by Jane Jamison
“Still, I’m willing to bet your manager isn’t going to like this.”
“You’re right about that. But the thing is, he doesn’t have to.”
She glanced at the small food market that didn’t even have a name other than simply Market. Having grown up in a small town in Idaho, she knew one of the best places to get information was at the local grocery store.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be back in a few.” She slid out the back, not giving him another chance to voice his concern. Waving for him to get the car out of the small parking lot, she watched him pull back onto the street then hurried inside.
She drew in a long breath then cast her gaze around. The store was small with only five rows of shelves aside from the shelves that stood on either wall and ran all the way to the ceiling. Cold items were kept in the back while one counter stretched out near her. The entire place was about the size of a decent convenience store.
Wow. It smells just like Old Man Gruger’s store back home.
She sauntered over to the shelf holding the snacks, grabbed her favorite kind of chip, and then angled back to the counter. An older lady a few feet away gave her a suspicious look as she placed the sack on the counter and offered the middle-aged woman behind the register a smile. The woman’s name tag listed to the left and boasted the name of Audrey.
“Will this do it for you, hon?”
Grisham called her hon. Was it a Bible Belt regional term? He was, after all, from someplace in Texas. Or was it a generational thing?
Sela nodded, fished her wallet out of her purse, and then handed the woman the exact amount. “Say, do you happen to know a company around here called,”—she widened her smile as though sharing a joke with Audrey—“Cowboys for Hire?”
Audrey fumbled with the change she’d handed her. Her gaze slid to the older woman then back. “Are you all right, hon?”
She started to answer with a flip “don’t I look all right?” then held her tongue. The way the old lady and Audrey were eyeing her told the whole story. Cowboys for Hire was real.
“Do you need help?” Audrey had dropped her voice to a whisper.
Trying to keep her excitement from showing, she ignored Audrey’s question and instead turned to face the older woman. “If I did, would I get it from them?”
The old woman shuffled over and took her hand. “I’m Millicent Harvers. Hon, what’s wrong?”
Sela put on her best performance. “It’s my boyfriend. I don’t know what to do about him. Plus, there’s this man who’s after me.” She darted her gaze to the door and slapped on a fearful look.
“Oh, my. It sounds like you do need their help. Audrey, do you know how to contact that Gabriel man?”
She’d rot in hell for lying to a sweet old lady, but she had to get the information. And after the suspicious look Millicent had given her initially, she couldn’t think of any other way to get the ladies to pipe up. Her expression morphed into a hopeful one as she bit her lower lip for added emphasis and faced Audrey. “Do you?”
“No, I’m sorry. I don’t.”
Damn. Close, but no prize.
“But I can tell you where their ranch is located.”
And the winner is…
“You can? Please, can you tell me?” Her voice cracked even as she pleaded.
Oscar, here I come.
“Of course I can. It’s a fair-sized ranch, but if you go to the front gate and tell them what’s up, I’m sure Gabriel will come out and talk to you. All you have to do is stick to the main road out front here then take a left at the grain silo that has Destiny written on the side. Once you take that left, you go maybe twenty miles—”
“More like forty,” added Millicent. “Audrey, you never were any good with distances.”
Audrey took a deep, steadying breath. “Anyway, as I was saying, you keep on that road and it’ll lead you to Second Chance Road. Now mind you, that’s nothing but a dirt road, so don’t let it fool you. Go on down Second Chance Road and you’ll run right into the front gate.”
“Do you have a ride, hon?”
Sela straightened to her full height, adopting an I-can-get-through-this attitude for the women’s sake. “Y–Yeah. I do.” She took the bag of chips and pivoted toward the door before turning back once. “Thank you so much. Y’all have been so helpful.”
They say y’all around her, don’t they?
Audrey and Millicent showered her with bright smiles. Millicent lifted her brown-spotted, wrinkled hand in farewell. “Don’t you mention it. You take care of yourself, you hear?”
Sela sailed out of the market then rounded the corner and dashed toward the Mercedes parked on the side of the road. It was out of place, a diamond in a field of rocks, and she wanted to get out of town before someone saw it or, worse, recognized her. Thankfully, her fans were young teen girls and, so far, she hadn’t seen any young people. No doubt they were either in school or figuring out how to get the hell out of the two-bit town.
She slid into the backseat, noted Chuck’s relieved expression, and gave him the same directions Millicent had given her. He pulled the Mercedes onto the main road as she popped the bag of chips open and dug in.
Now that she’d found out Cowboys for Hire was real, she wanted to know more about them. Judging from the way the women had acted at first, they weren’t sure whether to tell her about the men. Which meant that the Gabriel person and his crew kept a low profile. It was the perfect setup for her. She’d have an adventure and stay out of sight at the same time.
She chowed down on the chips and watched as field after field with cows and horses munching on grass passed her by.
Where, and more to the point, what kind of place would she find to stay for the night? The city, along with all the trappings of a fine hotel, was behind her. Had she made a mistake in leaving? Yet the thrill was too much to ignore. She might have to rough it a little, but it’d be worth it in the long run. In fact, she might end up with a story that the press would love even more than the uproar Johnnie would cause.
But how would she get Gabriel to help her? Could she convince him to let her stay on the ranch? She didn’t want to tell him who she was, and unless he had a teenage daughter, he probably wouldn’t know who she was or have seen her photo anywhere. Just to be safe, she’d give him a fake name until it was time to confess everything. He shouldn’t get too angry considering it would probably be the easiest job he’d ever had and maybe even the most profitable one.
She wasn’t in any real trouble, but he didn’t have to know that. Still, she needed a cover story. Like how she had a mean boyfriend who she needed to get away from. After all, her plan was to stay a few days, possibly a week. How much could he figure out in that short time?
The song she’d chosen for her manager’s ringtone brought her out of her daze. She frowned, but took the call anyway. “Grisham, don’t try to talk me out of this.”
“Sela, come on. Give me a break. Why the hell couldn’t we have talked about this before you up and ran off?”
“I thought we did. I’m sorry, but I’m doing what I want to do. Cancel the last two shows. Tell them I’m sick or whatever you want.” She finished the call and flipped the phone back onto the seat, intending to leave it behind. If she took it with her, he’d just keep calling. They’d find her phone once Chuck got back into Tulsa.
She crumpled up the empty bag just as Chuck drove past a small wooden sign leaning against a barbed wire fence. If she hadn’t had her eye out for it, she might’ve missed it. She jerked around, catching the name on the sign.
Second Chance Road.
“Stop the car, Chuck.”
Should she drive up to the front gate and meet the man called Gabriel? But then, what if he didn’t buy her story and turned her away? If he saw her arrive in a Mercedes he might do exactly that.
She grabbed her purse and her duffel bag. “Go on back to Tulsa, Chuck. Oh, and tell Grisham that I said to pay you double your normal rate.” She caught his worried express
ion in the rearview mirror. “Make that quadruple. But you have to promise you won’t tell anyone where you took me.”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry, miss. I can’t do that. They’d fire my ass if I did.”
“Shoot. We can’t let that happen. Okay, so here’s what you say. You tell them that you took me to the airport and let me off. You didn’t see anyone else and you don’t know where I was going.”
“I don’t know if I can lie.” He sent her a slight smile. “Not even for you.”
If it had been anyone other than Chuck, she would’ve thought they were shaking her down for more money. But in the short time she’d known him, she could tell that he was a stand-up kind of guy. Too bad they didn’t make many of them.
“Chuck, please. I need your help on this. Besides, the way I see it, you’re doing your job if you keep silent. You signed a document saying you’d keep anything and everything you heard confidential, right?”
“Yeah.” But she could see he wasn’t convinced.
“Then you’re just doing your job. And if your boss doesn’t understand, you tell him I said I won’t use his company to haul my whole crew around the next time I’m in town. Trust me. He’ll want you to keep your mouth closed.”
“I guess you could be right.”
“Oh, I am.” She put her hand on his shoulder. “Chuck, in case I don’t see you again, it’s been a real pleasure riding with you.”
Laugh lines formed around his eyes as his lips stretched wide. “Back at ’cha.”
She hopped out of the car and waited until he’d pulled around and headed back toward Destiny. Thankful that she’d worn her kick-ass boots and not heels, she strode down the dirt road toward Second Chance Ranch.
* * * *
“What the hell did you three think you were doing?”
Gabriel Cortez knew he wouldn’t get anywhere. He never did where the Richland boys were concerned. But he couldn’t simply ignore what they’d done. They’d cost him a pretty penny paying off the owner of the bar in Tulsa, along with the five men they’d taken on.
“We thought—” Bill “The Bull” Richland gave Gabriel a steady look—“we were helping a young lady out.”
Gabriel recognized that gleam in Bill’s eyes. It was there every time Bill charged like a bull gone mad straight into the middle of a fight. He was ready to take on Gabriel and the world, but Gabriel knew better than to take him up on his unspoken challenge. He let his attention slip to Bill’s brother, Carter. Carter was the more reasonable of the two and more likely to think before acting. That didn’t mean, however, that he wouldn’t jump into a fight once his brother got it going.
“Gabriel, take it easy. There was no harm done.”
He gritted his teeth and admonished himself to stay in his chair. No way could he take all three of them. Not even the two Richland brothers, much less with their cousin William thrown into the mix.
“No harm done? Are you fucking kidding me? I had to pay for all the damages you three did along with giving an on-the-spot cash settlement to the men you attacked.”
“Hey, we didn’t attack anyone,” added William. Unlike his cousins’ dark hair, he swept his longish blond hair away from his face. Bill and Carter liked their hair short and with that uncombed style a lot of young guys liked.
“That’s not what they claimed.”
“They claimed they weren’t hassling the girls at the bar, but that was a lie, too. What’d ya expect us to do, boss? Just stand by and let those creeps put their hands all over the girls?”
He couldn’t tell them they were wrong. Fact was, he’d have done the same thing, but letting them know that would give them a reason to do it again. He liked the men, had liked them from the first moment he’d met them, and understood them as well as anyone could.
Bill and Carter’s sister had been trapped in an abusive marriage, and thanks to his intervention, he’d managed to keep Bill from breaking his brother-in-law’s neck. After they’d gotten their sister away from her husband, he’d offered them a job as part of his Cowboys for Hire team. Once their cousin William lost his factory job in Detroit, he’d joined up and become an invaluable asset to their group.
“All I’m saying is that it didn’t have to turn into a fight. You should’ve handled it more diplomatically.”
Bill laughed, the boom of his voice carrying so that a group of cowboys standing in the yard between the large barn and the barracks turned and looked toward the direction of the house. “Right. Like you wouldn’t have done the same damn thing.”
“Yeah, man, did you want us to say pretty please?” William sometimes seemed closer to Bill than his own brother.
“All right. Just let it be a lesson. Next time I’ll let them haul your asses to jail. Now let’s get out to the west end. We need to check the herd out there. After that, you’re on your own.” He shoved his chair away, pointing at them as he rose. “But stay the hell out of bars.”
He waved them ahead, signaling the end to their meeting. Nothing was going to come from it anyway, and he’d learned early on that he had to use a cautious hand when dealing with the men who worked for him.
Nix that. Not for me. With me.
Still, he was their leader and had the responsibility of dealing with them. And paying for their mistakes.
After the murder of his wife, Gabriel had needed a mission in life, and helping women in need had fit that bill. What still surprised him was how many other men wanted to join him. They were a solid group of men—some ex-military, a few ex-policemen, and others coming from a variety of backgrounds. But they all had one thing in common. They hated the idea of a man hurting a woman.
The Richland brothers were one of the sets of men who had already built their home on Second Chance Ranch, taking Gabriel up on his offer of land. But the way he saw it, since the men never got paid for their services, it was the least he could do. Besides, where else could they enjoy the lifestyle that so many of the men preferred? The Richland men weren’t the only ones who hoped to find one woman to share.
Bill bumped his way in front of the other two men. William gave him a good-natured shove, while Carter, ever the most tolerant of the three, let his brother and cousin take the lead.
* * * *
Sela studied the men walking around the area between the large two-story home and the two barns. After sliding through the bars of the metal gate, she’d hoofed it down the road until she’d seen the house in the distance. Taking care to not get noticed, she crept up until she could hide behind one of the bushes surrounding the house. She wasn’t sure why they had two barns, unless one of them served as sleeping quarters for the men.
All of them wore jeans and boots while a few of them sported cowboy hats. T-shirts were the mainstay, although a few had either denim or cotton shirts on. She’d never gotten the cowboy bug like some of her girlfriends had, but watching them now, she had to admit, they were hot as hell.
Maybe I should’ve gone into country music instead.
They were bigger, broader, and more muscled and tanned than the men she hung around with. Even bigger than Johnnie. Her backup group looked like little boys compared to them. She ducked as four men exited the house and headed toward the barn. One of them was older and appeared to be in charge. He took the lead, with the other men keeping to his side or behind him.
Is that the mighty Gabriel?
He was large, too, and in his prime, probably as buff as the other three. But the other men were something special. Two had short dark hair while the other had hair that brushed just past the collar of his shirt. They were solid in their build, their strength showing through the denim of their jeans and outlined in the contours of their shirts. The blond used his hands as he talked while the others’ strides ate up the yard.
Damn, but they’re so damn sexy.
Yet the thought of approaching Gabriel with so many men around unnerved her. Instead, she backed up, staying low until she couldn’t be seen any longer. Taking off at a good trot
, she headed back to the main road.
Thirty minutes later and she was no longer praising herself for having worn her boots instead of heels. She was hot, sweaty, tired, and wishing she hadn’t sent her car away. Her plan wasn’t working out the way she’d hoped. But then again, she hadn’t had much of a plan to start with.
She plopped down on the side of the road and unzipped her duffel bag. Shoving aside three pairs of heels, she dug out her one and only pair of running shoes. If she hadn’t taken up jogging recently for exercise during the tour, she wouldn’t have had those on hand. She tugged off her boots and wiggled her toes, grateful that she hadn’t developed any blisters. After pulling on socks and then the shoes, she shoved herself onto her feet and kept trudging down the road.
She’d about given up and was cursing herself for dumping her phone when she saw the ranch-style home on the right side of the road. The house wasn’t large, not even as large as the barn that stood several yards away, but it was well kept and, of greater importance, seemingly empty.
Was this part of the Second Chance Ranch? Was it a rental home?
“Who gives a flip?” Whatever the case was, she had to get some rest and food. The chips she’d scarfed down earlier were gone as far as her stomach was concerned. Following the barbed-wire fence, she found the entrance to the driveway and started down it.
She groaned as she took the steps leading to the front door and lifted her hand to knock. But what if someone was home? What would she tell them?
With no other option and unwilling to walk any longer, she knocked on the door and plastered on her biggest “I’m such a nice person” smile. She listened for footsteps or any other sound and heard nothing. Knocking twice more, she waited and, again, heard nothing.
“Now what?”
The memory of her last music video came back, giving her an idea. The video had taken the story of Goldilocks and twisted it, making it wildly sexy, but the main idea was what brought her a thrill.
