Cowboy Secrets

However, even though Tess had brought tension into his life, he also found her company refreshing. And now Sierra was here and he’d known her all of three hours, but there was something about her, too. Something competent and self-assured, qualities he responded to in anyone and that were downright sexy in a beautiful woman. He knew his link to her was flimsy at best and she’d be gone in a day or two, but he could already feel that he would miss her. For a few moments, while walking down the stairs, Pike wondered if anybody kept her warm at night.

Frankie sat on the fireplace hearth, but as soon as Pike finally entered the room, he sprang to his feet. It was obvious he was excited and Pike took a deep breath, hoping it was for some positive reason and not because he was about to go to jail for something.

Like all the Pike men, Frankie was tall, but his build was a little more wiry than the others and his hair was lighter, especially in the summer. Now, in the midst of winter, it had darkened to Pike’s color, but he wore it longer. He also tended to dress a little more GQ than anyone else, and today wore dark gray slacks and a light gray shirt that mirrored his eyes.

“Dad has an announcement to make,” Frankie said, but Harry Hastings shook his head.

“This is your show, boy. You’re the driving force behind it all.”

Frankie made eye contact with everyone gathered around him. “I wanted to reveal all this after calving season and before summer work piles up on us, but the producers are anxious to do a little preliminary work. Besides, there’s never a time where everything gets quiet and boring around here, especially not lately, right?”

He paused to grin and glance at each of them in turn. Pike had to agree it had been a hectic few months.

“What producers? What are you talking about?” Chance asked from his seat beside Lily. Charlie, her five-year-old son, was still at kindergarten, but Chance gripped Lily’s hand in his and it appeared he wasn’t letting go. Good for him. When your soul mate comes along, what else can you do but grab on to her and hold tight?

Frankie took a deep breath. “As you guys all know, November is the one hundredth anniversary of the incident at the hanging tree.”

He was referring to the bank robbery of the ghost town, or what was left of it now, and the subsequent capture and execution of three of the four thieves. They had paid for their crimes with their lives by dangling from the end of ropes strung up to the big oak tree out on the plateau. The fourth robber had disappeared along with the spoils and had never been identified or caught.

“About a year ago, I met this guy in Pocatello,” Frankie continued. “I mentioned the ghost town on our land and the robbery. He’d actually read a diary written by someone who used to live in Falls Ridge, as the town was called back then. He confessed he’d had a life-long fascination with the events that had the killed the town almost overnight.

“Anyway, it turns out he makes documentaries and he wants to do one about Falls Ridge and the bank robbery and the tree and all that. He says there’s been some discussion about the mystery guy who got away, so they’d cover that aspect, as well. Originally, they were going to come on out and start filming in late April, but their backers want winter shots and interviews with all of us so the release can be timed to coincide with the anniversary of the events.”

His announcement was met with studied silence. “Dad?” Gerard said at last. “This sounds like a good idea to you?”

Pike watched as his father stood up and walked over to Frankie. It crossed Pike’s mind that his father probably couldn’t have cared less about hosting a bunch of television people and raking up the past. It probably didn’t seem like a good idea at all to him, but on the other hand, when was the last time anyone saw Frankie get interested in anything but making trouble? Consorting with legitimate filmmakers was a far cry from his usual scenarios. Assuming they were legit, of course.

“I don’t think it will have much impact on most of us,” his dad now said. “I researched the company—it’s won a couple of awards and is respected within the industry. They showed us a tape of a show they did on a nesting pair of bald eagles—looked like high-quality work and they’re bonded and have the right licenses. They’ve got network backing... Anyway, unless someone can point out some reason to walk away from this that I haven’t seen, I say we get Frankie to give them a call.”

“I agree,” Pike said, throwing in his hat. Not for a minute did he think having movie types around wouldn’t get in the way of ranch life and schedules, but so what? “Let’s shake things up a little,” he added when he glanced at Chance and Lily. After what they’d gone through back in October, he knew the last thing in the world they would want is any kind of stress, but Chance rallied and threw in his agreement.

Lily, however, had a question. “Did you tell them part of the ghost town burned down last year?”

“Yeah,” Frankie said. “It’s not a problem. Before the real filming takes place, I’ll take some machinery up there and move stuff around. Frankly, what happened there adds to the drama of the place.”

At this Gerard stood up. “What do you mean ‘what happened there’?”

“Not about your wife and daughter, Gerard. That will get mentioned because it’s part of the history of the place now, but no one wants to dwell on a personal tragedy like that.”

“And what about what happened to Lily up there, and Kinsey?” Chance asked.

Lily shifted in her seat. “Jeremy died there, Frankie, and Jeremy was Charlie’s father. Do we have to muck up all that again?”

“Listen,” Frankie said as things began to slide south. The ambience of a moment ago had begun to sour. “What happened here in the last year is part of this family’s story, but it’s not part of the bank robbery. Our experiences have to be acknowledged but they don’t have to be the focus. No one wants that.”

Harry Hastings clapped Frankie on the shoulder as he looked at each person in turn. “The production people will be here in a couple of days. They want to scope things out. How about we go that far and if issues arise, we reassess things. I personally think Frankie is right. This show will not be about our recent tragedies.”

They all agreed that sounded reasonable. Everyone obviously liked the idea of an escape hatch, a back door, so to speak.

“Gary Dodge, he’s the documentary guy I told you about, is interested in Kinsey doing some artist renditions of how the town looked and how an angry posse might have appeared.”

“I’ve done a little commercial work,” Kinsey said. “This sounds exciting to me.”

“And Dad has agreed the crew can stay in this house with him and Grace.”

“We have room at our house, too,” Kinsey said as Gerard put an arm around her. They looked at each other and exchanged silly grins, then Kinsey spoke again. “Since everyone is here, it might be a good time to tell you that we’re getting married a lot sooner than we originally planned.”

“But I thought you wanted a late spring wedding,” Frankie said.

“We did. But since our baby is due in June—”

She didn’t get any further than that. It seemed to Pike that everyone in the room started speaking at once. Half of them were on their feet, slapping Gerard on the back or hugging Kinsey.

Pike took a vacant chair. The house vibrated with the winds of change, from the two women upstairs to all the news and excitement downstairs. He didn’t usually dislike change, but he had to admit that today there was a chill inside him that he couldn’t explain. He thought of the way Sierra had turned at the airport to look behind them as they drove away and the chill deepened. As if paralleling her unease, he turned now to face the door and found Sierra standing in the opening. She gestured at him and he immediately went to join her.

“Finished emailing?” he asked.

“Finished before I started. My phone doesn’t work, just as you predicted, and I don’t know the password for your Wi-Fi.”

“The password is ridgeranch, all lower case, one word,” he said. “I know, it’s not terribly original. How long have you been standing there?”

“Most of the time,” she said. “I didn’t want to bother you.”

“So, you heard Frankie’s plan?”

“I did. It sounds pretty exciting.”

He narrowed his eyes as he gazed down at her face. She was only half a head shorter than he; a tall, shapely woman who he suddenly realized had not come down here out of curiosity or boredom. “What’s wrong?” he said quickly.

“Tess’s breathing is really loud. I’m worried about her.”

“Head colds aren’t any fun,” he said.

“I tried to wake her and she was limp and didn’t even open her eyes. Kinsey said she hadn’t given her any medications, right?”

“Beyond acetaminophen, no.”

“She spent the night at their house,” Sierra said, a new element of fear in her voice.

“Yes, but—”

Kinsey walked into the foyer followed, closely by Grace. Though a generation apart, both women were small of stature, dainty and pretty in their own way, which made sense because they were related. In a twist of fate, mother and daughter had been reunited. Sierra towered over them. “Is Tess all right?” Kinsey asked.

“I don’t know,” Sierra said. “She seems so out of it. Did you talk to her this morning?”

“Of course. Like I said, she had a restless night. I drove her over here late this morning because Pike had left early to get to the airport. She didn’t have a lot to say, but she was awake and coherent.”

“What are you thinking?” Grace asked.