Ranch Hideout

His supervisor was trusting him to ensure no harm came to Liz before she could testify against a criminal kingpin. He was also trusting Gabriel to handle the assignment discreetly. If Liz knew that the FBI had assigned her a protective detail, she’d want to know why...and the answer might make her change her mind about the wisdom of testifying. That would be a disaster. He had to get this just right—had to keep her safe, no matter what...and he had to do it without letting her ever suspect that he was an FBI agent.

“You may call yourself Liz Madison, but I know who you really are, Elizabeth Madison Kennedy,” he muttered under his breath as she disappeared into the house. “So you’d better get used to me. I’m going to be around for a while.”

TWO (#u3c55be48-cd8e-522f-aeb6-f82860aa69b1)

Liz put the last of the dirty plates in the dishwasher and glanced around the kitchen to see if she’d missed anything. Tonight they’d had more guests for dinner than usual. She’d stayed in the kitchen, but several times she’d stood at the door into the dining room and listened to bits of the guests’ conversations. The room had buzzed with chatter about trail rides, excursions to Cades Cove or hiking adventures on the Appalachian Trail.

This was just the beginning of the fall tourist season when the mountains came alive with brilliant colors. Once the leaves had faded, the holiday festival of lights would take over and draw thousands of tourists. Gwen said Little Pigeon Ranch was booked solidly to the end of the year. Liz couldn’t wait to participate in all the festivities.

She paused in closing the dishwasher and shook her head. What was the matter with her? She wouldn’t be here to see those things. If all went as she hoped, she’d be back in her apartment in Memphis soon, and her life would settle back into the routine she’d enjoyed before coming here.

The door between the dining room and the kitchen suddenly swung open, and Liz jerked her head around to see Gwen storming into the kitchen. She stopped just inside the room and placed her hands on hips. “Why didn’t you tell me you were attacked in the theater parking lot?”

The muscles in Liz’s throat constricted as she tried to swallow. “I’m sorry, Gwen. I didn’t have a chance. When I got here, you were in the middle of getting dinner ready to serve, and we’ve been busy ever since.”

Gwen pursed her lips and shook her head. “That’s no excuse, Liz. You know that Dean and I need to be informed if anything happens to you.”

“And I was going to tell you. I just haven’t had time.” Liz paused as a thought struck her, and she frowned. “How did you find out?”

Gwen’s expression softened as she studied her. “Mr. Decker told me.”

Liz’s eyes widened in surprise. “He told you? When?”

“While he was eating dinner. I stopped at his table to see if he had everything he needed. He asked where you were, and I told him you were in the kitchen.” Gwen arched an eyebrow. “Is he the reason you didn’t come out of the kitchen all during dinner?”

“No!” Liz blurted out without thinking. “I mean, I was busy.”

Gwen stared at her for a moment before she took Liz by the hand and led her to the kitchen table. When they were both seated, she leaned forward and squeezed Liz’s hand. “When something like this happens, you have to tell us about it.”

“I don’t think it was related to my testimony,” Liz offered. “I honestly think he was just a creep trying to rob me. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time—again.”

“Maybe,” Gwen said. “But maybe not. Dean and I can’t help protect you if we don’t know what’s going on. We feel a responsibility to take care of you while you’re here.”

Liz shook her head. “I know you do, and I’m sorry about putting that burden on you. I worry all the time about how I’ve brought my problems to your and Dean’s doorstep. If anything happened to you or Dean or to your daughter...” She stopped, unable to go on as tears filled her eyes.

Gwen’s pressure on her hand increased. “Don’t worry about us. We agreed to this fully aware of the risks. It’s your safety we all have to focus on.”

The tears pooling in Liz’s eyes blurred her vision, and she tried to blink them back. “I feel like I’m taking advantage of you and Dean. You’ve offered me a safe haven for now, and I don’t want you to regret it.”

“We would never regret it. I can’t even imagine what you’ve been through. We just want to help you.”

Her chest tightened. “You have. More than you’ll ever know.” She took a deep breath and wiped at her eyes. “Now I need to finish up in here. I’ve cleaned the countertops and the stove. All I need to do is sweep the floor, and I’ll be through.”

Gwen shook her head. “I’ll do that. You need some time to get over what happened this afternoon. You enjoy your time painting at night. Go on up to your room, and I’ll see you in the morning.”

Liz sighed as she stood up, took off the apron she was wearing and hung it on a peg next to the refrigerator. “I don’t think I’ll paint tonight. I think I’ll go on to bed. I want to get up early so I can help Dean muck out the stalls in the morning.”

Gwen pushed up from her chair and propped her hands on her hips. “Liz, you’re doing too much around here.”

“I like helping out,” Liz insisted. “It takes my mind off things.”

“You can’t keep busy forever,” Gwen said gently. “You aren’t going to be able to come to terms with what happened until you talk about it. I can find you a Christian counselor if you’d like.”

Liz sniffled and looked down at the floor. “I do need to talk, to release these pent-up feelings that are driving me insane. But I don’t want to tell some stranger.” She raised her head to stare into Gwen’s eyes. “Since I’ve been here, I’ve become closer to you than anybody else. Maybe I need to tell you about it.”

“Whenever you’re ready, Liz, I’ll listen.”

“Thanks, Gwen. I appreciate it.”

They stared at each other for a moment before Gwen smiled and pulled Liz into a hug. “Now you go on to bed, and don’t worry about anything tonight. We’ll get through this one day at a time.”

Liz let out a grateful sigh as she hugged Gwen. She was so blessed that the FBI had persuaded Dean and Gwen to take in a stranger who needed protection. They’d accepted her without question, and she would never forget it.

After a moment she released Gwen and walked from the room. As she trudged through the dining room, she caught sight of Gabriel Decker sitting at a table alone. He sipped from a coffee cup and stared at her over the rim.

Before she could make her escape to the hallway, he called out to her. “Liz, I missed you during dinner. Mrs. Harwell said you were in the kitchen.”

She stopped and turned to face him. She wanted to reproach him for telling Gwen about the parking lot incident, but she had trouble holding on to her annoyance with him at the sight of his beautiful smile, which reached all the way up to his eyes. “I was. We had a lot of guests tonight, and I helped the cook with the meal.”

He pointed to the chair across from him. “Would you like to sit and have some coffee with me?”

She lifted her chin and stared down her nose at him. “No, thanks. I’m tired and going to bed.”

“Will I see you tomorrow?” he called out as she stepped into the hall.

“Maybe.” She stopped halfway up the stairs and glanced back over her shoulder.

He had risen and followed her into the hall. He stood at the foot of the stairs with his hand on the banister. “I’ll look for you.”

The words were innocent enough on the surface, but her breath still froze in her chest. Back in Memphis there were plenty of dangerous people looking for her, and Gabriel’s remark had served as an unpleasant reminder of the danger she was still in. It was all she could do to make her legs climb the remaining stairs to the second floor. When she glanced back down, he was still standing there, his eyes on her.

She stiffened at the panic that spread through her body. Why was he being so friendly, and how was it that he just happened to be in the parking lot when she was attacked? Perhaps he wasn’t just a guest who had come to spend a few weeks at Little Pigeon. Maybe he’d come there looking for her.

Biting down on her tongue to keep from crying out, she rushed to her room, ran inside and locked the door. Then she leaned against it and closed her eyes as she tried to control her breathing. What was happening to her? Was she right to be scared, or was she overreacting? It was hard for her to trust anyone. She saw ulterior motives in even the most innocent of other people’s actions. She couldn’t go on like this much longer.

A whimper escaped her throat as she slid down the door until she was sitting on the floor, her legs bent and her arms circling her knees. She had to do something, or she was never going to make it through the next few months.

Maybe Gwen was right. She needed to talk to someone, and Gwen had offered. Now all she had to do was make herself do it. She gritted her teeth. She couldn’t put it off any longer. She would tell Gwen everything that happened that day, and she would do it tomorrow.

* * *

Gabriel watched Liz until she got to the top of the stairs before he turned around and walked back into the dining room. He sat down and picked up his coffee cup and stared at it for a moment.

“Something wrong with the coffee?” The voice behind him startled him, and he swiveled in his seat to see who it was. He relaxed when he saw that it was Dean Harwell.

He laughed and set the cup down. “The coffee’s fine. In fact, everything I ate for dinner was delicious. If that was any indication of the caliber meals you serve here, I may want to move in.”

Dean chuckled and slid into the seat across from him. “The cook here started working for my grandfather when I was growing up. We couldn’t get along without him.”