Heartbreaker

by B. J Daniels

  “There’s even a view of Flathead Lake from the living room,” she said with obvious pride. “Thorn thought of everything.”

  “I’m happy for the two of you,” the judge said. “I knew you’d work things out.”

  “Thorn’s out back grilling steaks. I was so glad you were free for dinner.”

  “Me too. I knew about the house. Thorn let me in on his surprise for you. I can see why you love it. It’s you. And he has a place for his animals. He said Gertrude loves it here.”

  She smiled and then sobered. “I’m sorry about Helen.”

  He started to say that it hadn’t been serious, his feelings for the woman, but the denial wouldn’t come out. He’d been head over heels in love with Helen all those years ago. He would have married her—just as she said. Even if she had been pregnant with someone else’s baby. And he had no doubt he would have regretted it. So Helen was right. She’d saved him from more heartbreak.

  Nor could he deny that seeing her again had rekindled a lot of those old feelings.

  “I know you cared about her,” JJ said, touching his hand.

  He nodded. “For a few minutes, she made me feel like a teenager again. I wanted to forget the past and trust her.” He shook his head. “Love and lady justice are definitely blind.”

  How had he not seen who Helen truly was? Just as Thorn had not seen the real Bethany. It was as if there was an important missing component that had gotten lost at conception with those two women. A piece of the heart missing that held compassion, love and truthfulness. He and Thorn had both been stung badly by women, but at least Thorn hadn’t given up. He’d found JJ, and she was definitely worth keeping.

  She squeezed his hand. “It’s scary, but I hope it doesn’t make you not want to try again.”

  WT laughed. “At my age—”

  “Love is no different,” JJ said. They had been making their way through the house, and had reached the glass doors leading out to the patio. Her gaze went to Thorn. The cowboy was at the grill, his back to them. “It’s terrifying,” she said of love. “But sometimes, it works.”

  He smiled as she opened the door to the patio and Thorn. “Yes, sometimes it does,” he agreed. And he had to admit, even at his age, these two gave him hope.

  * * *

  THORN PUSHED BACK his Stetson as he watched his wife make her way up the shore. His wife. He’d never dreamed he could be this happy. Hell, he never planned to get married again. But JJ wasn’t like anyone he’d ever met. She’d opened his heart again and now it swelled with such love for this woman that he often thought it would burst.

  JJ walked along Flathead Lake’s shore picking up rocks. He loved watching her. She was so intent, picking up pretty ones that caught her eye. Some were tossed into the waves. Others, she pocketed as keepsakes.

  Now as he watched her, he felt a tug at his heart at how close he’d come to losing this woman even before he’d met her. How different his life would have been if the judge hadn’t called him and asked him to find a plane that had gone down in the mountains behind his cabin. He’d thought nothing could dislodge him from that mountaintop. Certainly no woman.

  But then he met Jenny Jo Foster, now Grayson. She was one of a kind, and all he wanted to do now was spend the rest of his life making her happy. They’d spent months after the kidnapping traveling and talking about their futures. He’d known how much she loved this valley and how hard it would be for her to leave it.

  He’d surprised her with the house here in the Flathead Valley because he’d known how much it would mean to her. He loved that he could give her something she’d yearned for since her father died—a roof over her head. It seemed a small thing. Their home wasn’t large or fancy and yet seeing how much she loved it—and him... It still choked him up.

  In the aftermath of everything that had happened, they’d come to know Franklin Davenport better. They had him and the judge over for dinner often. WT stopped by when he was at his place in Montana.

  They seldom talked about the kidnapping. Geneva had thrown herself on the mercy of the court. She’d gotten five years, but she would be up for parole in three and with good behavior, possibly serve even less.

  She’d been forced to sell her house to pay Brandemiller Brothers what she owed them. She’d had just enough left over to hire her own lawyer. There wasn’t enough money to pay for the plane that had been destroyed, but Travis Brandemiller had said that his brother had insured the plane. Travis also said that he wasn’t interested in suing for damages.

  Ridge Brandemiller and his two construction workers who’d abducted JJ were now behind bars.

  The other two men Zac had used the night of the ransom drop had also been arrested and were now serving time in Deer Lodge at the state prison.

  Zac Judson Sr. had flown up to take his son’s body back to Texas. Thorn had heard he also stopped by the prison to see Helen. According to the scuttlebutt, it was fortunate that there was heavy Plexiglas between them, since he blamed her for his son’s death and rightly so.

  Helen had confessed to her part in the kidnapping plot. She got twenty years for both the kidnapping and the resulting deaths.

  Franklin recovered the ransom money and donated it to a variety of charities in the valley. He said he didn’t want it. He was trying to put the memory of the kidnapping and his worry over Geneva in the past. Most of the media coverage had died down after the funerals of John Baker, Wesley Brennan and Kyle Spencer.

  There were many nights now that Thorn didn’t have bad dreams. His dreams had changed because of JJ and the future they had planned. She’d changed his life, he thought now as he watched her pick up a small stone, turning it in the sunlight before pocketing it in the beach cover she wore.

  She was beginning to show, and he’d noticed that she often would stop whatever she was doing to place her hand over her stomach and smile. Their son or daughter would be born around Christmas. Just when he thought he couldn’t possibly be happier, they’d found out that they were pregnant.

  He was already planning the swing set and tree houses and forts he would build for the kids. JJ said she wanted three children. Maybe more. She’d gone to part-time at the travel agency, and would soon be a full-time mother. Thorn had found he loved working with animals, and was considering becoming a farrier. He wanted a job where he could spend as much time as he wanted with his family. He had his military retirement, and since they lived simply, they could both concentrate on each other and their kids. Kids, he thought, excited about the future. He couldn’t wait to see their first baby.

  JJ looked up, as if feeling his gaze on her. Her face broke into a wide smile as she began walking toward him. He felt the sun on his face, the breeze whispering in the pines near the shore and felt the soft lap of the warm lake water at his feet as he headed toward her.

  Thorn chuckled to himself. JJ thought he’d rescued her, but in truth, this woman had saved him.

  * * *

  Look for the conclusion in B.J. Daniels’s Montana Justice series—Heart of Gold. Available wherever HQN books are sold.

  Keep reading for an excerpt from Ambush before Sunrise by B.J. Daniels.

  Ambush before Sunrise

  by B.J. Daniels

  Chapter One

  JoRay “Jinx” McCallahan stormed into the sheriff’s office, mad, frustrated and just plain beside herself.

  Sheriff Harvey Bessler looked up from his desk in surprise, saw her and groaned good-naturedly. “Let me guess. T.D.?”

  “What am I supposed to do about him? I’m already divorcing him. I’ve got a restraining order against him—like that does a lick of good. I’ve run him off with a shotgun. But short of shooting him, he just keeps coming back.”

  “All you have to do is call when he breaks the restraining order on him and we’ll pick him up.”

  “And he’ll be back on the street within ho
urs even madder and more determined to drive me crazy.”

  Harvey nodded sympathetically. “Unfortunately, we don’t have anything else we can hold him on. Unless he is caught in the act doing something illegal...” The sheriff motioned her into a chair before he leaned back in his own to eye her over the top of his cheater glasses. “How are you doing other than that?”

  She scoffed as she took a seat. She’d been coming to this office since she was a child. Her father and Harvey had been best friends up until Ray McCallahan’s recent death. Because of that, Harvey was like a second father to her. She’d been fortunate to have such good men in her life.

  Until T.D. Sharp.

  The sheriff got to his feet and came around his desk to call out to the receptionist. “Mabel, get this girl a cola from the machine. Get me one, too.” He turned back to Jinx. “Remember when you were little and you’d come in here with your papa to visit? I’d always get you a cola. It always made you feel better.”

  Just the mention of her father made her eyes burn with tears. She missed him so much and she knew Harvey did, as well. “That was back when the worst thing that happened to me was falling off my bike and skinning my knees.”

  He laughed. “True enough. Not that you let a little thing like a skinned knee stop you. You’ve always been strong, Jinx.”

  She didn’t feel strong as she heard Mabel come to the door with two bottles from the old-timey machine in the break room. Harvey took them and gently closed the door.

  “I’m afraid this is the best I can do right now,” he said as he handed over her cola. “What’s T.D. done now?”

  She took the drink, feeling embarrassed for the way she’d barged in here. T.D. wasn’t Harvey’s problem; he was hers. She took a sip from the bottle Mabel had opened for her. It was ice-cold. For a moment she felt like a kid again as the sheriff went around behind his desk and lowered his weight into his chair with a creak and groan.

  “Other than bad-mouthing me all over town? He’s got it where I can’t find anyone to work out at the ranch and I’ve got cattle that if I don’t get them to summer pasture...” Her voice broke. She took another sip.

  “I don’t doubt T.D. did everything you’re saying,” Harvey said quietly. “He been out to your place again?”

  She waved that off, knowing if Harvey picked him up it would only make T.D. worse, if that were possible. She hadn’t come here for that. She knew she had just needed to see him because she needed to vent and she knew that he’d listen. “I keep getting offers on the ranch even though it isn’t for sale. T.D. is determined to take half of whatever I could get for the place, even though we were married such a short time. He actually thinks he deserves half the ranch.”

  Harvey shook his large gray head. “I’m sure you had your reasons for marrying him.”

  Jinx laughed. “You know that you and Dad tried to warn me but I was in...love.” She practically spat the word out. “How could I have been so blind?”

  “It happens, especially when it comes to love. T.D. can be quite charming, I’ve heard.”

  “Not for long.” She took another long drink of her cola. “What does that leave me?” she asked, her voice sounding small and scared even to her. “I’m going to have to sell the ranch to get rid of him. My only other option is to—”

  “You’re not going to shoot him.”

  She smiled. “You sure about that?”

  Harvey sighed. “I know things have been rough since Ray died. Maybe you should think about getting away for a while. Maybe take a trip somewhere. Give T.D. time to cool down.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “Or maybe I should sell the cattle and take a loss and forget about driving them up into the mountains to summer range.” But that would be admitting defeat and she wasn’t good at that. When backed against a wall, her tendency was to come out fighting, not give up.

  He said nothing for a moment. “What did your father want you to do?” he asked quietly.

  Jinx felt the shock move through her and realized of course her father had told his best friend what he wanted her to do once he was gone. “I’m going to have to sell the ranch, aren’t I?”

  “Sweetie, I know it’s not what you want. Are you that determined to keep ranching?”

  “It’s all I know, but it’s more than that. That place has been my home since I was born. I don’t want to give it up just because of T.D.”

  “That’s the real thorn in your side, isn’t it? T.D. has you against the ropes. But I can’t believe you’re not that set on ranching it alone. Then again, you’re so much like your father,” Harvey said, smiling across the desk at her. “Stubborn as the day is long and just as proud. But if you’re keeping the ranch to show T.D. or people in this town...”

  “It isn’t right that T.D. should force me into this or worse, take half.”

  “I agree. You hired yourself a good lawyer, right?”

  She nodded. “He says T.D. can ask for half of what the ranch is worth on paper. No way can I come up with that kind of money. I don’t have a choice. In the meantime, T.D. has it where I can’t even find any wranglers to work for me.”

  His expression softened. “I’m worried about you. If T.D. breaks the restraining order again, you call me. I can pick him up, maybe even keep him overnight.”

  She shook her head, finished her cola and stood. “Thanks.”

  “I didn’t do anything.”

  Jinx smiled at the older man. “You listened and the cola tasted just like it did when I was a kid. I do feel better. Thanks.”

  The sheriff rose, as well. As she started to take the empty bottle back to the break room, he said, “I’ll take that.” She handed it to him, their gazes meeting.

  “I’m going to go have a talk with T.D.,” he said and rushed on before she could say it would be a waste of time. “He’s a cocky son of a bitch and I would love nothing better than to throw him behind bars—that’s just between you and me. Maybe we’ll get lucky and he’ll take a swing at me.”

  She laughed. “Good luck with that. In the meantime, somehow I’m going to get my cattle to summer range. I’m not going to let T.D. stop me even if it means taking the cattle up there by myself. Don’t worry, I’ve advertised out of state. Maybe I’ll get lucky. After that...” She shook her head. She had no idea.

  Her hope was that T.D. would give up. Or his girlfriend would keep him busy and away from her. Her father used to believe time healed most things. But with a man like T.D. Sharp? She had her doubts.

  “Jinx?” She turned at the door to look back at the sheriff. “Just be careful, okay?”

  * * *

  T.D. SHARP THREW his legs over the side of the bed and hung his head. A cool breeze dried the sweat on his naked body as he sat for a moment fighting his mounting regrets and frustration. At the feel of a warm hand on his bare back, he fought the urge to shake it off.

  “Come on, baby,” Patty Conroe purred. “You don’t have to leave. You just got here.”

  He reached for his underwear and jeans, anxious to escape. Coming here tonight had been a mistake. After his run-in with the sheriff earlier, he’d thought what he needed was a kind word and a soft, willing body. But it hadn’t worked tonight. His body had performed but his mind had been miles away—out on the Flying J Bar MC Ranch.

  “I need to go out to the ranch and talk to my wife,” he said as he stood to pull on his jeans, foolishly voicing the thought that had been rattling around in his head. The sheriff thought he could threaten him? That old fool didn’t know who he was dealing with. If T.D. needed to go talk to Jinx, he damned sure would. She could take her restraining order and stuff it up her—

  “She isn’t your wife,” Patty snapped. “She’s your ex.”

  “Not yet.” He heard her sit up behind him. “We don’t sign the papers until the property settlement is finished and it sure ain’t finished. Which mea
ns she’s still my wife. And I can damn well go see her if I want to.”

  “What about the restraining order? You go near her and she’s going to call the sheriff.”

  “Let her. She already went whining to him, but there isn’t a thing he can do to me. Anyway, I’m not afraid of Harvey Bessler.”

  “He’s the law, T.D. You better watch yourself or he’ll trump something up and lock you behind bars. Have you forgotten that he was her father’s best friend? He would love nothing better than to put you in one of his cells.”

  He scoffed, more than aware how tight Ray McCallahan had been with the sheriff. But Ray was dead and gone and if Harvey kept harassing him, he’d get the old fart fired. “Let him try.”

  “You think he won’t arrest you? Well, I’m not getting you out of jail this time. You hear me? Let Jinx go. She sure didn’t have any trouble letting you go.”

  Her words were like a gut punch. He wanted to slap her mouth. “Watch it,” he warned. He wouldn’t put up with her saying anything bad about Jinx, whether the woman was his almost-ex-wife or not.

  He looked around for his boots, knowing that if he didn’t get out of this apartment and soon, they were going to fight. He was already fighting with Jinx. He didn’t need another woman on his case.

  “Why do you need to talk to her tonight? Anyway, shouldn’t your lawyer be handling this?”

  He didn’t answer, knowing better. He wished he hadn’t brought the subject up about his soon-to-be ex to start with. But she’d been on his mind. Nothing new there. Jinx had caught his eye and he’d fallen for the woman. Fallen hard. When she’d told him it was over and sent him packing, he’d been in shock. The woman needed him. How was she going to run that ranch without him?

  But somehow she’d managed in the months since he’d been booted out. He’d put the word out that no one he knew had better go to work for her if they knew what was good for them. He chuckled to himself since he’d heard she was having trouble hiring wranglers to take her cattle up to summer range.