Cowboy Conspiracy

by Joanna Wayne

“The subtle signs. That sounds like the title of a chick flick.”

  “You can pretend all you want, but there was an unmistakable current passing between the two of you when you got back to the ranch yesterday.”

  “I’ve only known her two days.”

  “Whether you’ve known a person years, days or hours has nothing to do with it. The spark hits in an instant. It was that way with me when I met your mother. It was that way for your brothers, too. Trying to deny what you’re feeling only makes it worse.”

  Wyatt was definitely not discussing his love life or lack thereof with Troy.

  The awkward conversation was thankfully interrupted by the doorbell.

  “That must be Dylan and Collette,” Wyatt said. “I’ll let them in.”

  The doorbell rang again before he made it to the door. When he opened it McGuire was standing there. Unsmiling. A deadly serious expression on his face.

  “Is Kelly here?”

  “She is. Come in and I’ll get her for you.”

  “You’d best sit in on the conversation, too.”

  “Is it that bad?”

  Kelly stepped up behind him. “Is what that bad?”

  McGuire tugged his hat low and narrowed his eyes. “Let’s talk inside.”

  KELLY SAT ON THE SOFA. Sheriff McGuire had settled in the chair next to the window. Wyatt paced. Troy had volunteered to take Jaci outside to wait on Dylan and Collette.

  McGuire crossed a leg over his knee. “I hate to have to bother you with this kind of news, especially on a Sunday, Kelly.”

  “I like to keep informed of exactly what’s going on,” she assured him.

  “I asked the deputy working your area to keep an eye on your house, just in case the thief is stalking you. I figured that with the roof covered, he might think you’d moved back in.”

  Kelly got that sinking feeling again, as if she were hurtling down a rugged cliff with nothing to grab hold of.

  “When the deputy pulled up in your driveway, he saw a guy take off on foot and disappear into that thick wooded area in back of your property. The deputy gave chase, and then he heard an engine grind before sputtering to life.

  “By the time he reached the clearing, dirt was flying. He couldn’t see the vehicle in the dark, but he caught sight of its back lights as it turned off onto that old dirt road that goes to the back of the Baptist church.”

  Wyatt stopped pacing and propped a booted foot on the hearth. “Did the house look as if someone had broken in?”

  “The front door was wide open.”

  Wyatt’s lips tightened to thin, hard lines. “If you don’t stop this man, I will.”

  “We don’t have any proof that the man seen running from Kelly’s house was the man who stole her car or sent the text.”

  “She’s being targeted,” Wyatt said. “You know that as well as I do.”

  “What I know, Wyatt, is that you have no law-enforcement authority or legitimate credentials in this state, much less this county.”

  “Then deputize me,” Wyatt said.

  “I’d consider it if you weren’t so personally involved in the case. As it is, you’d be more a vigilante than a cop.”

  “Bullshit.”

  This type of conflict was the last thing Kelly wanted. “I’m sure the sheriff can handle this, Wyatt.”

  “Exactly,” McGuire agreed. “And if you’d let me finish, I have some good news, as well. It looks as if we have some reliable fingerprints.”

  “That’s great news,” Kelly said, trying to inject some optimism into the heated discussion.

  “By the time the house is ready to move into, Kelly, we’ll likely have made an arrest.” McGuire uncrossed his legs and leaned forward. “In the meantime, I wouldn’t advise staying at that house alone, not even in the daytime.”

  “Was the house ever broken into when my grandmother lived there?”

  “Not once,” the sheriff said. “Mustang Run is normally one of the most peaceful towns in Texas.”

  “Did Cordelia have problems or ongoing issues with anyone in the area?” Wyatt asked. “Maybe someone who tended to carry a grudge?”

  “I see where this is going, but don’t go putting store in the local gossip mill. Those women like to run their tongues. The men are just as bad. But all that talk of Ruthanne Foley wanting to run Cordelia out of town a few years back was mostly exaggeration.”

  “Why would she want to run my grandmother out of town?”

  “Ruthanne pushed for the city to tear down some old houses near the park and sell the land. Cordelia opposed the plan and accused Ruthanne of just wanting to build a spa resort on the property. Cordelia won. The historic old houses are still standing. They’re making one into a museum.”

  “Good for Grams.”

  Collette and Dylan drove up just as the sheriff was leaving. He looked delighted to see his daughter. She looked rested today and positively glowing. Even at eight months pregnant, Collette was stunning with her expressive eyes, high cheekbones and wild mass of fiery red curls.

  One day Kelly would like to hear all about Collette’s experiences while renting the Callister house, but not while Collette was pregnant—or while the man who was creating havoc in her life was still on the loose.

  But the sheriff said they had usable fingerprints. Surely they would make an arrest soon.

  Unless it was today, it wouldn’t be soon enough to keep Kelly from moving out of the Ledger house. She’d look for an apartment tomorrow, and this time she wouldn’t mention it to Wyatt until the rent was paid and she was ready to roll.

  That was, if he ever stopped avoiding her long enough for them to talk. It was the first time she’d ever lost a man with a kiss.

  BY FOUR ON SUNDAY afternoon, the temperature had climbed into the high sixties. In true Hill Country fashion, the wind that had hounded them for days had died to an occasional breeze that whispered through the needles of a juniper tree just outside the courtyard.

  It was the perfect day for a tea party, and the courtyard garden was the perfect setting. Jaci had hosted the party for Troy, Kelly and two of her best-loved dolls. She’d used her favorite tea set, the one Jaci had insisted ride in the car with them when they’d set out for Mustang Run.

  Jaci had served tiny cups of milk and the chocolate chip cookies she and Julie had baked yesterday. Kelly had sliced the cookies into fourths so that they’d fit on the tiny plates.

  Once the cookies were gone, Jaci skipped away to retrieve a miniature plastic horse she spied peeking from behind a dwarf azalea.

  She picked it up and brought it over for Troy to examine. “He has a broken nose.”

  Troy examined the toy. “I believe he does. That may be why Joey left him in the garden.”

  “Do your big horses break their noses?”

  “So far they haven’t.”

  “I hope Snow White doesn’t break her nose.”

  “I do, too.”

  “Joey’s not afraid of horses,” Jaci said.

  “Not now, but when he first came to the ranch, he had to get used to them, just like you will.”

  Satisfied with that answer, Jaci went back to exploring the garden.

  “It’s so peaceful out here,” Kelly said. “It’s as if you step into the garden and leave the world on the outside.”

  Troy stared at the sparkling fountain. “This was Helene’s favorite spot. She planned every detail. Needless to say, it fell into disrepair when I was in prison. Collette spent hours out here working it back in shape.”

  “I’m sure Helene would be pleased with the result.”

  “I think so. I always feel closest to her when I’m in her garden. Some nights I sit out here in the dark and it’s almost as if she’s here beside me, trying to tell me something. I like to think she’s just been waiting for her last son to come home.”

  A ghostly shiver raised the hairs on the back of Kelly’s neck as Collette’s prediction rolled through her mind.

  Helene will tell you.
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  Perhaps like Troy, Collette felt Helene’s presence when she tended the plants.

  The haunting words from the nightmare began playing in Kelly’s mind.

  Family sins can kill. Stay alive. Stay alive.

  Troy’s cell phone rang, startling Kelly back to reality. She gathered the plates and cups while he talked.

  “That was Dakota,” Troy said. “He, Dylan and Wyatt are on their way back here for a family confab. Guess I’d better go start a pot of coffee.”

  Kelly hadn’t been invited, but she was pretty sure the discussion would center on her and her tormentor. She doubted it had been Wyatt’s idea to include his father, but she was glad they had.

  Troy walked over to Jaci. “Thank you, ma’am. That was the best tea party I’ve ever been to. You make delicious tea.”

  Jaci grinned from ear to ear. “It was really milk.”

  “You fooled me.” Troy tipped his worn black Western hat and left to join the men in the family. Thirty minutes later the sun dipped behind a cloud and Kelly and Jaci went back to the guest room.

  Jaci took out her stubby crayons and drawing paper. “I’m going to color a picture of big horses,” she said as she kicked out of her shoes and crawled into the middle of Kelly’s bed.

  Kelly retrieved the last of the boxes she’d brought home from Grams’s house. The first two had held mementos, report cards, baptismal records and numerous small plaques and certificates that Kelly’s mother had been awarded during her school years, mostly for academic achievement.

  Setting the box on the edge of the bed, Kelly took the silver letter opener she’d discovered in the top dresser drawer and slit through the tape. She settled back against some pillows and spent the next hour skimming through dozens of photographs of Kelly’s mother when she was growing up.

  Linda Ann had been cute as a kid. By the time she’d become a teenager, she was gorgeous. Kelly found an envelope labeled Linda Ann—College Years.

  She opened the envelope and dumped the contents onto the bed. There were dozens of photos of Kelly’s mother in all kinds of settings and with various groups of friends. There were no couple photographs, which made it seem highly likely to Kelly that Abby had confused Linda Ann with someone else when she’d talked of her being jilted before she’d met Kelly’s father.

  Kelly was putting all the photos back in the box when she noticed a brown envelope stuck in the bottom folds of the cardboard. It felt empty, but when she opened it, she found an old newspaper clipping.

  She had to turn it over before she discovered another picture of her mother. The page was slightly yellowed, but still Kelly’s mother looked ravishing in a formal gown that dipped low from her shoulders.

  Kelly read the caption beneath the picture.

  “The mother of Linda Ann Callister announces the engagement of…”

  The rest of the sentence was continued on the next line, but the next line had been cut off.

  So Abby had been right. Her mother had come close to marrying someone else before she met her true soul mate.

  The picture had been cut from the top right page of the newspaper. The page’s edges were still intact.

  Kelly checked the date.

  Her stomach quivered.

  There had to be some mistake.

  Chapter Twelve

  The date of the engagement announcement was seven months before Kelly had been born. But her father hadn’t jilted her mother. And there would have been no wedding announcement. They were planning to elope to Las Vegas. He’d been killed in a car wreck before they could. Both her mother and Grams had told her that.

  If this wedding announcement was authentic, then Kelly’s mother would have had to become engaged to one man while she was pregnant with another man’s baby. That was a far cry from the tale of undying love and soul mates that Kelly had always heard.

  Her mother’s affairs from long ago were none of Kelly’s business—unless the man who’d jilted Linda Ann was actually Kelly’s biological father.

  This was too bizarre to even think about now, but when her life settled down to normal, Kelly planned to have a heart-to-heart with her mother.

  Kelly closed the box and put it away just as someone tapped lightly on her door.

  Anticipation made her heart skip a beat, but when she opened the door, it was Viviana, not Wyatt.

  “You’re wanted in the den,” Viviana said. “The Ledger men have an offer you can’t refuse.”

  WYATT PACED FOR A MINUTE before settling in one of the rockers near the fireplace. “This is the deal, Kelly. My brothers and I would like to repair your house and make it livable for you and Jaci. We won’t all be able to work on it every day, but I think we can have it ready for you to move in after three or four weeks, unless we run into major support problems.”

  Kelly stared at Wyatt, stunned speechless by the announcement—and speechless didn’t often describe her.

  “Why?” It was the only word she could manage.

  “You need the help, and we have the tools and the skills to see that you get it,” Dylan said.

  “It’s really not that big a deal,” Troy said. “January’s a slow time on the ranch, not that there’s not always work that needs doing on a spread this size.”

  Kelly locked gazes with Wyatt. “Is this okay with you?”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  “It was his idea,” Dakota said. “We just jumped on the bandwagon.”

  She understood Wyatt less by the minute. He’d barely spoken to her since yesterday’s kiss and now he was rallying the troops to spend weeks working on her house.

  Yet, as Viviana had predicted, the offer was too good to refuse. And by the time the house was done, hopefully, her mystery tormentor would be behind bars.

  “I appreciate the offer,” Kelly said. “And I accept, but only on the condition you let me pay you for your labor.”

  “Nonsense,” Troy said. “We’d do the same for any neighbor who got a tree blown down on his roof.”

  This was moving too fast for her to absorb it all. “When would you start?”

  “Nothing like tomorrow,” Dylan said. “We need to get the roof and any other outside repairs done while the weather holds.”

  “The whole roof may need to be replaced while we’re at it,” Wyatt said. “There are leaks in the back of the house where the tree didn’t touch the roof.”

  “I may have to wait on some things,” Kelly said. “How much money are we talking about for building materials?”

  “No problem,” Dakota said. “Wyatt’s taking care of—”

  “We’ll talk about money later,” Wyatt said, cutting off Dakota. “No use to talk expenses until we know the full extent of the damage.”

  There was no mistaking where Dakota was going before Wyatt interrupted. Wyatt had obviously told them he’d pick up the tab. She had no intention of letting him. And no idea why he’d volunteer. They had to talk and soon.

  “How about some food?” Julie said. “We still have plenty of brisket for sandwiches.”

  The men gave her suggestion hearty approval.

  “I’ll make hot chocolate,” Viviana said. “And someone can build a fire. It’s starting to get a bit nippy in here.”

  “A fire’s a great idea. I’ll get going on that,” Troy said.

  Jaci jumped up to follow Troy to get some logs from the side porch. “Let’s git goin’,” she said, mimicking Troy’s Texas drawl.

  She’d missed a lot by not having a grandfather in her life.

  As the others left for the kitchen, Kelly walked over to where Wyatt was leaning against the hearth, intentionally moving into his space. Only inches separated them when he turned and met her gaze.

  She saw desire flicker in the depths of his eyes. Heat suffused her body. Whatever was going on between them, it wasn’t for lack of sexual attraction.

  “Thanks,” she whispered, “but I can’t let you pay for the materials, Wyatt.”

  “Kelly, I…” He hesitated. “
I just wanted to help.”

  “You have.” She walked away, more confused and disillusioned than ever.

  Everything had been so easy between them at first. She’d loved the laid-back way he flirted with his eyes and teased away her fear. Now his emotions were guarded with her.

  Yet he was every bit as protective.

  And still the most virile and exciting man she’d ever met.

  WYATT STOOD AND WATCHED Kelly walk away. He was a louse, but not near the jerk he’d be if he jumped into a relationship with her only to drag her into his own potential disaster.

  The best he could do for her was to make sure she and Jaci were safe until the bastard who had it in for her was behind bars. If Emanuel Leaky was behind this, even that wouldn’t be enough.

  In the meantime, it was misery being with her and not touching her. And pure hell sleeping a few doors down from her while he ached to have her in his bed.

  COLLETTE LOOKED UP from the tomato she was slicing. “I picked these up when I went in for my checkup. They were the best the market had, but these greenhouse varieties only make me long for summer.”

  “I just long for Tyler to get home,” Julie said. “When he gets here, don’t expect to see us for at least a week. We’re finishing our honeymoon.”

  They all laughed.

  Growing up the only child of a single parent, Kelly was absolutely amazed by how well the Ledgers got along. “Do you always spend this much time together?” she asked, “Or is this because Wyatt’s here for a visit?”

  “We see a lot of each other,” Collette said, “especially on weekends. But we have plenty of privacy, too. We all have our own interests and our own houses.”

  “It’s a very close-knit family,” Viviana said as she put the finishing touches on a fruit salad. “I’m thrilled that Briana will grow up in a family like this, even though we will eventually spend part of every week in the city.”

  Julie reached into the refrigerator for a package of cheese. “It’s not that the brothers never argue. They can get into heated discussions on everything from politics to what brand of boots lasts the longest. But if one needs a helping hand, they’re all in there together, just like with repairing your house.”