The Arizona Lawman

The mere mention of the young man’s name left Tessa cold. Not more than three months ago, Rafe had hired the guy to work on the fence-mending crew. The moment he’d spotted Tessa, he’d come on to her like a house on fire. At first she’d liked his boyish grin and playful teasing. She’d even gone on a few dates with him. But he’d quickly begun to expect more from her than she’d been willing to give. When she’d abruptly ended all connection with him, he’d retaliated by telling the other ranch hands he’d never had any serious intentions toward her. That she was only a cheap housemaid.

“Rafe needn’t have done that for my benefit,” Tessa said flatly. “Thad needed some lessons in being a gentleman, but he could still build fences.”

Lilly snorted. “The only thing Thad wanted to work was his mouth. I say good riddance.”

The ugly incident with Thad had made Tessa wonder how other people viewed her. When she’d told Joseph Hollister she lived at the Silver Horn, she’d not mentioned she’d worked there as a housekeeper. Was the deputy the type of man who’d look down on her for holding a menial job?

Forget it, Tessa. Joseph might be a super-nice guy. But you don’t have any business wasting your thoughts on him. Your home is in Nevada. You’re here to look over this property and make a reasonable decision about what to do with it. Not to strike up a romance with a lawman you met less than twenty-four hours ago.

Tessa’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted with Lilly expressing the need to end the call.

“Sorry, Tessa, I have to hang up. I hear Austin screaming at his sister.”

With their conversation over, Tessa went to the bedroom to change out of her pajamas. As she tossed a pair of jeans onto the bed, she gazed around the beautiful white room. Just being in it made her feel like a princess.

Deputy Hollister had seemed to think the late sheriff had actually prepared this room just for her. Most folks would find that eerie, Tessa thought, but strangely enough, it made her feel wanted. And that was the best gift the late sheriff could’ve given her.

* * *

A few minutes later Tessa was in the barn, trying to lure the cats from their hiding place, when she heard a vehicle drive up somewhere in the ranch yard.

Thinking it might be Deputy Hollister stopping by, she put down the pan of food and hurried out of the big barn. But instead of seeing the Yavapai County lawman’s vehicle, she spotted a red-and-white Ford truck with a crunched passenger door.

Pausing in her tracks, she watched an older man with a crumpled straw hat and a short, grizzled beard climb from the vehicle. His worn jeans were stuffed into a pair of tall, yellow cowboy boots while a faded red shirt with long sleeves was buttoned tightly at his throat.

As he moved toward her, Tessa noticed his gait was a bit uneven. Whether the slight limp was because of his leg or some other problem, she could hardly say. In any case, she decided this had to be Ray’s ranch hand.

She walked across the hard-packed earth to greet him. “Hello. I’m Tessa Parker. Are you Mr. Lemans?”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m Samuel Lemans—just Sam to you. I work for Ray.” Grimacing, he shook his head. “Excuse me, ma’am. I said that wrong. I did work for Ray.”

Tessa extended her hand to him and as he gave it a firm shake, she noticed his palm was as tough as rawhide and his face as crinkled as dry leather. From what she could see beneath the brim of the mangled hat, his thick hair was a mix of black and gray and his eyes were the color of a black bean. Yet in spite of his hard-weathered appearance, the gentleness in his gaze put her instantly at ease.

“I met Deputy Hollister yesterday and he mentioned you,” she explained. “I want to thank you, Sam, for keeping everything looking so beautiful.”

“Glad to do it. I’ll keep on taking care of things until you don’t need me anymore. That was Ray’s wishes. And I aim to see them carried out.”

“Well, I’ll see that you get paid,” Tessa assured him. “Mr. Maddox left me a sizable sum.”

He scowled. “I don’t want pay, Ms. Parker. Ray has already taken care of that. You don’t worry about a thing. If you need me, I’ll be here. If you don’t, that’s okay, too.”

Tessa was totally bewildered. This man and his late boss were making things so easy for her to stay here. Had that been another of Ray’s wishes? To make her want a permanent home on the Bar X?

“I don’t know what to say, Sam. This is hard for me to understand.” She passed a hand over her damp brow then made a sweeping gesture with her arm. “I don’t suppose you can tell me why Ray—uh, Mr. Maddox—left me this ranch?”

He lifted the crumpled straw hat and scratched the top of his head. “I expected you to ask me and I wish I could give you an answer. Ray never talked to me about such things. The only thing he told me was that, after he died, a young lady would be getting this property and his money. I gave him my promise to keep on working around the place—that’s how Sheriff Ray wanted it.”

Disappointment stung Tessa. Evidently this man and Ray Maddox had been more than boss/employee. If Ray hadn’t given Sam any sort of explanation about her and the will, it was doubtful he’d discussed the matter with anyone else.

“He didn’t say anything about me?” She persisted.

“Ray didn’t talk about his private life. And I didn’t pry. If he’d wanted me to know more, he would’ve told me. Anyway, Sheriff Ray always did the right thing. I expect he had good reason to do this for you.”

Sam’s lack of information hadn’t helped to explain anything. But she wasn’t going to let it discourage her. Somewhere, someone had answers and she fully intended to find them.

Hiding her disappointment behind a warm smile, she said, “Someday I’ll find his reason. For now I’m going to enjoy being here.”

With a wistful look in his eyes, he glanced over her shoulder to the empty holding pens. No doubt there had been a time when the dusty corrals would’ve been filled with weanling calves or cows to be tagged and doctored. Now the ghostly silence of the working area was a sad reminder of happier days.

“You going to hang around until the place sells?” he asked.

Though his question was quite reasonable, the weight of it staggered her. Already the idea of letting this place go was very unsettling. On the other hand, she had to make smart choices for her future. And her life was back in Nevada. Strange, how she had to keep reminding herself of that fact.

“I—I haven’t made any definite decisions yet, Sam. Except that I’m not going to be in any hurry about making plans. So I would be grateful to you if you’d come by and help me see after things.”

“Sure thing. I’ll be around first thing every morning.”

For the next half hour Sam helped her make friends with the cats and gave her a detailed tour of the barn and ranch yard. Afterward, she invited him to a cup of coffee on the backyard patio.

Although he wasn’t exactly a big talker, she was enjoying his company. And listening to him reminisce about Ray and the Bar X might possibly help her unravel the secrecy surrounding the will.

“When the ranch was going full swing, were you the only hand working for him?” she asked.

Reaching for his mug, Sam shook his head. “During the slow seasons I handled everything by myself. When calving season or roundups were going on, two other guys came in to help. See, the Bar X is small compared to some of the neighboring ranches. But acre for acre, it’s a damned good one. All it needs to get going again is a herd of mama cows and a few horses.”

Tessa was about to ask if he’d like to see the ranch back in production, but a woman’s voice suddenly called out in the vicinity of the front yard.

The unexpected interruption quickly pushed Tessa to her feet. “Excuse me, Sam. I’ll go see who that might be.”

Just as Tessa started off the patio, a tall, dark-haired woman somewhere in her early sixties appeared around the corner of the house.

“Hello, there,” she said cheerily. “Sorry about all the hollering. I knocked on the door but didn’t get an answer. I—” Suddenly spotting Sam, she paused and then called to him. “Sam, you rusty old codger! Where have you been hiding yourself?”

Sam scraped back his chair and came to stand next to Tessa.

“Good to see you, Maureen.” He greeted her with a tip of his hat.

He glanced at Tessa before gesturing to their unexpected visitor, who was dressed in a gray, double-breasted dress with a rust-red silk scarf knotted at her neck and matching red high heels on her feet.

“Tessa, this is Maureen Hollister.” He introduced the two women. “She’s your neighbor and owner of the Three Rivers Ranch.”

Still smiling, the woman extended her hand to Tessa. “Nice to meet you, Tessa,” she said while pumping her hand in a hearty shake. “And don’t worry, I can only stay for a minute. I’m on my way to Prescott. My son, Joe, told me you’d arrived, so I just wanted to stop by and welcome you to the area.”

“Joe? You mean Deputy Hollister?” Tessa asked.

Maureen’s smile deepened. “Sorry. All his family calls him Joe,” she explained, then shot a pointed look to Sam. “I hope you’ve been helping this young lady get settled in.”

Scowling, Sam said, “Maureen, I don’t need to be questioned. You know I’ll see to my duties.”