The Ranger's Texas Proposal

by Jessica Keller

  “It’s not my grandfather.”

  “Ask him. What’s it going to cost you to ask?”

  An olive branch and then some.

  Heath hadn’t spoken to the man in years. He’d received a congratulations card in the mail when he’d been appointed a Ranger, but that had been their last contact. Maybe he’d ask Nell, see what she thought before poking at the old bear.

  “Please?”

  Heath sighed. First investigating the incidents at the ranch and now possibly reaching out to his estranged grandfather. Flint was sure getting a lot of favors out of him this visit.

  He gave Flint one stiff nod. “I’m not promising anything, but I’ll see what I can find out.”

  Chapter Four

  Josie shooed Heath away when he tried to help her down from his truck. One would think he’d have caught on by now that she liked to get down from the cab on her own.

  They’d been following the same routine for a week now. Every day he showed up at her house just after sunrise. He did all the chores and then polished off whatever food she placed in front of him, praising her cooking the entire time. Then he drove her to the ranch, and while she worked her volunteer shift, he poked around and talked to people about possible leads for the incidents that had occurred there. She’d given him a list of names of ranch hands to talk to who would have worked at the ranch when his father was murdered and she’d noticed him engaging each of those people in conversations, as well. The boys ranch was blessed to have so many people who either volunteered or continued working there faithfully for so many years.

  After talking with Flint, a few days ago Heath had started leading an after-school club for boys interested in learning how cops investigate crimes. They called their little club detection class. A majority of the older boys had instantly jumped at the chance to spend time with a Texas Ranger. Josie couldn’t blame them; Heath was good company.

  On her way toward the office, Josie spotted a few of the boys in the pen with the calves, trying to put a lead line on one of them. As she drew nearer, she recognized Riley, one of the oldest teen residents at the ranch, and his ever-present shadow, ten-year-old Morgan, as they moved to corner the skittish dairy calf everyone called Honey. She was a favorite among the kids because she had a marking that looked like a heart on her forehead.

  Morgan was a shy kid who was sometimes easily discouraged. If Honey kicked one of the boys, Morgan would probably not want to be around any of the calves any longer.

  Josie stepped into the pen and secured the door again. “Careful, now. She scares easily.” Josie held up her hands. “Shh, Honey. It’s okay, girl.”

  “Be careful, Ms. Markham.” Riley’s eyes went right to Josie’s pregnant belly. “How about you let me get up close to Honey instead? If she kicks, I’ll be fine.” At seventeen, the boy towered over Josie.

  Right. She’d forgotten how protective the older boys were about her. There was no way Riley was going to let her get close to Honey until he had her tethered.

  As small framed as she was, Josie’s pregnancy had showed almost immediately. Once the older boys noticed, they’d taken it upon themselves to try to ease her load. They were always offering to carry things for her or go in with the bigger animals when needed or pitch in when her truck got a flat the other week.

  All their gestures were sweet, but sometimes the extra attention grated on her all the same. The whispers of Dale’s repeated instructions to her—don’t do this, you can’t handle that, no I won’t let you have a farm, my wife won’t smell like cattle if I have anything to say about it—were never far behind whenever she let one of the boys help her.

  She had to remind herself the boys’ intention wasn’t to control her—they weren’t trying to tell her she wasn’t capable of doing those things. They were showing they cared about her.

  Josie stayed and encouraged Morgan as he led Honey around the pen a few times. She headed toward the office housed at the ranch once the boys left the pen on their way to their next lesson. The director had left a message for her earlier in the day. Bea, the director, had said she wanted to speak with her about how long Josie planned on volunteering...considering her condition.

  Josie held her head high as she strode past the blond receptionist, Katie Ellis, who was talking animatedly on the phone to someone about an electric bill. On a normal day, Josie would have stopped to say hi to Katie because the two women were good friends, but Josie didn’t want to interrupt Katie’s conversation. Instead she gave a little wave and the receptionist rolled her eyes and pointed at the phone. Josie stifled a laugh.

  Josie went over again what she had decided to tell Bea. She wanted to volunteer as long as she was able, although the pains in her back told her that it might not be too much longer. But she still had three months until her due date. Plenty of women worked right up until they went into labor; surely Josie could help around the ranch until then.

  Be brave. Be strong. Speak what’s on your mind.

  The director’s office was empty.

  Josie swiveled back toward Katie, who was just hanging up the phone.

  “Bea’s not in?”

  Katie sprang from her seat and came over to Josie, offering a quick hug. “You seriously just missed her. She had to run into town.” Katie motioned for Josie to follow her to the front of the office near a set of wide windows, her bouncy hair swishing as she walked. “She shouldn’t be long. Do you want me to have her find you?”

  Josie pressed her shoulder into the wall for support. “Heath has to leave early to run some errands today. I leave when he leaves, so I might not be here when she gets back. And I’ll be late tomorrow because I have a doctor’s appointment.”

  It had been a week of Heath stopping at her ranch in the morning, helping with chores and then sharing breakfast. He’d discovered some problems with her truck and declared it unsafe to drive for the time being. Something about her radiator and, even more concerning, he explained that the main rail for the frame of the vehicle had been weakened by the accident and needed to be replaced. He’d told her to call her insurance agent and have the truck junked, but Josie couldn’t do that. Not yet. She simply needed to have the rail fixed...and figure out how she’d pay for that. Surely that would be less expensive than buying a whole new car. She’d been a housewife for ten years and all of their bills and credit had been in Dale’s name. No one would give her a loan. She had to build up credit before she could buy a new car.

  Katie’s green eyes danced with mischief. “Well done there, with Heath. You snagged a good one. He’s a looker.”

  Josie rolled her eyes. Katie was young and single and had her radar set to locate and catalog all single, attractive men. Josie knew for a fact that there were at least three ranch hands who were suffering from crushes on Katie, but Katie didn’t seem to have eyes for them.

  “I snagged nothing. Nor do I want to.” Josie hooked her hand on her purse strap. “Snagging isn’t in my repertoire any longer.”

  Katie gave her a deadpan look. The younger woman was hopelessly determined to see everything through romance-tinted glasses.

  Josie let out an exasperated breath. “Heath has a strong protective streak. Most guys in his line of work do. The man saw a pathetic pregnant woman all on her own and turned keeping an eye on me into a mission. That’s how these types of men function. Everything’s a mission.” Josie popped her hands onto her hips. “Mark my words, come end of November, he’ll be gone on a new one and will have long forgotten us here.”

  “You’re hardly pathetic.” Katie’s eyes grew wide. “You know that, right? You’re one of the strongest people I’ve ever met.”

  “Thank you for saying that,” Josie whispered. She didn’t feel very brave. She was fighting tooth and nail to survive and hang on to her dream at the same time. Was that brave? Or was it foolish? Could the two be the s
ame thing?

  “I mean it.”

  Josie glanced out the window and her gaze landed on Heath. He was near the doors of the learning center, a small building behind the main house that held a library and had tables for the boys to do their homework on. A group of boys surrounded him.

  Katie nudged her elbow. “You like him.” Nudge. Nudge. Nudge. “Admit it.”

  Josie turned away from the window, but only slightly. She still wanted to keep an eye on...outside. She sighed. “He’s a pest. That’s what he is.”

  “The kids already adore him. That didn’t take long.” Katie jutted her chin toward where one of the young boys hung on Heath’s arm as he talked to an older boy. “They were all raving after his first lesson in...what are they calling it? Investigation? No. It was...detection.” Her voice took on a dramatic flair. “That night the boys put together this large-scale spy game that went all over the house. Whenever an argument broke out, they’d end it with ‘Tomorrow we’ll ask Heath. Heath will know. Heath knows everything.’” She laughed.

  Thinking about the impact that Heath was already having on the boys in only the few days he’d spent on the ranch, Josie felt her lips tugging into a smile. “He does seem to have a way with them. I’ve been volunteering at the ranch for five months and haven’t been able to connect with the boys the way he has in less than a week.”

  “Well, I mean, he does have an unfair advantage.” Katie tapped the pocket on her pink shirt. “Shiny badge.”

  “And I’m a pregnant lady.” Josie laid her hand over her abdomen. “That counts against me for coolness points.”

  “No way. The boys are so excited about your baby.”

  That was true. The boys were always asking what they could do or if they could be invited to the baby shower.

  Josie tapped the glass, pointing at Heath. “Still not as cool as a Texas Ranger.”

  “True. Very true. But then again, none of us measure up to that. We can’t. Not in a boy’s mind.” Katie crossed her arms and leaned against the edge of the window. “So are you going to fess up that something’s going on between you two or not?”

  “We hardly know each other and he leaves in a few weeks.” Josie walked away from the window. Enough staring. It wasn’t kind to her heart to watch him so much. “For good.”

  “His company’s out of Waco. That’s not exactly far, Josie.”

  “Sure, Waco’s not that far away. But he said he doesn’t live in Waco proper. A distance outside of that. And it doesn’t matter whatsoever if he lives five minutes away or ten hours away because the second his vacation is over, we’ll be out of his mind. As we should be.”

  “You two have already talked about how far away he lives?” Katie smiled excitedly. “Oh, this is promising.”

  He lived forty-five minutes away...too far for her to want to think about keeping up a friendship while trying to juggle her ranch and the baby who would be arriving soon.

  “He’s a Texas Ranger.” Josie’s voice went up a little, just a little. Why didn’t anyone understand what a big deal that was? “Do you know what kind of cases they work? The sort of danger they’re in?” Josie hugged her stomach. “After what happened to Dale...” Her voice broke.

  Katie’s eyes went soft and she placed her hand on Josie’s arm, offering a squeeze.

  Josie swallowed hard. “I don’t want any connections to law enforcement. Not ever again. I don’t want to care...even a little bit...for someone who could be killed as part of their job.”

  “Couldn’t that happen to any of us, though?” Katie said softly. “Not just a lawman. But...I could get in a crash on the way to work. One of the ranch hands could get thrown from a horse and land wrong. Someone could be stampeded.”

  “That’s not the same.” Josie shrugged away from her touch. “It’s not the same as willingly knowing that part of your job requires you to have a gun pointed at you at any time of any day. Freak accidents are very different than dealing with criminals.”

  “But doesn’t that say something, I don’t know, something really great about a man’s character when he’s willing to do that?” Katie started to pace. “That he’s willing to stand in the gap between society—people they don’t even know—and the dangerous stuff? I mean, in a way it’s a lot like how Jesus stands between us and the worst possible fate. It’s very Christlike, being ready to lay down your life for someone.”

  Josie adjusted the strap on her purse and inched toward the door. “And there. You just made my point for me. They killed Jesus.”

  Katie’s face fell. “That’s not at all what my point was.”

  She had to get Katie off the topic or else they’d go around in circles. Josie wasn’t going to change her mind. “Moving on...”

  “Okay, but please admit that he’s cute. You can do that at least, right?” Katie pointed over her shoulder out the window. “He’s got that tall, dark and handsome thing working for him. Not to mention he has that I’m here to rescue you vibe, as well.”

  She was trying to make right for having upset Josie. That was Katie’s way. She was kind, a peacemaker. Josie sighed. She would ease Katie’s conscience by making light of everything. “He is handsome. I’ll agree with you there.” That was part of what made him so dangerous.

  “He’s here until the end of the month?”

  Josie nodded.

  “Are you bringing him to the Thanksgiving celebration?”

  “I didn’t think to ask him.”

  “Please do.” Katie’s phone started to ring and she headed back to her desk. “I need a head count, and the boys who are sticking around for the holiday will want him there. They already look up to him so much. They’ll all try to sit at his table.”

  “I’ll ask him.”

  Her hand hovered over the phone receiver. “As your date?”

  Josie walked backward through the doorway. “Absolutely not.”

  Katie shrugged. “Hey, you can’t blame a girl for trying. I wish someone would get Pastor Walsh to ask me, but it’s like he doesn’t even notice I’m here.” She sighed and then picked up the phone, answering it in her cheery voice.

  Everyone at the ranch knew that Katie had her heart set on the young pastor. Too bad Andrew Walsh was just about clueless when it came to women. He was a great preacher, but started to fumble and grew shy whenever the younger women in the congregation tried to speak with him. Pastor Walsh volunteered at the boys ranch, often holding lessons with the boys under the large tree in view of the office window near where Katie sat.

  Josie laughed as she walked down the hall, making the connection for the first time.

  Maybe Pastor Walsh wasn’t so clueless after all.

  * * *

  Heath slowly paced in front of the row of boys. They were all at attention, soldier straight as their eyes followed him. He’d led them into the barn—the “crime scene”—so they could start collecting clues.

  “Now, I’ve roped off the area so that our evidence won’t be disturbed. Take some time to study the scene and then we’ll talk about what we see.”

  The boys inched forward, craning their necks.

  Heath had locked them out and set up the crime scene. Shoe impressions on the dirt ground, areas where the suspect would have stumbled under the weight of what they stole and a clear area where the item was stolen from. Those three things should be enough to tell them who’d committed their make-believe crime.

  If only his other investigations—the real ones—would go as smoothly. He’d started to move down the list of people Josie had given him, people who had worked at the ranch when his dad was murdered. Talks with the first four on the list had only produced people who said they were sorry for his loss and knew nothing. Heath scrubbed his hand over his jaw. She’d given him the contact information for a few people who still lived in the area but no l
onger worked at the boys ranch. Those were his next leads. His only leads.

  So far there was no news on the mischief at the ranch, either. Everyone claimed they hadn’t seen or heard anything suspicious, although a few people suggested a man by the name of Fletcher Snowden Phillips as a suspect. Supposedly he had a grudge against the boys ranch. Heath would look into that next.

  But first, his detection class.

  Heath shook away his thoughts so he could give the boys all his attention. “So what do you see?”

  A boy with a mop of brown hair raised his hand. “Footsteps.” He pointed.

  “Good eyes.” Heath nodded. He crossed to where he’d set up a pail and then motioned the boys over. He’d made sure to wet the dirt earlier, until it was muddy, and sank the borrowed shoes in deep so they’d leave solid places to cast impressions. “I need two very detail-oriented helpers.”

  All hands shot up. He pointed to an older and younger boy, probably sixteen and ten respectively, and jerked his head for them to come closer. Heath hadn’t learned all the boys’ names yet, but he meant to. Whenever he got a name right, they beamed like they’d just won a prize.

  “We always try to collect as much evidence as we can, but we have to balance that with being as careful on scene as possible.” He squatted near the pail, all eyes following him. “In this profession, we live by the motto ‘Do Right the First Time’ because we don’t get second chances. Not with a crime scene, and often not when questioning people.”

  “Do right the first time,” Stephen, one of the older boys, muttered. Heath had made certain to learn which one was Stephen right away because the teen was on his list of suspects for the string of incidents that had occurred at the boys ranch. “That seems like a tall order. Almost impossible.”

  A female voice cleared her throat near the doorway. Josie. Her auburn hair cascaded over her shoulders and the sun shone behind her, lighting her petite frame.

  Heath’s throat went dry. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.