Cowboy Sanctuary

“Considering what’s going on, now might be the time to tell me about it.”

She glanced toward the windows, her face drawn and looking far older than a moment earlier. “I’m not sure I want to dredge up the past. Some things are best left alone. But, let me think about it.” Then she gave him a weak smile.

“Fair enough.” Disappointed, Cameron knew he couldn’t push for the information. He’d planted the seed, now he’d stand back and wait to see if it grew into enough trust that his mother would tell him what he’d always wanted to know.

Molly grabbed his arm and dragged him toward the door. “I’ll help you find the saddle. I’ve reorganized the tack room in the barn. Come on.”

“See you soon?” Cameron waved a hand toward his mother.

She nodded. “Count on it.”

When Molly had him outside, she dropped his arm. “I thought I’d never get you out of the house. Mom doesn’t like to talk about the feud and the Wards. There’s a lot of bad water under that bridge.”

“Why? Do you know anything about it?”

“All I know is that I heard Mom and Dad arguing one night when I was little. I remember hearing Dad shouting something about Hank and Louise and him being wrong about something.”

Cameron planted his heels in the dirt and turned to Molly. “Wrong about what?”

His sister shrugged. “I don’t know. I was too little to understand, I just remembered the names.”

“It would help to know what’s gone on between them to create such a rift they haven’t talked in over thirty years.”

“I’ll dig around and see what I can find out.”

With a crooked finger, Cameron chucked his sister beneath her chin. “In the meantime, watch out for yourself. Never go out alone.”

Her lips twisted. “Give me a break. I can take care of myself.”

He grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look him in the eye. “Promise me.” His words weren’t a request.

For a moment, she hesitated, a stubborn frown marring her freckled forehead. Her face softened and she nodded. “Okay, I’ll be careful and never go out on my own. There, does that make you feel better?”

He loosened his grip and let her go. “Yes.”

A blond-haired cowboy Cameron didn’t recognize led a bay gelding out of the barn and stopped to adjust the cinch strap. When he looked up, he swept the straw cowboy hat from his head and smiled. “Hi, Miss Molly.”

Molly’s face transformed from serious to all smiles. “Hi, Brad.” Her cheeks turned an attractive shade of pink and she clutched at Cameron’s arm, dragging him forward. “Cameron, meet Brad Carter. He’s one of the new hands Dad hired a couple weeks ago to help out while Ty’s out of commission. Brad, this is my brother, Cameron.”

Brad held out a hand and shook Cameron’s. “Molly’s told me all about you. Said you were in the army.”

“That’s right.” Cameron’s gaze raked over the man from his crisp blue chambray shirt down to his ostrich skin boots. “You been a ranch hand before?”

Brad laughed. “I did some ranching out in Montana, then tried my hand in Denver real estate. Found out I liked working with animals better than people. It had been a while since I’d been on a horse, but your father gave me the benefit of the doubt. I’ve been here ever since.”

“Don’t let him fool you. He’s great on a horse and good with cattle.”

“You staying in Ty’s quarters?” Cameron asked.

“No, I have a room over Mrs. Green’s garage in Dry Wash.”

Cameron nodded, suspicious of any stranger, but not yet alarmed. “Nice to meet you.”

“If you’ll pardon me. I have a fence to mend out on the south border.” He glanced at the sun angling toward the horizon. “I’d better get going if I want to get back before dark.” Brad swung up into the saddle, tipped his cowboy hat at Molly and touched his heels to the horse’s flanks.

“What happened to Ty?” Cameron and Ty Masters had played football at the same high school and dated some of the same girls. When Cameron left to join the army, his father had hired Ty to shoulder the workload Cameron’s departure left.

“He was thrown by his horse and broke his leg pretty bad. Pretty freak accident. Said his horse stumbled coming down a hill he’d ridden more times that he can remember and never had a problem with before. If Mom hadn’t been out riding, he’d have been there awhile. He’s been laid up for three weeks and has another three to go before he gets out of the cast. Dad thinks it’ll take him another month or so before he’s up to riding. Maybe longer. That’s why he hired Brad.”

Cameron’s brows dipped. “How come I haven’t heard about Ty?”

“Must have slipped my mind during all my finals at school.” She swatted at his arm. “If you’d wanted to know, you could have called Mom for your personal news service. I’m only here on vacation now.”

“I keep forgetting you’re a college student. I still think of you as that gawky girl with the ponytail always following me around.”

“I haven’t been that for a while now.”

“I noticed.” Cameron stared out at the pastures and surrounding hills, speckled with evergreens and aspens. The clean, fresh air lightly scented with the distinctive aroma of spruce filled his lungs. Topped with sparkling blue skies, the scenery tugged at his heart. He’d always loved the ranch, loved working with the animals and probably would have stayed on the way his brother Logan did, had he not fallen in love with the neighbor girl and stirred up a hornets’ nest of hatred.

“So, how’s Jennie?” Molly might as well have been reading his mind.

Her question jolted him back to the present and his purpose for being there. “She’s good.” Beautiful as ever and just as stubborn as he remembered. If not for the dark smudges beneath her eyes, he’d say she hadn’t changed a bit.

Molly hooked her thumbs in her belt loops as she walked. “She’s had a tough time of it.”

“How so?”

“Stuck out on that ranch, not dating. I hope she wises up and gets a life before she’s too old to enjoy it.”

“It’s her choice.”

“Maybe so.” Molly ambled toward the barn, kicking at the gravel with her dingo boots. “From what I understand, she’s pretty bitter about marriage and men in general.”

Despite his resolve to stay out of Jennie’s business, he couldn’t help asking, “Why?”

Molly glanced up at him, her eyes wide. “You don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“Gosh, that’s such old news I thought for sure you’d have heard it long before I did. I was only eleven at the time.”

Cameron stopped outside the barn door and grasped Molly’s arms, his patience for guessing at an end. “What are you talking about? Why is Jennie down on men and marriage?”

“Her ex-husband. I thought you knew.”

Cameron knew Jennie had married shortly after he left. Hurt by how quickly she’d got over him, he’d cut ties and moved on with his life in the military.

Molly shook off her brother’s hands. “He abused her. Slapped her around mentally and physically. That’s why she filed for divorce.” Molly’s lips twisted. “The bastard really messed her up. He deserved to die.”