by June Faver
Ty heard his father’s voice reverberating in his head. “Just forget all that music nonsense. This is your life, right here on the land.”
He stared out the window in the direction the brown-eyed beauty had gone. It appeared they were headed in the same direction. He hoped her dreams would come true as well as his own.
* * *
“Now what?” Leah glanced at the gas tank, but there was over a quarter of a tank. That should get them to Gran’s. But just then, the car took another lurch, sending her nerves into overdrive. “Why me?” she growled before looking over at Gracie, who sat biting her lower lip, her hands fisted in her lap. Way too much burden for an eight-year-old.
The car lurched again, and the motor cut out.
Leah managed to aim for the shoulder before the vehicle ground to a full stop. She leaned back against the headrest for several seconds and drew in a lungful of air. “Stay here,” she ordered Gracie before climbing out to look under the hood.
Not that it mattered. Leah had no idea what she was looking at, but there did seem to be a lot of heat roiling up at her when she lifted the hood. She felt like giving up, but she couldn’t, because Gracie was counting on her to get them to Gran’s house. Counting on her to be the grown-up, even though she felt like sitting down on the ground and giving in to the ocean of regret threatening to rip loose.
Huffing out an exasperated sigh, she stepped back. Stop it! You’re better than this. Gracie needs you.
She left the hood up and climbed back inside the car. “It’s hot. I think if we just let it cool down for a while, I might be able to get it to start again.”
Gracie stared at her with a frightened expression.
“Don’t worry, honey. I’m sure it will be okay.” Leah sucked in a breath and plastered a totally insincere smile across her face. “Really.”
Eddie gazed up at her from the floorboards under Gracie’s feet. He thumped his tail as if to agree with her. Thanks, buddy.
She hadn’t seen much traffic since they’d left Langston, although it was a pretty well-traveled highway. On the one hand, she hoped someone would come along to help them. On the other hand, she hoped no one would come along to murder them.
A huge semi came barreling down the highway but didn’t even slow down. The speed with which it zoomed by shook the car and its passengers as if to say, Get out of my way. I’m coming through.
A few more vehicles passed, but none even slowed down. Leah’s throat ached with despair. How would she be able to get her daughter to Gran’s house?
Leah was beginning to think they might have to start walking back to Langston, but that prospect frightened her as well. Way too vulnerable.
There seemed to be very little traffic on this highway. Maybe it was the time of day. Maybe there would be more cars and trucks as the day wore on. She just needed to be patient and not reveal any of the near-panic gathering in her chest. She gave Gracie a confident smile.
In her rearview mirror, she saw a truck. It was an old truck, but it was slowing down. “Oh, please, please, please…”
Leah held her breath, waiting to see who climbed out…but no one emerged. The doors remained closed. The motor idled roughly, emitting a deep growl-like roar.
Her heart fluttered. It felt as though a feather pillow had exploded in her chest. She noticed the truck’s windows had been tinted dark. She couldn’t see who was inside.
Maybe the driver expected her to get out.
“Mommy?” Gracie’s eyes were wide with fear.
“It’s okay, baby. Just relax.” Leah sucked in a breath and reached for her purse. Cautiously, she reached inside, her fingers curling around the Beretta knock-off she had purchased at the pawnshop across the street from the diner. The pawnbroker showed her that it was loaded with a clip full of .25-caliber hollow points. He had assured her this would get someone’s attention.
She had hoped never to have to actually wrap her fingers around it, but there was no way she would risk her daughter’s life. The smooth metal seemed to warm in her hand. Taking a few seconds to gather her courage, she stared at the truck in the rearview mirror.
The driver of the truck revved the motor several times. It sounded like a monster growling.
Come on out, Mr. Invisible. If you think you can hurt us, you’re mistaken.
She gazed at the truck in the mirror, mentally daring the driver to emerge. Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed something big and red. It was slowing down.
“Look, Mommy. Another truck is stopping.”
A red extended-cab pickup slowed down and pulled off the highway onto the shoulder, rolling to a stop in front of her. There was a horse trailer behind the truck.
Now her small car was sandwiched between the two larger vehicles. Swallowing her claustrophobia, she kept a tight grip on the weapon in her purse.
The old truck behind her shifted into reverse, and the driver did a sharp U-turn, speeding off in the direction of Langston.
Leah expelled the breath she’d been holding. Her fingers still clutched the gun. She released them and withdrew her hand, shoving the purse under her seat.
The driver’s side door of the red pickup opened, and someone was stepping out.
Her fingers tightened on the steering wheel. Oh, please let it be someone nice.
“It’s Tyler!” Gracie shouted gleefully, as though that were a good thing.
Leah’s stomach did a flip-flop when the big cowboy from the restaurant got out and headed back toward them.
He leaned down to peer in the window at them. “Hey, it’s you. What seems to be the trouble?”
“I—I don’t know. It just shuddered and came to a stop.” She felt completely inadequate to deal with this situation. At least she didn’t think the big cowboy would feed them and then murder them on the side of the road.
“Well, let me take a look.” He went to peer under the hood, and she got out to join him, aware of how big he was, of how he could snap her neck in a single blow.
“Um…what do you think?” She gazed at him doubtfully.
“Well, here’s your problem. Your serpentine belt broke. Can’t go anywhere without one.”
While she appeared to be looking at the direction he was pointing, her eyes were blurred with tears. Blinking rapidly, she hoped to stanch the flow, but twin rivulets rolled down her cheeks. “I see. Well, you don’t have a spare on you, or would that be too much to hope for?”
He took off the Stetson and ran his fingers through his hair. “Well, no, ma’am. I don’t happen to have a serpentine belt on me, and we’re right out here in the middle of nowhere. I don’t suppose you belong to Triple A, do you?”
This struck Leah as funny, and she began to laugh amid all the tears. When she turned to face him, he frowned and reached in his pocket, unfurling a large, white handkerchief.
He flapped it in the air to open it before extending it to her. “Aw, you don’t need to cry about it. I wouldn’t leave you out here all by yourself.”
Leah reached for the handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes.
He put his big paw on her shoulder and gave a couple of ineffectual pats. “Where were you headed anyway?”
She pasted on a decidedly fake smile and tried to retrieve her usual good humor. “To my grandmother’s ranch. It’s not much farther. I just wish we could have made it there.”
He nodded. “Okay, I’m going to give you a tow. It’s not far, you say?”
A bubble of hope welled up in her chest. “No, it’s not far at all.”
He nodded and went to open the passenger door of her car. “Come on out, young lady. I’m going to give you a ride to your great-grandma’s house.” He held out his hand to Gracie, and Eddie jumped up on the seat. The big cowboy picked up the small dog and tucked him under one arm while holding Gracie’s hand with the other. He led them to the passen
ger side of his shiny red truck and opened the back door. He put Eddie inside and hoisted Gracie onto the seat. There was a large dog on the rear seat already, but he appeared to be friendly, wagging his tail. Closing the door, the cowboy turned to Leah, expectantly. “Ready?”
She nodded. “Oh yes.” He handed her up onto the passenger seat and closed the door. She heard him in the back of the vehicles, and then he climbed up into the driver’s seat and backed up a little. He left the motor idling while he hooked up her car, and then he slowly pulled out onto the highway. “You tell me where to turn.”
“I will. Thank you so much. I don’t know what we would have done without you.”
“Somebody else would have stopped to help you, I reckon.”
Yeah, somebody spooky in a dusty old truck. No telling what Mr. Invisible would have done to us. She shivered. Or what I would have had to do to him. “I was really worried. Just let me thank you for stopping.”
He frowned and shrugged it off. He didn’t seem to accept thanks well, so she pressed her lips together. “Where are you headed?”
He seemed to brighten. “I’m on my way to Dallas.” He sent her a dimpled grin. “I’ve got plans there.”
* * *
They chatted in little bits and pieces. He managed to drag from her that she was an Oklahoma girl. She told him her grandpa had passed away and she was moving back to help her grandmother with the ranch. That should be good for her. Give her a fresh start.
She smiled once, and it was like the sunshine breaking through on a rainy day. He just hadn’t thought one woman could be so very pretty.
“That’s the turn!” She sounded excited and pointed to a farm-to-market road cutting off to the right.
Ty slowed and made a wide arc, managing to get the truck, the trailer, and her car going in the right direction. He drove for almost ten miles when she directed him onto another side road. This one wasn’t paved, but at least it was graded smooth. When he pulled up to the small house, he felt a sinking sensation in his chest. This is not a ranch. This is a disaster.
He could tell by her face that she thought so too. She gazed out the side window at the weed-infested fields and the run-down house and outbuildings. Everything was in disrepair.
“Um, are they expecting you?” he asked.
She bit her lip. “I think so. Let me just go inside. Would you wait here with Gracie for a moment?” She climbed down and approached the house.
He watched her step up onto the porch and knock on the screen door. She turned around while she waited, surveying the dismal prospects. Her face registered every emotion she was experiencing. Not a very good place for a woman to make a fresh start. He wondered how the people who lived here eked out a living at all.
There was a barn to the rear of the property. Also a stable and a long metal building, maybe a shed of some sort.
When the door was answered, a small, elderly woman came out onto the porch to throw her arms around Leah. It was nice to see Leah getting some affection from someone. She seemed to be wrapped much too tight, but he suspected she had her reasons.
The two women engaged in a rapid conversation in which Leah pointed to the truck.
Ty lifted a hand in greeting, and the old woman grinned and waved in return. More words were exchanged, and then Leah made her way back to the truck. He rolled down the window when she approached.
“My grandma wants to meet you. I told her how you helped us out.” Her eyes were the color of aged whiskey in the late-afternoon sunlight. Her full lips curved up in a smile. Whatever this little place had to offer, it seemed to be enough to make her happy.
“Sure.” He unfastened his seat belt and stepped out, then opened the back door for Gracie. He lifted her down, and the scruffy little mutt scrambled out as well. “All present and accounted for.”
Leah flashed him a much more heartfelt grin and led the way to the house.
He had to duck when he stepped up onto the porch, because the roof was sagging in the middle, and he noted the rotten wood on the porch itself. Luckily it held his weight.
Leah pulled the screen open and motioned him to the open doorway. “This is my grandmother, Fern Davis. Gran, this is Tyler Garrett. He pretty much saved Gracie and me.”
The elderly woman held out both hands to him. “Thank you so much for delivering my granddaughter and great-granddaughter to me safe and sound.”
“Think nothing of it, ma’am,” he said.
Her eyes crinkled up as a broad grin spread across her face. She threw both of her frail arms around him to deliver a fierce hug. “You’re just an angel straight from heaven.”
“No, ma’am,” he protested, but she was dragging him into the house.
“I been cookin’ all day. Surely you’ll stay and have a bite with us.” She gazed up at him with bright, birdlike eyes.
A small hand grabbed his. “Please, Tyler.” It was Gracie adding her two cents.
Ty glanced from Gracie to her great-grandmother and finally settled on Leah.
She smiled. “I would really like it if you could stay for supper.” Her voice was low-pitched and husky, sending vibrations to his libido.
“Well, I…uh…I guess I could stay. A man’s gotta eat. Right?”
It was something about Leah’s expression and how pretty she looked when she wasn’t running on pure fear. Something that made him set aside his urgency to reach Dallas. He could just as well arrive late tonight. Heck, Will’s not expecting me until next week. Not a problem.
While the three delighted females went to the kitchen, Ty headed outside to the truck and let Lucky out. He detached Leah’s vehicle from the back of the horse trailer, then pulled out the ramp and walked his champion quarter horse, Prince of Darkness. The stallion was antsy and danced sideways, unsure of his surroundings.
“Easy, Prince,” he said, soothing the stallion. Holding both reins, he began to walk the horse along the narrow road leading to the back of the property.
Gracie ran out to join him.
“Your horse is very pretty,” she said, her eyes shining.
“Thank you, Gracie. Do you like to ride?”
“I’ve never been on a horse before. I’m only eight.”
He laughed. “And how old do you have to be to ride a horse?”
She shrugged.
“I can’t remember a time when I didn’t ride,” he said. “If I were going to be here longer, I’d give you a ride.”
“That’s okay,” she said. “I might be scared.”
He let that sink in as he looked around the property. The barn door had a broken hinge and stood ajar. Taking a look inside, he saw a decent store of baled hay stacked along one side. He wondered how much livestock there was to feed. An old model John Deere tractor was housed inside, but it was covered with a layer of dust. Whoever had stored it here hadn’t used it recently. He’d noticed the fields they had driven past had not been cultivated and were left to lie fallow.
He gave his horse water and the high-grade feed he had brought with him.
When he and Gracie returned to the house, the table was set, and Leah was waiting for him.
Chapter 2
Leah kept stealing glances at Ty during the meal. He had removed his Stetson the minute he came inside the house, and he was polite to Gran. That was what she cared about most.
She had been shocked by how run-down the whole place appeared. It’s all my fault. I should have come home sooner. Poor Grandpa must not have been able to keep up with things the last few years, and with all her troubles, Leah hadn’t been thinking of her grandparents so much.
But this Ty wasn’t treating Gran like some poor little lady living out a threadbare existence. He listened to her politely and laughed when she made a joke.
Leah wasn’t willing to call him a nice guy, but she was coming around. Not every man was a complete jer
k like Caine. Not every man was quick-tempered and brutal. Just her luck, she had been taken in by a handsome face without knowing what lay behind the mask. But she had been so very young…too young for sure.
She pressed her lips together and reached to help Gracie cut her food.
“How do you like the chicken, Gracie?” Gran asked. “She was one of my young’uns, so she’s nice and tender.”
Gracie’s eyes grew round, and she set her fork down by her plate.
Leah sent her grandmother a frown. “Gran’s kidding, aren’t you? Go ahead and eat up.”
Gracie glanced from her mother to Gran and back again.
“Oh, uh—” Gran stared at Gracie. “That’s right. I was just kidding.”
Reluctantly, Gracie picked up her fork and poked at the lima beans.
Ty smiled at her encouragingly. “This is life on a farm, Gracie. We raise what we eat, and we provide food for others too. That’s our job.” He gestured to her plate. “So eat up, and after dinner, maybe I can take you for a ride.”
Gracie’s eyes lit up, and she leaned toward him. “Really?”
“Sure,” he said. “I’ll have time before I hit the road.”
Leah was relieved to see her daughter pick up her fork and dig right into her food.
“What do you do for a living, young man?” Gran asked.
Ty grinned. “Well, ma’am, I guess you could say I’m unemployed at the moment…but I’m expecting to get something going once I get to Dallas.”
“Just passing through, then?” Gran cocked her head to one side. “I was thinking maybe I could hire you to do a couple of chores for me before you take off, maybe give you a little pocket money?”
Ty’s grin widened. “That’s mighty nice, ma’am, but I better be heading on to the city.”
Gran shrugged. “Well, I had to ask.”
Leah saw her grandmother’s disappointment. “What is it you need done, Gran? I’m pretty sure I can help you.”
Gran smiled and patted her on the arm. “A skinny little thing like you? Not hardly. Maybe I can find someone around here willing to do a little work.”
