The Ranger's Texas Proposal

by Jessica Keller

  “Amen,” Josie whispered. “Thank you.”

  “Sure.” Heath shrugged and gave her a look that said it was strange to thank someone for saying a prayer. They both dug into their food. Heath passed a compliment her way after every bite.

  “I haven’t eaten that well in...” He leaned back and rested his hands on his abs. “Well, suffice it to say it’s been a long time since this bachelor has had a good meal. I don’t think I’ve ever used the oven back at my apartment for anything beyond frozen pizza.”

  Living off frozen pizza? Josie shivered at the thought. “No Mrs. Grayson, then?”

  “There’s my mother?” He shook his head. “But no, she hasn’t been Mrs. Grayson in fourteen or so years. She’s Mrs. Nye these days.”

  “Dating?” Why was she grilling him?

  “No, ma’am. I’m not exactly the dating type.”

  She pointed her fork at him. “What did I say about the ma’am business?”

  He ran his hand over his hair. “Force of habit, I’m afraid.” Then he rocked forward, pushed his plate to the side and rested his hands on the table. “How about you tell me what happened at the barn last night—go ahead and go into detail, if you will.”

  “Right.” Josie clasped her hands in her lap. “It was just past sunset last night. I know that because the boys were in the dining room with their house parents—there are couples at the ranch who serve as counselors and role models for the boys living there. They had just finished dinner. I was heading out to my truck.”

  “That one out there?” He jutted his thumb toward her driveway.

  “The only one I have.”

  He laid a hand on the table, giving off a relaxed air that Josie knew—from Dale’s training—was all part of the tricks of the trade when it came to getting a witness to feel comfortable in an interview. “Is it safe to drive?”

  “Is this pertinent to my story?”

  “No.” He shifted in his seat. “I apologize. Continue, please.”

  “Well, I was about to unlock my truck but I froze because I heard a clanging sound, and I know that sound because it’s very distinct. I hear it every day.” Josie stopped clenching her hands together. Relax. She wasn’t on trial. Heath was here to help.

  She took a deep breath and continued, “It was the side door to the calf barn. The one I personally had locked before dinner. I’d asked one of the ranch hands—Davy—to grease the door so it wouldn’t frighten the calves anymore, but I guess he hadn’t gotten around to doing that yet. Good thing, too, because if he had, I might not have seen all of this and the calves would be lost.”

  “You’re positive it was locked?”

  “Absolutely. I sent the boys in to wash up for dinner and I stayed back and locked all the doors before I headed in.”

  “So you heard the door open?” he prompted.

  “Yes, and then I saw someone charge out of the barn.”

  “Could you describe them?”

  Of course he’d ask that. She should have used the past few hours to try to draw a better, clearer image from her memory.

  She shrugged. “Medium height, medium build. I’m sorry...that’s all I’ve got.” She blew out some air. “They were wearing a hooded sweatshirt and it was dark out. I never got to see his face.”

  “His? Are you certain it was a man?”

  Questions... Josie took a deep breath. It was Heath’s job to pick apart her story. That was how he found the truth. Josie knew that, but even still, it made her want to shrink. Dale had never been able to turn off his police brain. He spoke to Josie the same way he would a suspect. Maybe that was an across-the-board thing for all people in law enforcement.

  She picked at a chip in her table. “I guess I’m assuming that part.”

  “Do you have any idea who it might have been?”

  “No. I mean, at first I thought it might be one of the older teens from the ranch. They have setbacks sometimes. But it wasn’t one of them.”

  His chair creaked. “You’re positive?”

  “Absolutely. They wouldn’t do something to put the calves in harm’s way. Even if one of them were upset.”

  “Did the person recognize you?”

  “No. Maybe? How would I know? I didn’t recognize them. But I talked... I said my name.” She licked her lips, remembering that detail. She’d called out to the person... It’s Josie. If one of the boys had been in distress, she’d wanted to be able to help them.

  Heath leaned forward.

  Josie pressed on. “The person took off toward the open pasture and I couldn’t chase them.” She gestured toward her abdomen. Pregnant women didn’t run. Hopefully, Heath picked up on that without her stating it. “And as they took off, all the calves spilled out of the barn and started running around the ranch—into the darkness. I couldn’t catch them all, so I called for help and all the boys and the house parents came out and helped corral the calves. We caught them all and were finally able to locate all the boys, too.”

  “Locate the boys?” His head tilted, just by a fraction. “So someone was missing?”

  “Stephen.” Should she have told Heath? She didn’t want him to grill the teen. Stephen had been aloof recently, but he was still on track to go home next month. “He’s seventeen. But he’s a good kid. He didn’t do it.”

  “How can you be certain?”

  “He had a book with him. He’d been out reading.”

  Heath frowned. “Outside? In the dark?”

  “It wasn’t him.”

  Heath’s brow dived. He used his pointer finger to rub under his chin. “How long were you outside before this all happened? Roughly.”

  “Fifteen...maybe twenty minutes maximum.”

  “Alone?” His eyebrows inched closer together with each question. “What were you doing out there for so long?”

  She’d been focusing on how lonely she was. She’d been crying, not looking forward to the quiet back at her cabin. She’d foolishly asked God for a second chance at life and love.

  Josie hid her shaking hands under the table. “Does that matter to the case?”

  “It might.”

  Calm down. “I was thinking. Thinking and watching the sunset. That’s all.”

  He touched the tips of his fingers together. “I ask because I have to determine the suspect’s most probable time of entry into the barn. You didn’t hear someone accessing the barn before then?”

  “Not at all. I’m the one who locked it. All the doors were locked. And that was at least an hour before then.”

  Heath rocked forward. “More than likely the perpetrator was camped inside already when you locked the doors.”

  “He was in there with me?” That idea made her skin crawl. She’d locked up alone and it wasn’t like she walked around the boys ranch armed.

  “That’s my guess. It could change depending on other information.” He leaned back in his chair again and tapped one finger on the table a few times. “Then again, it’s most likely one of the boys, so there was probably no danger.”

  “It wasn’t one of the boys. They were all accounted for.” Besides Stephen, but it wasn’t him.

  Heath pressed back from the table and crossed his arms. Leveled her a doubtful look. “Those boys are at that ranch because they’re trouble. They wouldn’t be there if they weren’t. I wouldn’t put it past any of them to cause problems. They’ve done worse.”

  Josie pressed back from the table. How could Heath say those things? Peg the boys as bad eggs before he’d even met them? Was he one of those cops who had seen so many horrible things that he automatically assumed the worst about everyone? She had watched Dale grow bitter about the world, more so each year on the job.

  She shouldn’t press Heath. Then again, Josie had promised herself after Dale passed away that she
wouldn’t allow anyone to push her around ever again. Not that Heath was being pushy. But from now on, she was going to be strong. Ask questions. The old Josie always swallowed her thoughts and opinions... No longer.

  A breath. “I’m sorry, but your tone. You...you don’t like them—the boys—do you?”

  “I don’t know them. I’ve only been to the ranch a few times and last time was years ago at the old location.”

  “Yet you’re judging the boys anyway.” She shouldn’t be talking to him like this. Heath was almost a stranger, and here she was challenging him. But it grated on her to hear someone misjudge them, and so quickly. The Lone Star Cowboy League had worked hard to try to weed out the rumors in town that the boys at the ranch were trouble, yet still some of that belief lingered.

  Heath scooped his hat off the back of the chair and worked it around in his hand. “See, that’s where people get it wrong, though. Using good judgment isn’t the same thing as being judgmental.”

  A fire lit in Josie. She wanted Heath to see the boys differently. But how to do that? “How long are you around, doing this favor for Flint?”

  “For November.”

  She had a month to change his opinion, and she knew just how to do it. “You should volunteer at the ranch. Get to know the boys.” It would be good for him. Besides, the boys would be floored if a big, important Texas Ranger started hanging around them.

  Heath’s eyebrows formed a V. “Why?”

  Think like a lawman... What will convince him?

  She took a deep breath. “For starters, your presence will prevent anything else from happening. Also, if you really think it’s one of them, that’ll put you in close proximity. You’ll be able to get to know them and talk to them. Someone might even confess. Or you may see that they’re wonderful and realize you were wrong to judge them.”

  Heath rubbed his thumb over his nose. “You know what, that’s not a half-bad idea. It would help my...investigation. You’re right about that. I’ll talk to Flint about it tomorrow.”

  Josie’s heart tripped over itself at the thought of spending more time with Heath. Of course she wanted him to change his opinion about the boys, and time at the ranch was the best way for that to happen. But what if it changed her opinion about men in law enforcement?

  Her eyes skirted over the lines of his strong jaw, his shoulders. He’d given up so much time to help her this morning and he hadn’t talked down to her at all. Maybe he wasn’t like Dale. Maybe...

  The baby inside of her moved, rolled. Josie loved that feeling. She hugged her stomach. Above everything, she had to protect her child from hurt. That was her duty as a mother.

  No lawmen.

  If God did choose to give her a second chance at love, He’d have to bring a nice insurance agent or IT man her way. Someone who worked a boring, safe job all day, tucked away behind a desk. One whose greatest career danger was an ink stain.

  Not someone who carried a gun for a living.

  Chapter Three

  The loud noise outside sent Josie reaching for the closest heavy object.

  A frying pan.

  She pulled back the curtain over her sink and peered outside. Heath’s large Ford pickup was parked near the river, dwarfing her vehicle. He’d unlatched and opened the barn—which explained the noise—and had already headed inside. A minute later he was leading out the cattle.

  “That man,” she grumbled and set the pan back onto the stove. “What is he up to?”

  He’d left soon after their brunch yesterday. Said even though his apartment was only forty-five minutes away, he needed to check into the Blue Bonnet Inn in town because he preferred to stay close during an investigation. He explained that if something happened at the boys ranch, he wanted Flint to be able to call him and be only minutes away. Which made sense. Flint’s place at the boys ranch wasn’t that big and his young son lived with him—so asking Flint to host him for a month, even though Heath and Flint were close friends, was probably asking too much.

  Josie had to chuckle, though. The Blue Bonnet Inn was an upscale place inside an old historical home. The rooms were decorated to match Texas flowers. It was better suited for a granny on vacation than a lawman. Heath Grayson would stick out there like a rooster in a henhouse.

  She rested her elbows on the counter and cupped her chin in her hands. Today she’d have to ask Flint exactly how long his friend was going to stick around and be a pest in Haven. Heath had given her the vague answer of November, but she had a hard time believing that an investigation into a few missing items, a lost therapy horse last month and the calf incident would hold the attention of a Texas Ranger for long. At least after speaking with Flint, Josie would have an end date to look forward to. Not that she particularly minded Heath—not him personally. Oh, he was nice enough and not bad to look at.

  But he was a Texas Ranger. They sought out danger. That was their job. Even if he insisted on stopping by her ranch and doing chores in the morning, which it looked like was his plan, she couldn’t get used to it...to him. Heath would leave soon and rush off somewhere that meant risking his life. It was best not to get attached to him in any way, even simply as a friend.

  Really, it would be better if she got rid of the overly helpful man. At least in her personal life.

  After changing into fresh clothes, braiding her hair and straightening the kitchen, Josie made her way outside and entered the barn. She found Heath sitting on a stool, hunched over the water troughs, scrubbing them out with all his might.

  He glanced her way. “Animals are fed. Bedding’s changed. I spotted a few fence posts that could use reinforcing.”

  How did he know how to take care of a ranch? It wasn’t like a Texas Ranger had a lot of free time on his hands to care for animals and land and everything that went along with ranching.

  “You don’t need to do that.” She paused in the doorway. “Actually, you don’t need to be doing any of this.” She crossed her arms. “Why are you here?”

  “I thought I could help.”

  She propped her shoulder against the doorjamb. “I don’t need any help.”

  Straw dust danced between them in the morning rays of light bleeding into the barn. Heath’s eyes met hers across the space and he held her gaze. Raised his eyebrows.

  Josie shook her head and walked forward. “I don’t need your help.”

  “What if I said I was hoping to get more breakfast out of the deal?”

  Even though he said it with a straight face, Josie was smart. She knew the man was trying to save her pride. Allow her to hang on to the idea that he was working for a good meal instead of pitching in because she was a lonely, pregnant woman. He could get a huge breakfast at the inn every morning if he wished and he was choosing not to.

  Fine, then. She’d play along. Because that was better than admitting the truth.

  “Oh. I see how it is.” Josie clucked her tongue. “You’re like some homeless dog. I made the mistake of feeding you and now you’ll just keep on coming back?”

  He dragged the first trough back to its corresponding enclosure. “Something like that.”

  Josie spun around and called over her shoulder, “Wipe your boots before coming into my house.”

  “Will do.”

  She went back inside and muttered to herself as she set the griddle on. She leaned her hip into the counter and braced her hand along her side. It was a blessing not to have to do all the chores this morning. Over the past week, her lower back had been hurting more often than not.

  When the griddle was warm enough for a pat of butter to sizzle its way across the surface, she mixed the liquids and soaked six large pieces of fluffy bread. French toast and bacon. She’d make him some food, explain to him that he couldn’t just show up here and take care of all her chores every day—even though she really did apprecia
te it—and then she’d ask him to leave again. No getting attached. Easy peasy.

  Heath entered as she was filling cups with orange juice.

  “All set.” She gestured to the plate.

  “Looks great. Smells even better.” He nodded. “Let me just wash my hands.”

  Once he was back at the table, he said grace for them again and they both dug into their food. This morning Josie was glad to be heading into her third trimester—no more morning sickness. Food was her friend again.

  “I didn’t get to mending the fence posts today. But I will by the end of this week.”

  Josie’s curiosity was piqued. She had to find out how he knew so much about ranching. “To be a Ranger, you’d have had to have worked for the state for a long time before then, right?”

  “Eight years in investigations with the state before you’re even allowed to fill out an application.”

  “So your entire adult life has been dedicated to police work?” He sounded a lot like Dale. Living...breathing the job.

  His head bobbed. “I served as a soldier right out of high school and then went straight into the force.”

  “Did you ever see action?”

  He looked down at his plate. “A tour in Iraq.”

  “Was it scary?”

  Heath shrugged. “To be honest, I didn’t have a lot going for me at the time and I wasn’t afraid to die. I know that sounds bad.” He moved his cup in a slow circle so the orange juice swirled around and around. “My father had passed away a few years before that, and my mom remarried pretty quickly. I’m afraid to say my stepdad and I butted heads from the get-go. More than anything, I joined the service to escape.”

  Heath wasn’t afraid to die? She wanted to ask him about that statement, but she didn’t really have a right to. Policemen and soldiers were alike in that way, weren’t they? They always knew that not coming home was a possibility. But that didn’t mean they weren’t afraid of the possibility. Did Heath enjoy an adrenaline rush? Or was it something else?