Guardian Cowboy

Sawyer hesitated a moment and then replied, “Probably not. But somebody who has the mentality to do something like this will possibly brag to a friend, or get drunk and say something incriminating. Zeke Osmond isn’t the brightest star in the sky.”

Gary walked over to where the two of them stood. “I’ve called in Miguel and James to repaint the building. They should be arriving within the next half hour or so.” He smiled at Janis. “Don’t you worry, honey. This will all be gone well before morning.”

Sawyer knew both men in passing and they had always been friendly. Miguel Gomez was one of the cooks and James Warner worked as the bar’s janitor.

“Dock my pay,” Janis said. “I know those two will expect to be paid for working on something like this in the middle of the night.”

“Don’t you worry about it. I’ve got this,” Gary replied. “Why don’t you get out of the cold and get inside where you belong?”

She took Gary’s advice.

Minutes later she sat on the bed inside her room with Sawyer seated next to her. They had taken off their coats and hung them on hooks on the wall next to the door. “You sure know how to make a date exciting,” Sawyer said in an effort to lift the darkness from her eyes.

She gave him a small smile. “I like a little excitement on my dates, but not quite this much.” The smile lasted only a minute and then fell away. “Sawyer, you don’t have to stay any longer. I’m fine.”

“I just thought I’d hang around until Miguel and James show up to get things cleaned up and then I’ll head home.” He wanted to ask her about her mother. He also wanted to know if she always smelled so good and if he’d really been a good lover the night before. But now wasn’t the time or the place for those kinds of conversations.

“At least I can thank you for a wonderful evening before you brought me home,” she said. She wiped at her cheeks. “And I suppose I look like a raccoon now from all my blubbering.”

“A very pretty raccoon,” he replied. It was true that some of her mascara now rested beneath her eyes where it didn’t belong, but even that didn’t detract from her natural prettiness.

Unexpected desire surged inside him and he got up from the bed. “Do you want me to make you a cup of coffee before I leave?” He gestured to the machine she’d used that morning to make him a cup of brew. “Although I imagine you could probably use something stronger.”

“I don’t drink alcohol.”

He looked at her in surprise. “You work here and you don’t drink?”

“Maybe it’s because I do work here that I don’t,” she replied. “I’ve seen a lot of people act the fool because of too much alcohol and it’s just really never interested me.”

A wave of uncomfortable guilt swept through him. He was one of those fools. He’d been so foolish last night he’d made love to a beautiful woman and had been so addled by alcohol he didn’t even remember it.

Before they could say another word, a knock sounded on her door. It was Gary letting her know the men had arrived and were already at work on painting over the ugly words.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Sawyer asked as he grabbed his coat from the hook.

“I’ll be just fine. Go on and get out of here. I know you have early mornings on the ranch.” She got up and joined him at the door.

“Janis, don’t let this get to you.” Anger on her behalf suddenly rose up to course through his veins. “If I find out who did this, I’ll beat their hide clear out of town.”

“My hero,” she replied with a smile.

It was a smile that stirred a hunger for her inside him and told him it was time to leave. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” He was about to open the door to exit when she said his name and stopped him.

She gazed at him for a long moment and then shook her head. “Never mind. Good night.”

He walked outside to see the two men painting over the spray-painted words. They nodded to him and kept working. He got into his truck and pulled away, his thoughts in chaos.

Who all had known he’d gone into the back room last night with Janis and had spent the night there? The cowboys from the Holiday Ranch would have known because they hadn’t had to get him home and into his bunkroom. There was no way any of them would have done something like this.

But you thought you knew Adam and he turned out to be a serial killer, a little voice reminded him.

He clenched his hands a little tighter around the steering wheel as he thought about Adam Benson.

Adam had been one of the lost boys who had wound up at the ranch with the others. Sawyer had grown up with the man, worked side-by-side with him and had never seen a hint of the monster hiding inside the man.

It wasn’t until Adam had decided in his sick mind that Cassie had to die that all his crimes were uncovered. Thankfully, Dillon had shot Adam just before he’d killed Cassie with an ax. Adam had not only tried to kill Cassie, he’d also killed a new hire at the ranch.

But most horrifying of all was the discovery that, years ago, he’d killed seven teenagers because he hadn’t thought they were good enough to work for Big Cass Holiday.

So, was one of his “brothers” hiding a dark side? Did one of them have a secret crush on Janis and had spray-painted the building because she’d hooked up with Sawyer? He just had trouble believing that of any one of them.

So, who else had been in the bar at closing time to know?

It was definitely possible Zeke Osmond had done it as a childish attempt to get revenge on Janis for dumping a beer on him. That would be in keeping with the nasty personality of the man.

Zeke worked on the Humes’s ranch next to the Holiday property. All the men who worked for Raymond Humes shared the common trait of being nasty troublemakers. The bad blood between the Humes and the Holiday Ranch cowboys was the stuff of legend.

If Zeke was responsible for this, Sawyer would have no problem taking him to the woodshed, so to speak. No man should do something like this to a woman...ever.

He could only imagine the gossip that would have fired through the small town if morning had come and the spray-painted words had been seen by everyone. Bitterroot was a place that loved its gossip.

He didn’t know who was responsible and he was confused about his feelings toward Janis.

Normally, Sawyer was a man who took his time when it came to romancing a woman. Sometimes he took so long the woman lost interest. But he intended to only be married once, so it was important that he got it right.

Lately he’d been thinking a lot about love and marriage. Maybe it was because so many of his friends had gotten hitched in the past year. And he wanted children. He wanted to be the kind of father he used to dream about having as a little boy.

Was Janis his forever woman? He had no idea. Everything had happened so fast with her. He’d invited her out to dinner because he’d felt obligated after the night before.

But he’d enjoyed her company throughout the evening. He’d noticed that she was pretty before, but having her all to himself instead of seeing her in the bar had been surprisingly exciting.

Something about the sparkle in her caramel-brown eyes drew him in. Her smile and her easy laughter were more than a little bit sexy. There was no question he was attracted to her in a way he hadn’t been before.

And he’d already slept with her and didn’t remember it.

When he reached the Holiday Ranch, he pulled his truck into the oversize shed that held all the cowboys’ personal vehicles. In the distance was the big, two-story house where Cassie and Dillon lived. In the opposite direction was the bunkhouse.

The bunkhouse was set up like a motel with twelve small units that housed each of the men. At the back of the building was the dining and rec room. Cord Cully, aka Cookie, provided three meals a day for the ranch hands.

It had been in the dining room that Cassie and Dillon had gotten married on Valentine’s Day. All the cowboys and their wives and girlfriends had been invited. Sawyer had attended the event alone.

Janis was right. Love and marriage had definitely been in the air in Bitterroot over the past several months. Maybe that’s what had Sawyer thinking more and more about marriage.

He entered his bunk and tossed his hat on the bed. The room was small, with a single bed against one wall and a chest of drawers on the other. There was a closet and an adjoining bathroom. The only things decorating the walls were pictures of Sawyer with his mother that he’d taken with him on the night he’d run away.

He sank down onto the edge of the bed and dragged a hand through his hair. Janis Little is a whore. Yes, it was very possible Zeke had done it, a bit of childish revenge for a dropped drink. Hopefully this would be the end of it.

But if it wasn’t Zeke, then who in the hell would do such a terrible thing?