Montana Hearts

by Darlene Panzera

  He had no interest in hunting game with a clear disadvantage. In fact, he wasn’t in the mood for hunting at all since Rio’s injury. He used to hunt on his friend Bucky’s ranch to put food on the table for his family and help thin out the deer population so they wouldn’t all die of starvation, but he’d never enjoyed putting an animal down, no matter what the media said. And after seeing the pain in Rio’s eyes, he couldn’t bring himself to hunt right now even if offered the best package deal made available to mankind.

  Of course, the local outfitters didn’t have to know that. In fact, he’d almost enjoyed playing along when talking to Gavin McKinley and pretended interest just to see how far the man would go. If Gavin wasn’t offering poaching trips, then he might know someone who was and be able to tip him off on who sent the threatening letter to his mom.

  He still needed to talk to his mother about his long-­lost cousins, who added another layer of tension to his stay each time they looked at him. While waiting for Delaney to finish serving dinner to the guests, Ryan’s son, Cody, had come up to him and asked for his autograph. He didn’t even think the kid knew they were related, but that didn’t stop Ryan from giving him another cold stare.

  Picking up the phone, he called his mother’s number, determined to find out if there had been other threats. While he had her on the phone, he thought he’d ask about the real story with the Tanners, too. But his sister, Natalie, answered his call instead.

  “Mom’s not home right now,” Nat told him. “She’s speaking at a dinner tonight in Helena hosted by her supporters. She’s ahead in the polls and it looks like she may have clinched the governor’s seat.”

  “The election isn’t for another two months,” he reminded her. “There’s still plenty of time for the competition to sway votes.”

  “Jace, whose side are you on?” Nat scolded.

  “Mom’s, of course. But I do worry about her being a target for some of the crackpots out there. Any more letters?”

  “No,” his sister assured him. “And Mom’s acting as if the incident never happened.”

  “That’s good.” Then he remembered the second reason he’d called and asked, “Hey, Nat. Guess who I ran into out here in Fox Creek?”

  “Knowing you, it could be anyone,” she teased. “Mr. Rodeo knows everyone.”

  “I didn’t know we had cousins.”

  She hesitated. “Who?”

  “Tanners,” he replied. “From Dad’s side of the family. What do you know about them?”

  “Mom never talks about Dad’s relatives much. I knew he had a sister, Lora Lynn, who married Bo Tanner, but she and Mom never got along.”

  “Aunt Lora had four boys: Dean, Josh, Ryan, and Zach. I’ve met the last two, who look to be around the same age as us, and Ryan’s seven-­year-­old son, Cody.”

  His sister gasped. “How did you meet? How did you find out you were related?”

  “Ryan works here, at Collins Country Cabins, on weekends. He’s engaged to Delaney Collins’s older sister, Bree. And he wasn’t too friendly. He said Mom took something from them.”

  “Our mom?”

  “Yeah. Any idea what it could be?”

  “None. But now that you’ve got my curiosity going, I promise you that as soon as Mom comes home I’m going to find out.”

  “I was hoping you’d say that,” Jace said, and grinned. “You’re always better at digging up details than I am.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment,” Nat said, as if amused. “By the way, speaking of details . . . how’s it going with Delaney?”

  Jace hesitated. “I don’t think she trusts me any more than the Tanners.”

  THE FOLLOWING DAY, Delaney kept her promise to the Walford twins and gave them a lesson in photography. Both girls had received identical cameras from their uncle for their seventeenth birthday and held them up to their eyes, trying out different types of lenses, and adjusting the apertures and dials.

  “Too bad we didn’t have these when Dreamy Devin was here this summer,” Nora crooned.

  “Too bad he went off to college,” Nadine agreed.

  “When do you two go back to school?” Delaney asked. She’d gotten used to the teenagers’ quirky ways, but it would be a relief to have some peace and quiet around the ranch.

  “Wednesday!” they chorused.

  “We’ll be high school seniors,” Nora added, as if she could hardly believe it. “And we’ll rule the school! But Bree said we can still help out on weekends.”

  She did? Delaney sighed. So much for a respite. Oh, well, she might as well accept it and hope for the best. Smiling, she asked, “Maybe you’ll meet some cute boys in your new classes?”

  “Not like Devin,” Nora said dramatically. “He was so handsome—­”

  “No one we meet will ever be as handsome as him,” Nadine finished for her.

  Delaney smiled. “My grandma always says, ‘You never know what might be waiting around the next corner until you get there.’ ”

  “My, gosh, you’re right!” Nora exclaimed, and nudged Nadine’s arm. “Who are those boys coming toward us?”

  Nadine turned her head and Delaney followed their gaze. A few of their newest guests had teenage sons. Both girls rotated their camera lenses to zoom in on them, and started clicking pictures as fast as their fingers would let them.

  Nora giggled. “I’m so glad our uncle wanted us to learn how rewarding it is to go on a nature shoot—­”

  “And capture life in all its gorgeousness,” Nadine added, clicking more photos of the boys.

  Nature shoot? Delaney’s mouth popped open as she realized that was the answer. That’s how she’d distract Jace from hunting. She’d give him a camera and take him on a nature shoot to teach him to appreciate the wildlife around him—­without killing it.

  Delaney brushed her hair, dabbed on some of the makeup Sammy Jo left her, and yes, even put on the dreaded lipstick. Then she changed into her best sparkly western-­style blouse, a gift Bree had given her to update her wardrobe, and went down to the stable to tack up the horses.

  The other guests who had signed on for the trail ride gathered in the staging area. Luke led their assigned horses up to the raised platforms to make it easier for them to get on. Then a few minutes later, Jace arrived. With a gun. A Winchester 30-­30 lever action rifle like her father’s.

  Delaney swallowed hard and forced a smile. “Glad you made it. We almost thought we’d have to leave without you.”

  “We?” Jace looked at each of the guests. “I thought when you offered to take me on a trail ride, you meant a private trail ride.”

  Is that what she’d implied? “I—­I take the guests on trail rides every day.” She glanced at the threat in his hands. “Not . . . hunting expeditions.”

  Jace gave the weapon a quick glance. “Your father insisted I bring this just in case I saw something.”

  Ugh. Anything to get the endorsement.

  “Jed wouldn’t take no for an answer,” Jace said, hoisting the rifle strap over his shoulder. “He’s a hard man to refuse.”

  Yes, he was. But it was bow season. Guns couldn’t legally be used for another two weeks. What was her father thinking?

  “I’ll take the others,” Luke offered, “and you can take Jace.”

  Delaney gasped. “But—­”

  “Whatever it takes,” Luke reminded her.

  Yes, she’d promised to do whatever she had to in order to please their special guest and get his endorsement. “Thank you, Luke.”

  “You’re welcome,” her brother shot back, and grinned.

  Jace tipped his hat toward her, then mounted the chestnut gelding Luke brought over to him. “Ready when you are.”

  Delaney hadn’t considered that when she led the trail ride she’d be riding in front and Jace would be able to watch her the entire time, making h
er self-­conscious once again. However, his constant gaze didn’t deter her from her goal of slapping a camera into his hand. As long as he held the camera, he wouldn’t be able to pull the trigger of the gun.

  “You never know what you might see,” she said, echoing her father’s words as she handed him a simpler model Canon than the camera that hung about her own neck. “I thought you might appreciate looking at nature a different way.”

  She half expected him to refuse, but apparently she had enough of her father in her that he accepted without a single protest. In fact, he reminded her of the twins as he looked at the camera like a new toy and snapped several photos of her.

  “Can you show me how to print them out, too?” he asked, lifting his gaze from the viewfinder.

  “Of course,” she said, and relief flooded through her that at least this one day the animals would have one less hunter to contend with.

  “When?” he pressed, his expression eager. “Tomorrow?”

  “Soon.”

  Jace grinned. “Why is it so hard to lock you into a date?”

  “I never make plans without checking my schedule,” she said, finding it hard to suppress a smile.

  “Where do you keep your ‘schedule’?”

  “Someplace safe where you can’t steal it.” This time she did smile and Jace smiled back.

  “What are these other settings for?” he asked, tapping the dial on the top of the camera.

  She rode closer and leaned toward him and pointed. “This one adjusts the shutter speed to catch fast-­action sequences, such as a fox chasing a rabbit. The next is a macro setting enabling you to zoom in close on an object, like the wings of a bee. The third is a manual mode that you can use for special effects, like if you wanted to turn the texture of the cascading water in the river to silk.”

  “How does that work?”

  Delaney shook her head. “I can’t show you how to change the aperture on horseback. We’d have to get off and—­”

  “There’s an old fencepost where we can tie up the horses,” Jace said, nodding toward the trail ahead.

  She supposed they could take a quick break. Delaney had led him down the open trail that followed the river on purpose. She figured it was one more way to keep him out of the woods and away from the animals.

  “The river is one of our ranch’s best features,” she said, sliding out of the saddle. “Our guests love the clear blue water, the trophy-­sized trout, canoeing, kayaking—­”

  Jace helped secure the horses. “What do you like to do?”

  Delaney smiled. “Skip stones.”

  The corners of Jace’s mouth curved up into a smile. “Are you any good at it?”

  “Come and see.” There were many things she feared she wasn’t good at, but she did take pride in this particular skill. Handing Jace her camera, she walked toward the water and scanned the riverbank for a flat, smooth, round stone. Then after finding one to her liking, she held it between her thumb and forefinger, and gave Jace a quick glance. “Ready?”

  He nodded, his eyes lit with amusement. “Ready . . . aim . . . fire!”

  While she wished he’d used another term, she reminded herself that she was doing a good job of distracting him from doing any real firing, and gave the rock a swift toss across the river. Flying low, it bounced along the surface, hitting the water six times before sinking.

  Jace clapped, his face full of admiration as he walked up close beside her. “I guess I should have tried the camera’s fast-­action mode but I wanted to see this with my own eyes.”

  “What about you?” she asked. “How many times can you skip?”

  “I’ve never spent much time by a river.” Jace frowned. “There are a lot of things I’ve never done.”

  “Don’t you love hearing the sound of the rushing water beside your cabin while lying in your bed at night?” Delaney asked, hoping to point out the advantages of staying at Collins Country Cabins.

  “I do.”

  He appeared to be impressed, so she kept going. “And don’t you love the way the sunshine makes the river sparkle?”

  “I love the way it makes your eyes sparkle,” he teased.

  “I’m trying to get you to appreciate what’s right in front of you,” Delaney said with a sweep of her hand.

  He laughed, his gaze never leaving hers. “I am.”

  Frustrated by the heat rising into her cheeks, she said, “How about I show you that manual mode?”

  He handed her camera back to her and raised the one she’d given him to his eyes. “What am I looking for?”

  “A horizontal scale of numbers should appear along the bottom of the viewfinder.”

  “I don’t see anything,” he said, pulling the camera away from his face.

  Stretching one arm between his, she leaned against him in order to see what she was doing, and turned a different dial on the camera. “Look again.”

  But instead of peering into the camera, he turned his head and looked at her. Delaney froze as his gaze held hers. Just inches apart, she had to admit her first assessment of the cowboy was wrong. He was handsome, whether he was far away or close, even more so close. She just hadn’t seen it before.

  He seemed to be looking at her as if for the first time again, too. “I could get used to this,” he said, and grinned.

  Delaney pulled back, sure her face must be as red as her family’s new hay barn. “We should get back to the horses.”

  But as they continued to ride, Jace continued to flirt with her. When they stopped along an upper ridge to admire a few remaining wildflowers and Jace rode up beside her, she pointed. “See that yellow flower beside that big rock?”

  He nodded. “Scarlet paintbrush.”

  “If you zoom in close you can see every spiked petal,” she said, and gazed up at him. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

  “It is,” he said, without even a glance at the plant. “So are you.”

  Her cheeks heated again and Sammy Jo’s encouraging voice screamed in the back of her mind, Flirt! But she couldn’t do it. All she could do was laugh and tell him, “I have no idea what to say to that.”

  Jace grinned. “Again—­love your honesty. Although I suppose you could say a simple, ‘Thank you.’ ”

  Delaney smiled. “Okay then, thank you.”

  Was it possible she’d misjudged him? Believed he was worse than he really was? After all, she’d seen with her own eyes how much he cared for his horse. And how much he’d wanted his cousins to like him. And how much he’d wanted to use the camera to take her picture.

  “You really are, you know, beautiful.” The way he looked at her almost made her believe it. Except Bree had always been the beauty queen around the house, not her. She was the pigtailed tomboy who didn’t mind when her horses slobbered apple and carrot juice all over her. The one who volunteered to muck out the stalls. A gal who climbed up to sit on the roof of the barn to watch the moon.

  A few of the horses whinnied and a second later a group of horses and riders rode toward them coming from the opposite direction and intending to pass them.

  “Jace!” Gavin McKinley called. “You should have come with us. One of our guys got himself an eight-­point buck with the first draw of his bow.”

  “That’s impressive,” Jace said, giving the man a nod as if interested.

  “Let me introduce you to Alicia,” Gavin said, coming up beside them with another rider. “She’d like to be your personal trail guide.”

  “I sure would,” the voluptuous blond bombshell purred. “How about tomorrow, cowboy?”

  Delaney stiffened and glanced at Jace. Was he attracted to this blatantly seductive woman? It was clear from Gavin’s expression that he hoped so.

  She thought of the dresses, jewelry, makeup, and magazines Bree and Sammy Jo had brought over. They’d been right. She was going to need
every advantage she could latch on to in order to keep Jace from giving his endorsement to someone else. Oh, if only she knew how to flirt!

  By some miracle, Jace shook his head. “Maybe some other time. I promised Jed and Luke Collins I’d go out hunting with them tomorrow.”

  What? She couldn’t let them, but silenced her tongue. For now, all that was important was that Jace had rejected the rival’s offer. She had several hours available to come up with a plan to stop Jace from hunting with her own family. “That’s right, Gavin,” she said, backing up Jace’s decision. “My father is a hard man to refuse.”

  Gavin grimaced. “But, Jace, we’re talking about big game here, with a beautiful woman by your side. What more could you want?”

  Jace gave the man a level look and nodded toward Delaney. “I’ve already got a beautiful woman by my side. Promise me something no one else can and maybe I’ll come along on a hunt with you.”

  “Playing hard to get, are you?” Gavin let out a hearty laugh. “Okay, Jace, I’ll wait to talk to you in private, when there aren’t so many others around.”

  The outfitter nodded in her direction, making it clear he meant when she wasn’t around. How dare that man! And what about Jace? His words inferring she was as beautiful as Gavin’s sexy blond gave her an unexpected jolt of warm pleasure, but what about what he said after that?

  “Promise me something no one else can”? Was Jace insinuating he might be interested in going after some illegal kills with this guy?

  Her stomach squeezed tight, just like it did when her friend, Carol, from the animal shelter asked her to speak at the rally. Nauseating bile rose into the back of her throat and she feared she might be sick again. She squeezed her eyes shut, took a few deep breaths, and after a moment got it under control.

  And to think she’d actually considered that maybe Jace wasn’t so bad. Men. She couldn’t trust any of them. She wouldn’t have anything to do with them if she could get away with it, but she remembered the promise she’d made to her family. No matter what she thought of Jace, she had to be nice to him and somehow make him believe her ranch was better than anyone else’s.