Count This Cowboy In

by Malone, Misty

"Very. But now for the stepmother. It seems she was suspected of stealing from her employer at one time, but they couldn't come up with any solid evidence, so the charges were dropped."

  "Charges were filed?"

  "Yes. Then apparently the evidence they had came up missing and they were forced to drop all charges."

  "Any idea what happened to the evidence?"

  I talked to her former employer. He feels sure the man she was dating at the time broke into the company and stole the evidence, but they couldn't prove that, either. He says it was taken from the safe, which was still locked when the evidence came up missing, so it had to be someone that knew how to get into the safe. She did before she was fired, and could have passed the information on to her boyfriend so he could steal the evidence."

  "Interesting."

  "There's more. She was investigated another time, as well. She had supposedly befriended an elderly lady that was financially well off. Her two daughters insist that she pushed her way into their mother's life, but she claims they were friends. When the lady died the girls said there were several family heirlooms missing. They went to the police, who got a warrant and searched her house. They found quite a few very valuable pieces there, but she claimed the lady gave them to her as gifts. The girls insisted she might give her gifts, but would never give up family heirlooms. It was important to her that they stay in the family."

  Trevor cut in, "Let me guess. With no evidence, no charges?"

  "Pretty much. There was no evidence and everyone said the lady probably would have given her a few gifts because she was a generous person. So they reached an agreement. The girls got back the family heirlooms and she kept the rest. The girls tell me the things she got to keep were worth quite a bit of money in and of themselves. They're adamant that she stole all the stuff, but with no evidence, you're right, no charges."

  "That's enough information for me to say keep going. How much do you want to do a full investigation? I'll send you a check, but I want you to keep digging."

  "I'll keep digging, Trevor. I think, too, there's something here. But don't worry about the money. All I have in it so far is some phone calls and talking to the employer and the two daughters and they're all local. Sam seems like a great little gal and the more I thought about what you said the more I agree. I'd really like to be able to restore her faith in her father. The more I hear about him the more impressed I am and the more convinced I am that he would have wanted his daughter to have the ranch."

  "Yeah, every now and then she mentions him and her eyes light up momentarily, but then they darken again. I hate that. I'd like to see her eyes light up and stay lit when she talks about or thinks about her dad. I'll pay you whatever your fees are, Clay."

  "I'll see how much I have in it and we'll talk money later. I'll keep digging, though and see if we can't help that little lady of yours."

  "Thanks, buddy."

  * * * * *

  The next morning Trevor came in before they started the branding process for the day and took Sam by the hand, leading her upstairs and to his bedroom.

  "This is really nice. It looks like it suits you well. I like it," she said, looking around.

  "Thank you. I like it, too." He led her through, stopping to show her the bathroom so she knew where it was. He took her out the French doors onto the patio, where he had a chair and end table. The binoculars were setting on the table and she noticed a nice soft pillow on the chair.

  Looking at the pillow, she blushed again as she said, "Thank you."

  "You're welcome, but don't get used to it. I don't normally do that, but I won't be here with you today, so if I don't give you a pillow you'd probably stand all day." She blushed again. Taking her hand to pull her over to where he'd placed the chair, he said, "I think you should be able to see pretty good from here."

  She looked out and nodded. She stretched up to kiss his cheek as she said, "I think so, too. Thank you, Trevor."

  "You're welcome, little one. See, you should trust me more. I think this will be more comfortable than the tree and I know I'll feel better knowing you're here. I'll be able to look over and see you and know you're safe." He kissed her and said, "I've got to get out there. They're about ready to start. See you at lunch."

  She enjoyed watching her sexy cowboy and the ranch hands finish branding the cattle and he was much happier being able to look at her, knowing she was safe.

  * * * * *

  They settled back into a routine the next couple days, until Saturday evening. Most of the hands had gone into town. Trevor and Sam were in his den, watching a movie on television, when he got a phone call from Grant.

  Grant, who seldom got riled, said, "Hey, boss, we got problems. Mr. Sanderson called and said as he was coming from his place into town he saw the cattle in our south pasture down by Route 72 awful upset about something. He said they were running, but it looked like more cattle than we normally keep in there. He was wondering if some of our cattle from the next pasture north somehow got in with them, or if some of our new neighbor's cattle got in with ours. He figured we'd want to get out there and see what's going on before they stampede."

  Trevor quickly said, "He's right about that, but have we got anyone here, or did the guys all go into town?"

  "That's the problem, boss. Jeb and Jim are here yet, but that's it. They're with me and we're heading down there now, but that's not many if we have much of a problem."

  "You're right there. I'll be down as soon as I can, but that's still not enough. We'll have to see what it is. If it's anything big we may have to call a neighbor or two and see if they've got any hands around that we can hire for tonight. Call me when you find anything."

  "You got it, boss."

  Trevor quickly explained the situation to Sam, who immediately said, "Trevor, there's a good chance you're going to need more help. Let me go with you."

  "Absolutely not. I think there's a mountain lion or bear or something up in the hills there because we've lost a few calves there recently. I don't want you anywhere near there with a possible cattle stampede and a possible lion in the area."

  "But Trevor ––"

  "No!" He grabbed his rifle and a pocket of ammunition, gave her a quick kiss and put his hat on his head as he left.

  She yelled, "Be careful!"

  He left and she sat down, pouting. She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Why wouldn't he believe her? It occurred to her, then, that if he saw for himself that she was capable of taking care of herself he'd quit worrying so much.

  With that in mind, she ran back to the guesthouse and grabbed her rifle and ammunition, then set out for the barn. She'd saddle her horse and go help them. She knew which pasture he was talking about because he'd made sure he took his rifle when they went riding there.

  Fifteen minutes later she had her horse saddled and her gun with her and was headed for the south pasture. It wasn't too long before she felt the ground vibrate and heard what sounded like a herd of cattle running. She hoped they were just running and not stampeding. If they were running it was more of a jogging and because they were confused. If they were stampeding it meant they were running all out, for all they were worth, because they were spooked. A herd of cattle stampeding was dangerous. She'd seen both; a herd running and a herd stampeding. She sure hoped these were running.

  She wanted to get there quickly because either way, the more help they had the safer it would be for everyone, so she cut through a woods, following the sound of the herd. She kept watching for wildlife, as well, since Trevor was afraid a mountain lion or bear might be in the vicinity.

  She made it through the woods and stopped at the edge to assess the situation. She saw the cattle running. She was relieved and looked to see how they were trying to get control and where she could help. She saw Trevor and Grant, both running hard, trying to get ahead of the cattle and get them turned. They were running out of pasture the way they were headed and if they ran into a fence it could easily cause them to panic
and then they would stampede.

  She had come in at a 90-degree angle to the cattle, so they were running past her. Grant was on this side of the cattle and Trevor was over on the other side of them, running parallel with the cattle, trying to get ahead of them. She was looking for the other two hands, when Grant's horse stopped and started prancing in circles. She could tell Grant was trying to calm it, but not having much luck. He reached behind him, but before he could do anything the horse reared up, Grant grabbed the reigns, trying to control the horse. About then the horse started bucking and Grant flew off, landing on the ground.

  Sam had started over in his direction when she saw the horse acting like it had been spooked. Now she kicked in her heels and reached back and grabbed her rifle. She soon saw the problem. It was a mountain lion! It scared Grant's horse off and once the horse was running the opposite direction it turned and fixed its eyes on Grant. Sam aimed her rifle and quickly shot, just as the lion pounced. She hit it and the cat dropped from mid air.

  Grant, who had seen the lion and saw it pounce, had rolled into a ball, trying to protect his head. He heard the shot and looked up just as the cat fell. Scooting back, he waited. When the cat didn't move he looked around to see who shot it. Just as he looked in the direction of the shot Sam rode up toward him. "Are you okay?"

  He shook his head, wondering if he'd hit it or something. Where did Sam come from? He recovered enough to say, "Yeah, I think so."

  "Get on behind me and we'll go get your horse."

  Grant had no idea what was going on. He didn't expect to see Sam out here and he had no idea she could ride like that, or could shoot a gun like she did and she sure seemed to know what she was doing out here. He quickly decided none of that was important right now and took the arm she offered and let her help pull him up behind her. They were soon alongside his horse and he slid down off her horse and took the reigns of his. He made sure his gelding was okay, leading him a bit before he got back in the saddle and he and Sam headed back toward the herd.

  Miraculously, the herd slowed when they heard the shot and Trevor was able to get in front of them and they stopped. They were still antsy, but at least they'd stopped. Looking around, Sam yelled to Grant, "These aren't all yours, are they?"

  Again realizing she wasn't a greenhorn out here, Grant answered, "No. The neighbor's herd broke through and into our pasture."

  "We'll have to cut theirs out and separate the two herds. Are we going to do that now?"

  "I don't know. Let's go talk to Trevor." She nodded and they headed up toward Trevor, where he was still in front of the herd, keeping them from going further.

  When they got close to him, she could tell Trevor was staring at her, frowning. As soon as they were close enough he asked, "Sam, what are you doing here? I told you to stay home where I'd know you were safe."

  Before she could say anything Grant said, "Hey, I don't know anything about that and I don't want to interfere between you two, boss, but don't be too hard on Sam. She just saved my life."

  He looked over at his foreman. Grant was a good foreman and he wasn't prone to exaggerating. "What was that shot I heard?"

  "That was her shooting a mountain lion mid air. My horse saw the cat and threw me off. I didn't have my rifle and all I could do was watch as the cat came at me. Sam shot it as it pounced. Then she took me to get my horse back. Whatever agreement you guys had I'm not privy to, but all I know is she saved my life."

  Trevor's eyebrows shot up as he listened to his foreman. He took a deep breath and told Sam, "We'll talk about this later." He was ready for an argument from her, but was happy when she simply nodded.

  Grant asked, "Are we going to separate them now or in the morning?"

  Trevor said, "It's starting to get dark now. It's going to take awhile to do that. Let's do it in the morning. We'll fix the fence and keep them all over here in our pasture overnight and call The Winding Creek. They may want to send a few guys over in the morning to help us. They can assure themselves they get all their cattle back that way."

  Grant nodded in agreement. "I know The Winding Creek's got a new owner. Have you met him yet?"

  "Just briefly. He seemed all right. I'll call him tonight and let him know what's going on. If he wants to get his cattle back on his land yet tonight we'll do it, but otherwise it will be about ten times easier to do it in the daytime."

  "I agree."

  Trevor took out his phone. "I've got Jeb and Clark waiting down at the lower end in case the cattle came back that way. I'll send them back to the barn for a truck and what we'll need to fix this fence for tonight."

  While he made the phone call, Grant turned to Sam. "If it weren't for you and Trevor being together and you doing his books I'd ask if you were interested in a job here."

  "Would you really?"

  "Well, I'd suggest it to the boss. I don't know what he'd have said."

  "He probably would have said absolutely not because I'm a woman."

  "Maybe." They talked a bit about where she learned to ride, before he said, "Hey, I never thanked you yet."

  "I'm just glad I was there."

  "Me, too." He looked over in Trevor's direction and said, "I'm not sure the boss is, but I'm sure glad you were there."

  Trevor had finished his call and heard Grant's last comment. "Of course I'm glad she was there. I hate to even think what would have happened if she hadn't been, or if she'd have missed the cat."

  Grant grinned as he said, "You hate to think about it? I really hate to think about it. That cat's eyes were trained right on me. When he pounced I was sure that was it. That's something I'll never forget, I'm sure."

  Trevor had turned his head to watch Sam as Grant was recounting what happened. He quickly went to Sam and slid down from his horse. He reached up and put his arms around Sam just as she fainted. He had a firm enough hold on her that she slumped into his arms. He carried her over to a small group of trees and laid her down.

  Grant was there saying, "Sorry, boss, I didn't mean to upset her."

  "Not your fault, Grant. She was on an adrenalin rush and now that things have settled down it caught up with her. It would have happened as soon as she thought about what had happened and her part in it. I'm going to stay with her, but can you watch the cattle, make sure nothing else spooks them? They seem to be settling down pretty good, but watch for any more mountain lions, in case this was a mother with little ones. It wouldn't take a lot right now to spook them again."

  "You got it." He rode off, hoping little Sam would be okay.

  Chapter 11

  Once Trevor got Sam as comfortable as he could make her, with his shirt rolled up as a pillow for her, he did a quick physical exam, then went to retrieve their horses. He tied them to a nearby tree and got a bottle of water from his saddlebag.

  He came back to Sam and again gently rubbed her arms. He took out his handkerchief and used the bottle of water to get it wet. He laid it on her forehead and went back to rubbing her arms. He'd been talking to her the whole time, gently telling her she was okay and that he was with her and he'd keep her safe.

  It wasn't long before she woke up. She was a bit groggy at first, but she said, "Thank you."

  "For what, Honey?"

  "For keeping me safe."

  "I'll always do that, Sweetie. How do you feel?"

  "Okay. What happened?"

  "You fainted, but you'll be fine. Do you remember where you are?"

  She looked around and tried to sit up. He helped her, holding her in front of him as he sat on the ground. He had her back against his chest and had his arms around her. She leaned her head back against his chest and said, "Grant's okay, isn't he? I mean, really okay?"

  Trevor chuckled. "That's my Sam. You passed out and the first thing you're worried about when you wake up is Grant. I love you, Honey. You have the biggest heart of anyone I've ever met. Yes, Grant is fine. He may have a nightmare or two, but he'll be fine."

  "Oh, good."

  "I'm proud of yo
u, you know."

  "Really?"

  "Of course I am." He turned her partially so he could see her face. "Did you really think I wouldn't be proud? Grant's a good friend and an equally good foreman. I hate to think what could have happened."

  "I know. But you were frowning at me and said we'd talk about it later."

  "We will."

  "I thought you were going to spank me."

  "I am."

  "But you just said you're proud of me."

  "I am."

  "But you're still going to spank me?"

  "I am."

  "You're proud of me, so you're going to spank me?"

  "I'm going to spank you for not listening to me and staying at home. You need to learn to listen to me, Sam. Everything turned out fine today and I'm really, really glad. But it was very dangerous out here and you could have gotten hurt. Do you know how I would have felt then?"

  "It wouldn't have been your fault. You told me to stay home."

  "Exactly. But you still would have been hurt. I would have failed in protecting you."

  After a long pause she said, "I guess I never looked at it that way."

  "I know."

  "But I felt I could take care of myself."

  "I know. And now I've seen firsthand that you can take care of yourself better than I realized and I'll be thinking about that, but the fact still remains that you could have been hurt. And if you had been hurt I still would have failed to protect you. That's why it's so important that you listen to me."

  After another long pause she said, "Okay. I get it."

  "So I'm disappointed that once again you didn't listen to me, but did what you wanted and that's what I'm going to spank you for. But as a separate issue, once you were out here, I'm proud of you. It took a lot of courage and talent to do what you did. You didn't panic when you saw that cat go for Grant. And I don't know who taught you to shoot like that, but I'm sure glad they did."

  "That was my dad."

  "I wish I could have met him. I owe him a lot of thank-yous." He leaned down and kissed the top of her head and just held her several more minutes, while he felt her calming down.