Cowboy Secrets

“Don’t most people feel that way?”

“Yes, but there was another quality in her voice.”

“Grace is actually Kinsey’s mother as well as her mother-in-law. Kinsey was raised by her grandmother after her grandmother killed her father.”

Sierra stopped walking. “Wait, are you saying Grace’s mother killed Grace’s husband?”

“That’s what I’m saying. Of course, it didn’t go down so cut and dried. She was eventually exonerated but it tore the family apart for over two decades.”

Sierra continued walking, and when they reached the SUV she sank into the passenger seat with a sigh. “I’m so tired I could sleep standing up,” she commented, and as the headlights swept the dark road ahead, she closed her eyes and didn’t open them again until the vehicle slowed down.

Pike pulled up in front of a red barn. Illuminated pillars stood on either side of a large double door. As she watched, a plump yellow dog nosed its way through a dog flap, yawning and stretching and wagging its tail. The dog moved to Pike’s side of the car and when he opened the door, he spoke to her.

“Hey, Daisy,” he said, and ran his hand along the dog’s head. “Did we wake you up?”

“This is the barn you live in?” Sierra asked as she got out of the car, wary lest this dog jump on her, too. But Daisy seemed to only have eyes for Pike and attached herself to his side as he retrieved Sierra’s suitcase and unlocked the door.

“Yep. Come inside. It’s freezing out here. Those film people are right, we’re going to have snow by the weekend.”

He switched on lights and she found herself in a huge open space with rafters high above the floor. A wall covered with all sorts of shelves housed books and all sorts of other things, including a small painting of Pike wearing glasses, sitting on a hay bale, his expression inscrutable.

“Kinsey’s work,” Pike said. “If you sit down for too long, she draws or paints you.”

“She’s good.”

“Yeah. And before you think I’m the kind of guy who goes around framing pictures of himself for display, Kinsey gave me that for Christmas and placed it right where it sits.”

“Aw, shucks,” she said in a passable Texas accent. “It never crossed my mind you were that kind of guy.”

There were a few open doors off the long wall and Sierra saw part of an office through one doorway and the edge of a bed through another. The kitchen was at the south end of the barn, the living area set up in the middle. The second floor was open and accessible by a broad wooden stairway. A wood-burning fireplace was currently unlit while a fuzzy dog bed occupied one cozy corner.

Daisy had retreated to her cushion, her gaze fastened to Pike but darting to Sierra now and again as though keeping track of the competition. “Your dog can’t take her eyes off you,” Sierra said.

“She’s practicing for motherhood, I guess.”

“She’s going to have puppies?” When Pike nodded, she added, “When?”

“A couple of weeks. The vet said it’s her first litter.”

“You don’t know if she had puppies before?”

“No. I’ve only had her three months. Found her Halloween night. She’d been hit by a car and was out on the road. Thankfully, she wasn’t too badly hurt, but no one claimed her and now she’s mine.”

“She’s a yellow Lab, right?”

“Mostly. There might be something else in there, too, who knows. Have a seat. It’s kind of late to start a fire in the fireplace but I’ll turn up the heat and put the soup on the stove.”

“Let me help you,” she said, knowing that if she sat on the comfortable-looking sofa she probably wouldn’t get up until morning.

“Sure.”

In the end, she sat at the counter and drank a glass of wine he poured her while he heated minestrone soup and toasted slices of bread. She liked watching him move around the kitchen. She’d noticed how fit and handsome he was the minute she saw him—it was just impossible to miss. And now, when the hard day had honed some of his edges while softening others, she admitted to herself he was a very hot guy.

“Are you dating anyone?” she asked.

He spooned steaming soup into a bowl and set it in front of her. “Not currently. Why? Would you like to sign up?”

“I’m kind of over long-distance dating,” she said.

“I take it you aren’t...involved with anyone?”

“Nope. My last boyfriend moved to France when his company transferred him. We tried to keep it together, but it didn’t work. How about you? Any cowgirl’s heart go pitter-patter when she sees you?”

“Well, there’s a kid about Tess’s age at the feed store who has had a crush on me for about five years.”

“Do you like her?”

“Patty? She’s a nice girl, but she’s a kid. I like women.”

“Tall women?” she asked, then took a sip of the soup while keeping her gaze on him. Grace was a good cook.

“Yeah,” he said as he sat across from her with a bowl of his own. He pushed the basket of bread her way and added, “I’m partial to redheads with green eyes.”

“That describes me,” she said with feigned surprise.

He looked at her as though just noticing her appearance. If she hadn’t seen him checking her out a half-dozen times that day, she might have fallen for it. Another grin and he laughed.

“Well,” Sierra said, “besides the distance issue, we have another problem. How are we going to handle Tess?” The spoon was halfway to her lips when a large black shape landed on the counter near her elbow. She threw up her hands and the spoon went flying.

“Sinbad, get down,” Pike demanded and Sierra finally realized the shape belonged to a svelte black cat with yellow eyes. The cat meowed and jumped to the floor, where it proceeded to walk away as though offended.

“How many animals do you have?” she asked.

“Just these two, who hang around inside the barn. Of course, there are a lot of others outside. This is a ranch, remember?” His gaze dropped to her bosom. “And you have soup all over your blouse.

Sierra looked down at her shirt and winced. The dry cleaner’s image appeared again.

Pike replaced her spoon with a fresh one and they finished the soup with idle chatter until Pike sighed. “Looks like you and I are going to LA.”

She nodded. The thought of more travel wasn’t exactly comforting right at that moment.

“Let’s get it over with, okay? I can arrange plane tickets for tomorrow.”

“Okay. Make the flight late enough that I can talk to Tess in the morning and get details about everything she saw and heard.”

“Yeah. I have some ranch work I need to finish up, as well. I’ll see if I can get an evening flight. You have to feel like a dead man walking. Let me show you to your room.”

Sierra nodded. The promise of lying down was the only thing still keeping her on her feet. He toted her suitcase for her, depositing it on top of a dresser in a small room bright with white paint and pine walls. “There’s a bathroom behind that door in the corner. This house is wireless. I know you had business you wanted to take care of. The password is PIKESPLACE, one word, all caps.”