Colton Cowboy Hideout (The Coltons of Texas, Book 7)

by Carla Cassidy

  “They are cute, aren’t they? Do you want children?”

  “Definitely. I’d love to have a big family,” Josie replied. “What about you?”

  “I don’t know. Kids seem a little messy.”

  Josie laughed. “Oh, they are. They’re messy and unpredictable and give the sloppiest kisses and they fill up your heart in a way nothing else will ever do.”

  “If you say so,” Marceline replied dubiously.

  “Up! Lily up,” the little voice called from the nursery.

  Marceline stood. “And that’s my cue. I’ll scoot on out of here and let you tend to the girls.”

  Josie got up from her chair. “Thank you so much for the friendship roses, Marceline. That was so kind of you.”

  Marceline gave her a quick hug. “Thank you for letting me hang out here occasionally.” With those words she was out the door and Josie hurried to the nursery.

  It was an hour later when Tanner came in the door. He smelled of fresh air and sunshine and that hint of cologne she found so attractive.

  The girls greeted him with hugs and kisses and then went back to playing with their toys.

  “Good day?” Josie asked.

  “Not bad,” he replied and then frowned. “Where did the flowers come from?”

  “Marceline brought them to me. She told me yellow roses are for friendship. They are the first roses I’ve ever gotten from anyone.”

  His brow smoothed out. “She’s definitely playing nice with you.”

  “It’s kind of nice to have a female friend to talk to. It’s been a long time since I’ve had that in my life.” She wasn’t looking for pity. She was just stating a fact. While in witness protection she hadn’t allowed anyone to get close to her. Even friends could mean potential danger.

  Tanner’s gaze held hers for a moment and then he moved toward his bedroom. “I’m just going to take a quick shower and change and then we can head to dinner.”

  “Sounds good to us, right, girls?”

  As Tanner left the room, Josie thought about the frown that had creased his forehead when he’d seen the roses. Had he thought they might be from another man?

  Tanner Grange definitely gave her mixed messages. He professed she was too young for him and he wasn’t interested in her romantically, yet at times he looked at her as if she were his favorite dessert.

  He certainly wasn’t bringing her any flowers, but she’d gotten the distinct impression he wouldn’t be pleased if some other man brought them to her. Definitely mixed messages.

  She tried to tell herself that he was right—there was no future for her here no matter what fantasies she spun in her head. She’d known him for only ten days and ultimately her goal was to get the watch for her father and go back to Granite Gulch. But the idea of never seeing him, of never seeing his sweet babies again, already ached in her heart.

  By the time he returned to the living room she had the girls in their stroller and they were ready to head to the staff dining room and the evening meal.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked as they left the suite.

  She grinned up at him. “When am I not? Actually, I was thinking that maybe this weekend I could make my chicken and dumplings for dinner one night.”

  “That sounds good to me,” he replied easily.

  “There’s only one problem. I’m not sure where to get all the ingredients I need. I checked the refrigerator and pantry, and some ingredients are there, but I’m missing a few.”

  “Make a list and talk to Bettina in the kitchen. She’ll hook you up with anything you need.”

  “How does Saturday night sound?”

  “Saturday it is and I do expect the meal to live up to all the hype,” he said teasingly.

  A wave of warmth swept through her. It had just been in the past couple of days he’d started to tease her and she loved it. It spoke of the ease between them, of how comfortable they’d become with each other.

  When they reached the dining room he grabbed Leigh and Josie got Lily from the stroller to deposit them in the awaiting high chairs.

  They worked seamlessly together, buckling the belts and then tying on bibs. Again Josie was struck by how right, how natural it all felt. They were a perfect functioning team, just as two parents should be.

  As always, the dinner experience was a slightly chaotic mix of passing serving bowls, eating and listening to the latest gossip. Thankfully the latter part was in short supply this evening. The sheriff and his people had stopped coming by the ranch, although Josie knew the investigation continued and they were continuing to interview people at the station.

  The immediate concern for Eldridge’s well-being had faded into an unspoken horrible resignation that he was probably dead. While the family members were supposedly still hoping for a ransom demand, after ten days Josie didn’t think it was going to happen.

  Tonight the gossip around the table was about a well-known movie star who had been caught in bed with her best friend’s husband.

  “I knew she was nothing but trash,” Linda said. “She’s always showing off her naked body parts in the movies.”

  “That doesn’t make her trash,” Becky protested. “She’s just doing a job when she has a movie role.”

  “Getting into bed with your best friend’s husband makes you trash,” Linda exclaimed firmly.

  “I don’t know about trash, but it definitely shows you’re missing a few morals,” Josie added. “If you’re married then you shouldn’t cheat. If you feel like cheating then get a divorce. Marriage is supposed to mean something.”

  She straightened in her chair and warmth swept into her cheeks. “Sorry—I didn’t mean to preach.”

  Linda laughed. “Honey, there’s no need to apologize for speaking your mind. You spend most of these meals pretty quiet. It’s nice to know you have opinions.”

  “Trust me, I have plenty of opinions,” Josie replied with an easy grin.

  “Just ask me,” Tanner quipped, making everyone laugh.

  The rest of the meal was pleasant as everyone expressed their opinions on topics ranging from politics to the best cut of beef.

  Lily and Leigh behaved beautifully, earning them each an extra cookie for dessert. They started the walk back to the suite with Tanner and her arguing about what kind of cookie was the best in the world.

  Tanner insisted it was oatmeal raisin and Josie rebutted with chocolate chip. “They’re best just out of the oven, when the chips are warm and chocolaty goo.”

  “I’ve always had my chocolate chip cookies straight out of a store package,” he replied. “Actually, I’ve always had all my cookies out of a package that I bought.”

  “That’s tragic. So then I’ve just added my chocolate chip cookies to the menu for Saturday,” she replied. “Chicken and dumplings and chocolate chip cookies—it will be a stellar meal to remember.”

  He laughed. “And we’ll see if you make a believer out of me when it comes to what kind of cookie is best.”

  “Oh, trust me, Tanner. Sooner or later I do intend to make a believer out of you.” And she wasn’t just talking about cookies. She was talking about her...about them.

  As they reached the suite, he opened the door and she pushed the stroller into the living room, where together they got the twins out to play until bedtime and he stored the stroller in a corner of his bedroom.

  Lily grabbed the book Josie had been reading them before dinner, and as she held one side, Leigh grabbed the other. A tug-of-war ensued.

  “Mine.” Lily’s face scrunched up in anger.

  “No, Lee-lee,” Leigh replied in protest. “Mine.”

  Josie stepped up and plucked the book from their hands. “If you can’t share nice, then we don’t play with the book.”

  Lily shoved Leigh and Leigh responded by pinching Lily’s arm. Both girls wailed in outrage. Tanner grabbed Leigh up in his arms and walked with her to the chair and sat while Josie picked up Lily. Within seconds the tears had stopped.

  “Th
is is the first time I’ve seen them fight,” Josie said.

  “It doesn’t happen often, but it happens,” he replied.

  Josie carried Lily to where Tanner was seated and bent down with the little girl in her arms. “You two are sisters,” she said to the two. “Sisters don’t fight. Sisters love each other. Lily loves Leigh and Leigh loves Lily.”

  Leigh leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her sister. “Love,” she said. The two hugged each other and Josie looked up at Tanner.

  He gazed at her with hot, hungry eyes and her heart fluttered wildly. Time stood still and it was only as Lily moved out of Josie’s arms that he broke the eye contact. “Go play nice,” he said to Leigh and set her back down on the floor.

  “I’ll just go get some more toys for them to play with.” A wild heat filled Josie as she headed down the hallway to the nursery.

  She wanted him to kiss her again. The energy in the air between them had crackled with the sexual energy that electrified her. She wanted him and she had no doubt in her mind that he wanted her, too.

  She started past her bedroom door, but froze in her tracks as she glanced inside the room. Her heartbeat thundered at the sight of the drawers pulled out and emptied, and tossed on the floor. The bed was stripped down to the mattress and the window was open and missing the screen.

  “Tanner,” she cried in a strangled voice that she scarcely recognized as her own.

  He appeared in the hallway. “Josie, what’s wrong?”

  She raised a trembling finger and pointed into her room. In three long strides he was at her side. A small gasp escaped him and he immediately threw his arm around her shoulder and led her back down the hall to the living room.

  “Stay here,” he said and then disappeared into his bedroom. He returned only moments later with his gun in his hand and a hard glaze in his eyes. “Let’s get you and the girls into my bedroom. I’ve already cleared it and there’s nobody in there.”

  He bent down and scooped up Lily in his arms. Josie got Leigh and they went into the bedroom, where he deposited Lily on the floor. “Stay in here and lock the door.” There was a simmering urgency to his voice. He left the room and shut the door behind him.

  * * *

  “How in the hell did this happen?” Tanner turned to look at Zane. Both men stood in Josie’s bedroom doorway. The first thing he had done after getting Josie and the twins safely in his bedroom was check the rest of the suite to make sure nobody was anywhere inside.

  It wasn’t just anger that now coursed through Tanner. He was also filled with a rich, dark fear. What if they’d been in the rooms when somebody had broken in? What if Josie had been sleeping in the bed? What if his babies had been in the nursery? The thoughts chilled him to the bone.

  This was their home, a place that was supposed to be safe, not just for Josie, but for his girls as well. Now that sense of safety had been completely shattered. Somebody unwanted and unknown had violated the sanctity of his home.

  “I’ve got security patrolling the house at regular intervals, but I don’t have the resources to have every window and door covered twenty-four hours a day,” Zane replied, his frustration evident in his strained tone. “I’m doing the best I can, Tanner.”

  “I know. I called Troy. He should be here soon,” Tanner said. He’d also called Peggy to come and keep the twins occupied in his room while the sheriff investigated this newest crime. “Nobody has reported any strangers on the property?”

  “No, but you know this is a big spread and my men can’t be everywhere.” Zane frowned. “It was damn brazen of somebody to do this in the daylight.”

  “Thank God it didn’t happen in the night,” Tanner replied. At night they would have all been vulnerable with sleep. If this had happened at night it would have been a whole different scenario.

  A knock sounded at the door. Tanner shoved his gun into his waistband and then answered it. Peggy gazed at him worriedly. He’d told her briefly on the phone that there had been a break-in. “Are the girls okay?” she asked.

  “They’re fine,” he assured her. “They’re in the bedroom with Josie. If you could watch them until after we’re finished with things in here, I’d appreciate it. Sheriff Watkins should be arriving anytime now.”

  “I’ll be glad to watch them.” She went directly to the bedroom and a moment later Josie stepped out of the door.

  Her pale face was pinched with tension and he wanted to pick her up in his arms and carry her away to a place where she was safe and fear didn’t radiate from her eyes. There had already been far too much fear in her short life.

  “Is the sheriff here yet?” she asked as her gaze shot down the hallway, where Zane still stood just outside of the bedroom door.

  “I’m expecting him to arrive in the next few minutes or so,” Tanner replied.

  “It was the man in the woods. It has to have been him. That’s the only thing that makes any sense. He believes I have the watch and so he broke in here to hunt for it.” Her voice held a trace of breathlessness. “I knew he was watching us. I just knew it.” Her hands clenched and unclenched at her sides. “He didn’t go away. He’s here and he did this.”

  “Nobody got hurt, Josie. We’ll get through this,” Tanner said in an effort to comfort her.

  There was another knock at the door. “That should be Troy,” he said and hurried to answer.

  Troy entered, followed by Deputy Sheriff Charlie Kidwell and Deputy Julie Clark. “You called about a break-in?” Troy looked ten years older than he had when Tanner had last seen him.

  “That’s right,” Tanner replied and then he and Josie led the three officers down the hallway, where Zane stepped out of the doorway to allow the sheriff and his team access.

  Troy frowned at the mess in the room and then turned to look at Josie. “Have you checked to see if anything is missing?” he asked.

  Josie shrugged. “I haven’t been inside to check, but other than a credit card and some cash in my wallet in my purse, I really didn’t come here with anything worth stealing.”

  “Go ahead and find your wallet, but try not to touch anything else,” Troy instructed her.

  Josie took two steps into the small room and then stepped across an overturned drawer. “Here’s my purse. It’s been emptied out.” She bent down and picked up a hot-pink wallet from the floor and then rejoined them in the hallway.

  She opened the wallet and then looked up at Troy. “It’s all here—my driver’s license, my credit card and the cash.”

  “So, this doesn’t appear to be a random robbery,” Troy stated.

  “Looks like a search to me, boss,” Charlie said.

  “That’s exactly what it was,” Josie admitted. She glanced quickly at Tanner and then continued. “I think whoever broke in here was looking for my father’s watch that I came here to dig up.”

  Troy looked at her for a long moment and then released a heavy sigh. “Why don’t we go into the living room and you can tell me all about it. Charlie, check outside the building and see what you can find. Julie, see if you can lift some fingerprints in the room.”

  The three of them went back into the living room as the deputies got to work. Troy sat in the chair and Tanner sat next to Josie on the sofa.

  He could feel the tension radiating off her and once again wanted to pull her into his embrace and tell her everything was going to be okay. But he couldn’t do that and instead he settled for taking one of her icy cold hands into his.

  “Now, tell me all about this watch,” Troy said.

  “It belongs to my father,” Josie began.

  “Matthew Colton,” Troy stated flatly. Troy offered her a small smile. “Don’t look so surprised that I know about your father. I do my homework.”

  Josie squeezed Tanner’s hand and then explained to Troy about the watch and about the man who had accosted them in the woods.

  Troy leaned forward and gave them both a hard look. “Let me get this straight. A man shot you in the woods? Why didn�
�t you immediately report it?”

  “It was on the morning Eldridge disappeared. Things were in chaos around here and we figured you already had your hands more than full,” Tanner said.

  “Besides, I’d never seen the man before in my life. I have no idea who he is and we could have only given you a general description,” Josie added.

  “And after I hit his hand with the shovel he turned tail and ran. We hoped he’d left the area,” Tanner said.

  “From what you’ve told me, I’d say it’s obvious he didn’t leave the area and he’s probably the person who broke into the room.” Troy pulled a notepad and pen from his pocket. “So give me whatever description of him that you have.”

  “Medium height and a little on the thin side,” Josie said. “His hair was longish and filthy, but I’m not sure about his eye color.” She looked at Tanner as if to confirm what she’d said.

  He nodded. “Sounds right to me and his eyes were brown.”

  “And you’d never seen him before?” Troy held Josie’s gaze intently.

  “Never, but I’m assuming he followed me here from Granite Gulch,” she replied. “There were several times in the past couple of weeks I felt like I was being followed.”

  Troy wrote a few sentences and then shut his notebook and slid it back into his pocket. “Your family is well respected in Granite Gulch. Your brother Trevor is an FBI agent. Ridge is a search-and-rescue worker. Your brother Christopher is a private investigator and your sister, Annabel, is a rookie cop.”

  Tanner was surprised by how easily Troy rattled off the names and occupations of Josie’s siblings. The lawman had definitely done his homework.

  Josie nodded and raised her chin. “My sister and all of my brothers are good, solid citizens.”

  “And after checking extensively into your background, I’ve come to the conclusion that you are just like them. You’re free to leave here whenever you want. I know where you live and will contact you if I have any more questions for you concerning our ongoing investigation.”

  She could leave. She was free to go. The words played over and over again in the back of Tanner’s head as Troy and his people finished up.