Her Montana Cowboy

Gus waited for more. He didn’t get it. “Is that where you were going?”

“Yes. I...uh...thought that Thaddeus Hawkins lived there. Is he a relative?”

His insides went cold when the woman mentioned Thad’s name. Oh, please, not again.

“He’s my uncle.”

A shiver went through her as she stared up at him through three-inch opening in the window. He had no idea who she was, or what her intentions were toward his uncle, but he couldn’t leave her there to spend the night in her car.

“Look—it’s cold out here. Do you want a lift?”

“I...uh...yes. Thank you.” She scooched back across the seat and got out of the passenger side, a small dog under her arm and what looked a whole lot like a tire iron in one hand.

“You aren’t going to conk me with that and steal my truck, are you?” he asked, starting to rethink his offer of a lift. “Because if you are, you should know that there isn’t enough fuel to get back to town.”

In the reflected lights of the headlamps, it looked as if the woman was blushing. “I have no designs on your truck.”

“Good to know.” He smiled, trying to look friendly, while still wondering if he wanted a woman carrying a tire iron riding with him. “These are unusual circumstances and we can sort things out when we get to the ranch, but right now I gotta tell you it makes me nervous having you armed like that.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I don’t know you,” he explained. You might be crazy.

“I don’t know you,” she pointed out as the little dog lifted his lip to show his teeth in a ridiculous display of bravado.

“I’m not carrying a big chunk of metal to hit you with. Besides—you know my name. I don’t know yours. Or why you’re here.”

“My name is...Lillie Jean. The rest I’ll discuss with Thaddeus.”

Gus closed his eyes, then quickly opened them again. She was carrying a tire iron, after all. “How do you suggest we come to a compromise, Lillie Jean?”

It took her less than a second to say, “Pull me out?”

Just what he wanted to do at 2:00 a.m. He jerked his head toward his warm truck. “Grab your tire iron and let’s go.”

“To the ranch.”

“Yes.” Now that he knew she was there to see Thad, he wanted to keep an eye on her. The last incident might have been online, but Thad coming so close to losing so much money had Gus on alert. For all he knew Thad may have met this woman online, and she was here for... He hated to think.

She didn’t move, so he added, “You can either come with me, or stay with your car. There is no option c.”

It might have been the swirl of icy wind sweeping by them that decided her, but whatever the reason, she gave a nod, hugging her dog a little closer as she did so.

“Let me get my bag.”

Instead of following instinct and offering to help, Gus stood back as she awkwardly balanced dog and tire iron while dragging a zippered gym bag out of the backseat. Finally she shut the door with her hip, then headed toward the passenger side of the truck. When she got inside, he had his first good look at her face in the light and found that he had to take a second. Dark hair waved around her face and fell down her back, but it was her eyes that had made him look again. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but the blue-green color reminded him of his favorite alpine fishing lake—a place he hadn’t had time to visit in well over a year.

She placed the gym bag on the console between them, forming an impressive barrier, then settled in her seat, fastening her seat belt as Gus shut his door. He had no idea what she’d done with her weapon, and as he started back down the road, he tried to put himself in her position, assuming that she wasn’t there for a nefarious purpose. A lone female in the middle of nowhere with no cell signal and only a dog in a reindeer sweater for protection. Of course she was nervous.

But why was she traveling to the ranch, and how did she know Thaddeus?

Why would she come to the ranch without calling first?

Gus hoped that he really was rescuing the woman rather than giving trouble a ride to the ranch, but his gut told him that a woman who gave her name reluctantly was not a woman he wanted staying at his place.

* * *

LILLIE JEAN KEPT her eyes forward as the truck bounced over ruts and skirted vehicle-eating puddles. This situation was surreal. She was no longer in control—of anything, it seemed—but she did her best to appear unconcerned about her lack of power.

“How long were you stuck?”

Lillie Jean gave her rescuer a quick sideways look. He had a strong profile, high cheekbones. A chin that kind of said, “Don’t mess with me.” Dark brown scruff covered his jaw, but it looked as if it was the result of forgetting to shave, rather than an affectation, as was often the case where she came from. She thought his hair might be dark blond, but too much of it was hidden by the battered cowboy hat to be sure. He did not look like someone who would hurt her, but she was in the middle of nowhere and he was a stranger, so she was taking no chances. Henry also kept an eye on the guy while pressing his warm body against her chest. Her little dog was taking no chances, either.

“Since around four o’clock.” She’d arrived in the small town of Gavin around three o’clock and decided to drive to the ranch, take a look at her inheritance, meet her grandfather’s partner, then head back to town and stay in a motel for the night. She should have gone with her other plan of heading out to the ranch first thing in the morning, but she had a feeling she would have still gotten stuck.

“Long time.”

“I never expected a mud puddle to be on the other side of the corner.”

“Always expect the unexpected on a country road.”

And in life. Lillie Jean sat a little straighter in her seat as the lights of the ranch came into view and stayed there instead of disappearing as they crested small hills. What now? She’d meet Thaddeus Hawkins late at night. Probably get him out of bed. He and his nephew might offer her a bed. And she would accept, because what was her other option?

This was not the position she’d hoped to be in when she arrived.

She should have called ahead. Should have set up an appointment via her grandfather’s lawyer. There were a ton of things she should have done. Maybe it was grief, maybe it was the need to simply get away from her old life, but climbing into the boat of a car that her grandfather had kept for “old time’s sake” and driving to Montana to see the ranch and ferret out some answers from Grandpa’s partner before seeing if he wanted to buy her share had seemed like a good idea. No—it had seemed like a way to take control of a life that seemed to be barreling out of control. And, indeed, as she’d driven north, she’d started to feel almost intrepid, following a course that was so out of the ordinary for her. She was in control, and, darn it, she was going to get answers. She’d played over many scenarios in her head as she’d driven—and not one of them had ended like this.

The cowboy—Gus—slowed as he drove under a weathered wooden arch into the ranch proper, which was nothing like Lillie Jean had envisioned. A light on a tall pole illuminated two small run-down houses and another light shone on a cluster of weathered buildings—a barn and several sheds. There was movement in the shadows behind the fence next to the barn. Henry’s hackles lifted and he let out a low growl.

“Better keep hold of him until we get into the house. You don’t want him disappearing out into the pasture.”

“Are those horses?” she asked as Gus pulled to a stop next to a picket fence.

“Cows.” He shut off the engine and the headlights faded.

Cows. Of course. It was a ranch.

They opened their doors at the same time. Lillie Jean scooped up Henry and held him against her chest with one hand as she pulled her tote bag out of the truck with the other. The tire iron stayed where it was, lying on the floorboards. She felt a little foolish about her self-protective measures, but if she had it to do again, she’d do the exact same thing. A wooden sign attached to the gatepost welcomed her to the H/H Ranch. Lillie Jean’s mouth tightened. The H/H didn’t feel very welcoming...but it was half hers. The land was worth something even if all the buildings looked as if they were about to fall down.

Once the gate was closed behind her, she put Henry on the ground and followed Gus up the uneven walkway to the back door. Henry quickly did his business, then hurried back to Lillie Jean. Gus opened the door, and they walked directly into a mudroom with boots lining the wall and a broad assortment of coats and hats hanging on hooks above them. The room was freshly swept and baskets of folded clothing sat atop the washer and dryer next to the door leading into the house.

Gus crossed to the door, snapped on a light and stood back so that she could enter first. The big kitchen was as neat as the mudroom. The oak table in the center of the room was an antique and the simple white appliances were close to being antique.

“You can sleep in Thad’s room. Give me a sec and I’ll get you some sheets.”

“Where will Thad sleep?” she asked, horrified at the idea of rousting the old man out of bed and sending him to sleep who knew where.

“Where he’s probably sleeping right now. In the apartment over the bar.”