Colton Cowboy Hideout

“Has there been any word about Eldridge?” Brianna asked. Her hand worried the end of her braid with sparkling blue-painted fingernails.

Tanner frowned. “No, nothing, but hopefully the sheriff will have some answers for everyone soon. I’ll check in later this afternoon.” With a nod to Brianna, he then gestured for Josie to follow him out of the suite.

“I’m fairly sure the room next door to mine is empty,” he said. He raked a hand through his hair and appeared distracted.

“Before you show me a room, why don’t we see if I can dig up the watch? Hopefully by that time the mystery of Eldridge’s disappearance will be solved and the sheriff will let me leave and go home,” Josie replied.

She had a feeling the last thing Tanner Grange needed was to babysit her. It had been obvious he was concerned about Eldridge and the additional worry over a nanny who wanted to burn sage in a children’s nursery. He had enough on his plate without her.

“Are you sure?” he asked. “We could get you settled in here before taking off for that tree.”

She shook her head. “Maybe I won’t have to get settled in here at all.”

“All right, then.” He looked slightly relieved.

“I just hate that you have to take the time to show me to that tree.”

“It’s not a problem. In fact, the distraction will be good for me,” he assured her.

Minutes later they were outside in the hot July sun and heading for a black king-cab pickup truck parked by one of the many barns on the property.

“This is some spread,” Josie said as she hurried her steps to keep up with his long strides. As far as the eye could see were pastures and outbuildings.

“It is,” he agreed. “Someday I’d like to have a ranch of my own, although certainly nothing on this scale. It’s my dream to have a place of my own to work, a place my girls can really call home.” They reached the truck. “Why don’t you go ahead and get in and I’ll just grab a shovel from the barn.”

As he disappeared into the building, Josie climbed into the passenger seat. The truck interior smelled like Tanner, a heady combination of clean male and woodsy-scented cologne.

When he came back out of the barn, a black cowboy hat covered his head and he carried a shovel. Once again she couldn’t help but notice his attractiveness. Nothing better than a man in tight jeans and a cowboy hat, she thought.

The last time she’d experienced this kind of strong magnetic tug toward a man had been when she was sixteen years old and had fallen head over heels in love with Michael Evans. Her heart squeezed tight as old memories of her first and only love washed over her.

She and Michael had been achingly young and full of silly dreams—dreams that had been unable to last under the harshness of her reality.

Her thoughts returned to the here and now and the man who had instantly sparked something inside of her. Tanner Grange had a tough road ahead of him as a single parent. How tragic that he’d lost his ex-wife so young, leaving him as the sole parent to those two beautiful girls.

The shovel clanged noisily as he placed it in the pickup bed and then he got in behind the wheel.

“Your daughters are darling,” she said as he started the engine and took off.

“Thanks. They’re my entire life.” He frowned. “And finding a good nanny for them has been almost impossible. Brianna is the fourth one I’ve hired in the past six months or so.”

“What was wrong with the first three?” Josie asked curiously. She was eager to talk about anything but the fact that there were still several official vehicles parked at the house, indicating that the investigation was ongoing.

“The first woman was too impatient. She snapped at the girls constantly. The second lost one of the twins at the petting zoo we have here on the property, and the one before Brianna thought it was perfectly okay to strap the girls into the chairs at their little table with belts whenever they misbehaved.” His jaw tensed. “I know the girls can be a handful, but no way will I tolerate that kind of discipline.”

Josie was horrified that anyone would think it was okay to tie up a child anywhere. “That’s appalling, but Brianna seems nice enough.”

His muscles relaxed a bit. “She’s kind to the girls, although I think she gets overwhelmed easily and her chakra is constantly getting out of joint, so there’s no telling how long she’ll hang around.” He shot her a quick glance. “You seem like you’re good with children.”

A small laugh escaped her. “Other than when I was mothering the little ones in foster care, I’ve never had an opportunity to be around any before today.”

“Then I guess that makes you a natural,” he replied.

Josie stared out the passenger window and considered his words. Was she a natural with children? She had no idea what she was good at or where she was going. Until a month ago she hadn’t believed she had any kind of a future at all.

At the moment her future held only the need to find the watch and take it back to Granite Gulch so she and her siblings could take it to her father in prison.

She only hoped Eldridge Colton didn’t wind up murdered. She’d had more than enough of murder and mayhem to last the rest of her life.

She glanced at Tanner once again. His attention was directed out the window, but a pulse had begun working in his jaw again. She fought against a crazy impulse to lean over and stroke away the knot of tension. “You’re worried about Eldridge,” she ventured.

He flashed another gaze at her from his amazing blue eyes. “I am. He’s a character, and he definitely has enough kids of his own, along with Whitney’s kids that he adopted, but he’s always treated me as a sort of adopted son.

“I lost my parents in a car accident when I was twenty-two and Eldridge hired me on here and helped fill that void. I was honored when he made me foreman four years ago. I wasn’t sure I was ready to take on the responsibility, but he assured me that I was the man he wanted for the job. I care about him deeply.” His masculine voice cracked.

“I hope he’s found safe and sound,” she replied, although she already feared the worst for Eldridge. There was no question that there had been a struggle and there had been blood. Definitely not a good thing.

“There seemed to be a lot of tension between everyone,” she said, breaking the silence that had momentarily risen up between them. “For a minute I thought two of the men were going to have a fistfight.”

“Fowler and Reid,” he replied. “They don’t get along very well. I guess family dynamics can be complicated.”

Nobody knew that better than Josie. Her family dynamics had been strange for almost all of her life.

She focused her attention out the window once again as the truck rumbled over rough terrain. They’d left the smoother pasture behind and were headed toward a heavily wooded area.

A burst of anxiety filled her. The last thing she wanted or needed was to become embroiled in a kidnapping or a murder. She’d believed that all evil was finally behind her and she’d never have to think about anyone’s murder again. She just hoped by the time she dug up the watch, the mystery at the mansion would be solved and she could go back to Granite Gulch and figure out who she really was and what she wanted from life.

* * *

Tanner had a hundred worries on his mind, but in the relatively small confines of the pickup cab his main focus was now on the woman seated next to him.

Something about Josie Colton reminded him that he wasn’t just a single father of twin daughters, but he was also a healthy man who had felt alone long before his wife, Helen, had walked out on him.

He cast a quick glance at Josie. The sleeveless blue button-up blouse she wore enhanced the rich darkness of her thick hair and showcased a trim waist and the thrust of her breasts. Although she was short, her legs appeared long and shapely beneath the bottom of the jean shorts she wore.

His fingers tingled with the desire to curl into the silky strands of her long hair. He wondered if her hazel eyes would turn more green or blue or gold when in the midst of a passionate encounter.

He tightened his grip on the steering wheel. What was wrong with him? What in the heck was he thinking? He was in his midthirties and she looked barely legal. Besides, she was here to dig up an old watch and then she’d be on her way. Apparently the trauma of the morning had his brain firing nonsense in his head.

He was grateful when they reached the area where the truck could no longer travel over the heavily wooded landscape. “We’ll have to go on foot from here,” he said. He shut off the engine and unfastened his seat belt while she did the same.

“Is it far?” she asked.

“About a five-minute walk,” he replied. At least out here the air smelled of trees and nature instead of spices and peaches and Josie.

He frowned down at her pink-polished toenails that peeked out of flimsy-looking gold-trimmed white sandals. “Are you going to be able to walk okay in those?”

She flashed him a cheeky grin. “Women can walk in any footwear, including four-inch heels when necessary. Just lead the way.”