Читать книгу Cowboy For Keeps - Brenda Mott - Страница 9

CADE SHOOK OFF the remnants of a nightmare he hadn’t had in quite some time. Chalk it up to coming home to Eagle’s Nest. Throwing back the covers, he stood, taking in the familiar room.

Home. In Colorado.

It felt strange yet comforting to be on the Diamond L after nine years of living on the outskirts of New Meadows, Idaho. He hadn’t expected to feel comforted, plagued as he still was by the events that had led to his departure. He only wished he’d come here under more pleasant circumstances. It killed him to see his father so sick.

After a quick shower, Cade dressed and yanked on his boots—still damp from last night’s downpour—and clomped down the stairs. The aroma of coffee and hot, buttered pancakes wafted from the kitchen, drawing him in. His father sat at the table, dressed in his usual Western shirt, jeans and cowboy boots. But the light was gone from his blue eyes. His tan had faded, and he looked as ill as he was. The oxygen tube clipped to his nostrils called attention to his labored breathing.

Cade forced a smile. “Morning, Dad. Mom.”

Estelle stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. Her short, silver-blond hair smelled like strawberries. “It sure is good to see you in my kitchen, son. Sit down, I’ve got pancakes ready.”

She scowled and pointed a finger at her husband, who’d pulled a cigarette from his shirt pocket and stuck it between his lips. “Light that, Matthew Lantana, and I’ll kick your butt—if your oxygen tank doesn’t blow you to kingdom come first!”

“Don’t get your britches in a knot, woman.” Clutching the unfiltered cigarette between two fingers, Matt waved it in the air. “I just wanna suck on the damn thing. Is that all right with you?” He glared at her. “Wasn’t gonna light it.”

Estelle gave him a dark look. “You’re playing with fire either way,” she said. “Just tempting and tormenting yourself, is all you’re doing.” She slammed down a plate with a single pancake in front of him. Refilled his cup. “You shouldn’t even have those cancer sticks in the house.”

“Can we please not argue on my first morning here?” Cade interjected. “Dad, put the cigarette away.”

“Fine.” Matthew stuck it back in his shirt pocket. “A man can’t do a blasted thing in his own home,” he grumbled.

“You can die in your own home, that’s what you can do, if you don’t stop it!” Estelle blinked, tears rimming her red eyes. She dropped into a chair across from her husband and dug viciously into her own stack of pancakes with the side of her fork.

Purposely and with relish, Matthew put a huge dollop of butter on his single flapjack, then poured enough syrup over it to drown a mule. He narrowed his eyes at Estelle as if daring her to object.

Cade sighed. “Do you feel like taking a ride with me today, Dad?”

“I can’t manage horseback anymore—you know that.” Without looking at him, Matt shoved a forkful of dripping pancake into his mouth. Though he owned a portable oxygen tank small enough to fit behind a saddle, the limited air supply kept him from riding, since anything less than two hours in the saddle was, in his mind, a waste of time. Not to mention that pride wouldn’t allow him to do something with difficulty that had once been second nature.

“I meant a ride in the truck,” Cade said. “I’m driving out to Wild Horse Ranch to see what those poachers might’ve left behind.”

Matt snapped to attention. “So, they were there last night?”

Cade nodded. “Bold as you please, trying to run the herd into a canyon.”

“That disgusts me to no end,” Estelle fumed. “Can’t the sheriff get them for trespassing on Reno’s ranch, at least?”

“Yep, but trespassing charges aren’t going to solve the problem. The Bureau of Land Management needs to bust them for poaching and theft of government property. But what I hear from Sam Grainger, the agents have been busy out by De Beque, where this same thing’s been happening.”

“Think it’s wise to be poking around on Reno Blackwell’s place?” Matt asked. He’d been well aware of Cade’s feelings for Reno, and the complicated decision he’d made in leaving Colorado.

Cade shrugged. “Reckon I owe her all the help I can give.”

“You’re an agent in Idaho, not here,” his mother reminded him. “I hate to see you hanging around Reno again.” She didn’t have to finish what he knew she was thinking. That by leaving, he’d hurt Reno, a teenage girl who’d looked up to him.

But the older Reno had got, the more Cade’s interests had changed from brotherly to something more, especially once she turned eighteen. Yet after what her stepfather had done, not to mention what Sonny had forced Cade to do, there was nowhere for those feelings to go. Twenty-five-year-old men weren’t supposed to be attracted to eighteen-year-old girls.

“I’m not hanging around with her, Mom. I’m just doing what needs to be done.”

“I suppose,” Estelle said, “but there’s no sense in you dragging your father out in the middle of nowhere.”

“For crying out loud!” Matt slammed his cup down, sloshing coffee onto the gingham tablecloth. “Why don’t you just go ahead and put me in a pine box and bury me?”

“Matthew, calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down,” he wheezed. Suddenly, a coughing fit seized him, and Cade half rose from his chair, feeling responsible.

“You okay, Dad?” he asked, laying a hand on his arm.

“Oh, Matt.” Estelle scooted her own chair away from the table and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “Relax. Just breathe easy.”

“Br—breathe easy,” Matt wheezed. “Easy for you…to say.” His color had gone from red to ashen, then slowly returned to normal as he leaned back in his chair and sucked in oxygen.

Cade felt like crap. He wished there was something he could do for his father. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“You didn’t,” Matt snapped. “She did.” He waved Estelle away. “Quit fussing, woman. If I’m gonna die, then so be it. But I damn sure ain’t gonna sit around this kitchen twenty-four-seven—like an invalid.” He breathed somewhat easier. “Yeah, I’ll ride along to Wild Horse Ranch with you, son.” He reached out to squeeze Cade’s hand, and his grip was surprisingly strong. “It’s good to have you home, boy.”

Cade swallowed the lump in his throat. “It’s good to be here, Dad.” To his mother he added, “Don’t worry. I’ll look after him. The truck’s air-conditioned, so he’ll really be more comfortable in my Chevy than he is in this kitchen.” He winked at his father.

The old ranch house was cooled by the shade of the massive cottonwoods that grew around the perimeter of the yard, front and back. Plus most of the rooms had ceiling fans and plenty of windows for cross breezes.

Matt smiled, more like his old self. “I’ve always been a Ford man myself, but I guess a body can’t be choosey.”

THE PHONE RANG, startling Reno from her spot in front of her home office computer. She used the PC to keep records of the mustangs that lived at her sanctuary, as well as for her own small herd of fifteen quarter horses.

“Wild Horse Ranch.”

“Hey, Reno,” Sheriff Pritchard said. “Hope I’m not calling too early.”

His sexy drawl gave her shivers. “Not at all. What can I do for you, Austin?”

“Now there’s a loaded question,” he teased. “I saw Wynonna at the diner today—talk about a morning person.” He laughed and Reno joined him.

“Wy definitely gets up with the chickens.” Wynonna sometimes ate breakfast in town on the weekend, lingering over coffee at the diner to chat with her friends.

“Anyway, she told me about your encounter with the poachers.”

Reno knew where this was going. Austin wouldn’t be at all happy to know Cade was stepping on his toes.

“I would’ve called you out if I’d been certain they would try something,” she said. “I was just following a hunch I had.”

“Yeah, well, your hunches can get you into trouble, Reno. You need to let me handle this.”

“Actually, there was a BLM ranger out there last night,” she said. “I’m sure you remember Cade Lantana.” Austin had become a deputy shortly before Cade hung up his badge.

“He’s with the BLM now? I thought he’d moved to Idaho.”

“He did, so I guess he’s not here officially. From what I understand, though, he’s got an agent friend in the Glenwood Springs office—Sam Grainger.”

“I know Sam,” Austin said. “He’s a straight-up guy.”

“Cade took a leave of absence to come help his mom and dad.”

“Yeah, I guess Estelle could use him here,” Austin said. “Well, the BLM may have authority over the wild horses, but I’m the law in this county. I’m coming out to have a look around.”

“Fine by me.” What was it to her if the two men got into a pissing contest? Besides, she enjoyed Austin’s company. “Come on up to the house and we can ride out to where the poachers were.”

“Will do. See you in a bit, then.”

Reno hung up the cordless and had no sooner turned back to the computer when the phone rang again. She picked it up and spoke without preamble. “If you’re wanting coffee, I’ve got the pot on.”

“Well, that’s mighty thoughtful of you. I can always use a cup.”

The deep, familiar voice prickled the hair on the back of her neck. “Cade. I thought you were someone else.”

“Does that mean I don’t get any coffee?”

She stiffened. How could he banter with her? “That all depends.”

“On…?”

“Whether or not Sheriff Pritchard drinks it up.”

Silence stretched across the line. “Austin Pritchard? He’s sheriff now?”

“Martinez retired shortly after you left. I would’ve thought your mom told you that.”

“We try not to talk much about the past.”

Reno ignored her churning stomach.

“So, Pritchard’s there—at your place?”

What was that she detected in Cade’s voice? Surely not the jealousy she imagined. Must be the macho territorial thing again. “No, but he’s on his way over.”

“You called him about the poachers?”

“No.” She drew the word out into two syllables. “Small town—news spreads fast. Remember?”

“He doesn’t need to poke around in this,” Cade said. “The BLM—”

“What did you want me to do, Cade? Ground him?”

He merely grunted. “Sam Grainger’s up in De Beque today, meeting with a couple of agents from the Grand Junction office.” Sam had gone to high school with Cade. “So I thought I’d drive out to your place and take a look around for him. My dad’s coming with me. I figured we’d take the back road and come in on the side of your property closest to the river. Maybe drive down near the canyon?”

“Fine by me. Who am I to interfere with what Sam wants you to do?”

“Well, it’s your property,” he grumbled. “Just thought I’d make a courtesy phone call.”

“I’m taking Austin out there on horseback,” Reno said. “I figured we’d get a better look around that way.”

“Suit yourself. Guess I’ll see you out there, then.”

“Okay. Bye.” She hung up the phone, then glared at it.

Great. Just what she needed. Cade poking around on her ranch. Of course, she’d known that was bound to happen. Even if he didn’t have official jurisdiction here, the BLM was a federal agency, and like any other brotherhood of the law. That didn’t make having him around any easier. Suddenly Reno was glad Austin was coming out. He could act as a buffer between her and Cade.

At a knock on the kitchen’s outside door, she hurried to let Austin in. “Morning, Sheriff. I’ve got your coffee waiting.”

“Appreciate it.” He smiled broadly at her, removing his hat. “And if you don’t mind my saying so, Reno, you’re looking lovely this morning. I’d say red’s your color.” He indicated the bright crimson, sleeveless Western shirt she wore.

“Thanks,” Reno said, pleased. She knew Austin liked her in red.

But then, so had Cade.

Reno shook off the thought. She barely had time for one man in her life, much less two.

And she sure didn’t need Cade messing with her head again.