The Right Cowboy

“I was always in love with Tamsin, but you have to know I didn’t mean to hurt you. All along I’ve been convinced you’re on your way to the big time in Nashville and I couldn’t be happier for you. You have an amazing talent.”

“So you’re going to walk out on me without even a hug or kiss goodbye?”

“Of course I’ll give you a hug, and I’ll be listening to you on the radio. Call me when you want to talk shop. Good luck, Patsy, but you don’t need it.” He gave her a warm kiss on her cheek and left the apartment. Right now only one person was on his mind. Cole’s need to be with Tamsin was consuming him.

Chapter Three (#u3fa36ed6-630f-5374-b8f2-241691c4b95a)

By Friday, Tamsin had found a furnished one-bedroom apartment in town that suited her just fine. She took the day off from work to get settled in. Her parents were great about it when she talked to them. They’d probably wondered why a move like this hadn’t happened a long time ago. But she urged them to say nothing to Sally or Lyle.

Her sister had been resting while Tamsin had made half a dozen trips to her car with her things. She would tell her and Lyle she’d found an apartment after she’d settled in. The last person she wanted to know about her plans was Dean. She wanted to get everything done and then surprise him with a homemade dinner once she told him her new address.

When he called to make arrangements for Friday night, she told him she’d be working late and hoped they could have dinner on Saturday night instead. There were still things she had to do to get ready.

Though he’d said that would be fine, she sensed he wasn’t happy about having to wait until Saturday. But she’d make it up to him when he realized what she’d done.

At 10:30 p.m., she drove to the all-night grocery store a few blocks away to pick up some batteries for her remotes and some sodas. Then she was going to kick back on the couch and watch an old movie while she hung a few pictures and put books away in the bookcase.

As she was pulling a pack of colas from the refrigerated section, her gaze collided with a pair of brown eyes smoldering beneath a black Stetson.

Her breath caught to see Cole, who’d just reached for a pack of root beer to put in the cart with some other groceries, including a quart of vanilla ice cream.

Root beer floats. One of those treats they’d whipped up on many a weekend their senior year. He still loved them, apparently.

For a moment she was attacked by memories of those times when they couldn’t stay out of each other’s arms. For a moment she was blinded by the way his body filled out a pair of well-worn jeans and a crew neck brown shirt. Somehow he seemed a little taller in his cowboy boots than she’d remembered. Had he grown another inch?

The other night she’d noticed he wore his dark blond wavy hair a little shorter than he used to. There were more lines around his eyes. His compelling mouth looked a little harder. All in all, he was a gorgeous twenty-seven-year-old man. And she was staring at him, something she’d sworn she would never do if she saw him again. But she’d been caught doing it now.

To see the grown-up version of Cole in firefighter gear or otherwise sent an unwanted thrill of excitement through her body. She couldn’t suppress it, no matter how hard she tried.

Tamsin guessed he was a disease she’d caught years ago. It had lived inside her all this time. What haunted her was the possibility that there was no cure. That was why she was making changes in her life. A new place to live with more privacy for her and Dean.

Cole’s return to Whitebark was putting her through a refiner’s fire. Her greatest fear was that Dean get trapped in it or hurt by it. When he came to her apartment for dinner tomorrow night, she would tell him some things about her relationship with Cole she’d kept private so Dean would understand.

Even if he’d been told a little about her history with Cole through his brother who would’ve learned it from Sally, Dean needed to hear certain details from Tamsin herself.

For the time being she didn’t know where their relationship would end up. But she was hoping that living on her own, she would now have the breathing room to figure out her life. If she ended up with Dean, she wanted it to be with her whole heart and no reservations.

“I’m glad we bumped into each other.” Cole’s low voice filtered through her turmoil to her brain. “It has saved me from having to find you.”

To her horror she almost sighed in relief to see that he didn’t wear a ring. Did it mean he wasn’t married yet?

“Why would you have to do that?” she asked, trying to fight off the effect he was having on her.

His eyes narrowed between his darker lashes. “To warn you and your family that the arsonists who set fire to your barn will probably set fire to your haystacks before the summer is over.”

She frowned. “You honestly think it will happen again?”

He nodded. “I was in a big conference on Tuesday with state officials. We’re pretty certain why ranchers like your father have been targeted.”

“Why my father?”

“He has always allowed hunting on his property in the fall. There’s a contingent of ranchers who want to ban the elk hunters, but since they can’t stop them legally, they’ve resorted to arson on the lands where they hunt.”

Tamsin still didn’t understand. “But Dad isn’t the only rancher who allows it.”

“That’s true. So far in the last two years, sixteen ranches near the Bridger Wilderness that have allowed elk hunting have undergone losses by these arsonists.”

“What’s wrong with elk hunting?”

“Nothing, as long as the elk aren’t transmitting brucellosis disease to the cattle when they both come to feed at the same feeding grounds. The bailed hay on your father’s property, both fenced and in the barn, invites the elk to come. In my line of work, we’re dedicated to eradicating the disease.”

What line of work was he talking about? He was a firefighter!

She blinked. “Isn’t that the disease that causes calves to abort?” He nodded. “How do you know so much about it?”

“I received my master’s degree in environmental wildlife at the University of Colorado in Boulder. But my technical title is a brucellosis-feed-ground-habitat biologist, and my specific job is to test the elk for the disease. I also work for the fire department here if I’m not up in the mountains tracking elk.”

Tamsin was stunned by what he’d just told her. She was having trouble taking it all in. All this time she’d accused him in her heart of going off to be a famous rodeo celebrity.

“These arsonists want the elk to migrate down the mountains away from the ranches. But the lure of the hay makes it impossible. There’s a group of men so serious about stopping this, they’ve been willing to commit crimes like the one on your property in order to make their point.”

She put a hand to her throat. “Is this happening all over Wyoming?”

“In parts where a ranch that allows elk hunting is located near a range of mountains. As you’ve found out firsthand, these men are endangering the lives of people and horses. After we put out the fire, I looked for you to tell you of the danger when I saw Sally. Her being pregnant makes her even more vulnerable in a situation like this and I’m afraid it’s not going to stop.”

His prediction increased Tamsin’s fear, but she fought not to show it. “I had no idea you’d been in college all this time besides becoming a firefighter. How amazing that you know so much about what has been going on around here. How long have you been back in Whitebark?”

Here she was, asking him questions when she’d promised herself she would never show him the slightest interest. Never again.

“I’d been home five days when I was called out on the fire at your father’s ranch.”

Only five? “Where did you get your firefighter training?”

“In Boulder while I was in graduate school.”

Her eyes widened. “So you did both while you were there.”

“Yes. When I left the ranch nine years ago, I was honoring a promise to my father that was ironclad.”

“What promise was that?”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about the reason I had to leave. A reason my father wouldn’t let anyone know about. Even on his deathbed he swore me to secrecy.”

That revelation only deepened her pain. He didn’t give her an explanation then, and wouldn’t be giving it to her now. “What about your ranch?”

“It’s still here. I’m managing with the help of Sam and Louise. You remember them?”

“Yes.” Of course, she did. But how on earth could he handle everything? All this time she’d thought he’d been with that country singer, planning a new life with her. How wrong could she have been? Or maybe not. Already he’d shot her peace of mind to pieces. Before she left the store, she needed one more bit of information.