fast for a small-town deputy.”

He wasn’t sure who was more surprised by her response, him or her. Her lush lips compressed as she frowned once again. “Thanks again for you help. See you around.”

She turned and headed back to the house in short quick steps that swayed her shapely hips. Benjamin watched until she disappeared behind the front door and then released a sigh as he got into his truck.

He had no idea what had possessed him to attempt a little flirt with her. It was obvious by her response he wasn’t very good at it. Still, her cool response had surprised him.

Since his brothers Tom and Caleb had hooked up with their soul mates, Benjamin had become the toast of the town when it came to the single women. But all the women who were interested in him left him cold.

He’d been cold since his sister, Brittany, had disappeared over two months ago. Tom, his oldest brother and the sheriff of Black Rock, still held out hope that she would be found alive and well, but even though Benjamin never said anything out loud, as each day had passed with no word from her, he’d lost hope of ever seeing his little sister again.

As he backed out of Walt’s driveway, he tried to ignore the stab of grief that always pierced his heart when he thought of his missing sister.

And now they had another one missing. Tom was reluctant to tie the two disappearances together, but Benjamin had a bad feeling about the whole thing. He was afraid Black Rock was in for dark days, and the darkness had nothing to do with Walt’s imaginary space aliens.

As he headed for the ranch his thoughts returned to Edie Burnett. For a minute as he’d seen her tears after he’d pulled her over, he’d thought she was faking them to get out of a ticket.

Old Mabel Tredway did it on a regular basis. The eighty-two-year-old woman shouldn’t be behind the wheel of a car and whenever Benjamin pulled her over for crossing the center line or going a little too fast, she wept like a baby. But the one time he’d given her a ticket, the fake tears had stopped on a dime and she’d cussed him, his dead mama and all the cattle on his ranch.

However, Edie’s tears had been real and as she’d burped up the details of her life with each sob, he had decided not to write the ticket.

She had enough to deal with in deciding what to do with Walt. Benjamin and his lawmen brothers had come to the end of their rope with the old man. Nobody wanted to see anything bad happen to him, but they all felt it was just a matter of time before he got hurt.

As he pulled into the gates that led to the family homestead, he felt the familiar sense of peace the place always brought to him. The house itself was an architectural anomaly. What had started as a simple two-bedroom ranch had become a sprawling complex as rooms were added with each birth of a child.

There was also a small cottage just behind the house where Margaret Kintell, a sixty-eight-year-old widow, lived. Margaret had worked as a housekeeper for the Grayson family for as long as Benjamin could remember. Her husband, John, had worked as a ranch hand until he’d passed away several years ago, and even though Benjamin had encouraged Margaret to retire she insisted that her job was still taking care of the Grayson children.

Unfortunately Benjamin was the only Grayson child still living in the family home and he wasn’t exactly a child at thirty years old. His brothers Tom and Caleb lived in town. Brittany had been living in town at the time of her disappearance and Jacob was holed up in a small cabin nestled in a grove of trees on the ranch property.

The porch light was on so he knew Margaret was probably still in the house rather than in her little cottage. As he walked through the front door, the scent of apples and cinnamon filled his nose and Tiny came running toward him, barking a happy greeting.

“Hi, Tiny.” He bent down on his haunches to pet the mixed-breed mutt who had stolen his heart six months ago. “Margaret?” he called as he stood. As he walked through the living room toward the kitchen, Tiny followed close at his feet.

She greeted him in the doorway and gestured him into a chair at the table. “Go on, now, sit down. I made fresh apple cobbler and I know that nutcase Walt probably didn’t feed you good and proper.”

Benjamin smiled and eased down at the table. “Actually, he had a very nice roast and potatoes for dinner.” Margaret had been mad at Walt since last year’s fall festival when his apple pie had beaten out hers for a blue ribbon.

She harrumphed as she scooped up a healthy serving of the cobbler into a bowl. “Probably got the recipe from one of those space aliens of his. I don’t know why you have taken that man under your wing. You’re too soft, Benjamin. That’s always been your problem. All Walt Tolliver needs is a stern talking-to.” She placed the bowl in front of him and then went to the refrigerator and pulled out the jug of milk.

“Maybe his granddaughter can talk some sense into him. She arrived in town today.”

“Really?” Margaret placed a glass of milk in front of him and then sat across from him. “That would be Julie’s girl.”

“Edie,” Benjamin replied. “Her name is Edie Burnett.”

“That’s right. Julie married that no-account Kevin Burnett. He was a drinker, that one, and a womanizer. The marriage lasted just long enough for Julie to get pregnant. It was a shame, her dying like that in a car accident. So, what’s Edie like?”

Hot. With tantalizing eyes and a body that could make a man weak in the knees. He spooned some of the apple cobbler in his mouth in an effort to think of a more reasonable response.

“She didn’t seem to know what’s been going on with Walt and when she realized he thought Black Rock was being invaded by space aliens, she seemed a little overwhelmed by it all,” he finally replied.

“She in town to stay?”

“No. I imagine she’ll just be here long enough to figure out what needs to be done with Walt and then she’ll go back home.”

“What’s she like? Julie was a pretty woman and sweet as that cobbler.”

“She’s nice-looking,” Benjamin conceded, “but I think she might have a little bite to her.” He thought about how her gaze had frosted over when he’d attempted a little light flirtation.

If he were a man who liked a challenge, he might have pursued a little more flirting just to see if he could melt that frost. But Benjamin was a man who’d never felt enough passion to work too hard for anything. Except this ranch.

“She’s got her work cut out for her in straightening out that old man,” Margaret said as she rose from the table. “I’m going to head to my place. It’s time for this old broad to call it a night.”

Benjamin smiled. “Good night, Margaret.” The old woman had the heart of an angel and the saltiness of a sailor, but she helped to keep the ranch and Benjamin’s life running smoothly.

Once she was gone the silence of the house pressed in on him. Growing up with all his siblings in the house, he’d longed for silence.

But lately the silence in his life had felt oppressive, ushering in a loneliness he’d never felt before. His brother Jacob had closed himself off in the cabin in some form of self-imposed isolation. Brittany was missing and Tom and Caleb now had beautiful bright women to fill the silences in their lives.

He got up from the table and carried his bowl and glass to the sink. As he rinsed the dishes and placed them in the dishwasher, he thought of all the things he needed to get done in the next couple days while he was off-duty.

Of course, the law enforcement team in Black Rock was so small that all of the men were often called in on their time off. He left the kitchen and doused the light, then headed toward the master bedroom.

As always, when the silence pressed in the heaviest, his thoughts turned to Brittany. A little over two months without a word, without a clue as to what happened to her. They’d found her car hidden in an abandoned barn a month ago and it was at that moment that any hope he might have entertained in seeing his sister alive again had died.

With intentions of rising before dawn to start the catch-up on chores around the ranch, he shucked his jeans and shirt and got ready for bed. Tiny sat next to the bed and looked up at him expectantly.

“You know you have your own bed to sleep in,” he said to the dog, who cocked his head as if he didn’t understand. Benjamin pointed to the dog bed in the corner. “Go on, get to bed.”

Tiny remained in place for a long moment and then finally slunk slowly to his bed. He got in and then looked at Benjamin with mournful brown eyes.

“I don’t know why you look so sad,” Benjamin said. “We both know you’ll be curled up in my bed at my feet before morning.”

Minutes later, as he eased down onto his king-size bed, his thoughts returned to Edie Burnett. She’d been quiet during the meal but he had a feeling quiet wasn’t really in her character.

He burrowed down and closed his eyes. It was just his luck that the first woman in a long time who had stirred something inside him was only in town for a couple days.

From what she’d told him, she’d have a mess on her hands when she got back home. She had to find a new job and another place to live. He didn’t want to think about what she was going to do if Walt’s problem wasn’t a quick fix.

He drifted off to sleep with visions of lush lips and green eyes playing in his dreams and was awakened some time later by the ringing of his phone on the nightstand.

He was awake instantly, his heart drumming a rapid beat. He glanced at the clock as he fumbled in the dark for the receiver. Just after midnight. Nothing ever good came from middle-of-the-night phone calls.

“Yeah,” he answered as he sat up.

“It’s me,” his brother Tom said. “I’m at the hospital. Somebody beat the hell out of Walt Tolliver and he won’t talk to anyone but you.”

“I’m on my way.” Benjamin hung up as he climbed out of bed. As he pulled on his clothes he wondered what the hell had happened to Walt and where the hell Edie had been.

Edie rolled over and looked at the clock next to her bed. Just before midnight and she still hadn’t managed to fall asleep. When she’d come back into the house after Benjamin had left, she’d grabbed her keys and then moved her car into the garage. When she’d returned she’d wanted to ask Poppy more questions about the space aliens he thought were trying to take over Black Rock, but she was afraid to indulge the delusion. She was hoping to talk to his doctor and ask how she should handle the situation.

Even if she’d wanted to talk to him about it, the opportunity didn’t arise. Immediately after, Poppy had gone to sleep in the bedroom just off the living room.

She’d climbed the stairs to her room, but knew that sleep would be elusive. She’d taken a long hot shower and tried not to think about Benjamin Grayson. But thoughts of the man kept intruding.

She’d been rude to him with her little remark about being too fast for a small-time deputy, but even though she’d just met him, she’d felt an inexplicable need to distance him from her. His smile had been far too warm, his eyes had been too brown and for just a moment, she’d been afraid that he might make her forget that she’d sworn off men for the rest of her life.

She’d been an accident waiting to happen when she’d met Greg. Reeling with grief over her mother’s unexpected death, she’d met him in a bar two weeks after the funeral. It had been love at third drink.

They’d dated for two months before he’d moved in with her and she realized now she’d been far too naive, hadn’t asked enough questions and instead had believed everything he’d told her about himself.

They’d talked of marriage and children and he’d filled the loneliness that the absence of her mother had left behind. He’d told her that he was an entrepreneur between projects and that his money was tied up in his latest endeavor. God, she’d been such a fool.

One thing was clear, she didn’t need anyone in her life. When she got back home she’d focus on finding a new job, a new place to live and cleaning up her messes. She would be just fine all alone for the rest of her life.

She must have fallen asleep because she knew she was dreaming. Pain ripped her body, but it was a pain tempered with a sense of joy. A bright lamp nearly blinded her as the pain intensified. A murmur of voices took on an urgency that was suddenly terrifying and at the same time a bald-headed man wearing a doctor’s mask glared at her with accusation and a phone began to ring.

She awoke with a gasp, the taste of overwhelming grief and crushing guilt thick in her mouth. Disoriented for a moment, she looked around the moonlit room. Then she remembered where she was and that the phone she’d heard in her dream was actually the phone ringing in the house.

As it rang again … and again, she realized Poppy either didn’t hear it or didn’t intend to answer it. She looked at the clock. Twelve forty-five. Whoever was calling was persistent, for the ringing didn’t stop.

She jumped out of bed and left her room. Flipping on the hall light, she ran down the stairs and grabbed the receiver of the phone in the living room.

“Hello,” she said half-breathlessly.

“It’s me, Benjamin.” His deep voice sounded irritated. “I’m here at the hospital with Walt.”

“What?” Confusion sifted through her as she looked at the closed door of Poppy’s bedroom. “But he went to bed earlier.”

“Apparently he went out. Somebody beat him up and he managed to flag down a car that brought him to the hospital. He’s going to be all right, but I think you should be here.”

“I’m on my way. Where is the hospital?”

“Go straight down Main to Chestnut and turn left. It’s about halfway down the second block. You can’t miss it.”

She murmured a goodbye and then raced back up the stairs to get dressed. Her heart beat an uneven tattoo as she thought of somebody beating up Poppy.

Why, oh, why, had he left the house in the middle of the night? This delusion of his about space aliens obviously had a dark undertone.

Within minutes she was dressed and in her car creeping down the darkened Main Street, seeking Chestnut. Benjamin had sounded angry, as if it were somehow her fault that Poppy had been out wandering the streets. What did he expect her to do? Strap the man into bed at night?

She found the hospital, a two-story brick building with a large parking area near the emergency room entrance. She easily found a parking space, and as she hurried into the door she prayed that Benjamin was right and Poppy was going to be okay.

Once again she kicked herself for staying away for so long. She didn’t need Poppy, but it was obvious he needed her. The first person she saw when she walked into the waiting room was Benjamin.

His dark, thick hair was tousled as if he’d just climbed out of bed, making him look even sexier than she remembered. He jumped up from the plastic chair he’d been in as he saw her.

“Where is he?” she asked.

“Where were you?” he countered, his shoulders rigid with tension. “Didn’t you know he had gone out?”

“He went to bed just after you left. I went upstairs to go to sleep, as well. What was I supposed to do, tie a little silver bell around his neck so I’d know if he was on the move?” she asked belligerently.

The tension slid off his shoulders and he smiled. “You’d need a ball and chain because I’m afraid he’d be able to get a little silver bell off.” He rocked back on his heels and slid a hand through his unruly hair. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to come at you like that.”

“And I’m sorry I didn’t have a ball and chain on Poppy,” she replied, reluctantly charmed by his apologetic smile. “How is he? Can I see him?”

Benjamin nodded. “He’s been waiting for you. He refused to talk to me until you got here. Come on, I’ll take you to him.” He placed his fingers just beneath her elbow, and she felt the warmth of the touch burning her through the sweater she’d pulled on. She tore her arm away from him.

What was it about this man that made her feel defensive and prickly? Maybe she was overly sensitive to him because he was the least of her problems. She had a life in Topeka that was in complete and total chaos and a crazy grandfather in Black Rock that she somehow had to fix before she could go home.

She heard Poppy before they reached the exam room. “I’m fine. I just need to go home and rest a bit.” His voice held the raspy edge of frustration.

As she and Benjamin stepped into the exam room Edie’s breath whooshed out of her at the sight of Poppy, who sat upright on the examining table. One of his eyes was blackened and swollen shut and his jaw held a massive bruise that appeared to grow darker as she stared at him.

“Oh, Poppy,” she exclaimed, her heart squeezing tight in her chest. “What happened?”

He shifted positions and winced. “One of the bastards caught me.”

“Where were you, Walt?” Benjamin asked.

The doctor, an older man with a receding hairline and a kind smile, held up a hand to halt any questioning. “Before we get into that, I’m Dr. Drake. I’ve been Walt’s doctor for the past twenty years.” He held out a hand to Edie, who introduced herself.

“Other than what’s obvious, what are his injuries?” she asked.

“A couple of cracked ribs and a lot of bruising along his left side. I’d like to keep him here under observation for a night or two.”

Edie breathed a sigh of relief at the doctor’s words, but Walt took exception. “I don’t need to stay overnight. I want my own bed in my own house.”

“Walt, as your doctor I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist,” Dr. Drake said firmly. “You took quite a beating and I wouldn’t be doing my job if I just let you out of here without running a few more tests.”

The mutiny on Poppy’s face eased into something resembling resignation. “I’m not going to wear one of those damn gowns and this place better have cable television. And I want a pretty nurse.”

Dr. Drake smiled. “I think we can handle all that. Now I’ll just get out of here and let Benjamin conduct his investigation.”

“Dr. Drake, before I leave, I’d like to have a word with you in private,” Edie said.

He nodded. “I’ll be in my office at the end of the hall, and if I’m not there just grab a nurse and have her hunt me down.” He left the room and Edie turned back to Poppy as Benjamin stepped closer to the bed.

“Where were you, Walt?” he asked again.

“Out by the cemetery. I thought that might be a hot spot for those creatures and damned if I wasn’t right. I was only there about an hour when one of them showed up. Either I made a sound or those suckers have some kind of extrasensory stuff ‘cause even though I was hiding behind a bush, he came tearing after me.” He looked from Benjamin to Edie. “I think it’s best if you leave town, Edie. Those creatures are violent and this town isn’t a safe place anymore.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Poppy,” she replied. “At least not until I know you’re safe and well.”

“This space alien, what did he look like?” Benjamin asked.

“Like an alien,” Walt exclaimed, seeming to get more agitated with each question.

“Poppy, you need to be more specific,” Edie replied. “Was he little and green?”

Poppy shot her a look as if she’d lost her mind. “He wasn’t some damn cartoon Martian. I couldn’t tell much what he looked like. He was wearing all black. His face didn’t have a nose or mouth, just big eyes.”

“Where exactly in the cemetery were you?” Benjamin had pulled out a small notepad to jot down the pertinent information.

“I was hiding behind that big burning bush at the entrance and the alien was just inside the gate.”

“What was he doing?” Benjamin asked.

“Just walking,” Walt replied.

On and on the questions went. To Benjamin’s credit he didn’t lose patience even when Walt got cranky and insisted they needed to call in more law enforcement for the small town.

When the nurse came in to move him from emergency into one of the regular rooms, Edie and Benjamin were shooed out. Edie gave Poppy a gentle kiss on the top of the head and after promising to visit him the next morning, she and Benjamin left the room.

“You didn’t get much to go on,” she said to Benjamin as they walked down the hall toward the doctor’s office. Nervous energy jangled inside her. She’d managed to hold it together in front of Poppy, but she felt perilously close to losing it now.

“I’m sure it wasn’t a space invader on a nefarious mission, but somebody hurt Walt and I intend to find the person responsible,” he said with an intensity that somehow calmed her.

“Why would somebody want to hurt him like that? He’s an old man. He’s not a threat to anyone.” She was horrified to feel the ominous burn of tears in her eyes. God, she’d only been with Benjamin three times and she refused to be in tears yet again.

“Are you all right?” he asked. There was a softness in his eyes, a gentle but steady light that made her want to fall into it. He raised a hand, as if to touch her hair or cheek, but dropped it as she stiffened her back and took a step away from him. Someplace buried in her mind she recognized that this man was definitely dangerous to her.