Cowboy 12 Pack
Page 168
Harper took off his hat and wiped his brow. “It feels pretty cool in here. Do you have a generator?”
“Yes, we do.” She’d been about to tell him the limitations of her generator, but changed her mind. She was more interested in why his blue lights were flashing.
“That’s good, real good.” Despite his words, he seemed disappointed, even uncomfortable. “Wow, you look very nice today. Is it a special occasion?”
“No.” She didn’t like the way he eyed her. “Was there something you came by for, or were you just checking in on us?”
His face grew stern and her heart beat double-time.
“Actually, I’m here about your lack of electricity. Thought you should know some joy riding twentysomethings were four-wheeling in their pickup truck and they slammed into one of the telephone poles that brings electricity down your road. The damn thing must have been pretty old, because it cracked and came down.”
Wade stepped up. “Is everyone all right? I didn’t see any red ambulance lights when I was over at the garage.”
Harper turned. “No, you wouldn’t. The responsible persons have already been transported and the vehicle towed.”
Kendra studied the sheriff. “Wow, that was fast. We just lost electricity a half hour ago.”
“Yeah. The pole didn’t fall completely until the truck was pulled away from it. That’s when you probably lost power. We didn’t realize it would fall. Scared the livin’ shit out of us, if you’ll excuse the language.”
“I bet.” Wade, usually so easy to read, was hiding his thoughts, and it bugged her.
Harper moved forward. “If you don’t mind, I could use one of those sodas.”
She gestured toward the front desk where the cans sat in a bowl of ice. “Help yourself. I imagine overseeing an accident like that is thirsty work.”
He nodded, and she looked at Wade once Harper passed her. Wade shook his head. What was he thinking?
She turned to face the sheriff, who was guzzling down a ginger ale. “Thank you for letting us know. I guess we’ll just have to wait until the electric company fixes the pole.”
Harper set his empty can on the counter and picked up an iced tea. “May I?”
“Of course.”
He moved closer to her. “You may want to delay your opening. A single business is never a first priority for the electric company and this is a major project, installing a new pole. If they get out here in the next four weeks, I’d be impressed.”
“Four weeks?” She couldn’t wait four weeks. She had people coming in two days and she’d be damned if she would delay opening.
Harper put his hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry. It seems such a shame good people have to suffer because of reckless ones. Maybe this is a sign for you to relax. Maybe take a couple weeks off and then come back with new perspective.”
Perspective? What the hell was wrong with her perspective? Kendra resisted the urge to smack the man’s hand off her shoulder and instead moved away abruptly. “We appreciate your kindness, Sheriff. Now, as you can imagine, I have a lot of arrangements to make. Lacey, please take the sheriff back to his car.”
“I will leave you to your planning.” Harper tipped his hat. “Have a good evening.”
As soon as the man left, Adriana leapt up. “That man doesn’t want you to open.”
Selma stood up a bit slower, but was just as quick to voice her opinion. “I agree. That sheriff is a prick. He doesn’t want you running this place. He wants his women in bed and the kitchen only.”
Kendra raised her brows at that. “Lucky for me, he has no say in the matter. Adriana, did you put the champagne in the four casitas already?”
“Yeah. Oh, hell. I’ll go take those bottles out and bring them back here before we lose daylight.”
Selma shuffled past them. “I need to put my damn cake in the oven and start on dinner. At least my kitchen works.”
When the women left, she turned to Wade. “You don’t believe him.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Why?”
“Just a hunch. I’m going to give it fifteen minutes then I’m taking Buca for a ride. I’ll be back by sunset.”
She frowned, easily falling into revealing her feelings with him. “Why not take a golf cart and your truck?”
“Let’s just say, I want to have an excuse and riding a new horse around to see how she handles is the perfect one.”
“Do you think Harper is dangerous?”
Wade looked toward the windows facing the canyon. “I don’t know, but I plan to find out.”
She grasped his hand. “I don’t want you to put yourself in danger. This is my resort. I should do it.”
He pulled her closer and gazed into her eyes. His lips curved up just a fraction. “First, you don’t even know how to ride. Second, in case you hadn’t noticed, this isn’t just your resort.”
She opened her mouth to argue, but he placed his finger across her lips. “Un-uh, your resort is going to open because everyone you saw here tonight loves it and wants it to succeed as much as you do.”
At the truth in his words, warmth radiated out from her heart, through her body and all the way down to her toes. “Even you?”
He cupped the side of her neck and brushed his thumb along her jaw. “Especially me.” Lowering his face, he kissed her. The kiss held so much promise she wanted to cry from the possibilities, and her heart opened wide.
As he pulled back, he stared at her like he wanted to say more, but then his expression turned serious. “As much as I would prefer to kiss you for the next fifteen minutes, I think we need to talk about who is behind this sabotage to your property.”
“Yes.” She pushed away the contentment of being in his arms to focus on the most pressing matter. “You think someone is causing these problems too?”
“Yes. First Game and Fish hearing about the nest and now this.”
She flopped down in a lobby chair. “That’s not the half of it. The beer cooler cord was cut, I’ve had a hand-sink drain clogged when no one but Selma uses it, as well as cracked windows and pulled-out watering lines. But everyone who was here just now is absolutely loyal to me.”
He raised his brows and stared at her. “I didn’t know you had more issues.” He moved to the front desk and grabbed an iced tea. Popping the top, he swallowed a couple mouthfuls, just enough for her to be distracted by his Adam’s apple moving within his corded neck.
He wiped his mouth on his sleeve and continued. “So if everyone on your staff who was here just now is loyal, that leaves Billy, Powell, and the sheriff.”
Chapter Eight
‡
BILLY, POWELL AND Harper. Of the three, Kendra wanted it to be Harper. “I can’t believe it could be Billy. He—” How much had Wade discerned about her landscaper?
Wade studied her. “You know Billy is a drunk.”
She couldn’t meet his gaze. What must he, the perfect man, think about her having an employee like Billy? “Yes, I know.” She straightened her stance, not willing to be judged on her hiring practices. “But Billy never fails me and he’s improving. I know his weakness and so does he.”
“Is that why he’s so loyal to you? You are the only one who will give an old drunk a job?”
She shifted her weight to her right hip. “You make it sound like I’m manipulating him. I’m not. I just offered him the job. He didn’t have to take it.”
Wade raised an eyebrow. “Where did you meet Billy?”
She relaxed, unaware until that moment that Wade’s opinion meant so much to her. Something to ponder. “I met him in Key West while at a tournament. He was homeless only because he spent his social security on booze, but he was such a sweet man, I remembered him and looked for him every time I was down there.” She smiled sadly at the memory. “He started sobering up when the tournament came to town just so we could go out and get a bite to eat. He even treated me once, which I know meant he wouldn’t have as much to drink that month.”
“What?” She stared at him, startled.
Wade shook his head. “Don’t be so surprised. You’ve done a lot for him. Besides, he’s the one who dragged me away from my work when Game and Fish arrived. He’s loyal to the core.”
She turned away, not wanting him to see how teary-eyed she’d become thinking of Billy. He was such a kind soul. He just needed someone to look out for him.
“That narrows it down to Powell and Harper.” Wade’s voice had lowered and she turned to look at him.
“I can’t believe it’s Powell. He would have gone to jail if I hadn’t offered him a job.”
Wade grinned. “So you only hire people who are in need of work? I can’t wait to find out about Adriana, Selma and Lacey.” He held up his hand as she was about to speak. “But we have more pressing matters. First, satisfy my curiosity about Powell. What was his crime?”
She shrugged. “He was a hacker. He’d hacked into my personal checking account, which is how I met him. I was supposed to testify against him, but after talking with him I offered him a choice, come work for me and I’d drop the charges, or go to jail.”
Wade broke into laughter and she couldn’t help grinning. When she viewed her staff from his perspective, it truly was the motley crew she privately dubbed them. “So that leaves Harper.”
Wade sobered instantly. “It does. He definitely knew about the bird’s nest and was somehow involved in this electricity issue. But he hasn’t been the one clogging drains, ripping up watering lines and causing all the problems around here. Someone would have seen him. He’d have to drive his car out here and have some pretty strong motivation to do so. Has he ever said you shouldn’t open a nudist resort? I doubt that sits well with people in this area.”
“No. I think, as Selma pointed out, he has more of an issue with me being the boss than anything else.”
Wade stared out the resort’s floor-to-ceiling windows. “What about the torn-up watering lines for the plants? Did you see any footsteps around those areas?”
“No. It was pretty scratched up like an animal.” She sighed. Some of these occurrences could very well be due to natural causes, like a casita settling and cracking a window and some may be a particular person adding to the problems, like informing Game and Fish about a nest. “I’m betting on Harper.”
Wade turned and smirked. “Don’t go all-in on that bet yet.”
She laughed and gave him a wink. “I promise not to if you promise not to fold before the final hand.”
WADE FROZE AT Kendra’s full-throated laugh. This side of her was new and intoxicating. His body tensed with wanting and he wished he could explore it more, but with the sun soon to set, he needed to investigate the “crash” site. “One way to get the full story on this power outage is to ride up to the road. I’ll head out now so I can be back in time for Selma’s quesadillas.”
Kendra shook her head. “You even know what’s for dinner tonight? Hmmm, if I didn’t know better, I’d say she was sweet on you.”
He loved this teasing side of her. If only it would last. He shrugged. “Maybe I’m just a bit sweet on her.”
Kendra’s smile was warm and relaxed. “I’ll be sure to let her know. Now go see what you can find out. I have a resort with no electricity to get ready for guests.”
“Yes, Ms. Lowe.”
She gave him a scowl, but couldn’t hold it long, especially when he pulled her close and gave her a stirring goodbye kiss. At least he hoped it stirred her blood because it certainly did his. Letting her go, he turned and strode out the door with a strange urge to whistle.
By the time he returned to his office, he was very sure whoever was causing the problems for Kendra also had something to do with the managers leaving. He sent off a quick email to Dale to let him know his latest suspicions before heading out to the barn.
After saddling Buca, he mounted and guided her down the dirt road. Once he topped the other side of the canyon, he could see the broken telephone pole. From where he sat, it looked like a turkey vulture stooped over to eat its meal of carrion. An eerie sight, but what concerned him more was the massive brown wall of dust in the distance. If he turned back, all tracks would be gone before he could return. He’d have to make this quick. Riding closer, the image of the pole grew larger and the outline of splintered wood came into view.
Wade pulled up Buca and jumped down, tying the mare’s reins to a mesquite tree. He carefully walked around the site, which still had power lines on the ground. He wasn’t taking any chances. Some of them could be live.
From the tire tracks in the road, there had been only one vehicle. He crouched and examined the ground. There was only one type of footprint as well. He would have lost that bet. How did one man crash a vehicle into a pole, break it and drive away?
He attempted to move closer to examine the pole, but the wires were too much of a hazard and his time was limited. He jogged back to Buca and gave her a pat. “I don’t know, girl. Something isn’t right here.”
Mounting, he looked back toward the pole and a shiver raced up his spine. The wall of dust was now less than a mile away. This haboob had traveled fast and was headed directly for the resort. “Shit.”
Kicking Buca into a gallop, he made for the garage. What had he been thinking? He’d grown up with these monster sandstorms. He had to get Buca under cover. Racing down the dirt road, he felt the telltale grit buffet his back.
Just a few yards more.
As soon as they reached the three-walled shelter, he rode Buca inside and brought her up behind his truck. Quickly, he tied her to the bumper and opened the tail gate. He retrieved an old blanket from the metal box mounted in the bed. Dust and stones banged against the garage’s three metal sides. Hopefully, it was built according to code or he and Buca would be buried. Confidence in Kendra’s quality control took that worry away.
Draping the blanket over his horse, he lay down in the bed of the truck. The noise increased as the powerful winds picked up dirt, rocks, plants, everything from the desert floor, and whipped them into a frenzy. Loud pings hit the truck. Staying low in the bed, he kept an eye on Buca.
“It’s okay, girl. Just keep your head down. It’ll be over in no time.”
The horse moved from side to side as sticks and sand hit her. Luckily, the speed of those items was nothing inside the garage when compared to outside. Still, they could cut. The dust beneath the shelter became thicker and Wade covered his mouth with his shirt. Still he soothed the horse.
“It’s almost over. I’ll be sure to bring you an apple for putting up with my stupidity.”
A loud thump drew his attention and Buca neighed, very unhappy with her situation.
“I’m sorry, girl. This is my fault. I should have turned back.” He checked the reins to be sure they were secure to the truck, but still a horse could snap them if truly afraid. Buca, however, was a well-trained horse and from the valley. She had to have experienced haboobs before.
Another loud thump against the wall of the garage had the horse pulling on her reins again and Wade lifted his head to see if the storm lessened at all. He had his head above the truck bed for no more than a few seconds, just enough to see if it was lighter outside, when a rock caught him above his right eye. He ducked down again. “Shit. Now I’m a certified idiot.” Taking his shirt from around his mouth, he wiped at the blood dripping down his face.
Instead of being smart and returning to the resort, he’d been too bent on helping Kendra and finding proof that the sheriff had caused the electrical outage, which it was clear he did, although how he did it was still a mystery. The real question was why? Why was Harper so bent on Kendra not opening? Was it because she was the boss or because it was a nudist resort?
Wade couldn’t blame Harper for not wanting the resort to open. Wade wasn’t excited about it either, or rather about working around naked people, but he’d at least tell her outright. He flushed. No, he wouldn’t. He
hadn’t. Shit. He’d told her everyone wanted her dream to succeed, but in actuality, he wanted her dream to succeed but the naked part of the resort to fail. What did that make him?
A hypocrite. But at least he wasn’t sabotaging her. Still, it didn’t set well with him that he hadn’t told her how he felt. Why did it have to be a nudist resort? She could simply make it a resort. The more important question was, why was he concerned about telling her how he felt?
The answer came as quickly as the question. He liked her. A lot. There was strength in her and yet he’d found the soft spots underneath. Truth be told, he was attracted to all her parts. He grinned, the memory of being between her legs in the barn caused his dick to grow hard. Yup, he liked everything about her. Maybe even more than “like.”
No, he wasn’t going down that path until he fulfilled his obligation to Dale and helped Kendra stop the sabotage. He never wanted her to know the real reason he’d come to Poker Flat. His gut assured him it would not set well with her even if it was to her benefit.
Buca whinnied, interrupting his musings. Wade listened to the slowing noises against the metal walls. It should be safe enough to look above the bed of the truck again. A red hue glowed outside, although there was still some swirling sand particles in the air. Deeming it safe enough to check on his horse, he climbed out of the truck and removed the blanket from Buca.
He ran his hands down her coat. “I think you weathered that storm better than I did.” She nuzzled her face against his shoulder. “You are definitely a keeper.” He smiled. Maybe Kendra was too. Brushing the mare’s coat as best he could with his hands, he finally mounted her and headed outside. The sky was darkening, the red hue having given way to purples and pinks. It must be about a half hour after sunset. Guess he missed dinner.
He shrugged as he guided the horse down the canyon path, thankful she hadn’t been hurt. Missing dinner was a small price for him to pay for finding the truth. He’d feed Buca her dinner right away, get her combed and bedded for the night, then see what he could find in the kitchen for himself.