A Real Cowboy Read online

  “Then I guess I’ll just say thank you,” she replied.

  Sammy ran back to them. “They fit perfect. I love them. Thank you, Cowboy Lucas.”

  “You’re welcome, partner. Now, let’s get in the truck and head back to the ranch.”

  Nicolette and Sammy rode in the small seats behind Lucas and Cassie as they headed back home. The conversation was neutral, focused on the weather and the passing landscape. Lucas pointed out other ranches they passed and mentioned who owned them, but Nicolette paid little attention.

  The gift of the boots had obviously erased the trauma of the spilled milk for Sammy, and Nicolette was grateful to see her son dancing his feet against the floorboard and adjusting and readjusting his hat on his head.

  Despite her desire to the contrary, Lucas Taylor was definitely getting under her skin. If the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach, the way to Nicolette’s heart was through Sammy.

  When they got to the house, Lucas dropped them off and then drove on toward the bunkhouse in the distance. Nicolette knew he had supplies to drop off and then probably afternoon chores to take care of.

  Sammy went up to his room, Cassie disappeared into her bedroom and Nicolette wandered the downstairs restlessly. She tried to keep her mind off the lunch debacle and the way Lloyd’s glare had made her feel.

  He’d frightened her more than just a little bit. For just a moment she’d thought he was going to pick up Sammy by the scruff of his neck and slam him against a wall. There had been that kind of wild meanness in his eyes. She’d believed he was going to punch her in the face. She didn’t want to think about what might have happened if Daisy hadn’t intervened.

  It was almost nine that night when she tucked a happy and exhausted Sammy into bed. She kissed him on the cheek, but before she could leave he grabbed her hand and indicated he wanted her to sit next to him.

  She sat on the edge of the mattress, wondering if he wanted to talk about what had happened at lunch. “I want to stay here forever,” he said. “I don’t ever want to go back to New York. I like it here.”

  She looked at him in surprise. “Honey, you know we can’t stay here forever. This is Cassie’s home, not ours, and she isn’t planning on staying long. We have our home in New York.”

  He sat up. “We don’t have our own home in New York. We have Cassie’s apartment. Why couldn’t you and me get a home someplace around here where we could visit with Cowboy Lucas all the time and I could always be a cowboy?”

  “Sammy, honey. My work is in New York. I have the shop to work in. I can’t just pick up and move here. This isn’t where we belong.”

  Sammy flopped back down on his back. “I think we could belong here if we wanted to.”

  She leaned over and kissed him on the forehead and then stood. “Just enjoy being here now, Sammy. Besides, Cassie hasn’t made up her mind yet about what the future holds. Who knows what might happen. Good night, my sweet cowboy.”

  “Good night, my sweet mom,” he replied, and she left the room to the music of his soft laughter.

  “Got the little bug tucked in?” Cassie asked from the sofa when Nicolette entered the great room.

  Nicolette collapsed into the comfort of a big easy chair. “He wants to stay here forever.”

  “It didn’t take long to get the city out of him. I wonder how long it will take to get the country out of him when we go back home,” Cassie said.

  “I have a feeling he’ll have to outgrow those boots before he willingly stops wearing them,” Nicolette said.

  “How did Lucas know what size to buy?” Cassie mused. “He got it right on the money.”

  “No idea how he did that. I imagine he and the salesman just made a lucky guess.”

  “I sure didn’t feel any welcome from anyone around town today,” Cassie said. “We’re definitely the outsiders.”

  “Daisy was nice,” Nicolette said.

  “Daisy is probably a smart business owner. She has to be nice to everyone who comes into the café.”

  Nicolette gazed at her friend thoughtfully. “You should be glad that nobody was particularly friendly. You’re the one who said we shouldn’t get friendly with people since we aren’t sticking around.”

  “I know. I’m just feeling perverse. It would have been nice if somebody acted like they wanted to meet the new owner of the ranch.” She curled her slender legs up beneath her. “Adam told me Cass was something of a legend around here. I have a feeling that even if I decided to stay on, I’d never be able to live up to her in the eyes of everyone here.”

  “You don’t have to live up to anyone, Cassie, and you’re stronger than you think you are. But thank goodness you don’t have to make any decisions at the moment. There’s still plenty of work to do around here before you make a final decision about selling or staying.”

  Cassie nodded. “Adam told me that tomorrow most of the men are going to work on cutting up the trees the tornado blew down. He said the wood would be stacked both here at the house and at the bunkhouse for the fireplaces in the winter.”

  She yawned and then continued. “You know that missing woman I mentioned that was in the paper? I guess one of the ranch hands here, Nick Coleman, was seeing her before she disappeared.”

  “What have the police said about it?” Nicolette asked.

  “They think it’s possible she just left town. Apparently she’d only been in town a couple of months. Adam said there’s no way he believes that Nick had anything to do with her disappearance.”

  “Sounds like you and Adam are getting quite cozy,” Nicolette said.

  “Strictly business,” Cassie replied. “Tomorrow he’s going to take me on a tour of the entire ranch so I can make notes on what I think needs to be done, and to explain more about the everyday operations.” She yawned again. “And on that note, I think it’s time for me to head to bed. I’m exhausted.”

  “It’s all this fresh air and sunshine.” Nicolette grinned. Cassie got up from the sofa, and with good-nights exchanged, she went upstairs.

  Nicolette thought about going out on the porch and sitting for a little while, but when she realized that part of her reason for doing so was in hopes that Lucas might show up and share part of the night with her, she dismissed the idea.

  They’d been here for only two days and one evening and already she was spending far too much of her time thinking about Lucas Taylor. She should be focusing on what her future would look like when they returned to New York.

  Although she hadn’t mentioned it to Cassie, Nicolette was considering having Cassie buy out her half of the business, and that would give Nicolette enough money for her and Sammy to get their own place. Nicolette could finish her schooling and get a teaching job.

  Of course, it all depended on what Cassie decided to do, and while she knew Cassie’s initial decision had been to sell the ranch, who knew how her friend would feel in two or three months from now? By then the cowboys wouldn’t be just names on paper, they’d be real people, and that might make it more difficult for Cassie to just walk away.

  Realizing she was more tired than she’d thought, she decided to head upstairs. She turned off all the lights and climbed the staircase, trying not to worry about the future or think about Lucas.

  As always as she passed Sammy’s bedroom, she paused to peek in at her sleeping son...and saw a person with a ski mask on at his window.

  For the space of a heartbeat she froze, her brain not understanding how a man could be at the second-floor window. His glittering gaze caught hers, and it was at that moment she screamed.

  Chapter 4

  Lucas jumped off his bed at the sound of the big dinner bell ringing through the night, adrenaline instantly exploding inside him. He pulled on his jeans and grabbed his holster and quickly buckled it, the weight of his gun familiar on his hip as he opened his bunk door.

  Other men were coming outside, as well. “What’s going on?” Dusty asked.

  “Maybe one of them wants one of us
to make a cappuccino run,” somebody else replied.

  Lucas didn’t pay attention to anyone. He ran, his heart racing, vaguely aware of the sound of running feet behind him. He knew something was wrong...somebody was in trouble. Otherwise that bell would have never been rung.

  All he could think about was that the house held two defenseless women and one young boy and something bad had happened or was happening.

  The distance between the bunkhouse and the main house had never seemed so far. When he was halfway there the bell stopped ringing, the sudden silence creating even more anxiety in his chest.

  He didn’t bother with the back door, but rather ran around the house to the front where the big bell hung. His gun was in his hand as he reached the front door.

  Cassie opened it for him. “Thank God,” she exclaimed. He released a deep sigh of relief when he saw Sammy in his mother’s arms on the sofa.

  Adam came in just behind him, along with most of the other dozen cowboys, all of them armed and ready to protect their own.

  “There was a man,” Nicolette said, her voice trembling with fear and her eyes simmering a deep green. “He...he was at Sammy’s window.”

  A couple of the cowboys left the house, and Lucas knew they’d be checking it out and scouting around the area for anyone who didn’t belong.

  “The police are on their way, but I rang the bell after Nicolette screamed and grabbed Sammy out of bed. We knew you could get here quicker than law enforcement,” Cassie explained.

  Nicolette’s eyes were huge, as were Sammy’s, and a swift sense of protectiveness rose up inside him. What in the hell had somebody been doing looking into a second-floor window? There was nothing he wanted more than to find the person who had put such fear in Nicolette’s and Sammy’s eyes.

  Instead he holstered his gun and walked over to where they were cuddled together. “You both okay?”

  Nick Coleman came back in from outside. “There’s a ladder against the house. We didn’t touch anything, but it’s definitely not one of ours.”

  “Spread out all the men and see if you can find who was on that ladder,” Adam said. “He can’t have gotten too far. Lucas and I will stay in here to wait for Chief Bowie and his men to arrive.”

  As if to punctuate his sentence, a siren became audible in the distance. Lucas remained next to the sofa, and despite the circumstances he couldn’t help but notice the evocative scent of Nicolette mingling with the minty soap scent of a freshly bathed little cowboy.

  Who would have been at the window? Was somebody trying to harm Sammy, or had his window just been an accidental choice for a break-in? And if it was a break-in attempt, why not come through the front or back door instead of trying to gain entry on the second level, where the culprit had to have known they would all be sleeping.

  Maybe the perp had seen lights on downstairs and had just assumed nobody would be in bed already. It still seemed a stretch to believe that somebody wanting to rob the place had decided to come and go from a ladder at a second-floor window. What did he intend to carry out?

  These thoughts created a tighter, more powerful knot in Lucas’s chest as he wondered what the real motive of the person might have been.

  He was glad to see Chief of Police Dillon Bowie walk through the door. Lucas and Dillon had become friends throughout the years, and there were few people Lucas trusted as much as he did the tall, broad-shouldered, dark-haired keeper of the law in Bitterroot.

  Adam made the introductions and Dillon took Cassie’s hand in his. “I’ve been meaning to stop by to meet Cass’s niece before now. I’m sorry we have to meet under such circumstances. Now, tell me exactly what happened.”

  Lucas listened intently as Nicolette talked about going up to bed and peeking in on her son, only to see a person with a ski mask at the window.

  Two of Dillon’s men entered the room. Officer Juan Ramirez nodded to everyone and then looked at his boss. “There is a ladder against the house going up to the bedroom window. All the ranch hands say it isn’t one of their ladders.”

  “Print the whole thing, although I imagine since whoever it was had on a ski mask, he probably had on gloves, as well,” Dillon replied.

  He motioned Cassie into the nearest chair and then he pulled a pad and pen from his pocket. “It’s possible that whoever tried to get into the house knew that you all were city folks and it might be easy pickings for a robbery. Or it could be some local kids out for a little mischief who didn’t realize you all had arrived in town yet. I can’t imagine that you’ve been in town long enough to make any enemies.”

  “Actually, we did have a little incident today at the café,” Nicolette said.

  Lucas looked at her in surprise. “What kind of an incident?” he asked before Dillon got a chance.

  She tightened her arms around Sammy. “Sammy accidentally spilled his milk and it splashed on a man’s jeans. He went off, calling Sammy a spoiled city brat and then...” She paused and then continued. “And then I threw my iced tea at him.”

  “He was sitting at the counter with a bunch of other men and they all gave us the evil eye when we came in,” Cassie added.

  Lucas’s stomach tightened at the thought of any man accosting Nicolette and Sammy. And he was oddly pleased that she had enough mama bear in her that she’d added to the milk insult by tossing her tea at whoever it was.

  “Did you get a name?” Dillon asked.

  “Lloyd. Daisy called him Lloyd,” Nicolette replied, the tremor back in her voice.

  “That has to be Lloyd Green. He’s the only Lloyd around,” Lucas said and then looked at Nicolette. “Why didn’t you tell me about all this when we met in town after lunch?”

  She pointedly glanced down at the boy who, despite all the excitement, had the droopy eyelids of exhaustion. “I didn’t think it was the time or the place.”

  Dillon frowned. “Lloyd is definitely a hothead, but I can’t imagine him taking any grudge to this kind of a level. Still, I’ll check him out, see what he has been up to tonight.” He gazed at Nicolette and then back at Cassie. “Anyone else giving you any problems?”

  “No, like you said before, we’ve scarcely been in town long enough to meet anyone.” She looked at Adam. “And I don’t think we’ve made anyone angry here at the ranch.”

  “It wasn’t one of our men,” Adam replied firmly. “Nobody here would want to bring harm to Cassie or Nicolette or Sammy. We’re all trying to rebuild things since Cass’s death, not destroy them.”

  “I just want to know that my son is safe,” Nicolette said softly. In the past few minutes Sammy had drifted off to sleep, and she gently stroked his dark hair from his forehead.

  Lucas found himself wondering what her touch would feel like across his forehead, what it would be like if she were his woman, if Sammy was his child. He focused back on Dillon, knowing his thoughts were about to take him into dangerous territory and there had already been enough of that on this night.

  “I’ll have my men check the window upstairs,” Dillon said. “And if it’s any consolation, I wouldn’t assume that whoever was at the window intended harm for your boy. It’s more likely it was just a matter of chance that that particular window was used.”

  “I hope you’re right about that,” Nicolette replied.

  “I’m going upstairs to check out the window, and I know your men and mine are combing the area, but I think the excitement is probably over for the rest of the night.”

  As Dillon went upstairs, Nicolette shifted the sleeping boy in her arms and Lucas sat on the sofa next to her. Adam stood at the side of the chair where Cassie sat clad in a blue lightweight robe, her eyes still filled with fear.

  “You don’t have to worry,” Adam said to her. “I’ll have a man patrol the perimeters of the house for the rest of the night.”

  “And you also won’t have to worry because I intend to move in,” Lucas added. “I can bunk in with Sammy during the nights until Dillon gets this figured out, and that way nobody will b
e able to get past me to hurt anyone.”

  Nicolette stared at him in obvious surprise, but he also saw a hint of relief in the green depths of her eyes. “You don’t need to do that,” she said, but it was only half a protest.

  “Maybe I don’t need to, but I want to,” he replied. He looked to Cassie, who he knew would have the final say in the matter.

  “You could at least stay in the extra bedroom in a queen bed rather than bunking in with Sammy on a twin,” Cassie replied.

  He looked at the kid, his handsome little face a picture of innocence in slumber. He’d been sleeping when his mother had screamed. He’d heard about a man at his window. He’d probably be afraid to sleep alone in that room ever again.

  “I’d rather sleep in the small room with Sammy. He might need a roommate for a few nights after all the trauma,” he replied.

  He would have slept on a cow patty on a wintry night to receive the soft, grateful gaze that Nicolette gave him. What was wrong with him? He had never felt this protective surge for anyone except Cass, who had saved his life, his very soul by having him come to this ranch.

  He would have died for Cass, and it shocked him that in the brief time he’d known Sammy and Nicolette he was starting to feel the same way about them. It didn’t make sense, was completely irrational considering how little he knew about Nicolette, but it was there, nevertheless.

  “While Adam and Dillon and his men are here, I’ll just go get some things from my bunk,” he said, suddenly feeling as if he needed some distance from the very scent of her, from the emotions she evoked in him.

  As he stepped out the front door and headed around the house where the ladder still stood leading up to Sammy’s bedroom, a new fiercely burning knot formed in the pit of his stomach.

  He dismissed his crazy thoughts about Nicolette and instead his mind filled with all kinds of questions. Had the incident in the café with Lloyd Green prompted some sort of crazy attempt at retribution?