The Shepherd's Heart Series: A Boxed Set Book Bundle Collection Volumes 1-4

by Lynnette Bonner

  “Nicki—”

  There was no time to say more. William was suddenly by her side, his hand resting protectively on the back of her neck, his hard gaze fastened on Jason’s face.

  Jason stepped back, still watching her face, pleading silently with her to believe him. Trust him.

  Anger sparking in her dark eyes, she deliberately took a step closer to William. Jason felt the air vacate his lungs, as though a steer had just kicked him in the brisket. Her message was clear. She believed William.

  William’s eyes glinted in triumph as he slid his arm gently around Nicki’s shoulders, pulling her even closer to his side.

  Jason looked down at the ground, working to compress his anger. His jaw clenched as he fought the urge to hurl himself at the man. There was nothing he could do while his hands were tied behind his back.

  He turned the full force of his gaze back on Nicki, praying that she would open her eyes to the truth before it was too late. Hoping she would change her mind even now. But she lifted her chin defiantly, daring him to challenge her decision.

  Sheriff Watts took his arm and directed him over to his mount. Jason did not look her way again as he was led out of the yard. It was too painful. He was more than a little perturbed with her constantly taking up for William. Couldn’t she see the kind of man he was?

  As for seeing her in William’s arms, well, that brought about another unpleasant emotion all together. One he wasn’t yet ready to face.

  William felt his satisfaction rise as Jason was led away by Sheriff Watts. It looked like his spontaneous plan was coming together better than he’d thought. How lucky it was for him that Jason had stumbled onto that fire and stopped to help. His presence there had raised just the right amount of suspicion.

  He regretted the death of the little girl, but he couldn’t have planned Jason’s demise any better if he’d had all year. The thought of Slim’s failure momentarily left a bitter taste in his mouth, but this was just as good as Jason’s death. A bolt of inspiration jolted through him. Maybe even better. Ever since he’d cut Slim free, he’d been trying to figure out how this could work to his advantage. Maybe he just had.

  He glanced down at Nicki. Who would have thought that she would believe his insinuations so easily? Perhaps she hadn’t been as attracted to Jason as he’d at first feared. It looked like the last two years of cultivating her friendship were going to be well worth the effort it had taken.

  He tightened his grip on her shoulder, doing his best to look sympathetic to her plight. She had, after all, just lost the man she had been putting her hope in for the salvation of her ranch—a ranch that would shortly be his.

  Yes indeed, things couldn’t have worked out better. And he was standing by the woman who would soon be his wife. He caught himself before a whoop of delight escaped.

  “Come on, Nicki.” His voice was appropriately sober. “Let’s get you inside out of this snow.”

  She didn’t move but stood watching until Jason and the sheriff disappeared over the crest of the hill.

  William experienced a moment of dread. He quickly forced his emotions to calm. Let her watch to her heart’s content. The day was soon coming when she wouldn’t be able to stand the sight of Jason Jordan.

  His plan had only just begun.

  Nicki sighed as Jason disappeared over the horizon. William’s hand around her shoulders suddenly grated on her nerves. She stepped away from him and headed toward the house. Had she made the right decision? She paused before moving through the door and turned to stare at the spot where she had last seen him.

  What would Jason have to gain from setting fire to the Jeffries’ place? She couldn’t think of anything, yet it had irked her to have him telling her not to trust William. William had been there for her from the moment of John’s death. And it flew in the face of all she had ever believed in to turn against an old friend on the whim of a new one. But was it a whim?

  Her eyes flicked to William and she rubbed her temple as she turned to head into the house. She could feel the beginning of a stress headache.

  The question remained: if Jason hadn’t set that fire, who had? Again her eyes flicked to William as she shook the snow from her shawl and hung it on a peg over the bed. Could he have done such a thing? She shook her head. No, she couldn’t imagine William ever doing something like that. But neither could she see Jason doing it. What would be the motive behind such an act?

  She would talk to Ron like Jason asked and see what he had to say. Suppressing the tears that threatened to overflow, she moved to join Brenda and Rolf at the table. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d just made the biggest mistake of her life.

  14

  Rocky Jordan, Jason’s cousin, leaned his shoulder into the post and hunched his coat up closer to his ears, tilting his hat further back. The February sun shone, but the day was more than a little nippy. He shoved his hands into his pants pockets, pleasure curving his mouth as he watched Victoria Snyder talking animatedly to the little boy down the street. She and the boy had just emerged from the bakery, her basket now empty. They were coming his way and he really shouldn’t stare, but he couldn’t seem to turn away.

  If possible, she was even more beautiful than the last time he had seen her, which had been yesterday. Her red hair was pulled into its usual bun, wisps framing her face. The basket she always carried to deliver her mother’s fresh-baked goods to the bakery down the street swung easily by her side. Her step was just as light as always. All in all, he surmised, she didn’t look much different than she had yesterday. Still, she’s more beautiful than ever.

  He exhaled, his breath frosting the air before him in a cloud of frustration. Glancing around to make sure no one had caught him looking, he chuckled to himself, then swung his eyes back to the woman and child approaching. He had it bad. He should just ask her to dinner and be done with it, but somehow he could never bring himself to voice the question.

  He and Victoria were good friends…had been since childhood. Through the years she had courted a few boys, including Rocky’s older brother, Sky, and Cade Bennett, but she had never turned her attentions on him. Ever since she had dated Sky, Rocky had sworn himself to silence over his attraction to her. Perhaps it had something to do with not being the first one she had been interested in, nor even the second for that matter. After all, a man had his pride. More to the point, it had to do with the fact that Victoria had broken it off with Sky because he’d become a lawman.

  Rocky fingered the cold metal of his badge. It was the reason he’d never asked her to dinner.

  Victoria glanced up and smiled at him. He dropped his hand into his pocket, willing his heart not to thunder out of his chest.

  “Hi, Rocky. How are you?”

  He dipped his chin. “Just fine, Ria. How’s your mother feeling today? Any better?” His smooth voice betrayed none of his inner turmoil.

  She sighed. “She says she is, but I’m not convinced. If you see Doc Martin, would you ask him to meander by the house? If he just stops by for a cup of coffee, she’ll be more likely to confide in him than if I drag her into his office.”

  He grinned at her. “Are you conspiring behind her back?”

  She returned his grin with a nonchalant wave. “I’m always conspiring to get her to do something!”

  Rocky chuckled.

  Victoria and her mother were close. They had been alone in this world since Victoria’s father passed away. She had been eight at the time if he remembered correctly. Victoria’s mother hadn’t been feeling well for the past month, and Rocky knew how worried Ria was about her. “If I see Doc, I’ll pass your request along.” Rocky’s eyes dropped to the little boy by Victoria’s side.

  “Oh.” Victoria rested a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Rocky, I would like you to meet a new friend of mine. Trevor, this is my friend Rocky. He’s a sheriff in town. Rocky, this is Trevor. He just moved in down the street.”

  Rocky caught her meaning even as he squatted on the balls of h
is feet so he would be at the young boy’s level. The little man before him was a new resident at the town’s orphanage. Victoria volunteered some of her time there every day. He extended his hand. “I’m pleased to meet you, Trevor. How do you like our town so far?”

  Trevor’s smile, minus one tooth, was impish. “It’s nice.” He leaned forward and, in a stage whisper, added, “I especially like the ladies.” His large brown eyes angled in Victoria’s direction and Rocky turned his surprised gaze toward her just in time to see her blush a pretty pink that went perfectly with her red hair.

  He grinned and ruffled Trevor’s brown curls. “Yes. We do have our share of pretty ladies, don’t we?”

  Trevor stepped toward him and whispered conspiratorially, “Ria’s more than pretty; she’s fun too!”

  Rocky widened his eyes in mock awe. “Pretty and fun too? Well now, it is rare to find both of those qualities in a woman, isn’t it?” Rocky tossed Victoria a broad smile even as he stood quickly to dodge a blow from her basket.

  “I’m going to marry her when I grow up. Then we can play hide-n-seek all day long! It will be so much fun!”

  “Yes. I’m sure that being married to Ria would be fun indeed.” The words slipped out before he thought, and his eyes flashed to her surprised face as he quickly added, “After all who could resist playing hide-n-seek all day long?” He winked at her and her face darkened another shade, deepening her freckles so that he wanted to reach out and touch them. He settled for shoving his hands back in his pockets.

  “You could have her for a while ’til I get growed up. Then you could find somebody new, and I could have Ria.”

  Victoria gasped at the audacity of the little boy’s proposition. “Trevor! A—”

  Rocky quickly touched her elbow and spoke before she could embarrass the boy. “Well now, that’s just not the way things work, Trev. And besides, we shouldn’t make plans about the lady as though she isn’t even present. If we act like that, Miss Snyder won’t have either one of us.” He leveled a look at the little boy. “What do you think? Think maybe we should apologize?”

  Trevor’s face sank and he looked down at his feet, shuffling them back and forth. “You first,” he mumbled.

  Rocky glanced at Victoria, who was giving him a look that warned him not to make too much of this in front of the boy. “Ria, I’m sorry.”

  Trevor glanced up at her through his bangs. “Sorry.”

  She bent at the waist and pulled the little imp into a one-armed hug. “You’re forgiven. Now run along and get the things Ms. Johnston needs and don’t dawdle on the way back. I need to speak to Mr. Jordan for a moment.”

  The relief on Trevor’s face was palpable. He turned and started hurriedly for the mercantile but had only gone a couple of steps before he spun back in their direction. “Aren’t ya gonna forgive Mr. Jordan?”

  Ria’s mouth quirked as she swung her eyes to Rocky’s face. “You’re forgiven, Mr. Jordan.”

  Rocky swept off his hat in a deep bow. “Thank you, ma’am.”

  Trevor swung sparkling eyes to Rocky. “She must like me better. She gave me a hug!”

  Rocky threw back his head and laughed as Victoria once again used her delivery basket as a weapon. The basket connected solidly with Trevor’s backside even as he tried to scamper out of the way.

  “Go!” she laughed, her green eyes sparkling with delight. “I’ll deal with you later.”

  Trevor jauntily strode down the sidewalk, turning to wave at them before he disappeared into the mercantile with his list from Ms. Hannah Johnston.

  Victoria turned back to Rocky, noting once again how handsome he was when he smiled, as he was doing now. He really was a lot of fun and all the children at the orphanage adored him. He stopped by often to help Ms. Hannah with the constant repairs that needed to be made to the old building that housed the precious orphans.

  Victoria often found herself wondering if Rocky knew the real reason she had dated his brother and his best friend. Her mouth turned up at the corner. No, he wouldn’t know. He was much too humble to suspect that she’d had her eye on him for years. During school she’d drawn the interest of several boys, but never Rocky. She had tried in an untold number of ways to get his attention but he’d always treated her like she was a little sister. She’d agreed to see Skyler in hopes that if she dated his brother, she might get his attention. It hadn’t worked; neither had her relationship with his best friend, Cade Bennett. She had become fast friends with both Sky and Cade, but it hadn’t gotten her any closer to a relationship with Rocky. She really liked both Sky and Cade, but it had always been Rocky she’d had her eye on.

  Lately though, she had begun to realize that she would have to settle for just being his friend. He wasn’t interested in her, and she was finally learning to deal with it. Wasn’t she? Then again maybe one day she would get up the courage to ask him to dinner. She giggled at the unconventional thought.

  “Ria?” Rocky’s voice penetrated her thoughts, sounding more than a little worried.

  She came out of her reverie and realized that she had been staring at him with a silly smile throughout her contemplation of their relationship. Her face blazed hot, and she silently berated herself for an idiot. She was always blushing like a school girl when Rocky was around.

  Her mind scrambled for something coherent to say. What had she needed to talk to him about? Oh yes. Her words tumbled out before she could make an even bigger fool of herself. “Rocky, the roof at the orphanage is leaking badly with all this rain we’ve been having lately, and Hannah wondered if you could find time on your next day off to come by and fix it?”

  He shrugged. “Sure.” But his bewildered gaze was almost more than her composure could stand. He obviously couldn’t figure out why she’d been giggling about the orphanage roof leaking. She felt another giggle coming on and quickly turned away so he wouldn’t suspect.

  Waving over her shoulder she said, “Thanks,” and moved off quickly before he came to the conclusion that she had totally lost all her senses.

  At the corner of the building she cast one more glance over her shoulder. He was standing in the same spot she had left him, but he was talking to the telegraph operator, Mr. Sinclair. As he frowned down at the telegram in his hands, he unconsciously reached to touch the badge on his chest.

  So, he was being summoned for something. Victoria sighed as she thought of her father. Yes there was definitely one drawback to Rocky Jordan. One very big drawback.

  Jason lay back on the cot, hands clasped behind his head, and stared at the ceiling of the jailhouse. His booted feet, crossed at the ankles, hung over the end of the too-short bed. Today was Sunday. Nicki, Ron, and Conner would be coming into town for services at the little church. Maybe they would stop by with some hopeful news, because as things stood, they did not look good for him.

  The sheriff busily scratched his pen across some forms at the desk only a couple of feet away. The only thing separating them was the wall of metal bars. Jason had slept the night through in exhaustion, not having slept since before he discovered the horses, and now found he was thinking a little more clearly.

  His thoughts turned to the fire at the Jeffries’ place. Whoever had set it had a connection to the man he had apprehended.

  Someone had crashed through the brush just yards from him that night, then gone straight to his prisoner and cut him free. He had seen the tracks with his own eyes and recognized them. Each man has his own way of walking, standing, turning, and striding. If a man’s shoe was cracked along the sole, it showed in his tracks. If it was worn more on one side or the other, that showed, too. There were any number of ways of telling one man’s footprints from another, and Jason had learned, early on, working for his uncle in Shilo, that it was wise to take note of and remember everyone’s footprints. You never knew when the knowledge might come in handy. And the tracks left in back of the Jeffries cabin were the same tracks left by the man who had shot at Nicki on his first day.

  Had
he recognized them as William’s, he would not have been surprised, but William’s pricey hand-tooled boots had a very distinct deep heel print with the outside edges on both feet worn down just a little. Whoever had made the tracks he had followed from the cabin back into the woods had been wearing a worn-at-heel pair of boots that had obviously seen better days.

  But if a man were smart and planned to commit a crime, he might think to put on a pair of shoes that he didn’t normally wear. Jason sighed. He would have to find that old pair of boots and their owner to prove who had been at that cabin, and who had shot at him and Nicki. A near impossible task.

  His next thought wasn’t any more comforting than the last. He had told the sheriff about his captive, even risked telling him about the horses, but the lawman hadn’t believed him. He’d said he would check into it, but so far he hadn’t been in any hurry. There were no tracks at the scene to back up his story, and the sheriff thought he was just trying to give himself an alibi.

  That left another question. Who had gone back and cleaned up the evidence? They had to have done a pretty thorough job because the sheriff was an observant man. Jason snorted at the thought, tossing the man a glance. Not observant enough, or he’d know I wasn’t guilty. There had to be something at the scene that proved he hadn’t been the only one there. Jason didn’t really blame the sheriff for suspecting him. After all, he had only been in the area for a few days. A stranger was always the first suspect when a crime was committed.

  The door to the outer office opened, and Jason swung his legs over the side of the bed, sitting up to see who had just entered. Sheriff Watts looked up from his paperwork.

  It was Nicki and Ron.

  Jason’s pulse jumped. Had she seen reason and come to apologize for doubting him?

  Nicki held a basket in her hands, her worried dark eyes immediately searching him out. But it was Ron that his eyes fixed on. The man’s face showed no emotion whatsoever. Had they found the horses?