A Cowboy Like You

by Donna Grant

  Then she realized how silly that thought was. Matt had no idea about her and Danny, and it was going to stay that way. Mainly because she had no idea how Matt would react. And the last thing she wanted was for Matt to turn his anger on Danny.

  All of this was turning into such a fiasco. It was one thing when it was just her that Matt was bothering, but his family had joined in and had turned their wrath on her parents. All she could hope for was that the Easts and Harpers—as well as Danny—escaped the Gaudets’ viciousness.

  Skylar rubbed her temples. She had a pounding headache from the constant worry. No matter what she did, she couldn’t seem to stop her mind from going from one bad scenario to the next, each worse than the last.

  Which was silly because Matt hadn’t killed anyone. It didn’t matter how much money his family had, they couldn’t cover that up.

  Skylar frowned as she realized that no one in the Gaudet family—especially Matt—would get his hands dirty with such business. They’d hire it out.

  “Oh, shit,” she murmured.

  Skylar went downstairs. On her way down, she heard voices from the kitchen. As she approached, she caught her name.

  “Speaking of,” Abby said and plastered a smile on her face when she spotted Skylar.

  But Skylar wasn’t fooled. Her gaze moved from Abby to Clayton to Leslie. “What is it?”

  Clayton asked, “Do you know anyone by the name of Madeline Gross?”

  “No,” Skylar said with a small shake of her head, her gaze moving between the three of them. Then something clicked in her head. “Wait. Matt has an old girlfriend named Madeline. I don’t know her last name.”

  Leslie took a deep breath and released it as she said, “It’s safe to say that the Madeline you heard Matt speak of is the same Madeline Gross.”

  “Okay,” Skylar said, trying not to get too worked up. “What about her?”

  Abby put her hands on the island. “It seems that Madeline and Matt have had an on-again/off-again relationship for some years.”

  “Meaning that he cheated on me,” Skylar guessed.

  Clayton nodded once. “Yes.”

  Somehow that didn’t surprise Skylar, but oddly enough, she wasn’t that upset about it. “What does Madeline have to do with me?”

  “She was here,” Abby replied.

  Now that got Skylar’s attention. “For Matt?”

  “That’s our guess,” Clayton said. “However, she stabbed Danny’s tires at the courthouse.”

  Skylar wished Danny had told her about it, but he did have his hands full, so she wasn’t going to hold it against him. “Have they caught her?”

  “She’s been arrested in Houston,” Leslie said.

  Skylar thought about that a moment. “That’s a good thing, right?”

  Clayton grabbed a slice of bacon and took a bite. “It is. And it isn’t. You see, she’s claiming that Matt had nothing to do with her coming here and slashing Danny’s tires.”

  “Which means we can’t connect Matt to the crime,” Leslie explained.

  Skylar took one of the seats at the island. “I don’t suppose Madeline is lying?”

  “Houston PD checked everything, and then Danny and his deputies double-checked,” Clayton said. “There’s no connection.”

  “That we can prove,” Abby added.

  Skylar shoved away a lock of hair that had fallen into her face. “Well, we’ll get them on something else.”

  “That’s what I dropped by to tell you,” Leslie said. “Your parents’ house is all set up and ready. We’re recording both video and audio.”

  “That’s great.” Skylar didn’t point out that there was a chance that the lawyers wouldn’t return to talk to her parents. It was another long shot, but right now, it was all they had.

  “This won’t last forever, you know?” Leslie rubbed her hand up and down Skylar’s arm.

  Skylar looked around at all the Christmas decorations. “I’m supposed to be buying gifts and going to parties to celebrate the season. I’m supposed to be planning Christmas dinner with my mom and thinking about what I’ll do for New Year’s Eve this year. I’m surrounded by Christmas everywhere, and it’s the first year that it doesn’t even feel like the holidays.”

  Abby’s brows puckered. “I’m sorry. I can take it down.”

  “Don’t you dare,” Skylar quickly said. “I love it. I’m just feeling sorry for myself this morning. I’m sorry.”

  Clayton shook his head as he finished the last of the bacon. “Don’t apologize. You’re holding up remarkably well considering the events. Maybe you need to get out of the house.”

  “No,” Abby and Leslie said in unison.

  But Skylar was staring at Clayton. “Do you think that would be possible? There’s a place I’d like to go.”

  “Absolutely.” His pale green gaze swung to Abby. “It’ll be fine, darlin’.”

  Leslie’s lips were pursed. “I don’t like it, but I also know that you need to get out.”

  “While I’d like nothing more than to go alone, I’m not stupid.” Skylar looked at Clayton. “Would you or someone else accompany me?”

  Clayton smiled. “I’d be happy to. And I have a feeling Abby will be coming, as well.”

  “You bet I will,” Abby stated, then smiled at Skylar.

  * * *

  Matt stared coldly at the monitor, watching Skylar and Danny over and over again. It had taken him all night, but he’d seen every second of footage from every camera angle on the East Ranch—and there was a lot of it.

  Seeing Skylar and Danny holding hands had made him angry, but when a camera had caught them kissing, Matt had lost his temper and destroyed the hotel room.

  Spencer had knocked on the door, but Matt hadn’t let him in. He’d even ignored the calls from his parents because his mind had been crafting a plan. It was going to take a lot of moving parts, but it was perfect in its elegance.

  He dialed Crypto’s untraceable number. She answered on the third ring with a bored, “What?”

  “Have you gotten into the entire system yet?”

  There was a loud sigh. “If I haven’t contacted you, then nothing has changed. It’s a tough system. One of the toughest I’ve seen in a while. It’s going to take me a few days.”

  “How easily can you get into someone’s phone?” he asked.

  “In seconds.”

  “What about making a recording from someone’s voice from other voicemails? Could you do it if I needed it?”

  There was a bored sigh. “Of course. That’s child’s play.”

  “Just what I wanted to hear. I need you to get into two phones,” he told her.

  Crypto chuckled softly. “Is that right? Why would I do that?”

  “Because there’s another two hundred and fifty grand in it for you.”

  “What do you need?”

  Matt gave her the details of what he wanted. When he finished, there was a smile on his face.

  “Just one problem,” the hacker said. “I need phone numbers.”

  “You’re a hacker. Can’t you figure that out on your own?”

  There was a beat of silence. “You’re a dick, you know that?”

  “A rich dick who is going to give you a lot of fucking money. Can you do it or not?”

  “Yeah. What are the names of the people?”

  “Skylar Long and Danny Oldman. How soon can you set it up?”

  Crypto made an almost inaudible sound. “Give me four hours.”

  “You’ve got two, and I’ll double the money.”

  “Then I better get to it.”

  The line went dead. Matt pocketed his cell phone and packed up his few belongings. Then he walked out of the hotel room and to his truck. As he got in and started the engine, he looked up to find his parents and Spencer looking out their hotel window at him.

  He didn’t bother to even wave at them as he backed out of his parking space and drove away, headed toward Houston.

  * * *

 
Now that she was in a much better frame of mind, Skylar used the morning to set up a time to view the Taylor house with the Realtor. She was going to send Danny a text, but she thought better of it once she realized that he might be either sleeping or working.

  As if her thoughts had summoned him, a text came through from Danny. The smile on her face dimmed as she read it.

  BUSY. NOT SURE WHEN I’LL GET TO COME BY.

  She tried not to let the disappointment consume her, but it was a losing battle. It was stupid, too. Danny had an important position, an elected one. He had duties that took precedence over everything and everyone. If she was going to be a part of his life, she needed to understand that.

  Danny wasn’t like other men, and that’s why she was attracted to him. He’d always put others before himself. It was just something she would have to get used to. And that was definitely something she could do because she wanted to be with Danny.

  Skylar sent off a quick reply.

  I UNDERSTAND. COME BY WHEN YOU CAN.

  She added a smiley face emoji.

  After she’d let Clayton and Abby know what time they were going to the house, she started looking at her finances. She was going to have to do something about her job, and while she wanted to give a two-week notice, it just wasn’t possible in this situation.

  Skylar bit her lip and then dialed her boss. She wasn’t looking forward to the conversation, but she wasn’t going to leave him hanging either. The sooner he knew about her plans, the quicker he could begin looking for someone to replace her.

  The discussion went as she’d expected it to. He was upset that she was leaving, but he understood the reason and supported her in it. When she hung up, she knew that her life in Houston was well and truly over. And she felt good about it.

  Really good.

  She checked her image in the mirror before she headed downstairs, where Abby and Clayton were waiting. Skylar grabbed her coat before they walked out to Clayton’s truck. The tinted windows would make it difficult for anyone to see who was in the back seat, which gave her some anonymity.

  Her excitement climbed as they drove toward the house. There was a reason the Taylor house had always caught her attention. Maybe she’d known all along, somewhere in her subconscious, that she was going to buy it.

  Now, all she could hope for was that the house looked as good in person as it did in the pictures online because she had her heart set on buying it.

  It seemed to take forever to get to the Taylor place, and then the Realtor wanted to chat before opening the door. Finally, it was Clayton who politely asked if they could get inside.

  As soon as Skylar walked through the front door, she knew this was where she would start her new life.

  Chapter 23

  Every time Danny tried to leave the office to take his lunch and see Skylar, something came up. If he didn’t know better, he’d think someone was intentionally doing it to him.

  He was still upset that he hadn’t gotten to see her the night before, even after promising that he would, but he couldn’t control what happened with his job. When he was needed, he had to go, and the previous night had been no exception.

  Danny hadn’t gotten home until after three in the morning. He’d been so dog-tired that he hadn’t even taken off his clothes before crawling into bed. When his alarm went off at six, he’d stumbled into the shower with his eyes closed, barely remembering to remove his clothes before stepping beneath the spray.

  Not all days were as bad as the previous, but when they did come, they were doozies for sure. The day hadn’t gotten any better when he arrived at the station.

  “It’s a full moon, sheriff,” the deputy at the front counter told him when she handed over a stack of files.

  He grunted because there was something about a full moon that brought out the crazy in humans and animals alike. Danny went straight to his office, returned some phone calls, looked through files, and signed off on paperwork. He couldn’t believe everything he’d accomplished before lunch.

  Then he called in a special order at the steakhouse that he planned to pick up and drive out to Skylar to surprise her. Only something else came up that required him to stay at the station, so he hadn’t been able to make it. Instead, he’d had Wilson pick up the food and take it to have a nice lunch with his fiancée.

  Danny was in the process of calling Skylar when the mayor arrived. He hung up and set his phone aside while talking to the mayor about the dangerous curve on one of the main roads that had caused the accident the night before. It was the fourth one that year, and there had been three the year before. It was time to do something about that stretch of highway.

  It was two hours later before the mayor left, and Danny was free. He rose from his chair and headed out of his office. He was halfway to the door leading to his SUV when someone called his name.

  He turned to find Wilson. The deputy wore a grin as he strode up. “Good news, sheriff. Madeline Gross will arrive here within the next forty minutes.”

  That was good news. It wasn’t normal for a misdemeanor offense to be extradited from another county, but the sheriff in Harris County owned Danny a favor, and Danny had called it in. “Great news.”

  “Did you want to talk to her?”

  “You should handle it. I want to watch the interrogation, though.”

  Wilson’s lips twisted. “You really think she’ll tell us anything different than what she told HCSD?”

  “I’m sure she’ll stick to her story,” Danny told him. “The fact that she’s here and being charged should be of interest to Matt Gaudet. We can prove the two were having an affair, but while we can’t prove Matt had her do anything, the fact they were a couple doesn’t make him look innocent.”

  Wilson shifted his feet as he rested one hand on the butt of his weapon. “What are you charging her with?”

  “Criminal mischief, which will be a Class-A misdemeanor.”

  “I’ll be sure to let her know. By the way, this isn’t her first run-in with the law. She was arrested for disorderly conduct about four years ago and has a criminal mischief charge from seven years ago.”

  “Do you know what the CM was?”

  Wilson grinned. “She keyed Matt Gaudet’s car after they had an argument at a bar. There were over a dozen witnesses, and someone called it in, which is why the police were there.”

  “No doubt the family would’ve preferred that not have been witnessed or involve the police. Good work, Wilson.”

  “Thanks, sheriff,” the deputy replied.

  Danny turned his head when he saw someone enter the station. The moment he spotted Caleb, he excused himself from Wilson.

  “What is it?” Danny asked Caleb when he made his way over.

  Caleb pulled a face. “Matt left town. I followed him all the way to Houston last night. He drove out first thing this morning and went straight to work. I think he may be done here.”

  Could it really be that easy? Danny sure hoped so. “He seems to have given up quickly. I’m still going to keep an eye out for his Audi.”

  “Maybe he realized he couldn’t get Skylar back. Or maybe his family finally talked some sense into him,” Caleb said.

  Danny shrugged. He should feel better about Matt leaving, but for some reason, he didn’t. In fact, he was even more worried now.

  “You aren’t happy about this turn of events,” Caleb guessed.

  “No. Not after everything Matt and his family have done. What of his parents and his younger brother?”

  Caleb smothered a yawn. “According to Brice and Cooper, they’ve not left yet.”

  “Why would they stay behind?” That didn’t make any sense to Danny at all. If Matt left, they should have all returned to Houston. Then it hit him. “Shit. Matt didn’t tell them he was leaving.”

  Caleb made a sound in the back of his throat. “That’s a possibility, especially after the altercation between Matt and his mother yesterday. With Matt gone, there’s no reason for them to stay.”
>
  “Then let’s hope they leave soon.”

  “Agreed. I’m headed home for some rest. Cooper is already gone, and Jace is stepping in to help Brice for the next shift.”

  “I can’t thank y’all enough for this.”

  “I’m offended you feel the need to say that at all,” Caleb told him. “We’re family, Danny. You know that. Now, go do your sheriff thing. We’ve got this covered.”

  Danny watched Caleb leave the station. There wasn’t enough time for him to run out to the ranch and see Skylar before Madeline Gross showed up, which meant that it was going to be much later before he was finally free to see her.

  He managed to get more office work done before Madeline arrived. Then he stood behind the glass, watching as Wilson interrogated the woman. Cross-examinations were usually something Danny enjoyed, but all he could think about was that it took him away from Skylar.

  And Madeline Gross was taking all the blame for the vandalism of Danny’s SUV, without putting any on Matt Gaudet.

  When it appeared that Wilson wasn’t getting anywhere with her, Danny called the deputy outside of the room. “Lead her to believe that Matt and Skylar were thinking of getting married. I want to see if we can push her into admitting something besides the same lines she keeps repeating.”

  The deputy returned to the room and did just as Danny suggested. There was a tightening in Madeline’s face, giving away her surprise and anger. Wilson saw it as well and kept mentioning how Matt loved Skylar so much that he’d followed her all the way out here just to win her back.

  Every time Wilson said it, Madeline grew angrier, but she still didn’t break. Not until Wilson shared that it was Matt who’d told the sheriff’s office where to find her to serve the warrant. It was a lie, but Madeline didn’t know that.

  She believed every word, and by her expletive-filled tirade about how Matt had promised her they would be married, and that Skylar meant nothing to him, Danny knew they could get whatever they needed from Madeline now.