Cowboy's Reckoning

by B. J Daniels

  As he rode out into the beautiful fall day, he knew he couldn’t wait any longer. He was going to have to tell her. But he worried that it could go badly. The thought of not getting to see her most mornings... So much for being fearless.

  * * *

  STATIC ON THE phone connection. Billie Dee was about to repeat herself when he finally spoke.

  “I thought maybe we could start with hello, how are you,” the man on the other end of the line said. He’d gone on the defense, making her stomach knot. She’d been here before, so she knew the drill.

  “You didn’t answer my question. You contacted me. I’m betting it wasn’t to make small talk. Tell me about Barnes. What’s going on?”

  US marshal Alex Jordan sighed. “Barnes pulled some legal magic. He won his appeal.”

  Her heart pounded so loud in her ears that she could barely hear herself think. “He’s out?”

  “One of the arresting officers screwed up. He got off on a technicality.”

  “When did he get out?”

  “I don’t think you have anything to worry about, but—”

  “When did he get out?” Her voice had risen dangerously high. She was trying to hold it together, but he was making it hard.

  “Today.”

  “Today? And you are just now telling me about this?”

  “We had a tail on him, but—”

  “But he got away.” She groaned.

  “You should come in,” Alex said.

  Billie Dee could barely breathe. Her thoughts were spiraling. “Not happening.”

  “The only way we can protect you is if you come in.”

  “There was a man watching my house last night.” She blurted it out.

  “Did you get a look at him?”

  “No.”

  “Well, it certainly wasn’t Barnes. He only got out today and you’re far enough away that he shouldn’t be able to get to you very fast—if he even comes after you.”

  So they knew where she was. And she’d thought she was being so smart by not going into the WITSEC program. They’d still been tracking her.

  Billie Dee wanted to scream. “You promised me that he would never be on the streets again after I testified against him.”

  “I know.”

  She thought of the man she’d seen watching her house. Not Barnes. But then who? Barnes had snitched on so many of his former associates, she doubted it would be one of them.

  “We don’t think he’ll chance going back inside by coming after you. We can’t know what Barnes is thinking, but—”

  She almost hung up, she was so furious. “What he’s thinking?” Her laugh made her chest hurt. “He’s thinking how easy it will be to find me. Someone already knows or there wouldn’t be a man watching my house.”

  “It could be a US marshal. I didn’t send one, but there was talk among one of my bosses of trying to provide some protection for you.”

  “If the man is a US marshal, then he is only here waiting for Barnes to kill me so you can arrest him again. And you wanted me to stay in the witness protection program? Ever find that leak in your department?”

  “There isn’t a leak.”

  “You keep telling yourself that.”

  “We have thousands of people in WITSEC who are still safe. You chose to go it alone and still the department hasn’t forgotten about you. Like I said, someone higher up could have sent a marshal because they didn’t want you to worry.”

  “Not worry, Alex? You’re letting loose a psychopathic killer who wants me dead and you think I’m not worried?”

  “Look, if you come in—”

  “You almost got me killed last time at one of your safe houses.”

  “Billie Dee, that was unfortunate, but—”

  “No.” She shook her head and looked out at the Montana landscape. She’d come to love this valley surrounded by four mountain ranges. She’d come to love her life here. She didn’t want to leave.

  “We can relocate you, give you another name—”

  “No. I tried it your way.”

  “What are you going to do?” he demanded.

  “None of your business.” She disconnected, wishing she hadn’t called. Hadn’t she known last night that something was wrong? She had no doubt that Barnes would find her. He had gotten out today. Could he already be on his way to Montana?

  So maybe it was a US marshal watching out for her. That should have relieved her mind, but it didn’t. She knew Barnes. She’d looked into his eyes the second time he’d tried to kill her. He’d told her then that he would kill her no matter what it took. He would come for her—only this time he would succeed.

  CHAPTER THREE

  BILLIE DEE DROVE by her house before returning to work, but she didn’t see a US marshal lurking around. If that was who the man really was. If he was any good, then he wouldn’t have let her see him. So why had he made his presence known last night? To relieve her mind?

  Or maybe the man was a friend of Barnes. Maybe he’d wanted her to see him so she’d know it was just a matter of time. Barnes had gotten out today and already gotten rid of the law following him. That didn’t bode well.

  Maybe with luck, the men he’d snitched on would find him before he could figure out how to get from Houston to Gilt Edge, Montana. She’d calmed down some since the phone call. She felt...resigned. There was nothing she could do. Running would be fruitless. It would be just a matter of time before Barnes found her.

  She thought about the Cahills and her job. None of them should be in danger. Barnes would come in the night for her, and since she lived in a wooded area in a house isolated from other ones in town, he shouldn’t have that much trouble getting to her. Hadn’t she known from the moment she’d witnessed the murder that it was going to get her killed?

  In a perfect world, she would have left work five minutes earlier—or later that day. She wouldn’t have been a witness. She wouldn’t have had to decide if she could live with what she’d seen and keep her mouth shut. She wouldn’t have looked into Barnes’s eyes when he saw her and known that he was going to kill her.

  And he almost had. Twice. She touched the scar hidden under her hair, running her finger the length of the path the bullet from Barnes’s gun had taken the night of the murder. Life was all about timing. Five minutes one way or the other could save you—or get you killed.

  Back at the saloon, she saw that the family meeting must be over. The only vehicles out back were Darby’s pickup and Mariah’s motorcycle. The two still-practically-newlyweds were working the bar today. Billie Dee could tell by the romantic western music coming from the jukebox. It made her smile. Mariah and Darby were obviously so in love.

  She threw herself into her cooking, whipping together a huge batch of brownies from scratch. Cooking and baking were the only things that kept her mind off what was happening. There’d been a time when she would have thought about taking off, relocating, changing her last name, getting a different job...all things that she now knew wouldn’t help. If Barnes wanted to find her, he would.

  It wasn’t a coincidence that she’d looked out her window last night and happened to see the man across the street. She’d learned the hard way to watch her back. Still, there was only so much she could do.

  When the back door opened, she thought it would be a member of the family.

  “Billie Dee?”

  “Henry?” She was startled to see him again. Had he forgotten something?

  “I know you’re busy with the bar about to open and your lunch crowd on the way, but...” He had taken off his Stetson and now turned the brim in his fingers. He had nice hands, large but well proportioned. It was something she’d noticed the first time she’d met him. “I was wondering if you’d like to go to dinner with me.”

  She
raised an eyebrow. The invitation was so unexpected and yet she realized looking at his expression that he’d been leading up to this for a while now. That he’d gotten up the courage made her smile. But his timing sure could have been better, though.

  “I know this is short notice,” he added. “Are you free tonight?”

  Tonight? She almost laughed. Tonight she was. Tomorrow? Well, that could be another story. Her answer seemed to surprise them both. “Yes. I’d love to have dinner with you.”

  Henry broke into a huge smile that warmed her to her toes. “Good.” He looked pleased. “Say six? I could pick you up at your house, if that’s all right?”

  She returned his smile. “Six at my house.” She gave him the address, but she had a feeling he already knew where she lived. Henry wasn’t the kind of man who jumped without looking first. Also, Gilt Edge was a small town.

  The cowboy put his hat back on, tipped the brim and said around his grin, “See you tonight, then.” And he was gone again.

  Billie Dee stood in the middle of the kitchen, surprised that she needed to catch her breath. She had a date. A date. She laughed at the irony. But she felt better about everything, even though it made absolutely no sense. Tomorrow... Well, she’d deal with that when it happened. But tonight... Tonight she had a date with a handsome cowboy. She laughed again, feeling young and excited and alive—at least for a while. And yet as she turned back to her cooking, tears burned her eyes. Why now?

  She’d joked that she’d come to Montana to find herself a handsome cowboy, but she’d never dreamed that one would actually show up at her age. Fighting tears, she began to sing “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” as the timer went off. As she pulled the large pan of brownies from the oven, Mariah came in, one hand on her protruding belly.

  “Tell me I smell brownies,” the young woman said.

  Her back to Mariah, she hurriedly wiped at her tears. “I was just about to cut some to bring out to you.”

  “You are the best, Billie Dee,” Mariah said and gave her a quick hug. “I don’t know what we’d do without you.”

  * * *

  “YOU HAVE A DATE?” C. J. Larson asked, giving his father the once-over later that evening. “Is that a new shirt?”

  Henry smiled at his youngest son. At twenty-seven, C.J. was four inches taller and stronger looking than his older brother, Tom. It always surprised him when he realized that his sons were now grown men.

  “Don’t you think it’s time your father had a date—and a new shirt?”

  C.J. shot a look at his brother. Tom was taking him in as well, looking either worried or amused—Henry couldn’t be sure which.

  “Who’s the lucky woman?” Tom asked.

  “I bet it’s Anna Carson from next door,” C.J. said. “She stops by to check on you enough times during the week. Not that I’m complaining.” He grinned. “She does make a mean chocolate-chip cookie.”

  “Remember all those casseroles she brought for months after Mom died?” Tom said. It would be Tom who had to bring up his mother. He’d been a mama’s boy and taken it the hardest when she died.

  Henry smiled. “It’s not Anna.”

  “It’s Billie Dee down at the Stagecoach Saloon,” Tom said. He didn’t sound all that happy about it. “What do you even know about her?”

  “I know enough to have dinner with her.”

  C.J. looked confused. “That redheaded cook from Texas? The one that sings all the time back in the kitchen? Dad, she doesn’t seem like your type.”

  “And what type is it you think is mine?” he asked his son.

  “More like...Mom, I guess.”

  “I find Billie Dee to be a delightful companion. She makes me laugh and smile and...” He glanced at his watch. “I should get going.”

  “What time should we expect you home?” C.J. asked, tongue in cheek. He looked at his brother. “I’m thinking ten is plenty late. What do you think?”

  Tom actually grinned, though grudgingly. “I’d give him until ten thirty.”

  “Very amusing,” Henry said as he left, but not before he heard C.J. call after him, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” He laughed on the way to the car. He’d been blessed with three amazing offspring. He thanked his lucky stars every day to have two sons who loved ranching as much as he once had.

  This was the time of his life when he could do anything he wanted. He was still relatively young—at least he felt that way. Why couldn’t he find love again?

  * * *

  BILLIE DEE STOOD in front of the full-length mirror close to tears. She knew she was being foolish. Normally she didn’t give two hoots about what she wore. She dressed for comfort. But in this dress, her abundant body looked like a sausage in casing.

  The dress was an older one and clearly she’d put on a few pounds since she’d last worn it. Which meant... She stepped to the closet and thumbed through what was hanging there until she came to the pale cream dress—the only other dress she owned. If it still fit...

  Pulling it out, she practically crossed her fingers that it would. Otherwise she was looking at pants and a top—not exactly date attire.

  The dress slid over her head and fell around her. She took a scared peek in the mirror as the doorbell rang. She blinked. The dress seemed to accent her attributes. She didn’t look too bad. She’d pulled her long red hair back into a loose knot at her neck. Tendrils had come loose and framed her face. She’d read in one of Lillie’s fashion magazines that the latest hairdo now was natural. It might be the first time she was in style, she thought.

  The doorbell rang again. Was Henry worried that she might back out on him? Slipping her feet into heels, she felt like Cinderella on her way to the ball. She took a deep breath, let it out and headed down the stairs to the front door.

  As she opened it, she saw Henry’s eyes widen. “You thought I might try to back out. I almost did when I realized I had nothing to wear.”

  He chuckled and broke into a smile. “Looks like you found something. You look beautiful, Billie Dee.”

  She felt her cheeks heat at his compliment. “I’ll just grab my coat...” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement across the street and froze for a moment.

  Henry turned to look across the tree-lined street.

  She quickly reached for her coat by the hook next to the door. But as she did, she saw Henry’s eyes narrow as he scanned the tree line across the street. When he looked at her again, she knew he’d seen the man watching her house.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  HENRY TOOK HER to the local steak house, not that there was that much to choose from in Gilt Edge. “The food won’t be as good as yours,” he whispered. “I’m hoping the company will make up for it.”

  She’d breathed in the night, feeling free, and given him a smile. “I intend to enjoy all of it.”

  “Good—me, too.” He led her to a table on which sat a vase with a single red rose in it. She noticed it was the only table with one. Henry’s doing? A candle burned in a pretty blue demitasse cup at the center of the table. They were seated in a back corner, making it feel intimate—and really like a date.

  “My sons gave me a hard time before I left the house,” he said after he’d ordered a bottle of wine and several appetizers for them, saying they should probably check out the competition. “I caught them off guard since I haven’t dated since... Well,” he said with a laugh. “Since long before they were born.”

  “Were they upset with you?”

  “They wanted to give me a curfew.”

  The waitress brought out the bottle of wine, opened it and poured. Billie Dee studied Henry in the candlelight. He really was a handsome cowboy and so sweet and thoughtful. She felt as if she should pinch herself. But at the same time, she couldn’t help but wonder at her luck. Why was this happening now?


  After the waitress left, he raised his glass. “To you, Billie Dee Rhodes.”

  She clinked her glass with his. “Thank you. This is...marvelous.” It surprised her how comfortable she felt with him. All those mornings together over cups of coffee...it wasn’t as if they’d really talked about themselves or their pasts. Maybe knowing she could be dead in a day or two had taken away the normal stress of a first date.

  “My son Tom says I don’t know anything about you.”

  Billie Dee took a sip of her wine, her pulse pounding a little harder. “What did you tell him?”

  “That I knew enough.” He raised his glass and took a sip before putting it down again. “I’m more interested in the future than the past. Also, I’ve found that people usually aren’t what they appear, even if you think you know them well.”

  She felt her heart sink. What was he trying to tell her?

  “For instance, you look at me and all you see is a widower rancher with a lot of time on his hands.”

  Billie Dee shook her head. “I see a lot more than that.”

  He smiled, his blue eyes lighting. “Well, it’s the same with you. I see a woman who makes me smile. When I’m around you, I feel young and wonderfully foolish. I love that we don’t know each other well. Yet.”

  The waitress brought out their appetizers and Billie Dee was relieved when he changed the subject as they nibbled before their salads came out. As they ate, they talked about food they loved, restaurants they wanted to try down in Billings, the largest city in Montana, and taking the dinner train when it reopened in the spring.

  Over medium-rare steaks, baked potatoes as large as their heads and grilled zucchini, they laughed about movies they loved and hated.

  Billie Dee couldn’t remember a meal that she’d enjoyed more and told him as much.

  “I hope we can do this again.”

  “Me, too,” she said, meaning it more than he could know.