A Cowboy To Keep

“Just thinking.”

“Do you believe someone started it?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll find out,” he said grimly. He gestured toward the horses. “After you.”

He needed to get Dani out of the area if his target lurked nearby. Once he spoke to Tanya, he’d explore the foot path and see if he couldn’t flush out his quarry.

He swung his leg over Pokey, settled in the saddle and followed Dani. If an armed, reckless Smiley skulked this close to the ranch, Jack’s job here had just changed. He wasn’t just hunting on the property anymore, he thought, eyeing the graceful sway of Dani’s back as she rode ahead. He was now protecting it, and the woman who both irritated and fascinated him, too.

CHAPTER FIVE (#u48e3b601-4dcf-5d6b-adba-429c9629c524)

DANI KNOCKED ON Tanya’s door an hour later, Jack by her side. The cowboy’s proximity made her senses fire to life and become acutely aware of the hard brush of his biceps against her shoulder, his looming height and rugged good looks. She inhaled the scent of him—a slight hint of woodsy pine, horses, leather and bar soap, a cowboy’s version of fancy aftershave that worked on her.

Not that she had any business noticing a man who looked like the kind of trouble she avoided. The old Dani would have flirted up a storm with this dangerous man, but her new, wiser self knew better than to trust her attraction.

The aroma of fresh-baked corn bread seeped through a window screen, breaking her from her thoughts, and Smiley came to mind. He usually ate at least one pan himself and declared the dish his favorite. Had Tanya baked it for her runaway boyfriend?

She sealed off the traitorous thought. Tanya was good people. Smiley, too. If he’d been caught with drugs, there had to be an explanation. Maybe he’d been wearing someone else’s coat or driving their car. Whatever the reason, this must be a mistake. Still, she’d promised to introduce Jack and ask Tanya for the information he needed.

Was she betraying her friend? Yes.

Did that make her a hypocrite? Yes...considering her own past.

The door swung open and Tanya appeared in the frame. Her quick smile faded when she glimpsed Jack. She tucked her dark hair behind her ears, slid her tank top strap up her thin arm and fidgeted with one of her leather bracelets.

“My first visitor. It sure is good to see you. How’ve you been, girl?” Despite her friendly tone, her eyes kept darting to Jack. Knowing him, he read everything into her uneasy expression. Yet Dani knew Tanya. Her friend was the worst liar, one of the reasons Smiley never let her play poker with them on weekends. Her twitchy right eye always gave her away, as did her tendency to repeat herself when she was nervous.

No.

Tanya was trustworthy, as was Smiley. But he might be hiding out because he didn’t want to be charged with a crime he didn’t commit.

Hadn’t she done the same when she’d fled to Colorado to reboot her off-the-rails life and avoid bringing trouble, aka her incarcerated ex and the pending charges against her, to her family’s doorstep?

The news item that’d shown the composite sketch of her face with her misspelled name flashed before her eyes. And she could still hear her former boyfriend vowing to find her when he got released.

But the police didn’t have her correct name and she hadn’t talked much about her family back then, so Kevin never knew exactly where in Texas they lived.

She squashed her sudden spike of fear. She’d left that world. Stood on her own two feet now. Nothing would knock her off them again.

Please don’t let Jack turn that sharp investigative eye on me...

“I’m good. I like your hair. Did you get a perm?”

Tanya shot her a tic-smile and thrust her hands in the pockets of her jeans skirt. “I’m still getting used to it.”

“It’s great. I, uh, wanted to introduce you to one of our new wranglers. Jack, this is Tanya. Tanya—Jack.”

“Howdy,” Tanya blurted, but she didn’t step onto the porch to extend a hand. In fact, she hadn’t even hugged Dani, which was unlike her. Did Jack’s appearance scare her? He really needed to stop scowling around people.

“Ma’am.” Jack dipped his head. He stared steadily at Tanya, his eyes dark, his expression unreadable.

“Smells like you made some corn bread,” Dani observed when an awkward silence descended. Tanya should have invited them in by now. Strangely, her friend stepped onto the porch and closed the door behind her.

“Yes. I’m hoping Smiley might stop by. He hasn’t shown up yet, has he?”

Her shoulder muscles relaxed; Tanya didn’t know anything about Smiley.

“No. In fact, I thought I might run into both of you here.”

“I haven’t seen him.” Tanya bent down to adjust a loose strap on her sandal and her hair slid forward, obscuring her face. “I haven’t seen him at all.”

Unease curled in her gut at Tanya’s repetition. “When’s the last time you spoke to him? I thought he would have shown up today with the rest of the groundskeepers.”

Her gaze flicked sideways at Jack, who peered through the window beside the front door. Tanya brought her hand up to her mouth and nibbled on her nail. “Didn’t you hear? We broke up months ago, though I’m hoping to get back together.”

Dani shifted her weight onto her other foot. It bugged her that she felt more suspicious than sympathetic. Jack’s doing. She could trust her own judgment now.

“I’m sorry, sweetie.” When she wrapped her arms around Tanya, she inhaled a familiar whiff of cherry. What did she associate that scent with? “How about I stop by later for a chat?”

Tanya gave her a big, crinkly smile. “That’d be nice.”

“Good to meet you,” Jack said, as he followed Dani down the porch stairs and onto the path that swept by parked Gator vehicles, used for off-road carting, in front of a two-car garage.

“See. I told you Tanya wouldn’t know anything.” She waved to Nan, who rocked on the front porch of the May’s house. Like Dani and the Mays, she lived here year-round.

The elderly woman stopped petting a calico cat on her lap and waved back. Her bright pink shirt contrasted with her white cloud of hair and brought out her piercing blue eyes.

“Tanya knows more than she’s saying,” he murmured.

Two energetic Australian shepherds bounded down from the porch before she could argue the point. She crouched for the hurtling fur balls.

“Hey, Beau. Hey, Belle.” She laughed as the dogs jostled to give her frantic tongue baths. “Who brought you guys back from the vet’s?”

“Sam picked them up,” called Nan. “They got all the porcupine needles out. Would you believe some were lodged in the back of their throats?”

When she gestured for them to approach, they climbed the steps and Dani settled on the porch swing. Jack leaned against the railing, his arms crossed over his chest.

“Poor puppies,” Dani crooned. “I hope you’ve learned your lesson.” Beau whined and rolled over on his back, presenting his white belly. Belle swerved back down the porch after a butterfly. Her obsession.

“I’m Nan.” The woman extended a gnarled hand in Jack’s direction, and he shook it gently with an old-school, courtly kind of grace. “My, aren’t you a tall drink of water. Are you single?”

“Nan.” Dani stopped rubbing Beau’s soft stomach and shot the would-be matchmaker a warning look. Nan approached setting up couples like it was a competitive sport—one she indulged in with gusto every season.

“Jackson Cade.” To her surprise, he didn’t seem ruffled by her question at all. In fact, he gave Nan a warm smile. “And I’m single.”

Nan’s rocking chair picked up speed and she returned his smile. “Well, now. Dani here’s single, too.”

“That a fact,” drawled Jack. He tipped back his broad-brimmed hat and studied her with amused eyes.