Cowboy Conspiracy

“My fares are a lot cheaper.”

“I’m sure you have better things to do than chauffeur me around.”

“Not particularly. I’m unemployed. I could use the entertainment.”

“According to Sheriff McGuire, you’ll be dining on a fatted calf.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

“Ah, now I get it. You’re looking for an escape valve in case the pressure of family becomes overbearing.”

“Darn. You figured me out.” He slowed to maneuver around a low spot where water had collected on the road. “Seriously, you’re having a run of bad luck, Kelly. It could happen to anyone, but I’d be a jerk not to offer my help and protection.”

She’d like to believe that was the total truth and that all his intentions were good, but with what she’d been through the past year, it was hard to trust anyone.

Kelly shifted and stretched, fatigue settling into her shoulders and neck. “How long has it been since you’ve visited Mustang Run?”

“Nineteen years last September.”

“You sound like my mother. She left Mustang Run and except for a few quick visits to check on my grandmother when she was ill, Mother never returned to her hometown.”

“I’m sure she had her reasons,” Wyatt said.

“If she did, she didn’t talk about them other than to say that the town was too small.”

“Obviously, you didn’t agree with her since you’re moving here.”

“I’m not sure how long I’ll stay. I’m in a regrouping phase of life.” She leaned back and let her head drop to the padded rest. “How long has it been since you’ve seen your father?”

“Eighteen years, give or take a few months.”

“There must be a story there.”

“Yes, but it’s not the kind you tell to impress a woman you’ve just met.”

If he was trying to impress her, he was doing a bang-up job of it. “Okay, let me guess,” she said. “Your family is a notorious gang of bank robbers.”

He faked a shocked expression. “You’ve met them.”

“You’re lying. Let me see … Second guess,” she said, playing along. “Your brothers are secretly vampires in cowboy clothing.”

He produced a lecherous smile. “Did anyone ever tell you that you have a lovely neck?”

“All the time,” she said. “My earlobes get a lot of attention, too.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

She closed her eyes as the knots in her stomach began to slowly unravel. She refused to let herself dwell on the idea of Wyatt’s lips on her neck or any other part of her body, but his easy banter was definitely helping to put things in perspective.

Her car had been stolen. That was nothing compared to what she’d been through over the last twelve months. If she didn’t get her car back, she’d collect the insurance and buy another one.

And the pervert who stole it was likely several counties away by now, using her cash to provide his next high.

They passed the Mustang Run city-limits sign, and Kelly turned so that she could check on Jaci, though the rhythmic sounds of her breathing were proof she was still asleep. The doll she carried everywhere was clutched to her chest.

“If I remember right, the house is only a few miles from here,” Kelly said. “Could we stop by there on the way to the motel? After the sheriff’s diatribe on the condition it’s in, I’d just like a little advance warning of what I have to face in the morning.”

“Sure. Where do I turn?”

“Wait. I have the address plugged into my phone’s GPS system.” She looked it up and fed him the directions. In less than five minutes, they turned off on a blacktop road. Two minutes more and they passed the old Baptist church she remembered from the few times she’d visited her grandmother.

“We should be just about there. You’ll have to watch for the drive. The house may be hard to see in the dark.”

Kelly’s hands grew clammy as Wyatt pulled into the driveway. Before her car was stolen, she had been excited about moving into the house. She needed a place with continuity and history and a tie to the grandmother she’d loved but never really gotten to know.

Unlike her mother, Kelly found the idea of a small town appealing, especially at this point in her life. She wanted a quiet, safe town where she could take Jaci to the park and let her play in the yard.

Still, an unreasonable dread tightened her chest as beams of illumination from Wyatt’s headlights disbanded the shadows. And then she spied the latest disaster.

Kelly jumped out of the truck the second it stopped and stamped to the steps for a closer look. A huge branch of the oak tree McGuire had mentioned had crashed through the roof of the house.

Chimney bricks and ripped shingles were scattered about the porch and the weed-filled flower bed. Turning away, she was lashed at by a gust of wind that whipped her hair into her eyes and mouth.

She kicked at a pile of shingles and then jumped back with a squeal when a giant tarantula crawled away from the debris.

“The spider’s harmless,” Wyatt said.

“That doesn’t mean I have to like him.”

Kelly clenched her teeth and tried to calm her wrath. She had little success, but she did lower her voice so that she wouldn’t wake Jaci.

“I was prepared for a few loose shutters and peeling paint, not a hole in my roof that a helicopter could fly through.”

That was a slight exaggeration, but nonetheless the house was totally unlivable. And she had a van full of furniture that had been in storage for a year arriving in the morning.

“How can anyone have the kind of luck I’ve had today?” Her words were clipped. Her insides were positively shaking.

“I’d say you’ve had at least one stroke of good luck.”

“I must have blinked during that stroke.”

“That car trouble that delayed you may have saved you and Jaci from serious injury when that tree fell.”

She hadn’t thought of that. It did little to ease her frustration.

“I can get my flashlight from the truck and check out the damage inside, but you won’t be able to determine the full extent of the destruction until daylight.”

“Don’t bother with checking the damage. I’ve seen enough of the house and Mustang Run. I’d just get in my car and keep driving, except that I don’t have a car.”