As soon as she reached his side, he bent his head and placed a swift kiss on her lips.
“Mmm. That’s a nice greeting,” she said with a smile. “What are you doing out here so early? I thought you wouldn’t be off duty until later tonight.”
He grimaced. “I’m not off duty. But since I was in the vicinity, I thought I’d drive by. I had an idea you might be working on the fence.”
Since the other night when he’d expressed his concern about her being alone near the gulch, he hadn’t said anything more about it. She supposed he’d come to the conclusion that she needed to deal with her work in her own way, and he had no right to interfere.
“It’s nearly finished. Five more posts and then stretching the last of the wire. Why don’t you come have a look at my handiwork? I think you’ll be proud of me.”
Curling her arm through his, she urged him forward.
As they strolled toward the spot where she’d been working, he asked, “You’ve not seen any stray cattle around, have you?”
“No. My herd is grazing in a little valley two hills to the west of here. I haven’t seen any cattle on the land that joins mine. As a matter of fact, the neighboring ranch has been empty for as long as I’ve lived here. That’s why I wasn’t too concerned with the downed fence until you rode over it,” she added with a pointed smile. “Why are you asking about cattle?”
“In the past day or two, another small herd over in Douglas County has disappeared. Before the rustlers can haul them to market, they’ll have to dump the stolen cattle somewhere until they can change the identifying ear tags or try to burn another brand over the old one.”
The smile fell from her face. “And what makes you think they would dump them here, by me?”
“You’re not far from the county line.” He pointed in the direction of his parked truck. “And this road that runs by your property probably doesn’t see four or five cars in a day’s time. Isn’t that about right?”
“Yes, but there are plenty of other isolated roads around here.” She gave him a curious glance. These past few nights they’d been together, he hadn’t talked about his work. But then, talking hadn’t exactly been on either of their minds. They’d spent most of the time in her bed, and the heat of those moments was still so fresh in her mind that just thinking about it made her want to pull him down right there on the dead grama grass.
“Are you still thinking the stolen cattle has something to do with that man’s death?”
“That notion is just a hunch. But I did run the idea by my partner. He’s not convinced. He won’t rule it out, either.” Evan shook his head. “That’s enough about that, though. Let’s have a look at this fence you’re building.”
The two of them moved down the fence line until they reached the area where she’d already strung the barbed wire and fastened it to the cedar posts with staples. After giving the taut wire a pluck, he looked at her.
“I’m impressed. Everything is straight and tight.” He gestured to a long-handled device lying nearby on the ground. “I hope you’re being careful with that wire stretcher. They’re dangerous to use.”
“I know. I’ve been lashed with barbed wire before.” She pointed to a spot on her upper thigh. “I had to have several stitches.”
“Oh. I wondered what had caused that scar.” Shaking his head with dismay, he reached for her hand and pressed it tightly between his. “Noelle, don’t you know that I’d be more than happy to help you with this?”
“It’s sweet of you to offer, Evan. But you can’t take off work to help me with this sort of thing. And I don’t expect you to.”
“I didn’t mean I’d personally help you. I’d hire someone to do it for you.”
His words left her colder than the brisk north wind. With her lips pressed tightly together, she moved away from his side and headed toward the spot where she’d left the posthole digger. Evan walked along beside her.
“I don’t want or need financial aid from you,” she said stiffly.
He blew out a heavy breath. “I’m not trying to insult you, Noelle. I’m trying to help you.”
She halted in her tracks and turned to him. “You know, for a moment back there, I was very touched that you offered to help. Your willingness to work by my side was such a nice thought. One that I truly appreciated. I should’ve known you consider yourself above doing manual work like this.”
“I hardly think I deserve that comment from you,” he shot back at her. “If you’re implying that I’m unused to getting my hands dirty with ranch work, then you’re all wrong!”
“Am I?” she countered. “Maybe I should ask your family about that.”
His face went red, and Noelle was suddenly ashamed of her outburst.
“Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that,” she murmured with regret. “I guess I’m a little sensitive when it comes to men and money.”
“Only a little?”
She had to chuckle, and the sound broke the tension between them. “Okay. I misconstrued your offer. But I—”
Before she could finish, he reached for her gloved hands and drew her to his chest. “I’m sorry, too. None of what I said came out right. I would like to help you do this kind of work. But you’d have to wait until I can get time off. That’s why hiring a man to help makes more sense.”
“But, Evan, that’s not the kind of help I want from you.”
He cupped his hand around her cold cheek. “I’m not trying to buy your affection, Noelle. I just want to make things easier for you. You don’t deserve to have bleeding blisters on your hands or your face chapped by the freezing wind.”
She understood that he was trying to be kind to her. Yet he didn’t realize that while he was doing it, he was making her feel like something less than a woman. “Look, Evan, I’m never going to be a fragile little woman with soft hands, pretty skin and immaculate makeup. Heck, I rarely ever have any reason to wear a dress. Maybe you—” she looked away from him and swallowed as emotions suddenly choked her “—ought to find a better woman than me. One who is feminine and needy and—”
Suddenly his cheek was pressed to hers, and his arms were crushing her tightly against him. His warm embrace flooded Noelle’s eyes with moisture. She blinked in a furious effort to keep the tears from brimming onto her cheeks.
“I don’t need to look anywhere but right here at you, Elle. You’re the woman I want.”
Was she? These past few days, he’d made love to her as though she was the most precious thing on earth to him. But in the light of day, when they were apart, cool reality kept slipping in, reminding her that what had started out as one night of pleasure had snowballed out of control and into something far bigger than she’d imagined. And she’d stood silently by and let it all happen. Because she wanted him. Because for the first time in years, she had something more than her little ranch to think about, to care about. But she couldn’t let it continue. Not without first explaining her feelings. And after that, she was fairly certain whatever this thing was budding between them would be crushed dead.
“I think…we need to talk, Evan. Are you coming out tonight after work?”
Easing her back, his eyes narrowed skeptically as he studied her face. “Yes. I don’t know what time exactly, but I’ll be here. What should we talk about? If this is about us, then I want to discuss it now. We’ll go to my truck and—”
She interrupted him with a shake of her head. “No. Now isn’t the time or place. I need to explain some things to you, and I don’t want to do it here.”
It was obvious to Noelle that he wanted to argue the point, but after a moment he relented.
“Okay. I’ll be here as early as I can,” he promised.
Her heart winced with dread. “I’ll be waiting.”
He kissed her, and the hunger she tasted on his lips made her want to we
ep. After he’d said goodbye, she couldn’t bring herself to watch him walk away. Instead, she reached for the diggers and with all her strength slammed them into the hard dirt.
* * *
Something was definitely wrong with Noelle. This afternoon when Evan had found her out by the gulch, there had been something off in her voice. As he’d kissed her, he hadn’t missed the glaze of moisture in her eyes.
Damn it, if something was bothering her, she should’ve told him about it right there and then. Instead, he’d spent the past few hours in agony, trying to figure out what could be going on in that pretty head of hers.
When he’d first walked up, she’d seemed perfectly happy to see him. But then he’d made that remark about hiring someone to help her, and everything from there had gone downhill in a hurry.
“Evan, are you getting sick?”
The question snapped Evan’s head around to see his partner eyeing him with concern. “Sorry, Vince, you’re out of luck. I think I’m going to survive.”
“Couldn’t prove it by me. You look awful, and you’ve been staring at that wall for the past twenty minutes. You find something fascinating about the plaster?”
Evan frowned at him. “I’ve been thinking.”
“That’s obvious. What about? That woman you’ve been seeing? Or the Watson case?”
Squinting, Evan asked, “What woman?”
Vincent batted a hand through the air. “Oh, come off it. For the past three evenings when you’ve left the office, you’ve headed south. The Silver Horn is north of here.”
Picking up a pen, Evan began to doodle on a notepad. “Could be I was going out to Bonito’s to eat supper.”
“Why would you do that when you’ve told me the Silver Horn has the best cook in the whole county?”
Tossing down the pen, Evan leaned back in his chair and raked both hands through his hair. “All right. I have been seeing Noelle Barnes. Remember, she—”
“Barnes. Yeah, I remember that name now. She’s the woman who helped you that day you had the horse accident. You’ve been seeing her? For real?”
Funny that Vincent should use the word real. Everything about Noelle and how Evan felt about her was probably the most real thing that had ever happened to him. He wasn’t sure why or how his feelings for the woman had developed so rapidly, but it was becoming evident that she meant far more to him than just a bed partner. But that realization only filled him with more worrisome questions. She was a very independent woman, and her future was wrapped up in that little ranch of hers. He couldn’t see her giving it up to make a life with him. So where would that leave the two of them?
He sighed. “For real.”
“Well, she must be a true dish to catch your eye.”
A dish? Noelle could hardly be described in those terms. There was nothing contrived or glamorous about her. She was simply all sexy woman, and making love to her had turned him inside out.
“I doubt you’d take a second look at her. But she’s a beautiful woman to me.”
The goading grin on Vincent’s face disappeared. “Hey, you really mean that, don’t you?”
Leaning forward in the chair, Evan rested his elbows on the desktop and looked over at his friend and coworker. “It scares me how much I mean it, Vince. I don’t understand what’s happened. You know how leery I’ve been of dating since that fiasco with Bianca. I haven’t even looked at a woman, much less gotten serious about one. And now—well, I have no idea where this thing with Noelle is headed, and it scares the hell out of me.”
“Where do you want it to go?” Vincent asked. “All the way to the altar?”
Evan grimaced. “A few days ago I would’ve called you crazy for mentioning that word to me. But now I can’t imagine the future without her in it.”
“Sounds to me like you’ve already fallen in love with her.”
Love. Was that the emotion filling him with this desperate need to protect her, to make her happy, to provide her with all the things that would make her life better?
I think we need to talk.
Noelle’s remark had hardly sounded as if she wanted to pledge her love to him. So where was that going to leave him? Most likely wishing he’d never ridden Lonesome into that damned gulch. That was where.
“Let’s talk about something else,” Evan muttered. “Tell me what you found out about Bernice’s nephew, Billy Stivers. Anything suspicious?”
Vincent picked up a notebook from his desk and began to read. “He’s twenty-six. No wife or kids. As a juvenile, he committed one petty theft and was sentenced to do community service. A few months ago, he was working for Conroy Freight as a truck driver but was fired for altering his log record. Since then, according to the info I could gather from acquaintances, he’s just been bumming around between the Carson City area and a friend’s place in Orange County, California.”
“Hmm. He could have a connection to the Watson case, but we need more than that to go on. I had a little talk with his elderly aunt this afternoon. She lives a few miles from Noelle’s ranch, in fact.”
Curious, Vincent walked over to Evan’s desk and rested a thigh on one corner. “That’s interesting. And Noelle lives not far from where you had your accident. Where you found the tire tracks leading off the road and into the desert.”
“That’s right. And I’ll tell you something, Vince, it worries me to think of Noelle out there alone. The woman isn’t scared of anything. And she’d fight tooth and nail to protect her home and livestock.”
“Sounds like she needs a lawman to protect her.”
Evan smiled wryly. “Maybe you can convince her of that. I can’t.”
* * *
Later that night, when Evan arrived at Noelle’s house, she ushered him in. He was shocked to see her wearing a long black-and-beige-patterned skirt and a black turtleneck. Her hair was twisted into a bun atop her head, and she’d even put on pink lipstick. She looked so beautiful, his first urge was to lift her into his arms and carry her straight to the bedroom.
Instead, he simply kissed her cheek and drew in the soft scent of flowers clinging to her hair and skin. “You look very fetching,” he murmured.
“Thank you. I thought it was about time I let you see me in something other than jeans and boots.” She gestured toward the kitchen. “I have stew left over from my supper. If you’re hungry, I’d be glad to heat it up for you.”
“I’m fine. I had a sandwich earlier at my desk.” He followed her over to the couch. “Sorry I couldn’t get here earlier. We were about to wrap things up for the evening when we were called out to investigate a robbery scene.”
“No worries. It’s still early.”
She sat down in the middle of the couch, and he joined her on the next cushion. After they were both settled, he reached for her hand.
“So what is this talk about, Elle? I’ve been worried all afternoon. Today at the gulch, you sounded—well, unhappy. Are you still angry with me?”
She placed her free hand over his. “I wasn’t angry with you. More like disappointed. But that’s not what this is about. I—”
Pausing, she glanced away, and Evan could see that some sort of turmoil was going on inside her. Then he noticed an open letter lying on the coffee table.
“Has something happened? Is that letter bad news?” he asked.
Her short laugh was brittle. “Actually, that letter is from my parents. Sort of a Christmas/birthday card, I guess you’d call it.”
“I wasn’t aware that they stayed in contact with you.”
She grimaced. “They don’t. Not regularly. I guess they were feeling the spirit of the season, or suddenly remembered they had a child at Christmastime,” she said mockingly. “They’re in Paris right now, but they’ll be back in Phoenix sometime after New Year’s Day. They wanted to remind me that
if I ever got tired of playing cowgirl, I was welcome to come home and live like a ‘real’ person.”
Something cold hit the pit of Evan’s stomach. Is that what had brought about this change in her demeanor? Had hearing from her parents gotten her thinking she wanted more than this meager life here in Nevada?
“Have you answered it yet?”
She turned an odd look on him. “I won’t be answering it at all. They know I’ll never be coming back. Once in a while they send me photos or letters just as a way to dig at me—to punish me for leaving and turning my back on them.”
“Maybe it would help you, Noelle, if you did contact them once in a while. After all, they are your parents.”
“They’re thieves,” she said flatly. “They cheat others so that they can live in luxury. No, Evan. I don’t want any part of that.”
He sighed. “My family hasn’t always been a pillar of perfection,” he told her. “My father and grandfather have done things I was hardly proud of. But I don’t hate them for their mistakes.”
“I don’t hate my parents,” she replied. “I guess you could say I’ve simply given up on them.”
“Okay. So if it’s not that letter, then what did you want to tell me?”
Drawing in a deep breath, she rose to her feet, picked up the letter and carried it over to the little rolltop desk. “It’s about us. Well, more about me, I should say.” She stuffed the letter into a small side drawer, then turned to face him. “I think—these past few days, I’ve been letting myself dream that you and I—that we could be happy together. At least for a while.”
Unable to remain seated, he jumped to his feet and walked over to where she stood with her back resting against the edge of the desk. “I don’t understand. You’ve seemed very happy to be with me.”
She nodded, then dropped her head. “I’m not going to lie. These last few days with you have made me happier than I’ve ever been, but there’s something you need to know about me.” Lifting her head, she bravely met his gaze. “I don’t like law officers. I mean, not until I met you and your grandfather.”
The Lawman's Noelle Page 13
