Cowboy At Arms

“Then it would be my pleasure.” He reached down and picked up the mug and then frowned at her with concern. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine.” All she wanted to do now was get into the motel room.

“Then I’ll just say good-night, Trisha.”

She murmured a good-night and then escaped into her room. She held it together as she told Juanita good-night. She even managed to remain somewhat calm as she went into the bathroom and changed into her nightshirt.

It was only then that the fear returned and once again sizzled inside her. She walked to the window and moved the heavy gold curtain aside just enough that she could peek outside.

Who on earth had left the note and the flowers for her? Was there somebody out there watching her right now? The parking lot appeared empty of any human presence, but there were so many places to hide.

The large trash Dumpster at the back of the parking lot now looked like a perfect place for somebody to conceal himself from her view. The line of mature trees and thick bushes appeared equally malevolent in the darkness of the night.

A secret admirer? Who could it be?

She let the curtain fall back into place and checked the door, making sure that both the dead bolt and the security chain were in place.

She finally slid into the king-size bed next to her sleeping son. She stared up at the dark ceiling, her thoughts racing a hundred miles a minute.

Was it safe? There had never been any notes or flowers before. Were they really just the result of some lonesome cowboy or some man in town who had developed a crush on her? Were they from a harmless secret admirer, as Dusty had suggested?

Squeezing her eyes tightly closed, she tried to still the frantic race of her heart. She didn’t want to pack up her things and run again. She loved living in Bitterroot and tonight with Dusty had been all kinds of wonderful.

Did she take the chance and stay here in town and see what happened next? Was this nothing to be afraid of, or had the evil from her past finally caught up with her?

Chapter 3 (#ulink_c5219967-4235-56b4-aa01-e480f58fda54)

Sundays at the Holiday ranch were fairly laid-back. The chores were divided so that half of the men worked one Sunday and the others were off, and the next weekend the men who’d been off worked. The system assured that every other week the men got a full day off without having to do any of the daily chores required to keep the ranch running smoothly.

Thankfully, it was Dusty’s turn to have the entire day off. He slept later than usual but was still up not long after dawn. His first thought when he awakened was of Trisha and the time he’d shared with her the night before.

Bright and fun, she’d been everything he’d dreamed about and more. She’d been so easy to talk to and with each minute that had passed he’d only grown more attracted to her.

As he showered his thoughts continued to be consumed by his date with her. He’d loved the way she’d felt in his arms as they’d danced, and kissing her had been nothing short of amazing.

But the night had definitely turned a little strange when she’d seen the note and the flowers that had been left for her at the motel door. Her initial reaction had seemed a little bit over-the-top with her saying that she needed to leave town and the crazy fear radiating from her wide blue eyes.

He wondered what might have happened to her in her past to cause her to react that way. He also wondered who in the hell had left the unexpected gifts for her. Someplace out there was a man trying to make time with her, too. Still, he knew that all he could do was focus on his own relationship with Trisha and see where things went from here.

He left his room and headed to the dining room, where breakfast would be in progress. As always, Cord Cully, aka Cookie, stood next to a long table where warming buffet servers held scrambled eggs, crispy strips of bacon and hot biscuits with sausage gravy. There was also fresh fruit and hearty oatmeal. Breakfast and dinner were the two big meals of the day, with lunch being lighter.

“Just the man I wanted to talk to,” Dusty said to Cookie after he’d filled his plate and before he took a seat at one of the long picnic tables with the other men.

Cookie grunted, his dark eyes glowering as he looked at Dusty. Dusty wasn’t put off by Cookie’s countenance. The man looked as if he wanted to punch something most of the time. “Talk to me about what?”

“A picnic lunch.” Dusty quickly told the man what he wanted for later that afternoon. When he was finished, Tony Nakni motioned for Dusty to sit beside him.

Tony was half Choctaw Indian and something of a mystery, although he and Dusty had always shared a good relationship. “How did it go last night?” he asked once Dusty had gotten settled.

“Really good,” Dusty replied. “In fact, we’re having a picnic down by the pond this afternoon and I’m going to teach her three-year-old son, Cooper, how to fish.”

Tony raised a dark brow. “You must have made a good impression on her if she’s letting you meet her son already.”

“I hope I made a good impression, because it appears that I have a little competition.” He told Tony about the note and the flowers.

Tony shook his head. “I’ve never understood that kind of approach. I mean, if you want a woman, then don’t play silly games, just go after her.”

Dusty looked at his friend in open amusement. “And exactly when are you going to decide to go after a woman?”

“When and if I ever find somebody worth pursuing,” Tony replied.

The dining room suddenly fell silent. Dusty looked up to see that Cassie Peterson stood in the doorway. She was clad in a pair of designer jeans and a bright pink blouse and her blond hair looked as if it had been styled by a professional hairdresser only minutes before. She was definitely a little bit of big city in the room.

It was rarely a good thing when she appeared in the cowboy dining area, especially first thing in the morning.

“I’m sorry to bother you all while you’re eating breakfast,” she said. “But I wanted to let you know that Chief Bowie is planning to interview you all again and I want you to make yourselves available to him. You all know how important it is to cooperate with him so that he can get answers as to the mystery of the skeletons that were found on the property.”

“He’s already interviewed us once,” Brody Booth said.

“I’d like to know if he’s looking at the ranch hands on the Humes ranch as carefully as he’s looking at all of us,” Flint McCay added.

Cassie held up her hands. “I’m sure Dillon is conducting interviews with everyone he thinks necessary to get to the bottom of the murders. Again, I would appreciate your cooperation in this matter. Thanks in advance.”

“She probably wants this all cleared up so she can sell the ranch,” Tony said darkly once Cassie had left the building. “I’m sure it would be hard to sell a ranch where seven unsolved murders took place.”

“Raymond Humes would buy this place in a minute,” Dusty said. “I heard that he’s already contacted her about buying her out.”

Tony’s black eyes flashed with annoyance. “If she sells to him, then Cass’s spirit will never rest peacefully. She hated that man.”

Nobody knew what had happened between Raymond Humes and Cass Holiday that had created such bad blood between them. Dusty only knew that thoughts of the tough woman who had taken them all in still caused a piercing ache of loss deep in his heart.

A half an hour later, he left the dining area and went back to his room. He fought the impulse to call Trisha to make sure she really hadn’t packed up her son and all of their belongings and left town sometime during the night. He still couldn’t make sense of her dramatic reaction to the flowers and the note, but he hoped maybe when he saw her they would be able to have a conversation that would shed a little light on it.

In the meantime he had plenty of things to do to keep him busy until it was time for him to pick up her and her son for the afternoon of fun.

The last thing he wanted to do was entertain thoughts about the murders on this land and the fact that Dillon Bowie would interview him once again.

Dusty wasn’t worried about having another conversation with the lawman. He had nothing to hide and he was certain that none of his brothers had anything to do with the horrendous crime that had taken place around the time they had all been brought to the ranch.

At just a little after nine o’clock, Dusty headed into town. He wanted to pick up a few things so that the day with Trisha and her young son would be a complete success.

The first place he stopped was Bob’s Bait Shack just off the main drag. The weathered wooden building held not only an array of hunting and fishing equipment, but also different kinds of bait.

He got what he needed for the afternoon fishing date and then headed to the café for a midmorning cup of coffee. He had a feeling that the hours were going to drag as anticipation and a touch of anxiety pooled inside him when he thought of Trisha.

Surely she would have called him by now if she’d done something crazy like packed up and left town, he thought as he entered the café.

“Hey, Dusty,” Daisy greeted him and pointed him to an empty two-top, where Julia Hatfield took his order and then delivered his coffee.