Unrepentant Cowboy

“Nope. It involves food, reputed to be as good as it gets.”

“You’ve got my interest.”

“Adam is grilling steaks, Hadley is making her specialty potatoes and Mattie Mae—whoever she is—is baking pecan pies.”

“My mouth is watering already.”

“Perfect since R.J. insists I bring you to dinner. And I’m sure I can use a little moral support around that table.”

“Something tells me you can hold your own. Tell R.J. how much I appreciate the offer, but this should be Effie’s special night with her newly found grandfather and a chance for you to connect with R.J., as well. I don’t want to butt in.”

“Trust me—you wouldn’t be butting in. This is not going to be the return of the prodigal son. Besides, Effie will love talking veterinary work with you.”

“I’d have to go home and shower first and then someone would have to take me home after dinner. That’s a lot of extra driving.”

“Not so much. I’ll take you home to shower and pick up the special feed, go with you to deliver it and then we’ll show up at the Dry Gulch just in time for dinner.”

“That’s really not necessary, Leif. I’ve already taken you away from your daughter too long.”

“I don’t appear to be missed. Effie’s horseback riding with Hadley and may not make it back to the house until dark. And you have to eat.”

“I have to admit it’s hard to turn down Mattie Mae’s pies,” Joni admitted.

“Then it’s settled. All I need are directions to your house and an explanation of how Mattie Mae fits into the Dry Gulch family.”

“She’s R.J.’s housekeeper, cook and longtime friend. She and her husband owned the neighboring ranch until he died a few years ago—or at least that’s what I’ve been told. Now she lives in a small house in town, just across the street from the Oak Grove post office.”

“The way R.J. talked I thought she lived at the ranch.”

“No, she has her own home, but she spends some nights at the ranch. She has a bedroom suite on the second floor with her own bathroom.”

“So she’s not a romantic interest?”

“Not according to Hadley.”

“It doesn’t really matter,” Leif said. “I was just curious as to whether or not R.J. was still chasing skirts. So which way to your place?”

“Go back the way we came. Take a right at the first fork and then turn right again when we get to the highway. The last turnoff is just before we reach the downtown area.

“I’ll tell you when to turn when we get there. But don’t expect much from the house. It’s old and furnished in what I lovingly call junk chic.”

“Sounds fascinating. Do you live alone?”

“Yes, it’s just me in a rambling old house that was meant for a large family. But after sharing an apartment with two other students for most of the past five years, all that space seems heavenly.”

They settled into an easy silence as he drove. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this relaxed with a woman, especially one as attractive as Joni. Maybe it was because she lived in R.J.’s world, and that made the possibility of a romantic entanglement a total impossibility.

There was something about her that got to him, though. He wasn’t sure if it was the perky personality, the cute nose with its spattering of freckles or her smile. But together, they were awesome.

There had to be a lot of cowboys fighting for her attentions.

“Take a left at Baxter Road,” Joni said after they’d driven for about eight miles. “Then mi casa is two miles down on the right.”

Once Leif made the turn, the scenery changed from fenced pastures to heavily wooded areas. An occasional driveway, some with multiple mailboxes, wandered into the thick clusters of trees. Now and then a house was partially visible through the pines and golden-hued oaks.

The isolation was a chilling reminder of the Oak Grove murder. A woman alone in any of these houses would be an easy target.

“Is your house visible from the—” Leif stopped midsentence as streams of bright yellow police tape came into view. It wound around and through the links of a metal gate and a chain-link fence that edged the road. This time the drive sported only one rusted mailbox.

A pickup truck had pulled onto the shoulder and a man was leaning out the window snapping pictures of the house that would have gone unnoticed were it not for the bright-colored tape. As it was, Leif could barely make out a railed front porch and part of the roofline.

Two sheriff’s patrol cars were parked in the driveway near the road. Leif pulled to the shoulder just past the pickup truck for a better look. No defense attorney could turn down a crime scene.

“I guess you heard about the Oak Grove woman who was murdered sometime yesterday,” Joni said. She shuddered and pulled her arms tight around her chest. “That’s where she lived.”

“Did you know her?” Leif asked.

“I know her name was Evie Monsant and that she lived alone.”

“That’s more than they were reporting last night.”

“She kept to herself. I’ve seen her at her mailbox, but she always looked away and pretended not to see me wave. She does the same with the other neighbors.”

“She must have talked to someone.”

“Not unless she had to. She’d only been in the area a few months. Gossip was that she was a recent widow and still grieving.”

“Seems unlikely that a grieving widow would move to an area where she had no friends or family and then make it a point not to meet anyone.”

Joni lowered her window a couple of inches. The slight breeze ruffled her short hair, sending dark wisps dancing about her face. “The news report I heard said she might be a victim of The Hunter. I would have never expected that in Oak Grove.”

“That’s merely speculation,” Leif said. “I wouldn’t put any trust in that at this point.” Leif shifted into Drive, pushed down on the accelerator and sped away.

“But it does sound like his other murders,” Joni argued. “An attractive woman living alone. An isolated setting. Leaving her in the woods after sexually assaulting her and then inflicting wounds with what appears to be a hunting knife.”

“If the murder was the work of The Hunter, he’s probably long gone from here by now,” Leif said. “He’s never killed in the same area twice in the past and his murders have always been months apart.”

Still, Leif was getting bad vibes about Joni living so close to the victim.

A few minutes later they reached her drive. It was on the same side of the road as the victim’s. The woods surrounding her house were just as thick.

He pulled into the dirt driveway leading to her house. Lengthening shadows crept across the gray clapboard porch, intensifying the feeling of isolation as Leif stopped a few yards from the front door.

Joni sat up straighter, her hands clasped tightly in her lap. When she turned toward him, her eyes mirrored the same dark thoughts that were eating at him.

He put an arm around her shoulders. She nestled against him, and a surge of protectiveness swept through him, stronger than any in recent memory. That was far too quickly followed by a kick of arousal, especially when Joni snuggled closer in his arms, her head resting beneath his chin.

Joni pulled away quickly. He didn’t know what she was feeling, but there was no denying the sensual jolt he’d experienced. He should run and run fast.