by Dana Mentink
He squared up with his brother. “A murder happened. That’s not going away no matter how much dear Daddy wants it to.”
Something flickered across Owen’s face.
“You have to believe that, Owen. Someone has tried to kill Tracy repeatedly.”
“Or you.”
Keegan straightened. “Explain.”
“The car accident, the motorcycle on the property—John’s right, those could have been Sonny B looking for you.”
Keegan gaped. “So you’re taking John’s side here?”
“Not anybody’s side, just pointing out possibilities.”
He shoved a hand through his hair. “Are you forgetting that someone tried to kill her at the café? And somebody let loose the bulls at just the right time?”
“She has enemies, no doubt. I’m just saying that you don’t know her well enough to grasp the whole story. You only just met. John’s doubts could have some merit, and you shouldn’t discard them just because of the bad blood between you. It’s possible someone is after her for a different reason, something you know nothing about.”
Keegan rocked back on his heels, stunned. “Now you’re saying she’s a liar?”
“No.”
Keegan stared him down. “I thought you had my back, Owen.”
“I do, I always will, but this isn’t about you against your birth family.”
“I know that. It’s about Tracy.”
Owen folded his arms across his broad chest. “If you believe that, if you care about her, then you’d be willing to step back and look objectively as John suggests. That’s the best thing for Tracy, too, isn’t it?”
Anger hummed so loud it nearly deafened him. “Owen, I don’t have to explain myself to you. I’ll do things my way.”
Owen sighed. “Always have.”
He almost choked on the words. “You sound just like my half brother,” he grated out through gritted teeth.
Jack edged closer. “Owen’s watching your back, Keeg. That’s all.”
“That’s not what it feels like. What about you, Jack? Do you think Tracy is crazy and I’m just in this for revenge?”
Jack was silent a moment. “I’m not sure what the truth is, but I know your past is playing into your present.”
Keegan fought to push the words out past the betrayal. “I guess I know where you stand now, too.”
“Keegan, it’s not—” Jack started to explain, but Keegan slammed out of the kitchen, breath coming in angry spurts. He stood for a moment in the late-afternoon sun, but he felt nothing but the cold all the way down to his boots.
So Owen also thought Keegan was blindly trying to defy John and find some dirt on the center? And Jack? The brother he’d thought was closer than blood? His ally no matter what?
The arrow lodged deep in his heart, in a place he’d believed had callused over long ago. He remembered so clearly the feeling of being alone the day his mother died, alone in the bedroom at the ranch house, also on a winter afternoon. And then again when he’d heard that Bree had been killed. Mother, sister, father, half brother, separated by oceans he could not cross. Fists clenched, he wanted to shout, to rage aloud at all the darkness that brimmed inside him.
Instead he sucked in a breath, looked up at the frigid sky and let his will harden into cement.
Fine. If no one would support him and believe Tracy, he’d take care of things all on his own.
His mother called from the front porch. “Keegan?”
He could hear the puzzlement in her voice, the worry, but he could not turn back. Gunning the engine, he drove away, the soft Christmas lights glimmering in his rearview mirror as he left the ranch behind.
* * *
Tracy roused herself to make a pot of vegetable soup as the sun slipped toward the horizon. She could not manage to get the oven working, so she prepared corn bread in a cast-iron pan on the stovetop instead. Probably nothing close in quality to Evie’s cooking, but it was edible.
Keegan bustled about outside, hammering and sawing. When the soup and biscuits were done, she let herself outside.
Keegan looked up from his sawhorse, a couple of nails in his mouth.
“What are you working on?”
“Patching the stable roof,” he mumbled. “Gotta get it in shape for the horses.”
Her heart swelled. “Keegan, thank you so much, but I can’t let you do all this for me. We can...”
He took the nails from his mouth. “And I worked on one other side project.”
She turned to follow his finger. Alongside the porch was a four-foot pine tree, affixed with a crude wooden stand. Under it was a box of ornaments and a neatly coiled string of lights.
“A...Christmas tree?”
“Yes, ma’am. No offense, Pockets, but your place is completely lacking in Christmas cheer. Time to get that ironed out.”
Her eyes brimmed. “I didn’t have the heart to get one. Dad died just after Christmas last year.”
She hadn’t realized he had come close, embracing her from behind, pressing his cheek to hers.
“I never met your daddy, but I know he would want you to have Christmas, whether he was around or not.”
“Yes, he would.”
He kissed her temple and grabbed hold of the tree. “Better get this inside before dark. Can you open the door?”
They crossed the threshold and, quite suddenly, the dank cabin became cozy, comforting and filled with a joy that had been lacking only moments before. The scent of pine mingled with the smell of simmering soup. Grandpa muttered under his breath, but he held the box of ornaments for Tracy to attach after Keegan got the lights twined around the branches.
“Battery powered,” Keegan said, “in case you want to turn them on when the generator’s not running.”
When it was done, they stood back to admire the twinkling wonder. Tracy excused herself and retrieved a box from the storage room, unwrapping the glass ornament hand painted with a starlit manger.
She tried to explain but her throat was clogged with tears.
“Her daddy painted it,” her grandfather told him.
Keegan didn’t respond and Grandpa didn’t complain when he embraced Tracy and caught her tears on his shoulder.
There was such grief and happiness, pain and joy all wrapped together in that one moment.
“Everything’s gonna be okay,” Keegan breathed into her hair, and for the first time in a very long time, she allowed herself to believe it.
TWENTY
In the icy Wednesday predawn, Keegan drove off on his mission. He knew Tracy, stubborn soul that she was, was intent on going to the horse auction to bid on Flight of Fancy for her client. He was awestruck at how much courage it required for her to return after what she’d seen and how she’d been treated.
Magnificent. He didn’t care what his brothers thought. Tracy was nothing short of magnificent, and he intended to stick by her side like glue until she was clear of the horse-center mess for good and vindicated by the truth. No one was going to impugn her reputation and get away with it, especially not anyone with whom he happened to share DNA.
If you have anything to do with this, Dad, you’d better watch out. How supremely satisfying it would be to knock his birth father off his pedestal, to make him pay for what he’d done to Keegan’s mother, and to show John that he’d been right all along.
But first, he’d decided, he was going to make Tracy smile so wide it would chase all the bad memories away, at least for a while.
He returned to her property just before six, unloaded his surprise and headed into the kitchen to make coffee. Tracy trundled in, in jeans and a sweatshirt, hair mussed from sleep. Gorgeous, he thought. Not polished and fancy like most of the women he’d dated, but pure and light and honest. He’d never felt so eager to please another living soul. His pulse whammed in his
throat as he took her outside. She stiffened beneath his guiding hands and doubt crept in.
Had he overstepped? Gone about the grand gesture without enough consideration to her feelings? It would not be the first time Keegan Thorn had gone overboard to impress a lady, making a colossal fool of himself in the process. Why did he care so much now? Was he sending the wrong message? And what message was that exactly? His palms went clammy and his stomach constricted as he took her into the pasture.
“I, uh, got you a Christmas present.”
“You didn’t have to...” Then she caught sight of Buttons and another miniature brown horse, standing shoulder to shoulder, breath puffed against the morning sky. She blinked. “Buttons?”
“And that’s Ducky. They’re friends, and Lorna figured they’d be happier together.”
“You bought them for me?”
“Sure did. They’re gonna be a hit with the kiddos at the camp.”
She went dead quiet, mouth pressed in a thin line, arms hugged around herself.
“Uh, stable’s all set up so they’ll be warm at night, safe from coyotes and all.”
He began to get a bad feeling that he’d stepped into a problem of his own making, as the impact of what he’d done hit him. Two animals that required constant care, brought to a property that needed massive work, to a woman whose life was all edges and pieces. Flowers, Keegan berated himself. You could have just gotten her a nice bunch of carnations. That would have cheered her up, wouldn’t it?
Typical. Overblown. Under thought. He began to think of ways he could undo the knot he’d just tied, when she startled him by throwing her arms around him and nearly knocking him over backward. His hat fell to the ground and she pressed her face to his neck.
“I’ve never had such an amazing present in my whole life.”
He clung to her, holding her tight, then twirled her around, and the feeling of her there in his arms, happy, made him wish he could gift her with presents for a very long time to come.
But his brother’s words pricked his memory.
Your past is playing into your present.
Was this strange new feeling Tracy awakened in him love? Or merely protectiveness? Was he full of the need to save her and mete out punishment to his father, or was it something else, something that he had never before known with another woman?
It was too soon. Too much. His brain worked to stanch the wild firings of his heart.
Slowly he settled her back to the ground and accepted her beaming smile as his prize. The joy shining behind those hazel eyes about dazzled him from any rational thought.
Get her out of the mess, Keegan. Only then will you be able to see things clearly.
Tracy hustled into the corral and petted her new companions while he watched. The two tiny horses were timid at first, but Tracy put them at ease until they both began to follow her around the corral. He produced a couple of sugar cubes from his pockets, which he gave to her to share with them.
Friends for life. He checked the time, loath to end it. “You’re gonna freeze if you don’t get on inside. It’s getting late.”
Her smile faltered. “I almost forgot. What time is it?”
“Seven thirty.”
Now the fear returned again, dimming her bliss, and he kicked himself for being the cause. “You don’t have...” he began, but she was already closing the gate carefully and talking in soothing tones to the horses.
“Be home soon, babies. You have fun until I get back.”
In the cabin, she headed for her room to change clothes.
Grandpa Stew sat at the table drinking coffee. He poked a crutch in Keegan’s direction. “Mighty fancy presents you’re getting my granddaughter. That some sort of love token or something?”
Keegan’s face went hot. “It’s something to cheer her up after everything she’s been through.”
“Presents like that mean a guy’s interested. You interested? Or you just leading her along the garden path?”
He gave Grandpa Stew a close-lipped smile. “Sir, I assure you, I have no plans to lead your granddaughter anywhere she doesn’t want to go.”
“That ain’t an answer.”
“I...I want to help her. That’s all.”
Grandpa Stew stared at him, lips pursed. “All right, then,” he said finally. The grizzled eyebrows drew together. “Help is what she needs.” He glowered. “The only thing she needs, really, and you’d better be on your toes at the auction today.”
“Yes, sir,” Keegan said, donning his cowboy hat. “You aren’t coming along?”
“Don’t tell Tracy, but my ankle is throbbing something fierce. Figure since there’s a cop stationed there now and she ain’t gonna do nothing crazy like riding about the place, she’ll be all right.”
Keegan grinned. “She forbade you to come, didn’t she?”
He huffed. “Yeah. Heard me groaning last night and said if I insisted on coming, she’d hide my crutches. Tough girl.”
He laughed. “That’s the best kind.”
Tracy arrived in the kitchen with a clipboard under one arm. She was wearing a green sweater that teased the emerald from her hazel eyes, jeans and a denim jacket that tied it all together. Her look was professional, but he read the tension in the taut muscles of her neck.
“Okay, Grandpa. Here’s the satellite phone Keegan loaned us. It’s charged. Do you remember how to use it?”
“Course I do,” he said, smacking it on the table. “I’m not a dope.”
She kissed him on the brow. “I know, but even smart, tough ranchers need to remember to dial then push the green button.”
He grumbled but his lips curved in a smile.
“Take care of Ducky and Buttons, okay?”
“What kind of names are those?”
She arched a brow. “This from a man whose horse was named Mittens.”
“He came with that name, and you can’t go changing a horse’s name. It confuses them.”
“Owen texted me that there are two cops stationed at the horse show,” Keegan said as they made their way to his truck.
His attempt to soothe her did not seem to work. Only when she stopped to caress Buttons’s muzzle as they passed the corral did the joyful flush return to her cheeks.
Presents like that mean a guy’s interested.
And he was, interested in helping Tracy and maybe something more, if he could only see justice served up to Bryce Larraby on a silver platter first.
Your past is playing into your present.
Only for a short while longer. He could feel it. A face-off was coming, and it was about time for him to emerge as the winner.
Pulse kicked into a higher gear, he opened the passenger door and helped Tracy into the truck.
* * *
Tracy filed into the arena after receiving her auction materials. She felt like every eye was on her, every mouth whispering about “that delusional girl” or perhaps “the liar.” Keegan kept a firm hand on her lower back as he steered her to a spot near the railing. Shelby sat in the row behind, hand resting on her belly. Barrett sat protectively next to her.
Keegan raised an eyebrow and hugged his sister-in-law. “Surprised to see you here.”
Shelby rolled her eyes. “I told Barrett if I didn’t get out of the house, I was going to throw a hissy fit the likes of which he’d never seen.” She grinned. “It worked.”
“Yeah, it did,” Barrett said, his expression a mixture of amusement and exasperation. “’Cause I can’t seem to say no to you.”
“We’ll have to work on that if this baby is a girl,” she said with a laugh.
Across the arena, Jack and Owen scurried back and forth, tending to the Gold Bar horses that would be offered at the auction. They were all beautiful, well-trained animals, and they’d get top dollar, Keegan was sure.
T
racy gave him a puzzled look. “Don’t you want to check in with them?”
“Nah. They know what they’re doing. They don’t need my help.” Did he sound like a petulant child? he wondered. He felt like one. His brothers loved him, no question, but it still rankled that they didn’t trust his judgment or motives. The chip on his shoulder wasn’t so massive that it blotted out every other good instinct, he wanted to tell them.
Tracy didn’t press further and the auction began. Noise from the spectators, bidders and the clang of the gate opening and closing filled the arena. He sat back to watch Tracy do her work. With an air of calm efficiency, she secured Flight of Fancy for her client.
“She’s something.” Shelby leaned over to whisper in Keegan’s ear as Tracy joined them.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I—” She broke off suddenly and Keegan heard her sharp intake of breath as he turned in his chair. “Barrett...”
“Yeah, honey?”
“I need to leave. Now.”
“Now?” Barrett’s mouth dropped open. “Is it...?”
“It is.” Shelby gasped as a contraction hit her.
Barrett was already moving, supporting his wife’s arm as Keegan took his place at the other. Tracy instantly moved ahead of them, clearing the way as they struggled along out of the building into the parking lot.
Clutching Barrett, Shelby doubled over, breath coming in spurts.
“Should I call an ambulance?” Tracy said.
“No.” Shelby puffed. “We’re ten minutes from the hospital. This could go on for hours. Drive me, please.”
Sweat rolled down Barrett’s face. Wild-eyed, he looked at Keegan. “Is it supposed to hurt this much so soon?”
Neither Tracy nor Keegan had an answer for that.
“Keegan, you need to drive them,” Tracy said. “I’ll call Evie and Tom.”
“I don’t want to leave you here alone.”
“You can come back for me. I’ll stay inside with everyone else. Go,” she said as Shelby groaned and clutched her middle.
