Travis Comes Home

“She’s just trying to con you, Hank,” Travis said.

Hank looked at Josie. “Josie, would you please come back to the Circle B so we can talk this out?”

There was no turning back now. Josie turned away from Travis’s furious glare. “I’d like that, Hank.”

“Good. Now how did you get down here?”

“I hiked,” she said. “My car is up by the road.”

“You hiked down here?”

She nodded.

He smiled and shook his head. “Travis, you stay and help Josie pack up and see that she gets back to her car, and then to the ranch.”

“But, Hank…”

The older man’s gaze locked with Travis’s. The look they exchanged was brief, but it told a lot about the respect and love that Travis had for Hank—and that the feelings were returned. Josie felt a twinge of envy. Then Hank turned to her and smiled. “I look forward to our breakfast together, Josie.”

Josie nodded and watched as the rancher climbed back on his horse and rode off with Chance. She felt her eyes mist. He was not what she’d expected. But how would she have known what he’d be like?

She’d never met her father before.

Travis was still fuming when he arrived back at the ranch with Josie Gutierrez following behind him in her beat-up red Volkswagen. No matter what, he still didn’t believe her story. Her pretty hazel eyes might have fooled Hank, but not him. She wasn’t even a good liar, and he knew women who were experts. He’d bet his share of the ranch Ms. Gutierrez had a secret agenda. And he was going to find out what it was.

He directed her to park by the back door while he rode Rocky to the corral, then asked one of the hands to take care of the horse. He headed toward the house where Ms. Gutierrez waited on the small back porch. Hank came out just before Travis hit the step and escorted her inside.

Travis walked through the door to the mudroom, then into the kitchen just as Hank was introducing Josie to Ella. The Circle B’s housekeeper had a big grin on her face. Travis didn’t like it.

“Well, well, it sure is nice to meet you Josie. And welcome to the Circle B. I hope you’re going to be staying around awhile.”

Travis took his place at the table. “After the pictures are developed I doubt she’ll be here very long,” he announced.

Hank ignored him and offered their guest a seat next to him. “Our breakfasts here are pretty basic, Josie. I hope you like bacon and eggs.”

“That will be fine. You’re very kind to invite me,” she said.

“Just being neighborly,” he said. “What do you do when you aren’t taking pictures?”

“My mom and I used to run a small diner. I’ve done everything from waitressing to filling in as a short-order cook.”

Hank’s eyes lit up. “Is that so? Do you have any specialties?”

“Well, let’s see.” She looked thoughtful. “Our corned beef hash and biscuits and gravy were pretty popular with the regulars.”

Hearing Hank’s envious groan, Travis had to bite back a grin. For more than twenty years, the Circle B men had been subject to Ella’s limited cooking skills. Instead Ella had perfected her ability at being the best substitute mom for three teenage boys.

They all loved the no-nonsense woman in jeans and a plaid shirt. She wore her gray-streaked hair short, and her kind eyes glowed with love. It didn’t matter if she could cook or not.

The food was set on the table. “Thanks, Ella,” Travis said.

“Thank you,” she answered with a smile. “I guess I should have thrown you out sooner. You always did bring back the most interesting things.”

Before Travis could explain, the housekeeper moved on.

Hank started the conversation. “Josie, where you from?”

“El Paso.”

Hank nodded, then got a faraway look. “I used to travel there years ago…cattle business. So you came to San Angelo to look for a job?”

Josie had trouble swallowing her food past the lump in her throat. “I don’t think I’ll be going back,” she said. “My mother passed away recently, and she was my only family there.”

“I’m sorry,” Hank said. He set his fork down and reached for her hand; immediately she felt the warmth in his touch. “That’s rough. You have any other family?”

“Not that I’m that close to,” she said, catching his curious look. “I was thinking about starting over somewhere else. I want see if I can make a go of it as a photographer.”

Travis knew he didn’t want Josie hanging around the ranch. Since the news of his business’s crumbling became public, the media had been having a field day over his misery. He’d already been humiliated enough when the police had questioned him over the security leak traced to Private Access. He also recalled how the Houston papers had used him as their whipping boy. So he wouldn’t put it past them to have sent someone here to the ranch. Hadn’t he been humiliated enough? Did they have to continue to hound him, too?

No, he didn’t trust anyone with a camera. And definitely not a woman. He knew firsthand how devious women could be. They worked their way into your confidence, only to use you to get what they wanted.

He looked across the table at the beautiful Ms. Gutierrez. Something told him she was harboring her own secrets. And he was going to make sure he found out what they were before anyone got hurt.

Two hours later, Josie knew she should leave, but Ella seemed eager to get her corned beef hash recipe. She also knew that the housekeeper was playing matchmaker. Travis’s name had been mentioned more times than she could keep count. Somehow the woman missed seeing that Travis had loathed Josie on the spot.

Seated at the kitchen table, Josie looked up when another man came through the back door. He had to be a Randell. He looked a lot like both Travis and Chance, but his hair was darker, and he was a little taller than his brothers. He smiled at her as he removed his hat.

“Hi, I’m Cade Randell,” he said.

“I’m Josie Gutierrez.”

“I hear my little brother tried to evict you today.”

She blushed. “I shouldn’t have been in the valley. It’s just that I wanted to see it, and I thought it wouldn’t hurt to stay the night. I’m sorry.”

“I’m sure whatever Trav put you through was enough punishment.”

“He was just being protective.”

“He’s being ornery, but that’s another story,” Cade said with a wave. “I hear you want a chance to take the pictures for the guest ranch brochure.”

“Yes, but I haven’t had a lot of experience.”

“My wife, Abby, and I aren’t hung up on experience. We want to catch what Mustang Valley is really about. Do you have any samples of your work?”

Her heart raced with excitement. “I have a few photographs in my car. I’ll go and get them.” She stood and hurried outside. Maybe this could be the break she needed. If not, she definitely had to find a job. She had less than three hundred dollars, her mother’s small insurance check to her name, and in her condition, she would need more than that. She had to find work, fast.

She lifted a small album off the seat and was closing the car door when she came face-to-face with Travis.