The Accidental Cowboy

by Heidi Hormel

  “Hey, I’m here, you two,” Lavonda broke in.

  “You might not want to draw attention to that or the fact that the two of you have engaged in a sexual liaison.”

  Before Lavonda could protest, Jones said, “I don’t believe that’s any of your business.”

  “Normally, it wouldn’t be, but when it affects the reputation of my school, it very much becomes my problem.”

  Stanley said, “This line of discussion is unproductive. Dr. Kincaid, you will receive a written notification that your presence at Angel Crossing campus is no longer welcome.”

  “Wait. You don’t need to do this,” Lavonda said, not quite knowing how they had gone from a slap on the wrist to the destruction of Jones’s career. “I have ideas on how you might use his search.”

  “Now please, Dr. Kincaid,” Gwen said firmly, ignoring Lavonda. “We’ll need you off the property. Security is here to take you to your office and lab to clear out personal items and then they will take your ID card. IT will meet you there to ensure that any materials on your computer remain. That material, per the agreement, belongs to the university.”

  Jones stood. Lavonda sat, not sure what to do. She needed to fix this. Why? He’d done the crime, he should do the time. What really had he done? Gone off on a treasure hunt, after he said he wouldn’t, except he’d done the research he said he would but—

  “Lavonda,” Gwen said. “I know you had an inkling of what he was up to. I’m disappointed you didn’t let me know.”

  She pulled herself together. Did she help Jones? Did she protect herself? “I didn’t. We have been going to a variety of settlements.”

  “You’ve put me in a bad position.”

  Crappedy crap. “I can turn this into a positive.”

  “Absolutely not. If the alumni found out that... No. As long as this stays quiet, your involvement will remain unknown.”

  “I can write up something about the bean research and the grant, but that will be my last job. I want to give you notice I’ll be taking a position with a company overseas.”

  “Finally, something is working out. I won’t need to worry about a new caretaker because the ranch will soon be out of our hands.”

  “You didn’t say anything about there being a buyer for the ranch?” Lavonda couldn’t believe this part of her plan had fallen through.

  “I’m not at liberty to talk about the ranch, but you’ll be able to remain there until your departure. I assume your departure is imminent.”

  Lavonda nodded, not sure what to say to this news. She couldn’t even think about what it would mean for her. She ignored that to go over how she might fix his problem before she went to Hong Kong—when she got the call. He’d made boneheaded decisions. No doubt. Still, they weren’t the kind that should end his career. She’d do the same thing for anyone.

  * * *

  A MAN OF JONES’S SIZE should not be difficult to find in the wide-open spaces around the ranch, especially a red-haired man who wasn’t hiding. Or at least Lavonda didn’t think he was hiding. She hadn’t seen him since they’d gotten “home” four hours ago.

  Reese’s bray cut across the usual bird sounds of the desert. Lavonda searched the scrub for the little burro. Until Maizey the goat had time to do her thing, the corral areas remained choked with tumbleweeds. She caught a movement, then saw Jones. He had an ax and was chopping at a mesquite tree. He had his shirt off and a fine sheen of sweat glistened across his powerful shoulders. Had he put on sunscreen? Yeah, Lavonda girl, pretend you were thinking about the welfare of his skin and not what that salty, sweaty skin tasted like when he was above you, in you. What she should really be concentrating on was how she’d talk him into accepting her fix-it plan.

  “Jones, did you put on sunscreen?” Great way to start a conversation about his career.

  He stopped his swing midstroke, letting the ax fall to his side. “What?”

  “What are you doing?” She’d circle around what she wanted to say, like approaching a half-broke horse, slowly and stealthily.

  “Clearing out this corral. You said something about that being on your list.”

  “The goat is supposed to take care of that.” He grunted. Not the most positive response.

  “I don’t see a goat.” He lifted the ax and made a final whack to the base of a young mesquite tree, and dragged it to a large pile of brush. She wouldn’t tell him that the mesquite could stay. She knew a man who wasn’t reasonable when she saw him.

  “Can you take a break? There’s something I want to talk over with you.”

  “I want to get this finished.”

  “First, you can’t get this all cleared today and second...second, what I have to tell you could save your career.”

  He stood to his full height, tipped back his hat and gave her his squint. “Is that so? You have a time machine?”

  “Ha-ha. I’m not Doctor Who. But I am a darned good media specialist.”

  “I told you before. No.”

  “You haven’t even heard what I’ve come up with.” Mama was right. No good deed goes unpunished. She remembered first seeing him at the Highland games with all the rippling muscle and testosterone-laden air. Then there was the impromptu gym in the barn. She’d remember the positive. Hadn’t Oprah said that? “I know that you had pinned a lot on this discovery. I can help—”

  “I don’t want your help.”

  Lavonda’s back stiffened and now she pulled herself up to her full height, returning his Old West squint. “Don’t make it sound like I’m a...a...a serial killer.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “I have a brother and a brother-in-law. I know what that means.”

  “It means ‘I am fine.’ Right as rain, tip-top, A-Okay.” He moved to an ironwood tree and the ax thumped against its base in sync with his words.

  “That reassures me. I am a professional at spinning—”

  “Offal into gold?”

  “Something like that. But I have other ideas, too.” Like telling herself that helping him would be a help for her career, too. When he found the treasure, the campus would get all kinds of press, which would be just the kind of campaign she could point to when she was negotiating her salary. See. It wasn’t all about her cowboy in a kilt.

  He stood up straight again, looming over the landscape. “I’m heading back to Glasgow, where I might still have a job, even if it’s back to being the most junior lecturer and the assistant at a dig.”

  “Of course you’ll have a job. Your brother wouldn’t fire you.”

  “You shouldn’t bet on that.” He headed off to the barn, his cowboy boots thudding on the ground.

  She’d follow him in a couple of minutes. He needed to cool off. Once she got him back on track, then she could move on. She needed closure, right? Making sure Jones’s reputation was restored and that he still had a job was exactly what she needed to do to walk away from the affair and back onto the corporate ladder with no regrets.

  * * *

  JONES CLEANED OFF the ax, then checked on the gelding he’d begun to think of as his. He’d cooled off in more ways than one and knew he had even more to apologize for. He couldn’t allow her to get mired in the muck of his career. He’d be lucky if his brother didn’t have him deported from Scotland.

  “We were so close to the cave, Joe. One more clue and we would have had it. But I’ve got to be off the property, pronto. Stanley and Dr. Hernandez made that clear.”

  Reese’s bray echoed through the barn as a scuffle of Cat’s claws passed by Jones, making Joe step back.

  “Are you ready to listen to me now?” Lavonda asked, standing in the doorway, hands on hips in a warrior stance.

  “I heard you. I didn’t agree.”

  “Then you mustn’t have listened well, because I am giving you a way ou
t of this mess.”

  “I’m confused,” he said because honestly he was. “You were the one who insisted I confess all and you had to know what would happen. Why the change of heart?”

  “I never expected that they’d kick you off campus and the ranch.”

  “I already had to leave the country per Glasgow. I’ll be moving on tomorrow.” He’d find a hotel to stay at.

  “I believe that the Angel Crossing campus and even your university are missing an amazing PR opportunity. A coded journal and legendary secret cave filled with treasure? How could that not garner a lot of interest?”

  “It would, but not serious academic interest.” She didn’t understand that part of the equation. No one outside the academic bubble did.

  “You think I don’t get it.”

  Hell. How had she read his mind? “It doesn’t matter, but I thank you for your—”

  “If you say ‘for your hospitality,’ I’m going to kick your cowboy butt.”

  “Then accept my apologies.”

  “For what? Lying, then lying again, then running away?”

  Being accused of lying, he could live with—it was for a just cause—but he did not run away. He’d faced down everything after Dolly-Acropolis. He never ran. He stayed. He fought. “The US government might take exception to me staying, and my contract has been terminated. I’m not running.”

  “It’ll take weeks to get all of that paperwork filed. You could find the treasure by then. I’m not giving up.”

  “Now you think I should look for a buried treasure?”

  “That’s what I’ve been saying. We’ve got the supply and the animals. One more trek. I’ll shoot video, upload daily reports—”

  “No video. No cameras. No reports.” Another stream of internet videos he did not need. He understood why she was suggesting it, but he couldn’t let her get dragged down by his failing career.

  “I’m sure I can figure something out without the pics, but visual evidence of the find of the century would make it easier for them to throw tons of money and titles at you.” Lavonda smiled broadly.

  Her happiness hurt him, not because he wished he felt the same way but because he was pretty sure he’d disappoint her.

  She stopped smiling and asked, “What’s wrong? It’s a good plan.” Her cartoon-princess eyes darkened with emotion and her mouth stopped smiling. He saw the determined cowgirl who’d gone eight seconds on a bronc. “I am fixing this whether you help me or not. There’s the fact, too, that your find could mean all kinds of amazing press for the Angel Crossing campus, which I can leverage for more money when I get my next job.”

  She wasn’t kidding and he knew her well enough to know she wouldn’t be backing down. He couldn’t let her throw everything into this project without giving as much as she was. “I want you to be certain. This could end badly.”

  “Why don’t we wait to assume the worst until it happens? Plus, I’ve got contingencies.”

  He nodded. He couldn’t voice both his hope and his fear. Kincaid’s Cache could get him back into the good graces of his family and the university. That’s what mattered now...and telling Lavonda the truth from here on out. Ergo, you will be telling her that you care for her and may even love her, the quiet voice in his head told him. The kilt-wearing, caber-tossing Jones told that little voice to shut its gob.

  “Great. Get your gear packed. We’re leaving at the butt-crack of dawn tomorrow.” She laughed. “You’ll see. It’ll all work out for the best.”

  He watched the doorway long after she had walked through it and didn’t move until Joe nibbled on the ends of his hair. He gently pushed away the gelding.

  No matter what happened with this final search, he’d have the satisfaction and the memory that he’d done what he needed to do, not only for himself but also for Lavonda. He had gotten the feeling that the cave and its treasure had become just as important to her.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Are you sure?” Jones asked Lavonda again, because her pupils had dilated so much her eyes looked black, a mixture of excitement and fear as she prepared to explore the cave where he was certain the American Kincaid had hidden his hoard. He would have gone in, but his shoulders wouldn’t fit. He’d tried.

  “Just the same as getting in the chute. I’ve got the rope and I’ve got a light.” She tapped the headlamp on her hard hat.

  Before he could respond, she scrambled through the hole and into the cave. With his torch, he’d been able to see the sides but not the back wall. He watched Lavonda’s feet disappear and repositioned his hands on the rope for a better grip. The other end looped around Lavonda, her lifeline if anything happened. He could reel her in like a mountain trout. She tugged on the line once, meaning he was to let out more rope for her. He did that.

  Warm, moist, oaty breath rolled over him. Reese stood at his side, watching the hole carefully. “I would be in there if I could,” Jones said. The donkey let out a soft bray that could have been sympathy or a complaint about the rations. Another tug. He uncoiled more rope. Sweat ran from his temples. Shite. This was worse than anything he’d done. He should just pull her back. He tightened his hands to snatch her back through the ragged entrance.

  “Jones...” He heard her voice faintly from the hole. “Crap. This is... Why do you have to be so huge? You need to check this for yourself. You know that I’m not a professional.” The rope went slack. She was coming back to him.

  Her dear pixie face appeared in the opening, with muck smeared along her jaw and across her forehead. “It’s damp. And water is coming in from somewhere.” She wiggled out of the opening. He grabbed her, then let her go when she stiffened. She’d been careful since they’d hit the trail to keep physical contact to a less-than-bare minimum.

  “You’re okay?” He wanted to hug her to him.

  She waved away the question and took his hand, her eyes wide, dark and filled with...regret?

  “Maybe there’s another room,” she started. “We should have waited and you should have gone in.”

  “What did you see?”

  “Nothing. It’s empty.”

  * * *

  LAVONDA WATCHED JONES toss away his half-eaten Hobnob. She could only guess what he was thinking and feeling. He’d said little since he’d seen for himself, courtesy of a video on her phone, that the cave held only two mouse skeletons and the jawbone of a snake.

  While they’d made camp, he’d grunted his answers. She’d taken the hint, although she’d been sure the Hobnobs and tea would move him back to being human. That had worked as well as her words. Time to distract herself from his misery by cleaning up their meal, bedding down Reese and his horse pals, then she’d crawl in the tent, alone. She’d set her phone alarm for dawn. No reason to lengthen their stay.

  “What?” Jones asked from where he sat on a flat boulder, when she came out of her tent later.

  “I’m trying to decide which is worse—the heat in there or the chance of waking up with a snake or lizard walking on my head.”

  “No scorpions?”

  She laughed before she could stop herself. He went on looking out at the desert and not her.

  “As a kid, in the Highlands and on holiday, we sometimes camped rough. Well, my brother and I did.”

  So they weren’t talking about the great big elephant-sized lack of treasure in the room. At least he was talking. She sat down beside him. Would this be the last time that she’d sit like this with him, catching the mossy scent of his body? “My brother liked to camp in the backyard when we had one. I did, too,” Lavonda said.

  “Older or younger?”

  “My brother? Younger. He’s the baby of the family. Thought I told you that.” Lavonda leaned back against the boulder. Silence fell. The night sounds of the desert, including the coyotes, lulled her into a place betwee
n waking and sleeping. A good place.

  His voice startled her. “What do you plan to do?”

  “Tonight?”

  “No. When we get back to the ranch.”

  “Besides convincing Cat to not claw up the furniture in retaliation for leaving?” She didn’t need to see him to know he’d given her a death glare. “Sorry. It was a serious question. I’ll be following up with a company in Hong Kong about work there.”

  “Hong Kong.”

  She’d surprised him. “My dream job.”

  “It’s not making cookies in a tree?”

  “That’s elves.” The dim light of the desert and snuffling of the horses as they shifted gave the night an intimate feeling. If he didn’t want to talk, she did. She didn’t usually need to talk things to death, but getting back into PR had her off her game. “All this cowgirl stuff was temporary.”

  “You’re good at it.”

  “It’s in the blood. Not my passion, though, really. For Jessie and Danny and even Olympia—sure. Not for me.” She wanted to talk and now she couldn’t even string together a sentence.

  “Archaeology is like that for the Kincaids. We’ve been at it for generations. Do you think it’s a gene mutation?”

  “Maybe. Mama said that Leighs had mule blood. But that was only when Daddy was being particularly stubborn.”

  “You are going to Hong Kong?”

  “That’s the plan. This position is the one I’d have given my eyeteeth and the ranch for.”

  “You would have?”

  She’d thought he wasn’t paying much attention to anything but his own misery. “When I left my last corporate job—another downsizing—I decided to rethink things. I never thought it would take so long, but first Jessie needed my help, then Olympia. There I was working with the horses again. I forgot how great, grueling and horrible it could be. It was good for me. A mental health break, I guess, is the best way to put it.”

  “So you’ve said.”

  “I’m really, really good at my job and I enjoy it.”

  “I know the feeling. After this... I might be able to be an assistant to an assistant on the next dig. Or I may go into the Sullivan business—that’s Mother’s family—a long line of kilt makers. Now they specialize in pet kilts. I’ll send you one for Cat.” He laughed...sort of.