Done a Runner (Wanted Men of Bison Bluffs Book 1)

by Cynthia Knoble

  “No, not really. It’s just a case of everyone being so used to going to Doc Vern when they had a problem. Her practice is going well, she just needs to get out and do something fun.”

  “Well then it sounds like a night out at The Goose will be perfect.”

  Stifling her disappointment at the fact Cole seemed to have a girlfriend, as Zandra had suspected, Zoë indulged in a few moments of friendly chatter with Cole before he announced he had to get back to work. Liking him, she welcomed the opportunity to spend more time with him on Saturday, and meet Faye. Her matchmaking hopes might be dashed, but she reasoned Saturday night would still be what she wanted, an opportunity to meet more people in town. Despite her resolve to not get involved with them, she liked everyone she’d met so far. Besides, he hadn’t contacted her yet and, apparently, she’d have to spend more time in town. She might as well make the best of it. Not to mention staying in town longer allowed her to spend more time with Ethan.

  35

  Sitting in the den, an opened book in her lap, Zoë’s hopeful mood of yesterday was nowhere to be found. She couldn’t help but worry about why she hadn’t heard from him yet, and stared at her phone, atop the small table beside the chair. What was taking so long? Sure, she liked Bison Bluffs, and loved the ranch, but the longer she stayed, the harder it would be to leave.

  “Expecting a call?”

  Startled by Ethan’s appearance, not having heard him enter the room, she shook her head. “No. Why?”

  “Because you’re staring at your phone as if willing it to ring.”

  “Zandra said she might call,” she lied, “but it’s not a big deal, we’re just working out our plans for Saturday.”

  After crossing the floor, he knelt before her, moved her book to the table, and then placed his hands on her knees. “Well, I might have hidden something in this room. Wanna find it?”

  His crooked grin drew a smile from her, despite her disposition. He’d conceived a game and they were playing it this week. Having stashed condoms all through the house, the game consisted of him finding her in a room, and then the pair having sex within said room. So far, they’d christened quite a few rooms, but the den wasn’t one of them. While she loved the game, she just wasn’t in the mood, and she gently pushed his hands away.

  “I’m not really feeling it right now. Sorry.”

  “No worries.” He tilted his head. “Wanna talk about whom you’re really waiting to hear from?”

  Pissed he saw through her lie, she narrowed her eyes. “I told you. I’m expecting Zandra’s call. Not that it’s any of your business who calls me.”

  He sat back on his feet. “You’re right. It’s not. We’re not in a relationship.”

  His tone was snippy, making her angrier. “No, we’re not,” she shot back.

  After raising a brow, he pursed his lips. “What are we doing?”

  “We’re supposed to be having fun, that’s all.”

  Her tone was harsher than she’d intended, and he averted his eyes as his shoulders slumped. She’d hurt him and, while not intending to do so, she figured now was as good a time as any to reset ground rules he’d apparently forgotten.

  “You said you wouldn’t push me to answer questions about my past, but here you are, doing just that. I told you I wouldn’t stand for you poking into my past, and I meant it.” She blew out a sharp breath, trying to calm her raging emotions. “I think we should dial this back.”

  His head jerked up at her last comment. Now he looked angry. “Did I say I wanted a relationship with you? No, I didn’t, because I don’t. If I were to be in a relationship, it would be with someone I could confide in and who would confide in me. It would be an equal relationship, not whatever this is between us.”

  “I’m sorry,” she blurted, shocked at his outburst. “I shouldn’t have implied anything.”

  “No, you shouldn’t have.” His tone was gentler, and he made eye contact with her again. Despite his words, she swore she saw affection in his eyes. “Look, you’re obviously in a bad mood, let’s just forget about it, and move on. If you want to slow things down, or stop entirely, fine. The sex is great, and I thought it was working for us, but if it isn’t, so be it. It would be weird to be around one another and pretend like we’re just co-workers, but if that’s what you want, that’s what we’ll do.”

  “No, that’s not what I want. I—” She shook her head. “You’re right, I’m in a bad mood and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. I’m sorry.”

  “So, you don’t want to end things?”

  “No.”

  He nodded and, leaning forward once more, placed his hands on her knees. She covered them with hers. Despite everything he’d said, she could still see hurt in his eyes, along with the affection that shone so brightly. Affection for her. It caused her throat to tighten. She was deceitful with him, but he was just as deceitful. Regardless of his words, it was evident he wanted more from their relationship.

  As he laid his head in her lap, he pushed his hands behind her to wrap his arms around her. His motions weren’t sexual, they were loving. She lightly raked her fingertips through his hair, while her heart screamed at her. It begged her to turn him away, to end things between them before she hurt him further. Continuing her gentle movements, she didn’t heed her heart. It cracked with the knowledge she’d devastate him when she did leave the ranch, but also with another truth. She, too, wanted more from their relationship, so much more, but couldn’t have it.

  36

  Ethan had just dumped the last of the dung into the wheelbarrow and was raking wet shavings from the stall when Skip’s voice rang out behind him.

  “What on earth are you doing?”

  “Jeff had a headache and went to the bunkhouse,” he replied. His tone was flat. He didn’t appreciate the interruption.

  “Hangover more like, and even so, why are you mucking stalls?”

  “To pitch in. It’s my place, this needs to be done, and the others are all busy with their own work.”

  There was an edge to his voice now, a warning one, and he hoped Skip honed in on it. While mucking stalls was something he rarely did, he needed to move, to expend some energy. The situation with Zoë was aggravating the piss out of him.

  “Is that really the reason, or does this have to do with Zoë?”

  Spinning to face Skip, he pulled his face into a severe scowl. “I’m not in the mood for that bullshit right now. This is your one and only warning.”

  Skip appeared shocked but had the good sense not to push him. Instead, he walked away, muttering under his breath.

  Ethan went back to work, the scowl frozen on his face. He should’ve taken Zoë’s suggestion to slow down, maybe even stop seeing each other, but he hadn’t. All he wanted to do was be with her, even as every fibre of his being told him it wouldn’t end well. He’d had control at first, exercised caution, and kept his emotions in check. Fuck if he knew when it changed but he was a mess, not knowing why she wouldn’t confide in him, unsure where she stood with their union, and uncertain she felt anything for him. Moving to the next stall, he sighed deeply. Much like the wheelbarrow before him, his life seemed to house a huge pile of shit.

  37

  Zoë returned the broad smile Rory issued when he opened the door. It was early Saturday afternoon and she’d arrived at the Bukowskis’ home for her spa day with Zandra. Her friend had been excited about both the preparations and the upcoming event out at The Scruffy Goose when she’d talked to her earlier at Ethan’s house. Zoë herself couldn’t wait to get started, having put a lot of thought into how she would do Zandra’s makeup and hair.

  “Hey, come in,” Rory said as he held the door open for her.

  She passed him to enter the house, and took a cursory look around. It was small but cozy, and incredibly neat, not that it surprised her considering Zandra lived there too. Thick wood trim abounded in the house, a sign of it being quite old, and the decorating and furnishing lent a further aged feel to the home.
Feminine touches flourished though, no doubt Zandra’s further influence.

  “Did you find the place okay?” he questioned.

  “Yeah, I mean some roads aren’t marked well, but Zandra gave me really specific instructions.”

  “Great.”

  Boone entered the hallway and nodded to her. “Hello, Zoë.”

  “Hi, Boone.”

  He motioned to a room. “Have a seat. Zandra’s in the shower but I’m sure she’ll be down soon. Can I offer you a coffee, or something else maybe?”

  “A coffee would be great, thanks.”

  She entered the sitting room, Rory behind her. When he encouraged her to sit, she did, taking one end of the sofa and he sat in the recliner.

  “So, you girls are having a spa day. That sounds like fun.”

  He was obviously just making conversation, and feigning interest, so she decided to tease him a bit. “We are, and it will be fun. Care to join us?”

  “No, thanks,” he replied, waving both hands. “I don’t know what kind of plucking, waxing, curling, painting, whatever goes on, and I don’t need to. We guys appreciate the finished product, but we don’t need to see the process.”

  “It’s horrific,” she said, as seriously as she could, “truly. It’s best you don’t witness it, you might see something that’ll scar you for life.”

  After chuckling at that, he engaged her in small talk until Boone arrived with the coffees. Boone handed one to Rory and then set a coaster down on the table before setting her mug down. She smiled, certain Zandra had trained her brothers, and thanked him for the coffee. He then sat on the other end of the couch and stared at her. She found his look intimidating, and was certain he was not only scrutinizing her, but also judging her. He appeared angry with her presence.

  “So, how are things going between you and Ethan?” he asked.

  Surprised at how he’d launched into such an intrusive question, she paused before answering him. She wanted to inform him it wasn’t any of his business, but she was in his home, and he was Ethan’s best friend, so she searched for a way to not sound rude while basically telling him to back off.

  “Stop interrogating her, Boone.”

  Zandra’s voice pulled Zoë’s attention to the threshold of the room where Zandra stood. Smiling brightly at Zoë, she then crossed the room to perch on the arm of the recliner Rory sat in. Affixing Boone with a warning look, she lifted her chin in his direction.

  “Seriously, knock it off.”

  “I was just making conversation,” he replied huffily.

  “No, you were fishing for info. Stop it. If you want to know so badly, go ask Ethan.”

  Boone looked away and Zandra, seemingly vindicated, turned her attention to Rory. After picking off a bit of fluff from his sweater, so small Zoë couldn’t see it, she ran her eyes over him.

  “You need a haircut.”

  Her tone was motherly, and Zoë heard a soft snort from Boone’s direction. There were some interesting dynamics going on between the Bukowski siblings. Zandra stood and nodded to Zoë.

  “C’mon, bring your coffee. Let’s get going.”

  After telling Boone and Rory she’d see them soon, Zoë followed Zandra up the stairs, still feeling Boone’s judgmental eyes on her.

  38

  Detecting Rory’s harsh stare in the corner of his eye, Boone turned to his brother. “What?”

  “What’s up with you and Zoë?”

  “How do you mean?”

  “Oh come on,” Rory replied. “Are you really going to pretend you weren’t just interrogating her? Zandra’s right, you were fishing for info.”

  “I asked one question.”

  “Yeah, a really personal question. What’s up? And don’t tell me it’s nothing. I recognize that look. You have it when you look at someone you suspect of wrongdoing.”

  Caught, he cursed inwardly. Being chastised by his brother and sister proved his error in being so abrupt with Zoë. She’d undoubtedly been alerted to his probing, too. Normally, he was much smoother with the questioning and knew his close friendship with Ethan had spawned his carelessness. He was looking out for his friend, and truly didn’t need his siblings’ judgement.

  Crossing one lengthy leg over the other, he sniffed in annoyance. “It’s nothing.”

  “I just told you not to tell me it’s nothing. I know you better than that. It’s written all over your face, so spill it. What’s your problem with her?”

  Not about to voice his suspicions about the woman to Rory, he shrugged. “Ethan’s taken with her and I think they’re moving too quickly, that’s all.”

  Rory’s eyes narrowed, and Boone knew he didn’t believe him. With no real proof of any actual wrongdoing on her behalf, he wasn’t about to get into a discussion with Rory about it as it would undoubtedly become a heated one. Rory seemed to like Zoë, so Boone was certain, especially with his lack of any real evidence, that Rory would defend her.

  While he had to admit he liked Zoë at their first meeting, he was more than wary of her now. He probably wouldn’t have thought anything about the situation if Ethan hadn’t asked him to check into her background. Truthfully, he’d thought it strange and believed that Ethan may have seen something questionable about her as an employee. It never occurred to him that his friend had fallen in love with her. Despite Ethan’s staunch denials, Boone still thought she was bad news, possibly setting Ethan up for a scam. Who the hell secured a synthetic identity to get a job as a cook? Well-crafted IDs like the ones she’d gotten were expensive. None of it made any sense. No, the only answer was that she was a con artist. Ethan falling for her was the biggest piece of evidence to support Boone’s theory. Never had his friend been head over heels for a woman in so short a period of time, and he didn’t think Ethan had ever fallen as hard for a woman ever. It was beyond worrisome, it was downright scary.

  “Since when do you involve yourself in Ethan’s love life?” Rory questioned.

  Ever since his friend was being set up for a scam, that’s when. Ethan had been through enough in his life, and didn’t need any trouble. Admittedly, he didn’t see Ethan remaining a bachelor as he knew he would, but he never thought Ethan would be duped by a woman. Zoë was smart, Boone would give her that, but she wasn’t smart enough to pull the wool over his eyes. No, he knew she was up to something, and he would figure out what it was before Ethan suffered any losses at her hands, financial or personal.

  “I’m just looking out for him, that’s all.”

  Rory squinted, in an apparent attempt to decipher what Boone meant by that. Unwilling to elaborate on his statement, or discuss the matter any longer, Boone got to his feet.

  “I’m heading to the gym for a bit. Wanna come?”

  “Sure,” Rory replied, “just let me grab my bag.”

  Relieved Rory seemed to have dropped the subject, Boone hoped it was the case. They wouldn’t talk at the gym at all, both too wrapped up in their workouts, but he hoped the journey there and back wouldn’t involve any discussion of Zoë. He was less than pleased by Zandra’s friendship with her, but didn’t see how she could possibly scam Zandra. No, he was certain a woman who was as beautiful as Zoë, and as dishonest as he believed her to be, would naturally use her charms to scam men. Hoping he could find something damning about the woman, or that Ethan would come to his senses regarding her before it was too late, he headed for the door, intent on waiting in the truck for Rory. Suddenly, he didn’t want to be near Zoë.

  39

  After helping Zandra pick out an outfit to wear from the clothes she’d brought over, the pair sat on opposite ends of Zandra’s bed, painting one another’s toenails. Zandra had gone with a light pink and Zoë had selected a beautiful maroon from Zandra’s impressive polish collection.

  “This is like a sleepover,” Zandra commented with a grin. “I don’t think I’ve painted a friend’s nails since grade school.”

  Zoë, who’d never attended a sleepover, smiled. “Actually, I was thinking about how
I used to paint my grandmother’s nails. As she got older, it was hard for her to see the edges, so I always did her nails for her.”

  Surprised she’d related something about her past, she fought to keep a straight face. What was going on with her? Zandra didn’t seem to notice how tense she’d become and continued speaking brightly.

  “Did you spend a lot of time with your grandmother?”

  Seeing as she’d opened the door, Zoë figured talking about her grandparents couldn’t hurt. “Yeah. Actually I was mostly raised by them. My dad was always out of town on business.”

  “And your mom?”

  “Not in the picture at all. She left my dad shortly after I was born.”

  “Oh! Wow, um, sorry, that must have been rough on you.”

  Zandra seemed upset she’d uncovered the information but Zoë wasn’t. She’d come to terms over her mother’s absenteeism long ago. “Not really,” she replied, eager to soothe Zandra, “you can’t really miss what you never had.”

  “I suppose that’s true. My parents died, in a car accident, when I was thirteen. Boone raised Rory and me after that.”

  Holding the brush just over a nail, Zoë froze. Her eyes connected with Zandra’s. “I didn’t know that. I’m sorry you lost your parents so young, but I guess that answers my question about how you and your brothers are so close.”

  “Yeah, that’s exactly why. My mom was an only child and born late to her parents. They’d already passed by then. My dad’s family had disowned him years before he even met my mom. We don’t have any other family. There’s just us. Social workers wanted Boone to place us in foster care. They didn’t think a twenty-year-old would be able to cope with younger siblings, but he wouldn’t hear of it.”

  “That’s a lot for a young man to take on. I’m impressed.”

  She was. Despite thinking Boone had it in for her based on his behaviour a short time ago, she found his actions where his siblings were concerned admirable. No wonder he was Ethan’s best friend. As she continued painting Zandra’s nails, she listened to the rest of her friend’s story.