The Arizona Lawman

Maureen laughed and then said to Tessa, “He’s a touchy old cuss. But he won’t bite. I doubt he has enough teeth left to leave any damage, anyhow.”

Sam didn’t make a retort. Instead he purposely put a grin on his face to reveal he still possessed a full set of teeth.

After another laugh, Maureen went on. “If there’s anything at all that you need while you’re here, Tessa, just call on us. We like to help our neighbors.”

So this was Deputy Hollister’s mother. Tessa could only imagine what he’d told this woman about their meeting yesterday. That she’d seemed overly emotional and out of her element? He certainly wouldn’t have been lying, she thought dismally.

“Thank you, Mrs. Hollister. It’s very kind of you to offer. Would you like to join us in a cup of coffee?”

Maureen promptly waved away the invitation. “I’d love to sit and talk for hours. But I can’t be late for my meeting.”

“I understand. I hope you can come by another time,” Tessa suggested.

“Oh, she’ll be by.” Sam spoke up in a dry voice. “She keeps the road hot. All you see when Maureen drives by is the blur of a blue truck and a cloud of dust. Roadrunners aren’t even safe when she’s around.”

Instead of being offended, Maureen laughed heartily. “Sam, one of these mornings you’re going to wake up and the gate to your goat pen is going to be standing wide open. Then we’ll see how fast you go.”

The man chuckled and Tessa could see he clearly enjoyed teasing Maureen. Which meant the two must have known each other many years for them to exchange this sort of banter.

“Okay, I’m off,” she said, “but before I go, I’d like to ask you to join us for dinner tomorrow night, Tessa. We’ll be eating around seven, but come sooner. We’ll have a drink and a nice talk. And you come, too, Sam. The kids would all love to see you.”

He said, “I don’t—”

Before he could decline the invitation, Tessa turned and clasped his crusty hand between her two. “Oh, please, Sam. It would be extra special for me if you’d come.”

Maureen must have sensed Tessa had already developed an emotional connection to the old ranch hand because she suddenly spoke up in a persuasive voice.

“You don’t have to dress up, Sam. You can come just as you are. And Reeva is cooking brisket, so you don’t have to worry about being fed bean sprouts.”

“Well, I guess I can’t fight two women at the same time,” he said.

“Great!” Maureen said with a happy smile. “So I’ll see you two tomorrow tonight.”

As Maureen hurried away, Tessa tugged Sam back over to the table.

“Come on,” she urged, “let’s finish our coffee.”

“I didn’t plan to stay this long,” he protested. “I really need to be going, too.”

“A few more minutes won’t hurt,” Tessa argued. “Anyway, there’s still lots of coffee left in the thermos. I don’t want it to go to waste.”

“You’re hard to say no to, Tessa.” Grinning, he sat back down and motioned to his cup. “Okay. Fill it up again.”

Tessa returned to her seat and poured his coffee. “Thanks, Sam. I realize I’m being a nuisance. But—”

“Now that Maureen has stopped by, you want me to tell you about the Hollisters,” he finished.

The sly look in his narrow eyes had Tessa smiling sheepishly. “I don’t want you to gossip, Sam. But I’m a stranger around here. It would be helpful to know a little about the Hollister family before I have dinner with them.”

He picked up his coffee cup. “Okay. Three Rivers is one of the biggest ranches in Arizona and the family has plenty of money. Maureen and her husband, Joel, had six kids together. Four boys and two girls. The last I heard all the kids were still living at home. Joe, the one you met yesterday, is second from the youngest.”

Joe. He might be just plain Joe to everyone else, but to her he would always be Joseph, she thought. “He seemed like a very intense young man.”

Sam sipped his coffee and stared off at the jagged rock cliffs in the distance. “He has reason to be that way.”

The subtle insinuation had Tessa curiously eyeing the old cowboy. “Why do you say that?”

He shook his head. “You need to let Joe tell you that.”

Joseph Hollister would hardly be sharing personal facts about himself with her. And that was probably a good thing, Tessa decided. The less she knew about him, the less she’d have to forget once she was back in Nevada.

But when will that be, Tessa? You’re telling yourself you’re going to remain here on the Bar X until you learn the reason for your inheritance. But aren’t you really more interested in getting to know Joseph?

Not wanting to answer the question sounding off in her head, Tessa grabbed up her coffee cup and promised herself she wasn’t going to give the sexy deputy another thought. At least, not until tomorrow night and she stepped into the Hollister home.

Chapter Three (#u9d88c8ed-2cca-5710-9ea2-1013ae305042)

The next day Tessa grappled with the urge to drive into Wickenburg and shop for something special to wear to Three Rivers Ranch. Yet each time she came close to grabbing her handbag and truck keys, she talked herself out of the notion. It was foolish of her to try to look extra special for Joseph Hollister, or any of his family, she’d argued with herself.

Now, as she stared at her image in the dresser mirror, she wished she’d made the trip into town. The black-and-white-patterned sheath was neat, but it was hardly glamourous, and the strappy black sandals on her feet looked like she was going to a picnic in the park instead of to dinner with a prominent family.

Sighing, she picked up the silver-backed brush and tugged it through her straight hair. Since it was almost time for Sam to pick her up, it was too late to do anything about her lackluster appearance.

Minutes later, as Sam helped her into the cab of his old truck, Tessa said, “Thank you again, Sam, for going to this dinner with me. I hope you’re not dreading the evening.”

As he drove the truck down the dusty dirt road, a slight grin cracked the wrinkles on his face. “It’s been a long, long time since I carried a gal to dinner. I’m not dreading it.”

Tessa smiled back at him then turned her gaze out the passenger window. As the pickup headed away from the Bar X and on toward Three Rivers, the land opened up into wide valleys dotted with rocks, standpipe, blooming yucca and prickly pear. The grass that covered the lower slopes was short but very green.

When the simple barbed-wire fence running next to the road suddenly changed to one of painted white pipe, Tessa asked, “Are we seeing Three Rivers land now?”

“That’s right. Just a little stretch of it butts up to the Bar X. Most of Three Rivers stretches on east of here—toward the old ghost mines around Constellation and north toward Congress.”

She doubted Three Rivers would come close to covering as much land as that of the Silver Horn, but it was clearly a prominent ranch. Not that the size, or the wealth of the Hollisters, mattered to her. She’d already decided that even if Joseph wasn’t already attached to a woman, he was out of her league.

Minutes later they reached a fork in the road and Sam steered the truck to the left where they passed beneath a simple wooden plank burned with a 3R brand. Another two miles passed when they topped a rocky rise and the Hollister homestead spread majestically across a wide, desert valley.

As they drew closer, Tessa could see a large, three-story house with wooden-lapped siding painted white and trimmed with black. The structure was surrounded by massive cottonwoods and smaller mesquite trees. A hundred yards or more to the right of the house was an enormous work yard with several large barns, sheds and holding pens, all of which were painted white.

“Here we are,” Sam said as he pulled the old truck to a stop in a driveway that curved along the front of the house. “Quite a spread, wouldn’t you say?”

“It’s beautiful,” she agreed, then added, “but I happen to think the Bar X is beautiful, too.”

Sam chuckled. “Sheriff Ray is smiling right now.”

Even after they’d departed the truck and walked onto the ground-level porch running the length of the big house, Tessa was still thinking about Sam’s comment. If not for Ray Maddox, Tessa would never have been in this part of Arizona, much less be meeting these people. That fact multiplied her questions about the late sheriff.

At the wide door, Sam ignored the brass knocker and rapped his knuckles against the white wood.