Cowgirl Rescue (Selkirk Family Ranch Book 3)

by Irene Vartanoff

  Aw, heck I’m even a failure at seducing my man.

  “Wait up, Rolf. I’ll walk with you,” she cried. She dashed a couple of silly tears from her eyes, straightened her western shirt, and redid the top snap.

  When she exited the cabin, he was nowhere in sight. The other buildings and the trees of the compound provided plenty of cover for a man wanting to avoid a lovelorn woman. Some femme fatale she was. Might as well go back to the ranch house and drink herself into a mood to sleep. Alone again.

  ***

  Hours later, waiting at the rim valley road, his assigned spot in the night’s rustler drama, Rolf had plenty of time to think about the Selkirk ranch, the Selkirk family, and each one of its quirky members. They were good people, despite their flaws. All the worry about Tess being a loose cannon was a waste. If they’d dealt her in from the start, she’d have her role to play and he had faith she’d perform it.

  The setup tonight was simple enough. They’d had a couple of the hands enact a scenario in which the guards left their post in one specific valley where cattle were. All the others had doubled guards tonight. This one only had the regular number, and in a few minutes, it would have none. If someone was watching, they’d see the guards leaving and think this paddock was the ideal spot for rustling tonight.

  Sheriff Logan would be waiting, with backup, on the main road. Rolf and JD would watch at opposite ends of the large area where most of the losses had occurred. When they saw anything, they’d text each other. It should be an easy trap for the cocky rustlers.

  Too bad JD had no respect for his sister. It wasn’t fair to cut Tess out of inheriting a third of the vast Selkirk ranch. She’d be within her rights to sue. If she kept winning at casinos, she’d have the funds to sue, too. Not to mention her acting income. Funny how she didn’t care about the thousands she’d won gambling, but she was upset over the financial hit the ranch was taking from the rustling. She truly was attached to the ranch.

  He loved this place, too. He could see himself staying here the rest of his life. But not if he couldn’t have Tess. She was the woman for him, but she had to be happy living here. If she was forced out, he’d leave here and go be with her, wherever. Maybe they’d buy a new ranch together. Money wasn’t the issue. He had plenty, and so did she. Tess had the smarts to run a ranch business profitably, and he had the interest in the day-to-day people management.

  He’d needed an isolated place after coming back from Iraq. The constant nightmares had made him unfit to be around other people. Tess didn’t see it that way. Their one night together, she’d even held him when he’d woken up hard from a nightmare, fists clenched, ready for battle. She wasn’t afraid of him. Maybe she should be, or maybe he was nearly mended. Was Tanisha Robinson right and he still needed to keep going with talk therapy? Make sure he’d drained all the poison out? It was safe here on the ranch. Safe working for JD, a man he trusted with his life. Safe was good, but Tess didn’t want safe, and he wanted to be strong for her sake wherever they ended up.

  If she was willing to be with him somewhere else. Living on the family ranch and marrying him would be an easy one-two plan. Did she like him enough to want to be with him anywhere else? Maybe she only wanted the sex. No. She wasn’t that shallow, although she liked to talk a good game.

  The time stretched. He’d been here over three hours, hidden behind one of the few stands of bushes in the immediate area. Nothing was happening. Could JD and the rest of them, all smug, self-assured men, have been wrong about the rustlers coming again tonight? Had Tess got the right idea? She hadn’t dreamed it up out of thin air. She’d done solid investigative legwork that pointed to her conclusion.

  No one showed up to rustle the cattle, despite the elaborate charade they’d orchestrated with a few of the ranch hands to make sure some of the cattle would seem unprotected. At three a.m., he texted JD and Logan that he was giving up. He was beat. He hadn’t had much sleep the night before and Tess’s visit to his cabin had derailed his short nap. Logan texted back that he’d stay a little longer, since he was at the main road, but JD also said he was calling it a night.

  All the drama and carrying on today had been a huge waste for everybody. Maybe he was ahead, though, because he’d learned a thing or two about what made Tess tick.

  Chapter 15

  The next morning, Tess took her courage in her hands and phoned her mother. For too long, Anita Selkirk had ringed her with restrictions as if Tess were still a child. The last three years, with Tess finally living on her own, her mother had been less smothering. Tess still found it daunting to ask directly for what she needed.

  After inquiring about her father and learning his heart condition was stable for the moment, Tess finally got to the point. “I want Daddy to sign over a third of the ranch to me. Running it, owning it, having power of attorney over it. However you want to arrange it. I’m tired of being pushed aside by JD and Baron.”

  Anita Selkirk said, “You must be joking. Your father has views on women running things.”

  “He better get over them. Very soon there won’t be anybody here who wants to run the ranch except me. Pick a good moment when Daddy will listen. Baron is going to Australia next month. As for JD,” she explained about Paula’s rocky pregnancy, and JD’s announcement that he’d be going back to Cheyenne for an extended stay. “My bet is once the baby is born, Paula will insist they stay in the city. And if she loses this baby…”

  “Oh, the poor dear, I hope not,” said her mother.

  “This current trip to the ranch was too much for her and if she loses this baby here she won’t want to return, ever. That’s my opinion, but I know how Paula thinks.”

  “Paula never has cared for the isolation of the place.”

  “I love the ranch. Help me, Mom. It’s my turn.”

  “And just how am I going to convince your father, missy? I heard you got arrested for DUI out in Hollywood.”

  Paula had been right. Her own family held the DUI against Tess. She wouldn’t let them. “That’s because I don’t have enough to do, Mom. I need the challenge of running the ranch.”

  “Are you fixing to give up your acting career?”

  “I want to do both. Just the way JD is doing both the veterans’ thing and running the ranch. He commutes back and forth to Cheyenne. I’ll commute to L.A. I’ve got a pilot’s license now, so it’ll be a snap.”

  “A pilot’s license. Oh, my.”

  Tess talked fast, outlining the rest of her plan before she lost her nerve. “Tell Daddy. Convince him it’s my turn. It’s only fair.”

  “I don’t know…”

  Tess gave all her reasons again, pressing her mother to help her. Anita was reluctant, but finally agreed to bring it up with her husband.

  “Please get him to agree, Mom. Please. It means everything to me.”

  “I’ll try.”

  Tess stared at the phone after they’d said goodbye. Maybe she should fly down to Mobile to talk to Daddy directly. No, having her mother soften him up first was the better tactic. Someone in the family ought to run the ranch. Maybe her mother could persuade Robert Selkirk that Tess could handle the job.

  She called her agent next. “I got your text. What’s up?”

  “There’s a flash part for you on a TV show next week. A day or two of shooting, no more. Very good exposure and a nice little piece of change. You’d be a love interest on a sitcom. It’s stunt casting. You don’t even have to audition for this one.” Barbara Jelleff gave Tess all the details about the show, which featured a nerdy character whose fantasy life was richer than his real life.

  Finally, some acting work. It had been too long a dry spell since the season had wrapped. Tess accepted the role. This would be fun. Maybe it would lead to other short-term acting gigs. She didn’t have to be in a television series as a regular to enjoy acting. She simply wanted to have work.

  After her two phone calls, Tess was wrung out from emotion but feeling great. She threw on her old swimsuit and hea
ded for the pool to work off the energy high. She planned to go over to Addie’s and borrow a horse, just to ride around the ranch property and enjoy the day. All the criminal activity would be happening at night, anyway.

  Later, when she figured he might have gotten some sleep, Tess called the sheriff. “Matt, don’t beat around the bush. Are you guys on again for tonight?”

  “Yeah. We’ve got the same setup planned. Still no role for you in it.”

  She sighed. “Put me on the team. I know you don’t have dozens of deputies. I’ll cover watching the line cabin.”

  “I don’t know about that.”

  “Come on, Matt. It’s my ranch, too.”

  “Let me think about it. I’ll get back to you.” He clicked off.

  Tess grimaced. The sheriff would call JD or Rolf and ask permission to let her join the team, and they’d say no.

  A few minutes later, when she was admiring her new SUV’s motor, JD came outside and started yelling at her.

  “You tried to get around my orders by talking to Logan directly. Why don’t you get in that fancy new toy of yours and go back to Hollywood? You’re not wanted here.”

  She straightened and faced him. “That’s a rotten thing to say, and it’s not true, either. Why are you always so mean and nasty to me?” She put her hands on her hips, refusing to back down.

  “Because you’re worthless.”

  “Who says? I work. I pay my own way.”

  “You’re just playing at life. You have no idea how serious it is.”

  “Sure I do. But I still know how to have fun, if that’s what you mean.” She stopped. Tess said, slowly, “You were the one who never took life seriously. I remember what you were like as a teenager. You were a player. You left a lot of girls crying. Becky Lang told me there even was talk of a girl who got pregnant.”

  At her words, JD turned pale under his tan. “You’re lying,” he said hoarsely. “I never did that. Never left any girl in the lurch.”

  She tilted her head, examining him. He was still a handsome man despite the lines war had carved in his face, but there was little sign of the cocky youth who’d charmed all the local girls. “Becky isn’t a liar. I don’t know if the story is true or not, but it’s something people say about you.” She pointed a finger at him. “I remember how you got into all kinds of trouble, and Daddy had to fix things for you. Maybe he fixed that one without telling you.”

  JD had a look of horror on his face. In three years, Paula had lost two babies, and she was on pace to lose this one, too. He was a man looking at being childless, and Tess had opened up a chasm under his feet.

  She took a deep breath and stood taller. “In fact, now I remember why everybody was happy you went into the service. They hoped the army would straighten you up. Make a man of you.”

  She shook her head in disgust. “Somehow you’ve projected your former lightweight attitude onto me—you think I’m not serious about anything.”

  She slammed the SUV’s hood shut. “I bet you’ve been telling Paula you’ve made peace with losing body parts to that IED explosion. Except that you’re angry at the carefree guy you can never be again, and in your mind, I’m your stand-in for that immature, happy-go-lucky teenager. You’d better go back to the shrink, because your bitterness is showing again.”

  JD looked stunned. She had never fought back so determinedly before. She’d never taken their war into forbidden territory and dared to criticize him to his face. Not on the big issues, anyway. She’d never honed in on what drove him to slash at her.

  Tess opened the driver door. “I’ve let you hurt me for the last time, JD. Don’t think you can kick me off this ranch.” She leaped into the seat and started the engine. She took off without a backward glance.

  Chapter 16

  After her daring confrontation with JD, Tess drove around the ranch aimlessly. The adrenaline rush had left her feeling shaky. For once, she didn’t want to be with other people. She wasn’t in the mood to ride a horse all day, either. She’d better ditch that plan. She had a bottle on the seat next to her, but she didn’t want to drink, not even to celebrate having been brave.

  Once she saw JD’s truck was gone, she returned to the ranch house. Miss Betty shot her a disapproving look when Tess walked into the kitchen holding the unopened vodka bottle.

  “Don’t worry. I’m not here for mixings,” Tess said, as she set the bottle on a pantry shelf. She emerged from the small room and went to put an arm around the old woman. “I want to go up north and check out our most remote holdings. Make me a sandwich while I check on Paula?”

  “Of course, child. Run along.”

  Paula wasn’t in the sitting room of the master suite. Tess found her lying under the covers of the vast king-sized bed, awake, but doing nothing. She looked even worse today.

  Tess said, “How are—”

  “I feel wretched.” Paula moved a little, restlessly, but even that slight motion seemed to make her less comfortable.

  “I’ll let you rest, then.” Maybe after Tess did her exploring, Paula would feel better and they could talk about the most likely acreages for new veterans’ homes.

  Rolf wasn’t in the ranch office and he didn’t answer her texts or calls. Perhaps he was ducking her, in case he thought she would try a booty call again. He didn’t need to worry. No way was she going to set herself up to be rejected by him again.

  Tess collected her sandwich in a brown paper bag from Miss Betty and dropped a kiss on her graying head. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome, child. I put some lemonade and cookies in there, so don’t you go tossin’ it into the back seat all careless-like, you hear?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Tess sketched the housekeeper a salute and took off.

  Tess drove to the farthest reaches of Selkirk land. Some of it was beautiful and naturally wooded. Some parts were green from streams, very suitable for pasture. Other parts were arid and sandy, with scrub bushes and only a few stunted-looking trees. She checked out several old abandoned ranch houses purchased from families that had given up on ranching. Many of the pieces of land had never been incorporated into the working ranch. They were good candidates to be turned into veterans’ homes, or to be sold to increase the Selkirk operation’s cash capital as Paula had suggested. Tess made a list with details on each one.

  She thought about how she’d manage the ranch if she got the chance. No, make that when—if JD didn’t fight her efforts to get their father to deal her in. She called and texted Matt Logan and Rolf a few times, but neither would give her a definite answer about the night’s trap details.

  She managed to keep busy and stay away from the ranch house the rest of the day. She even drove all the way to the nearest town to check out the fast food chain whose wrappers were in the old line cabin. Had dinner at Gary’s honkytonk, but ordered lemonade instead of her usual.

  ***

  Rolf didn’t want to get into a confrontation with anybody today if he could help it, so he stayed away from the ranch house. Just his luck, Davis walked up to him at the chowhouse.

  “I need some time off,” the older man announced.

  No explanation, and Rolf didn’t feel like asking for one. “When? We want everybody here to combat the rustlers.”

  “Starting tomorrow. You’ll get the rustlers tonight if you pay attention to what Tess discovered.”

  Did Davis say her name deliberately to provoke him? The man kept a poker face.

  Rolf pushed his Stetson back on his head. “She’s mine.”

  Davis shook his head, not pretending to misunderstand. “She belongs to herself.”

  “What does that mean?” Rolf’s anger was building at the older man, who remained impassive.

  “Got a mind of her own.”

  “Tess Selkirk isn’t any of your business.” Rolf said, knowing he was unfairly trying to pull rank.

  Davis stared him down. “Maybe you’re good enough for her. Maybe not. She’ll decide, not you.”

  The tru
th struck Rolf in the face. Davis wasn’t vying with him for Tess, he was warning him to treat her right, or lose her.

  Rolf’s ire at Davis drained away. Of course Tess couldn’t be possessed, but she could be loved. He offered the older man his hand. “Glad you care about her, too. Take whatever time off you need.”

  ***

  Late at night, Tess called the sheriff again. “I’m at the line shack,” she whispered. “The truck just went by, heading toward where the cattle are.”

  “I hear you. Keep hidden.”

  “I’m in a good position.”

  “Stay there and don’t move if you see the rustlers.” Logan clicked off.

  She lay concealed among the few bushes near the cabin. She’d left her shiny new SUV half a mile away and walked the horse path here under fitful moonlight, since there was no way she could hide a big vehicle near the shabby old structure.

  After an hour, Tess felt her legs cramp. She shifted her position, but a few minutes later they cramped again. The pain was nasty. How did cops sit around for hours and hours doing surveillance? She stood to walk off the cramp. That felt better. No sounds from an engine. She risked going inside the cabin and checking the hidey hole. No money, but she was confident the rustlers would come by to drop the payoff once they’d loaded their truck full of cattle. She sat on the steps. She needed to rest, just for a minute. It was nearly two a.m.

  Nope. It would be too easy to doze off. She stood again. Maybe if she walked a little more, she could avoid more cramping when she resumed her hiding place.

  She paced up and down the track that led from the shack to the bigger dirt road. The future looked bright. She’d stopped drinking. She didn’t want to become a lush, and, anyway, her problems finally were near to being solved. Mom would talk Daddy into signing over a share of the ranch. Or Tess would fly down to Mobile and plead with him, remind him that both her brothers were leaving. Whatever it took. If Rolf could see his way to accepting that Tess still would act on TV now and then, everything would be wonderful. They’d make a great team running the ranch.