Top Gun Guardian

The man’s shaggy gray brows shot up. “You were in the military?”

Oh boy. Nothing was going to be simple. Of course, Buzz could never be open and honest about what he did. He was in covert ops. He was a spy. He’d lived his life in the shadows with secrets that could topple governments.

And she’d helped him. She’d been a member of Prospero. Translating, teaching, training.

Falling in love.

“Oh, on the civilian end. I’m a translator.” She waved her hands as if to brush off his question and stumbled back to the table toward the heavenly scent of bacon.

Buzz waved a knife at the old ranchers. “Giving you the third-degree back there?”

Raven spread a napkin on her lap and pointed to Malika’s lap. “Asked where we met. I said we met at work, where I was in a civilian capacity.”

“That’ll do.” He slid a basket of biscuits toward her. “Biscuits and gravy?”

She gave a slight shudder and plucked a biscuit from the basket. “No on the gravy, but I might try one with honey.”

She pulled the biscuit in half and drizzled a little honey on one side. She bit into the biscuit and closed her eyes as it melted into her mouth. “I may have to shop for one size up if I stay here and keep eating like this.”

Buzz held his fork suspended over his plate. “That means you’re staying?”

“You pretty much sealed my fate back there.” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder at the table of gossiping men.

“You could always find an excuse to leave, Raven.” He dropped his fork and handed a napkin to Malika. “You did before.”

Heat flashed across Raven’s cheeks. He was the one who’d changed the rules. She slid a glance toward Malika, who was clutching her fork between coiled fingers. Could she sense the tension at the table? Hadn’t Raven always been able to sense the tension in her family?

“Nope.” Raven brushed the biscuit flour from her fingertips. “No excuses. We’re in this together. This is our make-believe, right, Malika?”

Malika smiled, nodded and shoveled some scrambled eggs into her mouth.

When they finished their breakfast, they said goodbye to the men still nursing their coffee in the corner. As Buzz swung open the door, a short, stocky man barreled through it, almost colliding with Buzz.

“Sorry…” The man trailed off and his eyes narrowed beneath his cowboy hat. “Buzz Richardson, hotshot pilot.”

His sharp tone cut across the café and Raven took a step back. Guess not everyone in White Cloud was friendly.

“Lance, how have you been?” Buzz stuck out his hand but the smaller man ignored it.

“Could be better, Buzz. Could be better.” He turned on his heel and stalked to an empty table.

With his jaw tight, Buzz ushered Raven through the door. They stepped into the chilly Oklahoma morning, and Raven pulled her coat around her body.

“What was that all about? I thought everyone in White Cloud was your best friend.”

“That’s Lance Cooper.”

“So?” She circled one finger in the air. “I’m supposed to know him?”

“He’s the brother of Josh Cooper, the man who was flying my parents in my plane when it crashed.”

Raven gasped. “Buzz…”

He shook his head and opened the passenger door of the truck. She understood that signal.

Raven cleared her throat. “When do the stores open? We’re going to have to get some basics and Malika and I need some clothes.”

His shoulders relaxed. “It’s Saturday. The stores open around nine. We’ll head out to the ranch first and make the place livable for the next few weeks.”

“Few weeks?” Raven buckled Malika into the seat between them. “Is that how long you think this is going to take?”

Buzz cranked on the engine of the old truck. “I’m not sure, Raven. We’ll see how things work out.”

In less than five minutes, they hit open road. Raven gazed across the flat landscape with a few low hills in the distance. The sky was wide open and looked as if it could gulp up everything in its sphere. The rising sun gleamed on the dusky browns and golds and then shimmered across an expanse of aqua blue, the color of Buzz’s eyes.

She tapped her window. “What’s that?”

“That’s Lake Unega. There’s a lot of activity around the lake during the summer—fishing, waterskiing, boating. Luckily this isn’t summer.”

Raven shivered and tucked her arm around Malika. “No kidding. It’s not going to snow while we’re here, is it?”

“We don’t usually get much snow, maybe a light dusting.” He tweaked the folds of her cashmere coat. “That old rag should do you just fine.”

“Don’t pull that down-home crap with me, Richardson. You’re the best-dressed cowboy I’ve ever seen.” His gloom after running into Lance Cooper seemed to have lifted, and she was happy to give it the heave-ho. This sadness was a new side of Buzz she’d never seen before.

“See many cowboys in New York City, do you?”

Malika bounced on the seat between them, enjoying the lighter mood. “Where is your hat? Where is your hat?”

Buzz laughed and the sound warmed up the car. “I have one at home, and I’m going to get you one, too. Would you like that?”

“Yes, and those, please.” Malika pointed to Raven’s high heels planted on the plastic mat of the truck.

“You’ll have plenty of time for those.” Grinning, Buzz met Raven’s eyes over the top of Malika’s head.

His smile encased her in warmth and she suddenly felt as if she had been locked in a deep freeze for a long time. Two years and eight months, to be exact. Since the day she’d left him.

Her bottom lip trembled, and she turned and pressed her forehead against the cold glass of the window. She hadn’t even been there for him when he’d lost his parents. “Almost there?”

“Willow Road Ranch is just around the next bend.”

“It has a name and everything?”

“Thought I told you all about it.”

His clipped words made her bite her lip. He’d told her all about the ranch where he’d grown up. The more he’d talked about it, the more evident it had become that he planned to stash her there after their marriage. So the more she’d tuned him out.

“Did you tell me why it was called Willow Road Ranch?”