The Cowboy’s Outlaw Bride

by Cora Seton

  “Fair enough. Dale and his associates were storing weapons there—real weapons. Lots of them. Assault rifles, things like that. Dale was convicted along with several other men of smuggling arms over the border into Canada.”

  Noah frowned. He had to admit that sounded pretty bad. Assault rifles were banned in Canada. “What’s that got to do with Olivia?”

  “The sheriff knew something was up, had his suspicions what he’d find if he could track Dale down, but he didn’t know the location of his hunting cabin. So he asked Olivia a few questions one day…”

  “And she cooperated.” That was a trick to play on a little girl, getting her to rat out her dad. “She cooperated,” he repeated. “Which means she wasn’t a part of whatever Dale was doing.”

  “It also means she grew up in a family that doesn’t think twice about running on the wrong side of the law. Think about that, Noah; you’re a parole officer.”

  “You have any evidence she’s ever committed a crime?”

  “Can’t say that I do. Not sure that matters, though.”

  Noah frowned. He knew what Mahoney was trying to say, but this new information only made him feel for Olivia.

  “Look, I’m pretty sure Steel’s been involved with smuggling, too. Possibly other crimes. He’s a pretty shady guy. Takes after Dale.”

  “But you don’t have any proof.”

  “No.”

  “What about Lance?”

  “I didn’t see anything on him, other than a suspicion he cheats at cards.” Mahoney grinned suddenly. “I’ve heard more than a few complaints about that over the years, but to my way of thinking Lance might just be good at the game.”

  “Thanks for the tip.”

  Mahoney grew serious again. “Olivia’s trouble for a guy like you, Noah. Come on, anyone can see the attraction. You’re a straight-laced guy with a lot of responsibility hanging on your shoulders. Olivia’s this wild child you want to save.”

  “She’s not a wild child.” The memory of her reading in the stacks of the town library crossed his mind again. Far from it.

  “She’s not the girl for you. Step away while you still can.”

  “I appreciate your concern.”

  Mahoney sat back. “But you’re not going to listen to me.”

  Noah shrugged. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

  “Liar. You do, too. You’re going to sleep with her. And then you’re going to regret it. Well, don’t say I didn’t try to stop you.” Mahoney drained his glass and stood up. “See you around, Turner.”

  “See you around.” He let Mahoney show himself out, then realized the man had left his folder behind. On purpose, Noah was sure. Noah stacked the papers inside it and pushed it away. Maybe Mahoney was right; maybe he shouldn’t get tangled up with a woman like Olivia.

  But he wanted to.

  Several hours later, when darkness had fallen, Noah let himself out of his house quietly so as not to attract the attention of Liam or his sisters, who’d all come home in the meantime. He couldn’t tell them where he was going, and he didn’t want to lie, either. He preferred to slip away unnoticed.

  He breathed easier when he turned his truck out of the lane onto the country highway that led to Thorn Hill. Not that he was going to pick up Olivia there; they’d agreed via text she’d walk out to the main road and wait in a nearby turnoff. He supposed they could have met at the Ridley place, but that would be two vehicles for someone to spot. Best to keep things simple. Besides, if he couldn’t take her on a real date, he’d make up for it by playing the gentleman in other ways.

  Unfortunately, just as he reached the turnoff where Olivia waited with her arms crossed, he spotted another vehicle’s lights approaching in the oncoming lane. What if the other driver saw them? He pressed on the accelerator and passed her by, hoping Olivia would understand.

  As soon as the other truck was out of sight, Noah pulled a quick U-turn and circled back to her. Olivia looked pissed.

  “Didn’t you see me?” she asked through the open window. She yanked the door open and climbed into the passenger seat before Noah could hop out and do the honors. “What was that about?”

  “Being careful, that’s all. We can’t afford to be seen together.”

  Olivia looked away. “Sure.”

  Noah’s jaw tightened. She had to understand where he was coming from, but he wasn’t sure how to fill in the ensuing silence. He was grateful when they reached the Ridley property.

  “What is it with you and turnoffs today?” she asked when he drove on past the lane leading into it.

  He nodded at a copse of trees ahead, silhouetted against the starry sky. “There’s another lane that leads to a field behind those trees. I’ll park there where no one will see us. Don’t want to be interrupted, do we?”

  “Whatever.”

  Uh-oh. He wasn’t scoring points with his cautiousness. “You don’t want Steel or Lance to know you’re with me, do you?”

  “No,” she said shortly, but she kept her head turned away.

  Once parked, Noah came around to open her door and took her hand before she could pull away from him. When she let him hold it, he figured all wasn’t lost.

  They picked their way down an overgrown path to the abandoned farmhouse, a nondescript old building whose windows were boarded up.

  Noah wished he could refurbish it, or tear it down and build a new one. He hated to see something useful like this fall apart. His own house needed work, though. No need to take on a new project, even if his family did manage to win the Founder’s Prize.

  “Are we there yet?” Olivia joked as they broke through some bushes and found themselves near the house’s front porch. He was gratified to see she’d regained her sense of humor.

  “Do you want to be inside or outside?”

  “I don’t think we can get inside.”

  “What kind of talk is that for a burglar?” Noah could have kicked himself the moment his words left his lips. Olivia moved away abruptly, and he followed helplessly, wondering if there was any way to salvage this date. “Let’s try in the back,” he said and led the way around the house. They found a flagstone patio and a back door Noah was able to force open with his shoulder.

  “Ugh. It smells in here.” Olivia shivered and wrinkled her nose.

  “Yes, it does.” Noah looked around. The building seemed structurally sound but that was all anyone could say about it. “Outside?”

  “Definitely.” She returned out the door they’d come in and waited while Noah opened the picnic basket he’d packed earlier and pulled out a blanket. She helped him spread it on the flagstones, and they unpacked the rest of the contents. Noah lit a wide candle and placed it to one side where it wouldn’t catch anything on fire.

  Now he could make out her expression, which was drawn and wary.

  “This is better,” he said with false cheerfulness and set about pouring her a glass of wine.

  “I guess so.” Olivia took a sip and visibly relaxed.

  Noah relaxed a little, too. It was a beautiful night. The air was warm. Insects sang in the long grasses nearby, and stars were winking into existence in the night above them. If he could stop sticking his foot in his mouth, everything would be fine.

  He handed her a foil-wrapped sandwich, and for a few minutes they were too busy eating to talk. Noah searched for something to say. “Wish our families weren’t always at each other’s throats.”

  “You know what they say: if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.”

  “Maybe we could do something about it.” That seemed far-fetched, even to him. Olivia didn’t bother to answer. “I’m glad you’re here, anyway. Back in Chance Creek, I mean,” he went on, wanting to bridge the distance between them. “Your family was gone a long time.”

  Olivia stilled. Sent him a cryptic look. “I know, believe me.”

  Too late, Noah realized he’d walked into another minefield. “I just meant—”

  “It’s my fault, you know,” O
livia said suddenly. “That’s been on my mind a lot. Dad went to jail because of me, and he never got out again.” She set her sandwich down on her paper plate. Her words were light but Noah felt the pain behind them.

  He was surprised she’d admitted that, and he softly asked, “What happened?” He needed to hear it from Olivia, even if he’d read it in Mahoney’s file earlier in the day.

  “I was dumb. Just a stupid kid. Thought I was doing the right thing reporting a crime and instead helped Cab’s dad bust my father.”

  “What do you mean?” That didn’t quite jibe with what he knew.

  “I used to play here all the time—with Ma—” She cut off suddenly. “With one of my friends. I had a treehouse back that way.” She pointed off into the distance. “Hung out in it whenever I could. Explored all over the place.”

  Noah could imagine it, but he wondered what she’d been about to say before she’d bit back her words. Who had she come here to play with? And why didn’t she want him to know?

  “One day we found a field of marijuana growing on the property. I mean, I can’t believe someone managed to hide a crop that large for so long without us knowing, but it wasn’t where we usually hung out. I was walking first, and as soon as I spotted it, I knew exactly what it was. I’d seen pictures in books in the library. I got my friend out of there before she could figure it out. She didn’t realize what she’d seen, thank God. I didn’t know what to do. I figured if someone else found it, they’d blame us. We live right next to that property, and people always said things about my dad. It wasn’t his crop,” she added. “He never sold drugs.”

  Noah nodded.

  “I brought it up to my mom casually. ‘What would you do if you saw something against the law?’ She was busy doing housework and gave me a brush-off answer: tell the authorities. Now I look back and realize that was a load of baloney. Mom didn’t like what Dad did, but she never reported him. Anyway, the next day when Mom dropped me off at the library I walked over to the sheriff’s office and told the sheriff all about it.”

  Hell, Noah thought. And all the while the sheriff had his eye on her father.

  “He asked me a bunch of questions. Wanted to know where everyone in my family was so that when he went on the Ridley property, if there was trouble with the growers, none of my folks would be close enough to get hurt. Seemed a reasonable question. I was only eleven,” she added defensively. “I told him where everyone was—including where my dad’s hunting cabin was. I had no idea he knew my father was….” She trailed off and looked down.

  “Poaching?” Noah supplied, testing the waters. Would she tell him Dale was running weapons over the border?

  She shot him a look he couldn’t interpret. “Did Maya tell you that?”

  “Maya? What would Maya know about it?”

  Olivia studied him a moment longer and shrugged. “You’re right. He was poaching.”

  He was doing far more than that, Noah thought, but somehow he couldn’t bring himself to tell Olivia what he’d heard. “Sometimes we don’t really know the people we love.” Noah wished he could make things different for Olivia. She’d lost Dale much too soon, and he had no doubt she’d loved him as much as he’d loved his own father.

  “If I wasn’t such a loudmouth, maybe my dad would still be alive today.”

  She needed to shut up. Olivia didn’t know why she was telling Noah all of this. He was a Turner, for God’s sake; it wasn’t like he would understand.

  “Olivia—you’re not to blame.”

  Olivia shut her eyes. Of course she was. “You’re flirting with the daughter of a criminal,” she said bitterly. “And I’m the one who gave him up. Doesn’t that bother you? Or is my checkered past part of the allure?”

  “Come on.”

  “Well? Is it?” She wasn’t sure why she was pushing him, except that if he was going to ditch her, she wanted him to do it now, before he could break her heart.

  Which was ridiculous, she thought. She already cared for him, far too much. Even now, she was willing him to touch her hand. To kiss her. She wanted him to hold her. To make everything else go away.

  He didn’t reach out to her, though. She could tell he was searching for the right thing to say. Why didn’t he ask her the obvious question: Had she ever committed a crime?

  “Look,” Noah said finally. “I’m not with you for some kind of weird thrill. Not like that, anyway,” he added with a quick grin before growing serious again. “I can’t pretend I don’t have questions about your family, though.”

  “Like what?”

  “Your brothers… Rumor has it Lance cheats at cards.”

  She relaxed a little. Was that all? “I wouldn’t play against him. He took a ton of my allowance away when I was a kid.”

  “Heard Steel’s had some trouble, too.”

  Olivia stiffened. “Steel… is his own man. I can’t clear up anything for you there.” It was the truth. Her oldest brother had so many secrets she’d stopped trying to fathom them. Sometimes she thought he was following in their father’s footsteps; sometimes she wasn’t sure.

  “What about Tory? She hightailed it to Seattle, right? Never came back?”

  Olivia bit her lip. Tory was a sore subject. “My sister is as honest as a sunset,” she told Noah. “So is my mom, which is why she left my dad.”

  “And left you, too,” Noah pointed out.

  Ouch.

  “And left me, too,” Olivia repeated. “Just like everyone does sooner or later.”

  Noah winced. “Look—”

  “No, don’t say it. I know you’re not interested in some long-term deal with me, and I know I came out here on my own volition, but I’ve changed my mind.” She stood up. “I want to go home.”

  Noah stood, too. “Olivia—”

  “I mean it, Noah.”

  “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t think—”

  “That’s the problem. Neither of us thought this through. This isn’t going to work between us. So let’s not even try. Take me home.” She tossed the dregs of her wine from her glass and bent down to start packing away the picnic.

  Chapter Five

  He’d blown it. Big time.

  Grilled Olivia like she was one of his parolees. Forced her to drag her family secrets into the candlelight.

  He was an ass.

  An ass who was about to lose his one chance with the woman he wanted. Noah couldn’t stand to let the night end like this. If he did, he’d regret it. He wasn’t willing to lose her because of what other people had done in the past. To hell with that.

  Noah thought fast. If he wanted to salvage this situation, he needed to do something radical. Something that would prove to Olivia he was far more serious about being with her than she’d known.

  “I’ve got an idea.”

  “What?” Olivia reached to fold up the blanket.

  “We’ll go to the Dancing Boot. Have a drink or two. Dance a little. Have a real date.”

  Olivia stood up slowly, the blanket still in her hands. “Are you crazy?”

  “Not in the least. I don’t care what anyone else thinks. I was trying to save us from being hassled by our families, but what the hell? Let them hassle us. We can take it.”

  “You’ll ruin your reputation.” She moved away and finished folding the blanket.

  Noah pursued her. “Who gives a damn?”

  “I thought we were going to have sex and forget each other.”

  “I don’t think I can forget you.” He leaned in and kissed her. “In fact, every time I’m near you, I want you more.” He grinned. “Besides, you just said you weren’t going to have sex with me. At least at the Dancing Boot I can cop a feel or two.”

  Olivia rolled her eyes, but a smile was tugging at her lips. “You’re incorrigible.”

  “I’m something,” he agreed. “What do you say?”

  Olivia tilted her chin up to look at him, and he bent to catch her in a kiss. Tangling his hand in her hair, he moved her closer and showed he
r how much he wanted her. They were both breathless when he pulled back.

  “Come dance with me,” he urged her, squashing the little voice in his head that said this was a big mistake. Olivia’s proximity had released something reckless in him, and he was going to see it through.

  “I’m going to regret this, but like you said, what the hell.”

  Noah grabbed the basket, took her hand and set a fast pace for his truck before she could change her mind. They were quiet on the drive into town, but Olivia sat close to him, and Noah kept a hand on her knee, tracing patterns over her denim-covered thigh with his fingers until she squirmed. She was right; what they were doing was insane. But it felt damn good.

  “Haven’t been by this place in too long,” she said when he parked at the Dancing Boot.

  Noah nodded. “Know what you mean. Work can take over your whole life if you let it.” He hadn’t had much time for fun lately, either.

  Inside, he led her to a quiet spot on the edge of the dance floor. Once they’d claimed their table and placed an order, Noah led Olivia to the dance floor. The music was slow tonight, and he took her in his arms and swayed along with the other couples.

  This was what he wanted: Olivia in his arms.

  She smelled good. Felt good, too, with her breasts pressed against his chest in a very distracting way. He liked the curve of her waist under his hands. Olivia relaxed against him, and Noah sighed. Heaven.

  He didn’t want a fling with this woman. He wanted it all. A relationship that progressed step-by-step. One that strengthened the ties that bound them—not one that cut them for good.

  What had he been thinking, agreeing to a one-night stand?

  He’d been thinking of the Turner–Cooper feud of course.

  Noah moved with Olivia, shifting his hands just for the excuse to feel her body. Why should he let ancient history dictate his future with this wonderful woman?

  He needed to stop thinking of her as a Cooper. He needed to start thinking of her as simply Olivia. Ever since he’d seen her make sure each puppy in front of the hardware store got the same amount of love, he’d known she was the one for him. She’d suffered a lot, but what counted was the size of her heart. He wanted a wife who loved like that. Who was warm and affectionate. Who cared about the puppies of the world—and the people around her. Olivia cared—a lot.