The Texas Rancher's Return

by Allie Pleiter

  Gunner swallowed hard before he said, “Okay. Where do we start?”

  “I’ve got my laptop in the car.” Her face grew pink. She’d declared more than her professional integrity today, and they both knew it. Yes, Brooke was lending her hand to the fight to save Blue Thorn, but she was opening her heart to him.

  He realized, as he followed Brooke to the car to fetch her briefcase, that he didn’t have to extend his heart to her—it was already hers.

  “I owe you an apology,” he said as she shut her car door, clutching her briefcase to her chest in a way that reminded him of the nervous way Audie clutched her backpack on that first visit. She’s so much stronger than I ever gave her credit for.

  “No, you don’t,” she said. “You had every right to think I wasn’t straight with you.”

  “I should have believed you. You’ve been honest with me all along, but I wouldn’t see it.” He took the briefcase from her, taking her hand instead. “I’m worried for you.”

  “I’m worried for me, too. And Audie. Markham can be a powerful enemy.”

  The urge to keep her safe welled up with such force, Gunner felt it like a physical sensation. A surge of adrenaline that made him want to wrap his arms around her and tell the world to back off. As it was, he squeezed her hand. “We know how to deal with predators around here, don’t you worry. This herd protects its own.” He didn’t come right out and say “you’re one of us now,” but he could see in her eyes that he didn’t need to. She knew.

  “We need to see the dam with our own eyes,” she said as they started walking back to the house. “Take photos if we can. If by some chance that blur is hiding something else, or hiding nothing at all, we’ve got to know.”

  “You and I both know that’s not the case,” Gunner said, “but I think you’re right. Only, how?” As Gunner looked toward the barn, he got an idea. “I’ll get Billy to bring Audie back to Gran. We’ll need him with us. Daisy started this—I think we can get her to end it.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  It was a risky plan. It also meant bringing Brooke into that risk, and that set a cold spot in the pit of Gunner’s stomach. Still, they needed that proof now, and he didn’t have another option.

  “Do you think Daisy and Russet will head over there?” Brooke asked. Gunner had concocted a plan whereby Billy would lead Daisy and Russet to the northwest gate and “happen” to leave it unlatched. Given Daisy’s recent hankering to wander, she would cross the road with Russet onto Larkey’s land by the gate just a few yards from their own—Gunner was pretty sure she was heading toward it that day she blocked Brooke’s path. For a man who pitched a fit when he found animals on his land, Larkey was lazy about locking his gates—which suited Gunner’s plan perfectly.

  The “lost” animals would provide Gunner and Brooke with an excuse to venture onto Larkey’s land in search of the bison. That gate wasn’t far from where the suspected dam could be found and documented. Hopefully, they would be in and out with Daisy and Russet before Larkey even knew they were there.

  “It’s the best chance we’ve got,” Gunner replied, hoping he sounded more confident than he felt. While half of him hated putting Brooke anywhere near Larkey’s crosshairs, there was another half that needed Brooke beside him for this. A few months ago, he’d have considered that a weakness—the head of Blue Thorn ought to be able to defend it all on his own. Gran’s words kept coming back to him—the ones about being stronger together than they were apart. Maybe a better man, he thought as he led Brooke toward the horse barn, knows when to keep the better woman by his side.

  He glanced at Brooke’s eyes as they entered the horse barn. There was fear, but there was the same determination he felt settling down his own spine. They were stronger together. He saw the “it’s worth it” conviction in her features that set his own jaw. Maybe that was the place where courage came from.

  Acting on a quick impulse, he pulled Brooke off toward the tack room instead of going straight to the horses Billy had saddled. Inside, he opened a drawer in the cabinets that lined the wall. Gunner pulled out a turquoise bandanna and held it up. “Here.”

  She looked up at him, not understanding the gesture. “What’s this?”

  “Everyone on the ranch carries one of these.” He put it in her hands, feeling some part of his life slide into place as he did. “You’re one of us now.”

  Her eyes widened as that sweet smile—the one that had hooked him back on the muddy road—spread across her face. She knew what it meant and why he’d given it to her now. A surprisingly large part of him wanted to kiss her—right here, right now—but it seemed like the wrong time. Hopefully, the bandanna would speak his intentions for now, and he’d save a good long kiss for after this whole thing was over.

  Brooke took the blue square, smiling as she tied it around her neck. Gunner had to admit, the color did wonders for her eyes. She belonged here. Why had it taken this whole mess to force him to figure that out?

  “I’m glad you can ride,” Gunner said, needing something practical to talk about given the tumbling, falling sensation filling his chest. “We usually herd the bison with ATVs, but they’d be too loud—they’d draw Larkey’s attention, for sure.”

  She tightened the knot on the bandanna with a firm hand. “I can do this. I want to do this.”

  Gunner took her hand and they walked together toward the horses. Again, he was struck by how she fit into the place—something he never would have guessed given how they’d met. He stopped her one more time before they were ready to mount. “You’re sure, now? This could get ugly. If Larkey catches us, he won’t be nice.”

  She nodded. Gunner cupped his hands to give her a boost up onto the horse, but she stopped him, holding hands instead. “Hang on a minute,” she said. “There’s something I—we need to do first.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Pray.”

  He hadn’t expected that. Then again, knowing how Brooke saw the world, knowing what they were about to attempt, it made a surprising sort of sense. He closed his hands around hers, feeling another part of his life slide into place when he did. “Okay,” he said softly. He meant it, too.

  Brooke closed her eyes, but Gunner found he could not. Instead he watched her, let the moment seep into him despite the unfamiliar feelings. More than just Brooke, he seemed to take in everything about the moment—the movement of the horses, the tender feel of Brooke’s hands in his, the slanting sun shining down on a day that would change everything for not only him, but her, too. “Father,” she began, “protect us.” Her voice was low and peaceful—what faith ought to sound like, even in a jam like this. “See justice done today. If there’s a way around this battle, show it to us.”

  Gunner surprised himself by nodding in agreement. It struck him again just what a wonder of a woman held his hands right now. “Thank You for the way You’ve provided,” she went on, “for this land, these animals, these people. Keep Daisy and Russet safe, and keep us safe, as well. Let the truth come to light without anyone coming to harm.” Gunner realized she had named the urge filling him. She’d given the perfect words to his feelings—her gift, she always said, and what a gift that was. “In Your son’s name, Amen.”

  “Amen,” he said after her, and it didn’t feel odd or forced at all. When Brooke opened her eyes to look at him, the warmth there nearly took Gunner’s breath away. “Thanks for that,” he managed, his voice catching. She squeezed her fingers where they intertwined with his, and the choice was made. “There’s something else we have to do.”

  “What’s that?”

  “This.” With that he leaned over and kissed her. A warm, slow kiss that was both declaration and promise. A steady, solid kiss that felt very much like the first of many. And everything slid into place.

  He ran one hand down her cheek as he pulled back, taking a moment’s satisfact
ion in the color that rose there. It was a fine thing to kiss a woman well, but this was so much more than a very good kiss. Her eyes sparkled—she’d felt it, too. “I was gonna wait, but I changed my mind. Can you blame me?” He slid his hand around her, reveling in the sensation of her in his embrace. “If I’m gonna get shot for trespassing in an hour, I didn’t want to go without a first kiss.”

  “Don’t you dare get shot,” she replied with an alarmed smirk and placed a hand on his chest. “I’d really hate that to be our last.”

  “Not on my watch.” With that, Gunner hoisted her high enough to slide into the saddle. “You stay well behind me when we meet up with Daisy,” he called as he handed her the reins before swinging up onto his own mount. “Bison can jump higher than you’d think, and they can turn on a dime. I can’t lasso her like a cow—we’ve just got to herd her and Russet back across the road.”

  He took one last, long look as they walked the horses out into the sunlight. “Ready?”

  * * *

  “Ready.”

  Brooke was surprised to feel the solid core of certainty Jim had always talked about. The part she most admired about him—but the part that cost him everything. She realized, as their horses picked up the pace, that a tiny part of her had resented Jim’s stand. After all, his convictions had taken him from her.

  Today the resentment was gone. Now, about to take a stand of her own, she understood why Jim’s convictions would have never allowed any other choice. She could no more turn back now than Jim could have allowed the theft of that medicine to go unchallenged. Yes, the threat was very real, but so was the peace of knowing she was doing the right thing. Just the day before, she’d questioned the idea that God placed her here to find a solution, but now Brooke knew that was exactly what had happened. She really was ready.

  She was also ready to open her heart again. I’m taking a stand for much more than bison and land, she thought as they turned toward the northwest gate.

  Riding now at full speed behind Gunner, the wind whipping across the rolling green land, Brooke took in the amazing moment. She was heading off on horseback to catch a crook and herd bison. If it wasn’t such a treacherous mission, the whole thing would feel like a Wild West adventure. “What if we find her before we see the dam?” she called as she caught up to Gunner.

  “That’ll complicate things,” he called back. “Let’s just hope that doesn’t happen.”

  They rode for another ten minutes, the land stretching out wide under a bright sky. Brooke felt the sense of awe she’d always felt about this land rise up, despite her nerves. To her right, she saw the herd out grazing in pastures. Once ranchers and even the Indian nations had seen bison herds that numbered in the tens of thousands. As impressive as Gunner’s herd was, what must it have been like to see a herd ten, even fifty times the size of Blue Thorn’s thunder across the grass?

  She should have been more afraid. She was about to set in motion a series of events that would end her job at DelTex and make some powerful enemies. Brooke felt tension, caution even, but not fear. The solid protection of Gunner Buckton seemed to live in the blue bandanna circling her throat. More than that, God’s will seemed to rise up around her, confirming her earlier realization. She had been led here for this reason.

  Billy was on his way back in from the gate. “She went over, just like we planned. I followed on foot to nudge her and Russet across the creek so she’d be on the far side, but I didn’t go as far as the dam.” He pointed to the rise of a small hill just across the road from where they stood now. “If she’s heading for that crop of trees like I think she is, she ought to be there by now.”

  “Okay, so it’s working so far,” Gunner said. “Get on back, Billy, and be ready when we bring Daisy and Russet back home. Don’t tell Gran—not yet. I don’t want her to worry in front of Audie.” He wheeled his horse around as Billy headed back toward the house. Gunner pointed down the road, sending Brooke’s gaze over the small bridge that spanned the creek. “There’s Larkey’s gate down a ways, across the creek. We’ll come at it from the other side, to make sure we meet up with Daisy and Russet afterward.” They both hesitated as they came to the Blue Thorn gate. There was no going back after this. He looked at her, a silent “here we go” in his eyes.

  She nodded. Father, give me courage. Keep us from harm.

  They cantered down the road where her little blue car had been stopped, muddy gullies still lining the pavement. The metal gate just beyond the little creek bridge was already open, and they walked their horses through it—Gunner first, then Brooke.

  It felt treacherous to wind their way down the swollen creek bed. Knowing she was on Larkey’s land, Brooke felt exposed and at risk. A half mile in, they found what they were looking for: a collection of cinder blocks, soil and sandbags formed a hasty but sturdy dam.

  Gunner let out a low whistle while Brooke reached inside her bag for her digital camera. “I half hoped he hadn’t done it,” he said, looking down at the structure and the muddy ground it created. “The political stuff I can believe, but this is rancher against rancher. I know my dad and he weren’t the best of friends, but this...”

  “This is wrong,” Brooke said as she snapped several shots of the dam, making sure the time and location stamps were live on her camera. “This isn’t public good, Gunner, this is private greed.”

  “How do you think he ever hoped to get away with it?” Gunner asked.

  “I’d guess that this would only stay in place until DelTex broke ground, or even just got all the permitting clearances. The legislation DelTex was manipulating would do most of the dirty work anyway. They didn’t need a permanent dam—they only had to get away with it for a little while.”

  “Then Larkey could just dismantle the dam, and it wouldn’t matter that our creek would go back to its old size.”

  Brooke moved to get a good angle of the far side of the dam, now not much more than a dry bed. “Just one or two more shots.”

  “Okay, let’s make this quick. I don’t want to be out here one second longer than we have to be. It’s just enough...”

  A yell and a gunshot cracked through the air, startling Brooke so that but for the wrist strap, she might have dropped the camera. Oh, no.

  “Larkey.” Gunner spurred his horse into action, splashing through the swollen creek. “He found them first. Stay here!”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Gunner dug his heels into the horse’s flanks, racing toward the sound of the shot but taking crucial seconds to veer his horse as far from the creek as possible. If Larkey knew he’d seen the dam, there was no telling what the man would do. He was clearly comfortable firing a gun at Gunner’s stock already. Daisy’s bellow—and it had to be Daisy, because Larkey raised cattle, not bison—confirmed his worst fears. He knew he was taking a chance here—Larkey had often threatened Gunner’s animals with harm if they had ever wandered onto his land. It was what had made the issue of Daisy’s wandering tendencies and the faulty northwest gate so troubling.

  But more than just bison were in danger. Would Brooke remember to stay back if Daisy and Russet were panicked and ran toward the creek? Daisy had a temper if threatened, and if Larkey had done anything to threaten her calf, she’d show that temper in spades.

  Don’t let Larkey have shot them. Gunner was surprised to find the wish took the form of a prayer, remembering how Brooke had prayed for their protection as they fought for justice. Maybe Daisy and Russet were okay. If Larkey’s gunfire had only been a warning shot, Gunner thought he might be able to talk himself out of the jam.

  If his diversionary detour hadn’t worked, however, if Larkey worked out where he and Brooke had been and why...well, he was going to need a lot more prayer to come out of this unharmed.

  Coming up over the hill, Gunner let out a growl of anger as he saw Paul Larkey and three of his hands standing in ATV
s with rifles pointed at Daisy and Russet.

  “Larkey!” he yelled, pulling his horse up when the rancher turned to him—without dropping his weapon.

  Stay back, Brooke, he pleaded silently. Don’t be brave now. Keep down where he can’t see you.

  Gunner forced an apologetic tone into his voice, even though he yearned for Daisy to ram the man right off his vehicle. “You found ’em. Good. Daisy’s wandering is gonna be the death of me.”

  Poor choice of words. Lackey raised the rifle so that Gunner was staring down its barrel. “Could be.”

  “Okay, I get you’re steamed. But did you have to shoot at my calf?”

  “Didn’t hit ’em. Yet. But something’s got to teach your beasts to stay off my land.”

  Russet gave a small snort as if he’d heard Larkey’s warning. Daisy clearly sensed the threat and began pacing and snorting. If Gunner didn’t keep every human being well away from that angry mother, she’d show what harm a full-size bison could do.

  Keep Larkey talking. “Well, you just riled Daisy up and made the job of getting them back that much harder. She won’t play nice now—with either you or me. You might want to back up a couple of yards—she can run fast.” Gunner slowly walked his horse up until he was standing between Daisy and Larkey.

  “Getting her off my land ain’t my problem, it’s yours. I told you it’d come to this if I found her—or you—here.”

  Gunner had a mouthful of things to say about who was causing the problems here, but he swallowed his temper. He had to protect Brooke and the animals, even if it meant drawing Larkey’s fire—literally. “I know. And if I had the money to rebuild that gate, it’d be done already. I’m doing the best I can here, Paul, so let’s just lower the guns, okay? Neighbors?” The conciliatory words burned in his throat, but he forced a smile to his face anyway.