The pickup stopped not twenty feet from Stephanie. Dust rolled over the top, and a tall man with perfectly trimmed blond hair got out from behind the wheel. His jeans were creased perfection and his boots were polished to a high sheen. The only flaw in his appearance was the white sling that held his left arm. Casper’s gaze swept over her bloody shoulder, torn shirt and dust-covered jeans.
“Stephanie,” Rupert Casper said as he came forward. He looked at Johnny but didn’t acknowledge him. “How’s my horse doing?”
“We’re making progress,” Stephanie said. She noticed that Familiar had left her side and was sniffing the tires on Rupert’s truck like a dog.
“Did Black Jack do that to you?” Casper asked, pointing to her shoulder. He looked past her to the stallion in the round pen. The horse seemed to sense Rupert’s attention. He pinned his ears and snaked his head out, striking the metal panel with his teeth.
“I did it to myself,” Stephanie said. “Black Jack’s a hard case. I won’t deny it. But he’ll come around.”
“He’s a danger. I fired the two men who brought him over here. They disobeyed me when I told them to shoot him.”
Stephanie could see that Casper took pleasure in his power. “They thought they were doing the right thing. They knew how much money you had invested in the horse.”
“It’s my money.” He walked toward the round pen.
Black Jack spun on his hindquarters.
“He’s got a lot of potential,” Stephanie said. “If you’ll give me more time, I can bring him around, and he’ll make a champion cutting horse. He’s got the build and the bloodlines.”
“He’s a rogue. I think the best thing I could do with him is cut my losses and put him in a dog-food can.” Casper walked back to his truck, opened the passenger-side door and brought out a rifle. “He’s as rank as he was the day he came here. Not even you can work magic on this beast.”
He started walking toward the round pen.
“You can’t shoot him here.” Stephanie looked at Johnny, who was watching the exchange without saying a word.
“I’ll send one of the boys with a backhoe to bury him tomorrow.”
“Rupert, you misunderstand me. I’m telling you that you can not shoot him on my property.” She stepped in front of Casper. “I won’t allow it.”
Casper shifted the gun and a look of astonishment was quickly replaced by anger.
Stephanie noticed that Johnny moved forward so quickly and with such grace that he was beside Rupert Casper in no time. Johnny was a good man to have on her side in a pinch.
“Before you do anything, let me show you the progress we’ve made with Black Jack,” Johnny said softly.
Rupert turned to him as if he’d just become aware of the other man’s presence. “Who the hell are you?”
“Johnny Kreel.” He didn’t hold out his hand, and he didn’t say anything else. He went to the round pen, climbed over the panel and walked toward Black Jack without any hesitation.
The stallion blew twice, his eyes rolling for a moment before Johnny caught his halter and snapped on the lead rope that he’d picked up. Without a wasted movement, he opened the gate, led the stallion out and away from Rupert and Stephanie.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Casper said. “No one’s ever been able to lead that horse.”
Though she’d been leading Black Jack for the past two weeks, the horse wasn’t reliable. He’d be fine, and then he’d blow up, as he’d done earlier that day. Stephanie was amazed that Johnny had been able to handle him, but she was smart enough to keep it to herself.
“We are making progress,” she said. “If you don’t want to keep Black Jack, I’ll buy him.” She’d offered more than once, though she had no idea where she’d get the money to pay for the horse. She’d figure something out.
“He’s my horse,” Casper said. “If I can’t ride him, no one is going to.”
That was typical of a man like Rupert Casper. Everything was a possession. It was ego, pride and vanity. “If you’ll give me some time, you’ll be riding him and taking blue ribbons in the cutting competitions.”
Casper stared at the horse until Black Jack disappeared into the barn. “I’ll be back in a couple of days. We’ll see how much progress you’ve made.”
Stephanie clamped her mouth shut, even though she wanted to shred Rupert Casper with her tongue. Casper was the kind of man who took his anger out on helpless creatures. Black Jack would suffer.
When she turned away from the round pen, she saw the cat jump out the window of Casper’s truck. Rupert opened his truck door and swung in.
“Son of a gun!” He jumped out of the truck as if the seats were on fire. To Stephanie’s amusement, she saw a dark circle of dampness on the butt of his creased jeans.
“That cat peed in my truck!” Casper’s face was scarlet with anger. “I saw that black cat hanging around here. Where is he?” He still held the rifle and he swung around looking for the cat.
Stephanie was loving every second of it. “Are you sure it’s cat urine?” She stepped over to the truck and caught the distinctive smell. “Pe-ew! It’s cat urine all right.” It took all of her restraint not to laugh out loud. And there was no sign of the cat. It was almost as if he knew what he’d done and skedaddled. Eleanor insisted that Familiar was highly intelligent, but Stephanie hadn’t believed her. At least not one hundred percent.
“I’ll never be able to get that smell out of my truck,” Casper said angrily.
“I’m sorry, Rupert. As I told you, I don’t have any cats. Maybe it happened somewhere else and you—”
“If I see that black son of a—he’s dead.”
Stephanie shrugged. “I don’t know what to say.”
Casper got into the truck and slammed the door as hard as he could. He swung wide and made a U-turn in the middle of her yard. She watched him drive away.
She was still standing there when the cat sauntered out from behind a watering trough. He rubbed against her legs and purred.
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” she asked, bending to stroke him. There was something special about Familiar, something uncanny.
“Me-ow.” He looked up at her and slowly nodded his head.
“Holy cow,” she said, kneeling so that she could scratch under his chin. “Eleanor wasn’t kidding.” She picked him up and kissed him. “And I’m proud of you. But we’d both better stay out of Rupert Casper’s way as much as we can.”
Chapter Two
Black Jack entered his stall willingly enough and even allowed Johnny to remove his halter. He stood docile and well-mannered until Johnny stepped out of the stall and started to close the door. Then he lunged. But Johnny was ready for him. He’d seen horses like Black Jack before.
And he knew what often happened to them. They paid with their lives for the mistreatment they’d received.
“You’ve got a chance here, boy,” he said softly. “That woman out there wants to help you. Me, too. But the hard work is going to be up to you. If you don’t come around…” He hung the halter on a peg outside the stall door and went to get Tex out of the trailer.
He examined the cut on Tex’s leg, hosed it down, re-wrapped it and put the gelding out to graze in the small paddock that adjoined his stall. All the while he kept glancing toward the ranch house, hoping to see Stephanie headed his way.
From the gossip he’d heard about her in the small town, he’d expected her to be beautiful. As best he could tell, that was one of the many problems she faced. Folks didn’t understand a beautiful woman moving out on an isolated ranch alone. It went against the norm and had added fuel to the fire of speculation.
In the two days he’d spent in Custer, South Dakota, before coming out to the ranch, he’d heard all kinds of rumors about her, everything from her practicing black magic to being some kind of felon hiding from the law.
None of that was true. That much he knew for certain. She was a strong woman who’d refused to give up on her dream ev
en after suffering a terrible loss. But folks in town didn’t know that. Obviously, Stephanie didn’t feel the need to talk about her personal business, and thank goodness for that.
The townsfolk didn’t know anything about her past or the hardships she’d been through. But he did. It was her past that had brought him to Running Horse Ranch.
He felt a painful jab in his hamstring and whipped around to find the black cat digging his claws into his legs.
“Hey!” He tried to step away, but the cat stayed with him. “Let go!”
Familiar released his claws and sat down, his gaze steady. Johnny laughed uneasily. It was almost as if the cat had read his thoughts. While he had a healthy respect for the intuitive abilities of all creatures, he didn’t believe a cat could read minds. At least he hoped not. Because what he’d come to Custer to do required deception.
While the rodeo story he’d told Stephanie was true, it was a long, long way from the whole truth.
Footsteps thudded in the barn and he latched the door to Tex’s paddock, then turned to meet Stephanie. She was a tall, willowy silhouette in the barn door, and he felt again the pounding attraction.
“Is your horse okay?” she asked, walking to the stall door and leaning against it as she appraised Tex.
“He’s healing. He hung his leg in a gate.”
“Looks like you know your way around a bandage.”
Johnny nodded. “You work around stock, you have a lot of opportunities to learn first aid.”
“Where have you worked?” she asked.
Her dark gaze settled on him, and he knew she was nobody’s fool. He had to be careful, because Stephanie was the kind of woman who checked things out.
“Most recently, I was over in Rapid City. The Big Bar Ranch, Mr. Linton. Before that, I handled the stock at the Missoula rodeo for Gateman Ames. Both of those men will give me a good reference. I didn’t have any problems on the job.”
She nodded. “I like to know who I’m dealing with.”
After what she’d been through, he didn’t blame her.
“I’m ready to fix that fence,” he said. “Where are your tools?”
“In the shed. Should be everything you need.”
“Thanks, ma’am.” He felt her gaze as he walked out into the sunshine and on toward the toolshed.
THE STEW MEAT SIMMERED on low heat, and Stephanie raked the carrots into the pot. While she had no intention of becoming a cook for the hired hand, she was also a realist. There wasn’t a burger joint or café within fifty miles of Running Horse Ranch. The ranch was nestled in a shallow valley at the foot of the Black Hills. The closest town was a long way off, and cell phone reception and even the satellite for her computer were highly unreliable. If Johnny Kreel was going to eat, someone at Running Horse Ranch was going to have to cook.
While she might get by with a peanut butter sandwich, she couldn’t expect Johnny Kreel to go without a decent meal.
She could hear the sound of the skill saw and then the solid thwack of a hammer against a nail as he repaired the fence. He was a fast worker. A hard worker. And she’d spent more time than she should staring out the kitchen window, watching him. A competent man at work was a pleasure to observe. Especially one who looked like Johnny.
He was handsome in a rugged way, and if she’d been in the market for romance, he’d certainly fit the bill—dark-brown hair with a slight curl, hazel eyes that shifted between gray and green, dimples, a hint of a five o’clock shadow. He certainly looked good in his cowboy shirt, and he moved with grace and economy.
The way he’d handled Black Jack intrigued her. Why had the horse responded so quickly to him when she’d worked for the past fourteen days—seemingly in vain—to build trust with the stallion?
That more than anything else captured her imagination. Horses were normally good judges of character. They didn’t trust all humans, but Black Jack had trusted Johnny. Could she trust him? That remained to be seen.
While she pondered the mysteries of Johnny Kreel, she chopped the onions and potatoes and added them to the bubbling stew. It wasn’t a fancy meal, but it would be filling.
She turned the stove down and picked up her cell phone. Luck was with her—she had reception. Within ten minutes, she’d spoken with Mr. Linton at Big Bar Ranch and Mr. Ames in Missoula. Both gave Johnny high marks as an employee and both said they hated to lose him, but that he’d been a man who kept moving. It was the cowboy way.
She hung up the phone and returned to the window. Johnny had finished the fence and was gathering up the tools. What kept a man on the move? In the days of the old West, it wasn’t uncommon for a cowpoke to drift from ranch to ranch, working the seasons of calving, branding and driving to market. But those days were gone.
Even cowboys needed regular pay, a place to live and insurance.
So why was Johnny Kreel on the move?
Maybe she’d never have an answer to that question, but she’d never forget that there was a question. No one was ever going to raise her expectations and send them crashing again.
“Meow.”
She looked down to find the black cat at her feet. He head-butted her shin and then looked up at her. “Meow.”
“Hungry?”
He did that slow nod again and she had to wonder—for at least the third time—if the cat was actually answering her question.
“Eleanor left some poached salmon for you.”
“Meow.”
It sounded like the cat said yes. Extraordinary. She got the fish from the refrigerator and prepared a portion for him. When he started eating, she shook her head as she set the table for dinner.
Dusk was falling. The days were short in October, and the nights could be nippy. She’d stocked the bunkhouse with blankets, but she had an extra down comforter.
She went to the back door. “Johnny, dinner’s ready!”
Before he appeared, she returned to her work in the kitchen, humming softly to herself as she set the table for two.
GETTING INTO THE RANCH HOUSE was the first step. Johnny didn’t feel good about what he meant to do, but he didn’t have a choice. Not really. He was accomplished at his job, and that’s why he’d been sent to Running Horse Ranch in the first place.
He opened the screen and stepped into the delicious aroma of cooking stew. Despite Stephanie’s caustic words, she’d rustled up some grub for him. Against his better judgment, he felt a jolt of pleasure. He quickly reminded himself that he was at the ranch for a purpose, and one that would undoubtedly put him at odds with the horse trainer.
“Have a seat.” Stephanie pointed at a stout wooden table. A small cluster of wild prairie flowers in a delicate vase graced the rough-hewn table, and Johnny thought the contrast perfectly symbolized Stephanie. She was as beautiful as the flowers and the fragile vase, and as durable as the old, scarred table.
He stopped his thoughts dead. He could not afford to romanticize Stephanie Ryan. She was part of a mission, part of his job.
“Something wrong?” Stephanie asked as she brought the stew to the table and took her own seat.
“No.” He answered too quickly. He lifted the glass of red wine at his place and took a sip. Before he could swallow, something sharp and wicked gripped his shin.
He exploded up from the table, wine flying everywhere.
“What the hell?” he exclaimed.
Both he and Stephanie ducked to look under the table where Familiar sat, placidly licking his paw in total innocence.
Stephanie cleared her throat, leaned over and refilled his wineglass, ignoring the stain all down the front of his shirt.
“That cat is a dangerous beast,” Johnny said. He felt like an utter fool. The cat had caught him by surprise.
“That cat is an extraordinary judge of character,” Stephanie said, her level brown gaze locking on him. “He peed on Rupert Casper’s truck seat.”
Johnny didn’t believe her at first. It took only a few seconds for him to realize the truth of her stateme
nt. “That’s pretty incredible.” He grinned. “And pretty great. I can forgive him for making me spill the wine if he’s going to harass Rupert Casper.”
Stephanie held her spoon aloft. “I’m just wondering why Familiar found it necessary to attack you.” She left the words hanging between them.
“Maybe he doesn’t like the smell of cowboy,” Johnny said.
Stephanie took a dainty spoonful of the stew. She swallowed and put down her spoon. “Oh, I don’t think Familiar objects to the smell of cowboy, but I’m certain he has a keen dislike of the smell of a rat.”
Johnny froze. For one split second, he wondered how Stephanie had unmasked his cover so quickly, but then he realized she’d merely taken a stab in the dark. He forced a chuckle. “Oh, then I’m safe.” But he wasn’t. Not if Stephanie found out what he was really up to.
He bent over the bowl and began to eat. While it wasn’t fancy, the thick stew was delicious, as was the crusty bread. Johnny was hungry. And while he could enjoy the pleasure of the food, he had to steer clear of the woman who sat across the table.
STEPHANIE ATE THE STEW she’d cooked, but her thoughts weren’t on the food. Johnny Kreel took center stage in her mind. For no reason at all, Familiar had attacked him under the table.
She tore off a crust of bread and chewed it slowly. She didn’t know Familiar, but in a few short days, she’d come to trust him a lot more than she trusted Johnny Kreel.
The man’s past employment checked out, but that didn’t mean anything. That was the last six months. Where had he been the other thirty or so years of his life?
“Are you from this area, Johnny?”
“No, ma’am,” he answered, gaze focused on his bowl.
“So where are you from?” She was like a dog worrying a bone when she got started. She’d know every detail before she was done.
Familiar Showdown Page 2
