Colton Cowboy Hideout (The Coltons of Texas, Book 7) Read online

  “You were foolish to go out there by yourself.”

  She didn’t reply. He was right, but she’d felt as if she’d had no choice. Once again hot tears filled her eyes. She’d just wanted to get the watch and go away from here.

  She’d just wanted to fulfill her promise to her brothers and sister. Now the success of actually possessing the watch was tainted by the blood on Tanner’s face. They didn’t speak again as they walked to the staff door and then hurried toward his suite.

  They stepped inside and Peggy sat up on the sofa and gasped in alarm. “Tanner! What happened to you?” She quickly got to her feet.

  “I’m all right.” He pulled up the bottom of his T-shirt and swiped at his face then grimaced as he saw the blood on the bottom of it. “I have a feeling it looks a lot worse than it is.”

  Peggy looked at him, then at Josie and then back at him once again. “Thank God you’re both back relatively safe and sound. Now, what can I do to help?”

  “Go to bed.” He offered her a tight smile. “You’ve already done more than enough, Peggy. Go on to bed. We’ll be fine.” She eyed him dubiously. “Really, we can handle things from here,” he said.

  “Call me if I can do anything.” She gazed at them worriedly, then shook her head and left the suite.

  “Come into the bathroom and let me take a look at your eye,” Josie said.

  “I can take care of it myself.” He turned and disappeared into his room.

  Josie followed him into his bathroom. “Sit,” she said and pointed to the stool. “You can be angry at me after I clean you up.”

  He scowled, but sank down with a weary sigh. She opened the counter beneath the sink and withdrew the same items he’d used when he’d cleaned the wound on her upper arm.

  She used a warm washcloth to wash the blood from his face. His anger was a living, breathing third person in the small room. She ignored it as she began to clean the deep cut through his eyebrow.

  She wanted to weep for his wounds. She wanted to fall to her knees and tell him how sorry she was about how everything had played out.

  “You might need stitches,” she said and fought back her tears. She feared he might forever carry a scar from this night forward.

  “Just slap a couple of butterfly bandages on it and I’m sure it will be fine.”

  “You’re going to have a black eye.”

  “You could have had a missing head,” he retorted.

  She bit her bottom lip and placed three of the small bandages on his cut. She stepped back from him. “I know you’re angry—”

  “Angry? Honest to God, I’m completely livid. Josie, you could have been killed out there.” He stood and raked a hand through his hair, his eyes dark and hollow. “What on earth were you thinking?”

  “I wasn’t thinking, okay. I was just acting on emotion and knew it was time for me to leave here.” She stalked out of the bathroom, aware of him following at her heels. A touch of anger rose up inside of her.

  When she reached the living room, she turned back to face him. “I guess I was thinking that the only people I have in my life are my brothers and my sister and I wanted to get the watch for them. It was no longer any of your business, but thank you for making it your business and saving me once again.”

  Some of the anger left his eyes. “Did you find the watch?”

  She reached in and pulled the item out of her pocket and held it out in her palm. “I did.”

  “Are you going to check to see if there is some sort of a treasure map inside it?”

  She squeezed her hand closed over it and shook her head. “I’m going to call Trevor and ask him to come here first thing in the morning. We can check it out then—that is, if you’ll let me stay here another night.”

  He frowned at her. “I wasn’t the one who asked you to leave tonight.”

  “I thought it was the only choice I had after what happened between us.” All the hurt of his rejection came rushing back. “Should we call the sheriff and report this?”

  He swept a hand through his hair and appeared exhausted. “I really don’t see any point in it unless you want to call him. We can’t give him any more information than we did last time.”

  “I agree.”

  “I just don’t want to fight anymore. It’s late. You can sleep in my room. I’ll stay in yours in case that creep decides to pull another break-in.”

  “He doesn’t know I have it.”

  Once again Tanner’s lips thinned and the fire of anger roared back into his eyes. “I hope it was worth it. I hope this somehow heals something inside of you. I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself if something happened to you. And now I need to take a shower and get some sleep.”

  As he went back into his bedroom, Josie sank down on the sofa and finally the last of her fear left her body on a shuddering shiver.

  She didn’t blame Tanner for being angry with her. She had been reckless in her quest to do something right, to please somebody. But her stubborn will had nearly gotten them both killed.

  She closed her eyes with a weary sigh. Was this the end? When she handed the watch to her brother, would the madness finally stop?

  Would she be able to go back to Granite Gulch and stop looking over her shoulders for the elusive bogeyman? And would she ever be able to forget she loved Tanner Grange?

  He hoped getting the watch would heal something inside of her. She thought about his words. Did she need healing? Was there something broken inside of her? Maybe getting the watch was a last-ditch attempt of a little girl who still yearned for her father’s love.

  Her feelings for Matthew Colton would always be a mixture of hatred and love. She would always yearn for what she hadn’t had from her father, just as she would always yearn for Tanner’s love.

  It didn’t take long before he came back out of the bedroom. He was fully dressed in clean clothes and had his gun in one hand and a T-shirt in the other. “I’m assuming your suitcase is in your car.” She nodded and he tossed her the shirt. “You can sleep in that for tonight and I definitely think it’s time to call it a night. Good night, Josie.”

  There were still so many things she wanted to say to him, but she settled for a good-night. She watched him as he walked down the hallway and disappeared into the small bedroom she had vacated what felt like a lifetime ago.

  She pulled herself up off the sofa and went into his bedroom. She went into the bathroom and stripped off her clothes and then stepped into a hot shower.

  The water warmed the last of the chill that had encased her body since the moment the man had appeared with his gun. She braced her hands against the glass enclosure and allowed the water to wash over her.

  It was done.

  She’d accomplished what she’d come here for and what she needed now was her big brother to come here and decipher any secret the watch might hold. Then he could follow her back to Granite Gulch. She’d feel safe with him tailing her. Just as she’d felt in Tanner’s arms.

  She shook her head to dislodge any thoughts of Tanner. The drama that had played out in the woods tonight hadn’t changed his mind about her. He hadn’t saved her and then taken her into his arms and told her the close call had made him realize just how much he loved her.

  It was definitely done and over.

  She got out of the shower, dried off and then pulled Tanner’s T-shirt over her head. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she grabbed her cell phone and punched in the number that would speed-dial Trevor.

  She hated that it was so late, but she wanted—needed—him here first thing in the morning.

  “Josie, what’s wrong?” His voice was filled with urgent concern.

  She started to speak and then burst into tears.

  * * *

  Tanner lay in the bed that smelled of peaches and all things Josie and knew this was a night where he’d find no sleep. Myriad emotions flooded his brain as the hours ticked by toward morning.

  The cut on his eyebrow throbbed, along with body parts
he hadn’t even known he possessed, but that wasn’t the pain that would keep him awake.

  Only now could he fully take in the absolute horror of seeing the man’s gun pressed against Josie’s throat. Only now, knowing she was safe, could he fully process how close she’d been to being killed.

  What if he hadn’t awakened when he had? What if he hadn’t decided to go down the hallway to check on his girls? What if he hadn’t wanted a single peek at Josie while she slept and realized she was gone?

  What if he hadn’t gotten there in time? So many things could have gone so very wrong, and as he cataloged them all in his mind, a harsh chill suffused him, a chill that remained with him for hours.

  It was good her brother was coming tomorrow, he told himself. It would be good for her to have the emotional support of her big brother.

  FBI Agent Trevor Colton would make sure she got home safe and sound, and hopefully the encounter in the woods would be the last of it and she could truly get on with her life.

  A life without him.

  A new pain pierced through his heart. He would always remember his time with Josie with a smile on his face, with a sweet warmth in his heart and, yes, with a fire in his blood.

  The girls were young enough that within a couple of weeks or so they would have no memories of the loving, beautiful woman who had been in their lives briefly. They wouldn’t remember her tickles, her laughter or her kisses.

  He would remember. He would remember it all. He had a feeling it would take a very long time for him to stop thinking about Josie Colton.

  He frowned. He had plenty of vacation time built up. He’d tell Whitney he needed to take that time and find a new nanny. In the meantime, he knew Peggy would help out if necessary and he wasn’t going to hire anyone too quickly.

  Josie had been a handy convenience. She’d loved his babies and they had loved her. She’d been good at taking care of them. She’d been patient and had been teaching them manners and had used discipline with a firm, but loving hand.

  Surely that was part of his attraction to Josie. Just as he didn’t believe she really loved him, he didn’t believe he could possibly be in love with her.

  I don’t love her, he told himself firmly. And even if I did, I still have to let her go.

  He must have fallen asleep, for he awakened with dawn’s light just beginning to filter into the bedroom. A new day... The day he’d say a final goodbye to Josie.

  He slid out of bed and crept across the hall into the guest bathroom. He turned on the light and closed the door and then stared at his reflection in the mirror. The good news was the butterfly bandages seemed to be holding. A faint purple bruise formed a half-moon beneath his eye but it wasn’t as bad as he’d expected it to be.

  He still felt as if he’d been run over by a truck, but the muscle strains would ease up, and all in all, he would survive. He just needed to get through today. He just needed to get past the sight of Josie’s car leaving the ranch.

  After carefully washing his face, he left the bathroom and went down the hallway to the kitchen, where he put a pot of coffee on to brew.

  As he waited for the coffee, he moved to the window and stared outside. The sun had broken free of the horizon and promised another hot, cloudless day.

  Eldridge was still missing, there were still too many suspects and now Josie would be gone. He had a feeling that life at the Colton Valley Ranch would never be the same again.

  He managed to drink a half a cup of coffee before he heard Lily calling from the nursery. He hurried in to attend to them, not wanting them to awaken Josie. She’d had a late night, and in any case, they weren’t her job anymore.

  Lily frowned at the sight of him, her gaze lingering on his eye. “Daddy-love...boo-boo?”

  “It’s okay. Daddy is okay.” He gave her a reassuring smile.

  Lily reached up and placed her hand on his eye. “Daddy-love boo-boo. All better!”

  “All better,” he agreed as his heart swelled. These two girls were all he needed in his life. He didn’t need anything else. He just had to stay focused on being the best father in the world and that would be enough for him and hopefully that would be enough for them.

  Fifteen minutes later he carried both of the girls into the kitchen, where he deposited them in their high chairs. They jabbered their usual secret language to each other as he cut up a banana for them to eat while he cooked them some eggs.

  The only thing missing in the kitchen was Josie’s happy mood that had been bright enough to fill the room with sunshine even on a dark and cloudy day.

  He’d just gotten out the eggs from the fridge when Josie came into the room.

  “Josie-love, kiss Lily,” Lily demanded.

  “Kiss Leigh, Josie-love,” Leigh said.

  Josie walked over and gave them each a kiss on the forehead and then turned and looked at him. She offered him a smile but the gesture didn’t quite reach the simmering darkness in her eyes. “Good morning.”

  “How did you sleep?” he asked.

  “In fits and starts,” she replied, then walked over to the cabinet and pulled down a coffee cup. “What about you?”

  “I think I got about an hour’s worth.” He broke two eggs into an awaiting bowl and then popped two pieces of bread into the toaster. “Did you call your brother last night?”

  “Yes, and he should be here sometime between eight and nine this morning.” She poured her coffee and then sat at the island. “I told him we could all look at the watch together.”

  “All? As in you and me and Trevor?” He shook his head. “It’s really not my business if something is inside the watch. You don’t have to include me,” he protested. The last thing he wanted was to intrude in any way.

  “Aren’t you curious?”

  “Absolutely,” he admitted. The toast popped up and he turned back to the counter to butter and cut it into squares for the twins. Once that was accomplished, he refilled his coffee cup and joined her at the island, the scrambled eggs momentarily on hold.

  “You more than earned the right to know what you fought for,” she said. She frowned as her gaze focused on his eye.

  “I wasn’t fighting for the watch.”

  She looked down into her coffee. “I realize that and I’ll never be able to thank you enough for all you’ve done for me while I’ve been here. I’ll never be able to thank you for saving my life on more than one occasion.”

  “And I can’t thank you enough for stepping up to fill in as nanny to my girls. I owe you wages and I’ll see to it that you have a check before you leave here today.”

  Her gaze flew up to meet his and she scowled. “I don’t want your money, Tanner.”

  “But you’ve earned it,” he protested.

  She shook her head vehemently. “Having Lily and Leigh in my life for a little while was more than payment enough. Consider that we’re square.”

  The girls began to babble to each other at the sound of their names and for a few minutes he and Josie sat in what should have been a companionable silence, but wasn’t.

  Despite the overall relatively pleasant tone to their conversation, so far there was a distinct underlying tension in the air between them. Tanner knew it was born out of the conversation they’d had last night, before she’d left the suite, before she’d put her life at risk.

  Her words of love still rang in his ears no matter how hard he tried to dismiss them, and he was certain his words of rejection still clanged in her ears.

  He couldn’t fix it. No matter what she said, no matter what she did, it wouldn’t change his conviction that he had to let her go. It was the right thing to do for both of them.

  “How about I fix us some breakfast?” He was suddenly desperate for something to do besides sit in silence next to her.

  “You can cook?”

  “I can manage an omelet and some toast,” he replied. “I was just getting ready to scramble some eggs for the girls before you came in.”

  “Scrambled eggs sound g
ood,” she agreed.

  He slid off the stool and busied himself gathering the rest of the ingredients for the meal. As he worked, Josie chatted with the girls, making them laugh with delight over and over again.

  This was what life would be like with Josie...sweet laughter served with breakfast and hot passion at night. He poured the egg mixture into the awaiting pan and shoved away the very thought of “what if?”

  He was thankful for the girls’ presence later as he and Josie ate their breakfast in relative silence. He grieved for the easy conversations he and Josie had always shared, for the sense of partnership that had existed between them almost from the moment they had met.

  There was no question that things had felt natural and right between them up until she’d told him she loved him. Only then had cold reality slapped him in the face.

  Tanner was cleaning up the kitchen and Josie had moved to the living-room floor with the twins when a knock sounded on the door. He looked at the clock on the oven. Just before eight.

  “I’ll get it,” he said, not wanting to take any chances. Just because they were expecting Trevor Colton didn’t necessarily mean he was the person knocking.

  As soon as he opened the door, despite the differences in their ages, he instantly saw the resemblance between Trevor and Josie. They both had rich, dark hair, and although Trevor’s eyes were dark and intense, they were the same shape as Josie’s.

  “Tanner Grange?”

  Tanner nodded. “And I’m assuming you’re Josie’s oldest brother, Trevor.” Tanner opened the door wider. “Please come in.”

  Josie got up off the floor and threw herself into Trevor’s arms, and the two of them hugged in obvious affection. “Are you all right?” Trevor took a step back from her and then looked at Tanner. “She was a bit shaky when I spoke to her last night.”

  “We were both a little bit shaky last night,” Tanner agreed and reached up self-consciously to touch his eye.

  “I hope the other guy looks worse,” Trevor said.

  “Yeah, so do I,” Tanner replied ruefully. “Unfortunately, he ran off before I could check.”

  “We’re all okay this morning,” Josie said as if not wanting to think about the night before. “Now, let me introduce you to two of the cutest little girls you’ll ever meet in your life.”