Cowboy Tough

by Stacy Finz

  “What’s that?”

  “Remember a few years ago when people were getting sick from contaminated orange juice?” Charlie nodded. “The citrus industry hired Aunt Wendy and Uncle Dan to rebuild consumer trust. That’s the kind of stuff they do.”

  “They’re the ones you don’t want to take the money from to pay the taxes?”

  “Not just them, no one. I pay my own debts.” He reached across the cab and zipped her jacket. “Let’s go.”

  She followed him to the barbed-wire fence and he held the middle strand up so she could climb through. “You got it?”

  She made it to the other side with ease. “What do we do now?”

  “Make sure the water trough’s full.”

  “Okay, tell me how I can help.”

  She’d helped simply by spending the morning with him.

  “Normally I’d check to see if any fences were down, but not on foot.” He glanced at her shoes, which were now caked with mud. “We got to get you some real boots.” Sometimes she wore red suede loafers, which were as practical for a working ranch as the ankle boots she had on.

  She stared down at her footwear. “I didn’t take many clothes with me when I left. I needed the car space for my sewing machines and supplies.”

  “Why don’t you take a day and go shopping in Roseville? If you’re nervous about Ainsley, I’ll go with you.” Shopping malls were the tenth circle of hell as far as he was concerned, and the likelihood of Ainsley finding her in a Sacramento suburb was pretty much next to nil. But better safe than sorry. “Have you thought any more about that restraining order we talked about?”

  “Why? It’s not like it would deter him from finding me. Or stop him from doing anything he wanted to do. Corbin doesn’t believe he has to follow the rules.”

  “But I do, Charlie. Without a restraining order, he’s not breaking the law if he approaches you in public. Help me do my job, here. Help me take care of you.”

  She gazed up at him. “I’d like to say I can take care of myself but …” She sniffled and stared out over the horizon. “My sister, Allison, would never have let a man beat her up. We were raised in a gentle home, a good home. I don’t know how I let this happen to me.”

  “Let’s put the blame where it belongs, not on the survivor. And, Charlie, you can take care of yourself.” Jace leaned against the barn, pulled Charlie against him until her back rested against his chest, and wrapped his arms around her waist. “The first step is filing that restraining order. Now tell me about this sister of yours. Don’t know her, but I already like her.”

  “She’s two years younger than me but a wise old soul.” Charlie got quiet, then softly said, “We don’t talk any longer and I miss her so much.”

  Jace felt Charlie shudder and knew she was crying. “Why don’t you talk anymore?” He pulled her closer so she could lean the back of her head on his shoulder.

  “She hated Corbin, despised him.” Charlie’s voice trembled. “I let him come between us. My sister, who means the world to me, and I let Corbin come between us. What kind of person lets a man drive a wedge between sisters? Family? Tell me that.”

  “Call her, tell her you’re sorry. Then you’ll have her back in your life.”

  “You make it sound so easy. Well it’s not. What am I supposed to tell her? ‘You were right, Corbin was the devil incarnate. Now I’m in hiding from him and I can’t tell you where I am because I don’t want to get you enmeshed in this mess.’” She turned around so she faced him. “I’m ashamed, Jace. I’m so ashamed.”

  “Shhhh,” he whispered. “You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of. You’re brave, Charlie. Only a brave person does what you did. File the restraining order. Call Allison. Take your life back.”

  “I’ll think about it,” she said, her voice tearful.

  “Ah, don’t cry, honey. It’ll be okay. You’re here now, you’re safe.”

  “Safe? I’m not safe from myself. Look at the horrible decisions I made. Look at the awful man I let into my life. I let him destroy my business, my relationship with my family…my baby.”

  The crying started anew and this time her whole body shook with every wrenching sob. He pulled her into his arms and let her wail into his chest.

  “Go ahead, get it all out.” He held her tighter. “Let it go. I’m here for you, Charlie.”

  “Why? Why would you want anything to do with me?”

  He rubbed his thumb along the side of her face and wiped away a tear. “Because I like you.”

  “I don’t know why.”

  “Is that a way to talk?” His fingers subconsciously sifted through her silky hair and his voice grew lower. “You’re an amazing, smart, talented woman, who was victimized by a human piece of garbage. You weren’t the first—far from it—and unfortunately you won’t be the last. But leaving him the way you did, that took real courage.” He lifted her up into his arms. “Let’s get you home. Sawyer can look after the cattle today.”

  “I’m okay. We can finish. Please…I don’t want to pull you away from your work.”

  “We’ll sit in the truck for a while and see how you feel.” The cattle could wait.

  He carried her to the passenger side and got in behind the wheel. It was chilly, so he turned on the engine and cranked the heat. He took off his shearling jacket, covered her with it, and handed her a wad of tissues from the dispenser on the visor.

  “Better?”

  “Yes” was all she said and for a long time they sat in the quiet of his truck cab.

  The sun had finally made a full appearance, lighting up the sky like a giant orange.

  “You’ll be late for work and the boys are probably up by now.” Charlie wiped her nose with the tissues and stared out the windshield.

  “They’ll be fine for a few minutes. Take whatever time you need.” He reached over the console and covered her small hand with his.

  “They should clone men like you, you know?”

  He snorted. “God help us all if they did.”

  She turned in her seat to face him. “I’m serious. If it hadn’t been for you, I don’t know what I would’ve done. I probably would’ve gone crazy.”

  “Nah, you’re a fighter and Corbin, he’s a coward.” A dead coward if Jace ever got his hands on him. Okay, Jace wouldn’t really kill him but he’d like to make him suffer.

  He leaned across the cab and kissed her. Just a sweet peck on the cheek, but Charlie turned and took his lips, cupping the back of his head with her hands to kiss him deeper.

  Jace reacted and kissed her back. Long, slow, and thoroughly. When she didn’t resist, he kept going, exploring her lips and licking inside her mouth with his tongue.

  She tipped her head back against the seat and he went in for more, drunk on the taste of her. Her hands came around his neck and he pressed her deeper into the seat, bruising her lips with his, winding his hands through her hair. Kissing her into tomorrow.

  He shouldn’t have. It was wrong on about a thousand levels.

  Yet, he couldn’t seem to stop himself. She felt so good—curvy and warm and feminine—and responsive, returning his kisses with equal passion. He could make her feel good too. Take the hurt away if she’d let him.

  He pushed his jacket off her and let his hands slide down her sides, pulling her into his lap. This time, he kissed her even more powerfully, devouring her mouth like he hadn’t eaten in a week, his hands roaming freely over her sweater.

  She made a sound, a whimper maybe. Jace was so lost in her he couldn’t tell. But when she whimpered again it registered that he’d gone too far, that he needed to put the brakes on.

  “Shit.” He forced himself to pull away. “Ah, man, that won’t happen again.” He saw the chafing on her chin and rubbed the scruff on his face. He’d forgone shaving this morning to get more time with her before he had to go to work. Jeez, he wa
s losing it. “I didn’t scare you, did I?”

  “Of course not. I started it.” She traced his lips with her fingers. “And I don’t regret one second of it.”

  He blew out a breath and lifted her out of his lap onto the bucket seat next to him. “Look, I don’t want you to think this is a quid pro quo thing. Ah, shit, I’m not saying this right. We’re friends…you’re babysitting my kids…Ah, Christ, give me a second.” He got out of the truck and walked behind the barn to gather his thoughts before he fucked this up any more than he already had.

  The kiss had been forceful, even rough. God only knew what she’d been through with Ainsley. The last thing he wanted was for her to think she was expected to put out while she lived under his roof. The very notion of it made him sick. He wasn’t one of those guys, he didn’t want his sons to be one of those guys. What kind of message would this send to them?

  “What are you doing?” Charlie came through the brush and tilted her head to the side.

  Crap, maybe he’d been talking to himself. “Figuring out how I’m going to fix this.”

  “There’s nothing to fix, Jace. We kissed. Not the end of the world. The fact is I quite liked it. And for the record, you’ve never made me feel like I needed to trade my kisses for your home or friendship. Never. You’ve been a perfect gentleman. I initiated the kiss, not you. And I initiated it because you make me feel safe, like you’d never take advantage. So can we please not make this a thing?”

  “A thing?” He raised his brows. Had she just insinuated that he was acting like a high school girl? “As long as you’re good, I’m good.”

  “I’m good. Better than good.” Her face flushed red and she smiled. “Now, if we don’t get back, Travis and Grady will think we’ve run off on them.”

  “Yeah, okay,” he said but he wasn’t okay at all.

  * * * *

  Sawyer watched as Jace’s Ford F-150 pulled away from the barn, and gave his head a shake. The boy was getting himself in deep with his pretty houseguest.

  He hiked into the pasture and used the hose from the water tank to fill a galvanized metal trough. It was still more than half full and the cattle preferred drinking from an irrigation pond a few clips up the road anyway. But they’d been filling that trough for as long as Sawyer could remember.

  He shielded his eyes from the sun with his hand, having forgotten his sunglasses. Angus cows dotted the green hillsides. The rain this year had left the grass lush for grazing.

  Sawyer hadn’t bothered to saddle up Sugar or one of the other horses in the stable to check fences. Perhaps he’d take one of the mares out later, after he knocked out a few thousand words on his book. Nothing was better than a good brisk ride. With five hundred acres, he’d never run out of trails to explore.

  First thing this morning, he’d put out a few calls about Angie’s alleged co-op. Instead of sitting around, waiting for responses, he’d decided to stretch his legs and fill his lungs with fresh air.

  He turned off the hose, wound it back up, and started to hike home when he turned in the other direction.

  Ten minutes later, he lounged in a rocker on Cash’s front porch. Technically it was Aubrey’s, but after the engagement Cash and Ellie had moved in. Cash’s old place was just across the creek and in the same state of disrepair he’d left it. Every time Sawyer saw the cabin he hummed a few bars of “Dueling Banjos.”

  Aubrey’s cabin, on the other hand, was a showstopper. Flower boxes, great-looking screen door, and matching shutters all painted a forest green. The inside was even better and she’d done it all on a dime. No wonder she was one of the most sought-after interior designers in Gold Country.

  The screen door squeaked open and Cash came out onto the porch. “You planning to sit out here all morning? Or were you expecting room service?”

  “Why does everyone treat me like a profligate?”

  “You get that off your word-of-the-day calendar?” Cash ushered Sawyer across the threshold.

  “Nope, I just happen to have an amazing vocabulary. Where’s Ellie? It’s quiet in here.”

  “She stayed the night with a friend so they could work on a history project. Aubrey’s in the bedroom.”

  Sawyer grimaced. “Am I interrupting something?”

  “Let’s just say your timing is better than usual. But I do have to get to a meeting that starts in an hour.” Cash glanced at his watch. “What’s up? Or are you here to raid the refrigerator?”

  “Nah, I already ate. Coffee would be good, though.”

  Cash rolled his eyes but went into the kitchen to pour Sawyer a cup. Sawyer made himself at home at their dining room table.

  “I went down to check on the cattle a little bit ago and found Jace in his truck making out with Charlie.”

  Sawyer waited for a snarky response about how he should mind his own business or that he was a voyeuristic bastard, but nothing was forthcoming. Just silence and a scowl.

  Finally, he said, “I figured it was just a matter of time.”

  “It won’t end well.”

  “What won’t end well?” Aubrey came out of the bedroom in her work clothes, her hair wet.

  “Jace and Charlie. I think they’re a thing now.” Sawyer sipped his coffee.

  “Neither of them have said anything to me about it, but they’re both adorable, so good on them.”

  Cash didn’t comment, but Sawyer was pretty sure he was stifling another eye roll.

  “She seems like a perfectly nice woman,” Sawyer said. “But she’s not for Jace. First of all, she’s got a nutjob boyfriend with an influential father who can screw up Jace’s chances in the election. Second of all, she doesn’t strike me as a small-town girl. Last time Jace fell for one of those…well, we all know what happened.”

  Aubrey waved her hand in the air. “You don’t know anything about Charlie. She’s lovely and nothing like Mary Ann. As far as small towns, she seems to adore the ranch.”

  “Because it’s serving as a safe house with Jace standing between her and the big, bad wolf. What happens when Ainsley isn’t a threat any longer? I’ll tell you what happens: Charlie resumes her life in San Francisco, leaving Jace and the boys in her rearview mirror.”

  “You’re being completely unfair. Don’t you think he’s being unfair, Cash?”

  Cash went into his signature silent mode again.

  “You’re both idiots. And I have to go to work.” She kissed Cash and they wound up mashing lips long enough to make Sawyer blush.

  “Jeez, get a room, people.”

  “We have a room but my pain-in-the-ass cousin decided to drop in uninvited.”

  Aubrey giggled, gave Cash another kiss, and planted a smooch on the top of Sawyer’s head. “You’re welcome here anytime, Dalton.” She grabbed her purse off the hook by the door and blew them both a kiss goodbye.

  “She likes me better than you,” Sawyer said.

  Cash went to the window as Aubrey’s ancient Volvo came to life and watched her drive away. “Jace says some investigator has a lead on Angie.”

  Dry Creek Ranch may as well have gone back to the party line. Nothing happened on the ranch without it being telegraphed between the three of them. And now Aubrey.

  “It’s two years old, but yeah, it’s something.”

  Cash frowned but remained mum.

  “Just say what’s on your mind.” Sawyer got up and poured himself another cup of coffee.

  “I don’t have to say it.” Cash found his boots by the door and pulled them on. “You know the drill better than any of us. I think you journalists call it skepticism. Take whatever this dude is telling you with a heavy dose of it.”

  “Yeah, I know.” He squeezed the bridge of his nose.

  Angela had been missing for five years now. One day he was talking to her on the phone, then, poof, he never heard from her again. It wasn’t the f
irst time she’d fallen off the map.

  But they’d never been out of touch with her for more than six months at a time. When she failed to surface, Sawyer’s parents spent tens of thousands of dollars searching for her. Private investigators, DNA databases, even psychics. In the last year, he’d taken over the search. And still, nothing.

  “Maybe it’s a good lead, Sawyer,” Cash said. “I’m not saying it’s not. But proceed with caution and try not to get your hopes up.”

  How was he supposed to do that? She was his sister, for God’s sake. “Right. What are we going to do about the situation with Jace and Charlie or whatever her real name is?”

  “Charlotte. And we’re not doing anything. It’s Jace’s private life. ‘Private’ being the key word there.”

  “What if the ex comes sniffing around?”

  “Then we’ll back Jace up like he’d do for us.”

  Sawyer nodded. That of course went without saying. The issue was whether Jace was prepared for more heartbreak. “She wants to organize a fundraiser for his campaign.”

  “That’s good. He could use contributions. Jolly’s a joke, but according to the paper he’s outraised Jace ten times over.” Cash grabbed his hat off a peg in the entryway. “I gotta hit the road. Let me know what more you find out from this investigator. I’ve got a couple of comp days at the end of the month. If need be, you and I can take a trip to New Mexico.”

  “Thanks. I appreciate that.”

  Cash bobbed his head at the kitchen. “Help yourself.”

  Sawyer’s lips slid up. “I always do.”

  After Cash left, Sawyer finished his coffee, washed his cup, and headed across the field to his place. If he stayed disciplined and kept off the internet he could make his daily word quota early enough to go on that ride and later rendezvous with the cute bookstore clerk he’d been seeing in Roseville. It was nothing serious, but she was nice company until he had to leave on another long assignment. The book sabbatical was only going to last so long. His editor at The Atlantic was already nagging him about covering some coup in Indonesia.