Colorado Cowboy - Includes a bonus novella

by Sara Richardson

  “You really think I should talk to him?” Vera peered up at him, her mascara running down her cheeks.

  “You have to.” That would be a hell of a lot better than her talking to Dev about these things. “Maybe he doesn’t know how you feel.”

  She considered this with a frown. “But we’ve been married for fifty years. He should know.”

  “I’m gonna let you in on a little secret.” Dev leaned down conspiratorially. “Men aren’t mind readers. Even after fifty years, I would assume. You have to tell him what you want.”

  Images of a certain blond barrel racer drifted through his mind, shimmery and tempting and untouchable. Why was it so hard for Charity to admit she wanted him? She’d let him get close and then take the first opportunity she could find to cast him out…

  “I guess I could try talking to him,” Vera muttered, directing her gaze out the front windshield. A look of confusion narrowed her eyes. “Well, that’s odd. We don’t get many hitchhikers around here this time of year. And that one looks like a real hoodlum.”

  Dev stood up taller and looked over to where she was staring. Down the highway, about a quarter of a mile, a kid wearing a backpack walked along the shoulder sticking up his thumb at every car that drove past. Aw, hell. He’d recognize those black clothes anywhere.

  According to Naomi, Bodie had started school this morning. Looked like he hadn’t quite made it through the whole day. Dev muttered a curse under his breath. “You go on home and talk to Chuck,” he said to Vera, backing away from the car.

  “I will.” She started up the Buick with a look of determination. “Maybe I’ll stop by that boutique and get some new lingerie too.”

  Dev pretended he hadn’t heard. Hearing things like that made him want to stick his fingers in his ears and sing la la la like a little kid. He jogged back to his car and drove down the road, pulling up alongside Bodie.

  The kid obviously saw him, but evidently decided to ignore him and stared straight ahead with those damn earbuds firmly fastened to his ears.

  Dev swung the car in front of him on the shoulder and stopped. He got out and walked back, gesturing for Bodie to remove the headphones, which the kid did with a huff of irritation.

  “What’re you doing out here?” he asked when he was sure Bodie could hear him.

  “Nothing,” the kid muttered. “It’s not against the law to go for a walk.”

  “That’s true, but I heard you were supposed to start school today.” He’d been surprised to hear that Charity had enrolled the kid in school. She sure hadn’t seemed to think it was a good idea when he’d mentioned it. Dev glanced at his watch. “As far as I can tell, school’s not out for another two hours.”

  Bodie’s eyes darted around like he was searching for a way to bail on the conversation.

  “Get in the car,” Dev said before the kid got any fancy ideas. He really wasn’t in the mood for a foot chase.

  “What if I don’t?”

  “Then I guess I’ll have to keep tailing you all the way down the highway.” He wasn’t about to let him hitchhike his way back to Oklahoma. Bodie didn’t want to think about the kind of people who would pick up a kid off the highway.

  With a look seemingly meant to incinerate him, Bodie climbed into the back seat of Dev’s SUV and slammed the door hard.

  Well, at least he hadn’t had to chase him down. Dev climbed into the driver’s seat and buckled up.

  “Just take me back to my aunt’s house,” the kid ordered like he’d climbed into a cab instead of a police vehicle.

  Had to hand it to him, Bodie had nerve. “Actually, I can’t. Because I happen to know your aunt is not home right now.” She’d be out at Levi’s place training, and this kid had already proven multiple times he required some intense supervision.

  “So?” Bodie demanded. “I’m by myself all the time back home.”

  Dev didn’t doubt that. “Well, now you’re in Colorado.” And from what he could tell, the kid had better get used to it. After his lengthy conversation with the investigator back in Oklahoma, he was even more convinced that Melody had been involved in the robbery.

  With that in mind, Dev pulled out onto the highway and headed for the Cortez ranch. “So what happened at school? Why’d you leave?” Maybe the kid actually had a good reason. For Charity’s sake, Dev hoped so.

  “I didn’t like it,” Bodie muttered.

  And maybe he didn’t have a good reason. “You should give it a chance. Can’t tell much after only a few hours.”

  “Whatever.” Bodie turned to stare out the window. “Not like I’m gonna be here long anyway.” Because he planned to leave on his own or he really thought his mom would come back? Dev didn’t ask. “Well, while you are here, it wouldn’t hurt to make an effort,” he said with a glance in the rearview mirror. “For your aunt at least.” God knew she’d have her hands full with an angry teenage boy living in her house.

  No answer. Not that he’d really expected one. Letting the conversation die, Dev turned onto the Cortezes’ winding drive. He hadn’t even seen Charity yet, and already anticipation snaked through his veins.

  He parked in front of the corral and cut the engine. Bodie scrambled to get out of the SUV before Dev had even released his seat belt. When he finally got out of the car, Bodie was already marching over to his aunt, who had ridden Ace to meet them.

  “What’s wrong?” She dismounted and hurried over to Bodie, her mouth twisted with worry.

  “This was the worst day of my life.” Suddenly, the kid sounded like he was on the verge of tears.

  Yep. Dev remembered middle school angst. Everything always seemed worse than it was. He tried to figure out the best way to break the news to Charity. “He left school. I found him on the highway. Hitchhiking.”

  “Hitchhiking?” Now worry took over her pretty blue eyes too.

  “I was only trying to get back to your house,” Bodie muttered. “No one at school was nice to me. They made fun of me. One kid even said he wanted to fight me.”

  “Oh my god. I’m so sorry.” Charity slipped off her helmet and tossed it on the ground. “Why didn’t you call me? You didn’t have to hitchhike home. I would’ve come to pick you up right away if I’d known what was going on.”

  Dev eased a step closer to her. While he understood it was rough at a new school, Bodie had to learn to handle things like this. He was a smart kid, not to mention strong. “If you’re being bullied, you can always go to a teacher or the principal.” After the school violence that had taken place elsewhere in Colorado, the administration had a zero-tolerance policy on bullying. Every incident was taken seriously. “But you can’t leave school grounds without permission. For one thing, it’s a closed campus, and for another, there are consequences for ditching.”

  “I don’t know any of the teachers,” Bodie snapped. “And the principal wasn’t even around during lunch.”

  “Well, I know every teacher at that school, and I know they all care about the students’ safety and well-being. Any one of them would’ve stepped in to intervene.”

  “He didn’t know that.” Charity hadn’t looked at Dev directly once since she’d walked over. She was solely focused on her nephew. “I totally understand why you left. Come on.” She laid her hand on Bodie’s shoulder. “I’ll take you home.”

  Home? But then the kids who’d bullied him wouldn’t be held accountable. It would likely keep happening.

  They both turned to walk away.

  “Maybe we should take him back to school and meet with the principal,” Dev called. He didn’t want to overstep, but Bodie would have to go back to school eventually. He couldn’t avoid those kids forever.

  Charity squared up her shoulders. “He’s not going back to school today.” And you can’t make him, her posture seemed to add. But a threatening look had never stopped him before. He could help. That’s what he did for a living, that’s who he was as a person. She might not want anything to do with him, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t he
lp Bodie. Dev remembered that feeling of insecurity after his mom had left all too well. He’d lacked the confidence to stand up for himself the same way Bodie seemed to. That’s what the kid needed right now—a way to develop some self-confidence, and maybe another friend to talk to sometimes. Someone who understood a lot of what he was going through. He’d offered that to Charity on more than one occasion, but maybe he should be offering it to her nephew directly.

  “Hey, Bodie,” he called over, just as the two of them were climbing into Charity’s rental.

  The kid paused, but didn’t acknowledge him.

  “You interested in one of those brand-new PlayStation things?”

  Bodie’s eyes seemed to open a tad bit wider. Yeah, now they were speaking the same language. Dev sauntered over. “Because my parents got me one for my birthday months ago, and it’s still in the box.” Yes, it was embarrassing to admit his parents still bought him things like that, but his mom thought playing video games would be a good “stress reliever” to give him a break from his job. Only he didn’t have time to play video games. “I’d be willing to part with it if you’d be willing to help me out with some work on the ranch. I’ve even got a few games to go with it.”

  “That’s okay.” Charity stuck her head out the window. “He doesn’t need a Play—”

  “What kind of work?” Bodie slammed the passenger’s door shut and walked back to meet Dev. “And how much time are we talking?”

  “I’d say all the work could be done in a couple of Saturdays. We’ve got some fences that need fixing, a few trees to take down.” Dev glanced past him to Charity, but he couldn’t read the look on her face. “If it’s all right with your aunt.” He had a feeling he already knew the answer to that question.

  Bodie spun. “Please, Aunt Charity? I’ve never had a PlayStation.”

  When she hesitated, Dev walked over to her window and leaned in. “It might be good for him. To spend some time outside. To have something to work toward. When I said I’d like to help, I meant it.”

  For the first time since he’d brought Bodie to her, Charity’s worried frown seemed to soften. “You’re right. It would be good for him. Thank you.” Her gaze crossed Dev’s but didn’t linger. “What time should I bring him over?”

  “I’ll be ready whenever you guys are.” Dev smiled to reinforce the truce they’d seemed to form. Maybe she was finally starting to believe that he really would be there for both her and Bodie, as long as she would let him.

  Dev slammed the blade of the shovel into the soft dirt surrounding the fence post and jammed the heel of his boot into the step. Getting leverage on the handle, he dug out a wide circle around the rotted wood, heaving and hauling dirt off to the side until sweat rolled down his temples. At this rate, he’d be done working on the fence before Charity and Bodie showed up.

  He hadn’t meant to get such an early start, but he’d been wide awake since before sunup. Charity had that effect on him. As much as he’d reminded himself she was coming only for Bodie’s sake, he still couldn’t wait to see her. The anticipation buzzed through him, which made him antsy for some manual labor.

  Dev tossed his shovel aside and ripped the fence post the rest of the way out of the ground. He’d loaded up the ATV with everything they’d need to fix the fence posts his dad had mentioned, and then had driven down the driveway to where Charity and Bodie would easily spot him.

  He snatched up one of the new fence posts and plunked it into the hole he’d dug before packing the dirt around it. Fifteen more to go and he’d be able to check this off his list.

  A diesel engine droned behind him and sent his heart plummeting. Dev watched Charity’s rental truck roll up the drive in a plume of dust. He picked up the shovel where he’d dropped it and walked over to meet them on the road.

  Bodie opened the door and slowly slunk out of the truck like he was still half asleep. Yeah, Dev remembered those days—sleeping in until noon whenever he could get the chance. That was before girls had made his life complicated. The thought prompted a grin.

  “What time should I pick him up?” Charity called out the window. She’d certainly mastered the art of keeping her distance.

  “You’re welcome to stay if you want. To supervise.”

  “I can’t.” Though the truck was currently in park, she kept her eyes on the road in front of her as though she had to concentrate. “I really need to get some training in.”

  “Right.” And she likely didn’t want to be within two feet of him. She was scared. He could see it every time he got close to her. The way her body stiffened and her face flushed. The way she guarded herself so carefully. Talk about fences. She’d put up plenty around her heart. He’d managed to get past them a few times, but it wouldn’t be as easy as working these posts out of the ground. Dev backed off, giving her the space she seemed to crave. “I think we’ll quit about noon.” Four hours of manual labor was a good start for the kid. He didn’t want to work Bodie too hard their first day, especially since he didn’t know how much experience the kid had with yard work.

  “I’ll be back then.” Charity slipped the truck in drive. “Bodie, I’ll be over at the Cortez ranch if you need anything.”

  The kid’s shoulders sagged into an indifferent hunch, but he gave her a nod.

  “Thanks, Dev,” Charity muttered as she rolled past. He didn’t even have time to say you’re welcome before she was gone.

  “Okay. Well.” The deputy made his way back to Bodie, who now stood by the ATV, ogling the machine like he wanted to climb on and speed away.

  “You ever driven one?” Dev asked.

  “No.” Bodie rested his hand on one of the handlebars. “They look pretty fun though.”

  “They are.” Though Dev drove them a lot more conservatively now than he had when he was a kid. As a deputy, he’d been called to the scene of too many ATV accidents around here. “I’ll tell you what. You work hard for the next few hours and I’ll let you drive it back up to the house when we’re done.”

  The kid’s mouth lost the angsty teen scowl, and for a few seconds he looked like any other kid—happy, unburdened. “Seriously?”

  “Sure.” Dev unloaded more fence posts out of the small trailer and lined them up along the ground. “I mean, I’ll ride on the back.” Just to make sure he got the hang of it. “But you can drive.”

  The kid narrowed his eyes in a suspicious glare. “I know you’re only doing this because you like my aunt.”

  “I do like your aunt.” It’s not like that was any big secret to anyone who’d been paying attention. “But I also happen to think you’re a great kid.” A kid with a lot of potential if he could get more stability in his life.

  “That’s not how you made it seem when we hit the statue,” Bodie muttered.

  And therein would lie their biggest obstacle to any kind of friendship. “I’m a cop, Bodie. I have to do my job.” Though he liked to think he did it with some level of compassion, he still had to enforce rules. “You made a few bad decisions, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like you.” It meant he had to help the kid get on the right path before one of those bad decisions cost him everything. Dev had seen it too many times. Last year, he’d had to arrest a “good kid” for driving drunk and killing a classmate. “I know it’s hard to believe, but the choices you make now can impact the rest of your life.” He handed the kid a shovel.

  Bodie rolled his eyes at the lecture and walked away.

  Right. Dev blew out a sigh. Words wouldn’t be enough. Not for Charity and not for Bodie either. Rather than giving him more advice he wouldn’t want to hear, Dev gave Bodie the lowdown on what they were working on and got him started on digging out the next rotted fence post.

  “How was the rest of your week at school?” he asked as they slammed the shovels into the ground side by side.

  Bodie paused to shed his black sweatshirt and tossed it aside. “It sucked.”

  Yep, Dev remembered that too. He’d definitely gone through a phase where eve
rything had sucked. “Going to a new school isn’t easy.” He kept his tone light, so it didn’t sound like a lecture. “But you’re strong enough to handle it.” Maybe he didn’t have the confidence quite yet, but they could work on that.

  “I hate it here.” The kid drove the blade of the shovel into the ground harder. Maybe he needed the same outlet Dev did. If they kept up this pace, they might be done in an hour.

  “What’s it like back in Oklahoma?” he asked, ditching his shovel and working the fence post out of the ground with his hands.

  “I don’t know…it’s different.” Bodie swiped sweat off his forehead with his arm. “I know everyone. People like me there.”

  Dev tossed the rotted fence post aside and brought over a new one. “People like you here too. Your aunt. Me.”

  Bodie didn’t say anything, but he kept a wary eye on the deputy while Dev shoved the post into the hole. He didn’t trust him. Not yet. That was understandable given his history. Dev would have to prove to the kid that he had his best interests in mind.

  “Go ahead and pack dirt around it.” While he held the post in place, Dev watched the kid work. Bodie definitely had a toughness about him. It appeared manual labor wasn’t exactly new to him. “You’ve got some serious skills with that shovel,” he said, trying to wobble the post. It wouldn’t budge. “Do you live on a ranch back in Oklahoma?”

  “No.” Bodie stomped over to start digging around the next post. “We rented a trailer. But I put up a fence to keep some crazy dogs out of our yard.”

  “You put it up? By yourself?” He tried to wrangle his surprise. Not that he didn’t think Bodie was capable, but that was some hard work for a kid to handle by himself.

  “Mom helped when she could, but she had to work too.” Bodie tossed a heaping pile of dirt aside. “The fence was before she got fired, so she didn’t have much time.”