by Regan Black
He’d worked through the various chores inside the barn and moved on to cleaning and repairing cattle trailers when Asher found him. Even with his hat shading his face, Jarvis could see the Triple R foreman was in a somber mood.
“Walk with me?” Asher asked.
He could’ve made it an order, but he hadn’t. Curious, Jarvis turned off the hose he’d been using and fell into step beside him. “What’s up?”
Asher paused, watching a few horses in the close paddock, then moved out farther still. Whatever he had to say, he clearly didn’t want to be overheard. A slippery coil of dread settled at the base of Jarvis’s gut.
“Word is you haven’t been in your room the past couple of nights.”
Jarvis didn’t try to deny it. “That’s true.” He rubbed a smear of dirt from his hands before looking Asher in the eyes. “When you hired me, you didn’t say anything about bed checks.”
Asher swore. “That’s not what this is.”
Jarvis waited.
Leaning his forearms on the top rail of the fence, Asher hooked one booted foot on the lower rail. “You can have a place in town, you know that. But if you’re planning to walk off the job, tell me straight up.”
Jarvis relaxed. “I don’t have any plans to leave,” Jarvis said. “I like it out here.” He couldn’t leave until he found Isaiah’s evidence. If that find went his way, he was definitely staying. Forever.
“Then where have you been?”
“Why does it matter? If there’s a problem, say so. Do I need an alibi or an attorney?”
Asher winced. “Depends on where you’ve been.”
He knew Asher wasn’t kidding. “I’ve got nothing to hide.” Nothing but a frightened woman and baby who were in serious danger if Regina found them. “What’s your real question?”
“Are you sleeping with Selina?”
“No.” Jarvis wouldn’t have been more shocked if his boss had thrown a sucker punch. Still, Asher looked downright sick to his stomach. Pretty much how Jarvis felt when Selina flirted too hard. He shook his head, trying to clear the random images. “No,” he said again. “I only go over there when you tell me I have to.”
“The rumor mill is that you’re taking her to some fancy party next week.”
“Well, yeah.” Jarvis searched for the right explanation. “I was going to run it by you.” He could hardly tell his boss he was going so he could do some recon for Mia and possibly warn Norton about Regina. “She took a call from a friend yesterday and then pretty much harangued me into being her date. I can’t say I’m looking forward to it.”
“Then why did you agree?”
That was an easier question than where he’d spent his last two nights. “Hell, I don’t know.” That was complete honesty. “Mainly, I agreed to shut her up. You know how she is. I’m not going along so I can schmooze around for a new job, though she did toss that out as a carrot. She doesn’t believe I prefer the ranch over an office.”
Asher nodded as if that made total sense to him. “Do you prefer the ranch? I’m worried you’re bored.”
“Not a bit,” Jarvis said. “This is the best work I’ve had, barring the days when Selina snaps her fingers.”
“So you’re not into her?”
Jarvis just stared down that question.
“Good.” Asher rubbed his forehead. “All right.” He took a deep breath, his gaze on the horses ambling across the paddock. “Now I need to ask a favor.”
Again, Jarvis waited. It was a tactic he’d learned in the business world, but even among less-than-chatty cowboys, silence often proved the most effective way to get information.
“When you’re out with her,” Asher began, “would you please keep an eye on her? I’ve seen her at parties and she likes to indulge. The more expensive the champagne or the more open the bar, the happier she is.”
“Regardless of whether or not I like her, it’s not my nature to ditch a date when she’s drunk.”
“I’m asking more than that, man.” He tipped back his hat. “I need you to stick close. Let her flirt and let her ramble. She doesn’t censor herself when she’s drinking. If she gets to talking, if you can keep her talking, I want to know if she says anything about shooting Payne.”
Jarvis whistled. “You think she’s the shooter?” This just got more and more interesting.
“Doubtful. No one knows who shot my dad. Yet. We will find out, one way or another.” He glared out across the landscape. “I’m not sure she’s capable of pulling the trigger, but she might hire it done. I can’t see how taking him out helps her, but then again, I’m not a criminal.”
Jarvis reeled. As far as he’d heard, there were still no leads about the attack on Payne Colton. He figured there were plenty of suspects. The man had money and land, but he hadn’t won any popularity contests in the area.
“The woman got a house and a seat on the Colton Oil board,” Asher said, his voice a low growl. “Whether or not she’s the shooter, she must have been blackmailing him. That’s the only way to explain how he caved to her demands when they divorced. Maybe he threatened to stop cooperating.”
Jarvis didn’t know Payne the way Asher did, hadn’t seen the fallout of what sounded like a rocky marriage on the best of days. “I’ll stay alert.”
“Thanks. Just stick close. Pay attention to who she talks to and listen for anything helpful. Maybe she’ll get tipsy and start bragging.”
He thought he and his siblings had been treated poorly by Payne, but the longer he worked here with his cousin the less he envied the way Payne’s children had been raised and all the advantages they’d enjoyed. Those benefits clearly had come at a price.
“Can’t be easy to be Payne’s son,” Jarvis said.
“Can’t say it is. I know my dad’s a jerk, but whatever his opinion, you’re a cousin to me. I’m asking as family, to protect family.”
How strange to hear those words from one of the Colton Oil Coltons. Jarvis had groomed himself to dislike them nearly all of his life, considering them the snooty side of the family tree, too aloof to bother with him. But as his own family died out, snipping his roots out from under him, a small, childlike piece of his heart had longed for a connection.
Ridiculous. That piece of him needed to sit down and shut up. The last thing any piece of him needed was another emotional beatdown. He could help Asher, but he had his own reasons for wanting Selina to open up. To that end, he’d make sure she had a drink in her hand all night long.
“I’m a good listener,” he said. “Per her orders, I’m driving, so I have even more reason to stay sober. You’ll get a full report.”
“Great.” Asher relaxed, removing his hat and combing a hand through his hair. “I appreciate it more than I can say.”
“Best save that appreciation until I actually have something.” The men started back toward the barns. “Would you have asked me for this if I’d said I was involved with her?”
Asher laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. “Not a chance,” he admitted. A grin creased his face. “If I thought you were seriously into her I would’ve fired you.”
Jarvis believed him. “I would’ve deserved it,” he said. Asher had made it clear from the start he expected loyalty to run alongside hard work.
A strange morning, complicated by a lack of sleep, but he got through the rest of his assignments with willpower and focus.
Once he was done, everything extra came down on him like a ton of bricks. He’d needed to speak with Mia about the Graves party and he’d been half tempted to give her his real reasons. Now he had the extra excuse of helping Asher. If he was lucky, she would immediately trust him not to reveal her hiding place.
Before he headed out to continue his search for Isaiah’s mystery box, Jarvis took some time and chatted with a few of the other hands. He’d thought he’d made some friends, but it seemed he�
��d held back just enough to be considered gossip fodder. Maybe if he cultivated those relationships, the rumors about him and Selina would slow down.
When he finally got back to the location near the warming hut, his focus was divided between his search and Mia’s continued safety. It troubled him that she’d had to rely on an online chat instead of taking her baby to the doctor. Yesterday hadn’t been anything serious, but it wasn’t fair to make her wait for him if a real problem did crop up.
He needed to figure out a way to get Mia a vehicle, something she could use if there was an emergency. Moving her car to the bunkhouse was one option, but doing that meant Regina might spot her easily if the woman visited the Triple R or if Mia had to drive into town.
He could probably give her access to a ranch truck, but most of those were equipped with a GPS tracker. He didn’t want anyone revealing her hiding place because they were confused about a vehicle left sitting at a remote bunkhouse near currently unused grazing fields.
For the first time, Jarvis regretted the immense size of Rattlesnake Ridge Ranch. It wasn’t as simple as driving a truck out to her and hiking back.
Not in the afternoon heat, anyway. He supposed he could handle the vehicle swap at night. If he picked her up at the bunkhouse and she rode to the ranch with him, she could drive a ranch truck back to her hiding place.
That still didn’t leave him with an explanation for Asher about the location of that truck. He let transportation issues simmer in the back of his mind, returning to the place he’d been digging when he’d first heard Silas’s cries.
He grimaced at the hole he’d left behind. After his previous attempts to find the evidence supposedly buried on this ranch, he’d carefully covered his trail. Here, in a hurry to find the crying baby, he’d made a glaring error. Anyone who happened upon this would wonder who was digging and why. Those were questions he wasn’t ready to answer.
As with all of his previous sites, this one, too, was a big fat no-go. When he’d finished filling in this hole, he leaned on his shovel and stared out across the grazing land. “Maybe Granddad’s brain was playing tricks on him. Could be he was making stuff up or getting old stories confused. Everyone else thinks so.” It felt a whole lot better when he had these one-sided conversations with his horse. Thankfully, no one was out here to witness his lack of common sense as he addressed his truck.
He tossed the shovel into the bed and settled behind the wheel. Turning on the engine, he cranked the air-conditioning as cold as it would go. Making the note on his search app, he put the truck in gear and headed back toward his assigned room.
He showered off the workday, put on clean jeans and a better shirt and opted for tennis shoes rather than boots tonight. He packed up a few things, just in case he didn’t make it back, and then went to join the majority of the crew for supper. With rumors flying, it was better if he met those head-on rather than let them fester. Personal lives were always juicy gossip in a small town and this wasn’t the first time Jarvis had been a prime target. Just the first time here at the Triple R.
Over the meal, he fielded questions about what Selina had needed and what she’d been saying about him. Amid the heartfelt thanks tossed at him from the men who appreciated him “taking care of her,” he realized he’d given her carte blanche to say anything about their status as a couple. She sure was taking him up on that, based on the nonsense flying around about their intense affair and his “new” prospects in Mustang Valley. The woman was a mess in Jarvis’s mind, but he couldn’t call her a liar without losing a valuable opportunity to help Asher and Mia.
As soon as he was able, he extricated himself from the conversation and an invitation to go out for a beer. He wanted to get some hot food out to Mia as soon as possible. He didn’t think she’d heard his promise to bring a meal back tonight and the shock on her face when he pulled up to the bunkhouse confirmed it.
“I wasn’t expecting you back tonight.” She’d brought a chair outside and was sitting with Silas resting on her thighs. She wore shorts and a loose top with a scoop neck. Her feet were bare.
She had pretty feet, which had to be the first time he’d ever had that thought. Her toenails were polished with a soft pink color that emphasized the warm color in her darker skin. He ached all over, wanting to kiss her, to have that privilege.
“I picked up a burger for you. Cheese, bacon, pickles and mayo. You can dress it your way.”
The wariness fell from her gaze, replaced by anticipation. “Please don’t tell me you learned that online.”
“No. I figured you needed something fresh and hearty, so I took a chance.” He reached into the truck for the drink carrier. “And something sweet sounded good, too.”
“Burgers and milkshakes?”
He nodded. “Your choice of chocolate or strawberry. Unless you’re allergic or something.”
“No allergies. Oh, I could kiss you.” She waved him closer. “One perk of pregnancy was not obsessing over every calorie.”
He traded the burger bag for the baby, pleased beyond reason when the little guy gazed up at him with wide, dark eyes. “I take it today was a better day?”
“Absolutely a perfect day.” She unwrapped a straw and stuck it into the top of the chocolate shake. “Thanks to you.” She repeated the process with the strawberry shake, handing it to him.
Jarvis shifted the baby easily and took a long pull of the cold, creamy treat. “You want me to take another walk?”
“Stay.” She smiled up at him and something went loose and gooey in his chest. “I could use some adult time and age-appropriate conversation.”
He could think of a thousand inappropriate ways to be an adult with Mia. But he did need to speak with her about Selina, the party and her plans... She moaned as she bit into the burger and his thoughts simply vaporized.
“Jarvis.” She licked a smudge of mayo from her thumb. “I don’t know how you knew, but this was exactly the right thing.”
“Glad to help.” He cleared his throat, swaying a bit with Silas. “I said I’d bring you some transportation, too. Y’know, in case you or the baby have some trouble and I can’t be here quickly.”
Her gaze scanned the area, tracking back toward the warming hut. “There isn’t really a good place to hide my car.”
“I had the same thought. I was thinking I’d leave you my truck and keys.”
“What? No. That’s silly. I can’t take your truck.”
He leaned against one of the support posts for the roof that covered the narrow porch. “I don’t like the idea of you being stranded out here. It doesn’t have to be an argument,” he added when her gaze narrowed.
She took another bite of the burger and closed her eyes while she chewed. Swallowed. She swiped a bit of sauce from her lip with her tongue and he nearly lost track of the entire reason he was out here.
“I want you to be safe. And to have options,” he said, his voice rough. “The ranch trucks have GPS and someone might wonder why a truck is out here by itself.”
“GPS?”
“It’s a big ranch.”
“True.” She grinned. “Lucky for me.”
“In my truck, you can get away if you need to, go to town or whatever.”
Her dark eyebrows drew together. “Town feels like a risk no matter what vehicle I’m driving, but you can’t baby me forever.”
A voice in his head wanted to promise her that very thing.
What a bizarre idea, that Jarvis Colton would baby Mia Graves. Except he wanted to bring her surprise milkshakes and help with her baby, and otherwise spoil her the way she deserved. They could share meals and laughter and talk each other to sleep at night. He’d be honored to shelter her from a wicked stepmother and help her restore her relationship with her dad.
All of that was way outside the realm of reality—his reality. He was a single ranch hand, and he liked it that way
.
“It’s better to have the option,” he pressed. Giving her the option to leave was the strongest argument he had. He couldn’t guarantee he’d be close if something did happen to her or the baby.
“I’d rather come up with a true exit strategy.”
No. Thankfully, he kept the reaction locked down. He was just getting to know her. To like her. He wasn’t ready for her to make an exit. Where was all this ridiculous need coming from? It felt bigger than infatuation, but this was hardly the time or place to start dating. Besides, the sooner she was out of here, the sooner he could get back to his search. Turned out a working ranch didn’t leave quite enough time for two secret side projects, and he wouldn’t abandon his grandfather’s last dream.
“About that,” he said when she finished eating. The baby was dozing in his arms, looking like an angel. “Something came up and maybe I can help you brainstorm a way out of your predicament.” Predicament made her situation sound almost palatable.
She froze, staring up at him. “What came up?”
“Your stepmother is hosting a party and I’ve been invited. Aggressively invited.” He’d thought this would be fine, that he could explain without hurting her, but the crushed look on her face stopped him short.
Her gaze darted all around, as if expecting her stepmom to jump out and attack her son. She crossed the porch and plucked Silas right out of his arms, holding the baby close to her heart.
“Regina invited you to a party?” Her lips parted and then closed into a flat line. “You said you didn’t know her.”
“I don’t.” His arms empty, he didn’t know what to do with his hands. He shoved them into his pockets. “She didn’t invite me, Selina did. Aggressively, like I said. When she gets her teeth into an idea, it’s hard to distract her. You told me those two run in the same circles. Selina got a call from Regina. About the party.”
