Born to Be a Cowboy Read online

  “Why didn’t your grandmother leave any of the land to you and your brothers?”

  Finn frowned. “I should explain. Ben, Sam, and I are adopted. We came along years after all this nasty family business.”

  “Adopted.” She turned to look at him. “The three of you are so in tune with your father, I’d have never guessed.”

  “You should have seen us when we were new here.”

  “Were you scared?”

  “We were angry, mean, foul-mouthed delinquents, ready to fight anybody who got in our way.”

  “You’re kidding. How could mean, foul-mouthed troublemakers morph into a sheriff, a lawyer, and a rancher?”

  “Through a lot of hard work on Mac’s part. Looking back, I’m amazed by his patience and love. He and those three old guys probably had a lot of sleepless nights over the three hell-raisers living under their roof, but in the end, we all became family.”

  “I noticed. Despite the differences, you’re all so relaxed and happy.” Jessie sighed. “I had that with Aunt Nola. I really thought it was an unbreakable bond.”

  Finn couldn’t resist reaching a hand to cover hers. It was cold, he noted, despite the sunshine streaming through the truck windows. But this time she didn’t snatch it away.

  “Maybe when we get to your aunt’s ranch, you’ll discover this was all some kind of mistake, and she’ll be there, eager to tell you all about her honeymoon.”

  She gave a deep sigh. “Oh, Finn, I hope you’re right. But she hasn’t phoned me or answered my calls. Not once. Still, I want to believe I’m wrong. I wake up every morning thinking this will be the day she’ll call and invite me over to meet her new husband.” Her voice trembled slightly. “And we’ll all live happily ever after.”

  Chapter Five

  Jessie pointed. “You’ll leave the interstate at that crossroads up ahead. Turn left onto the asphalt road and follow it for a while.”

  Like every native of Montana, Finn knew that a while could mean a mile or more than twenty. It didn’t matter. The area wasn’t heavily populated, unless you counted the herds of cattle darkening the hills around them. The ranches here were few and far between, with vast rangeland separating them.

  After following the road for several miles, he could see a sprawling ranch house in the distance. Drawing closer, he could make out the barns and outbuildings, and a graceful white two-story house with a wide porch encircling two sides of the main portion of the house.

  “Your aunt has a fine, sturdy house.”

  Jessie nodded. “My great-grandfather built it. Aunt Nola lived her entire life with her parents, caring for them in their old age, just as they’d cared for their parents. After they died, she cared for the ranch in the same way.” She sighed. “She loved this place too much to ever leave it willingly.”

  “Hold on now. Let’s not jump the gun.”

  Jessie nodded and leaned forward as Finn turned the truck into the long, circular driveway and came to a halt at the front door.

  She didn’t wait for him, but stepped out and headed toward the back porch. Over her shoulder she called, “We never used the front door except for company. That leads to a big parlor. This door leads to the heart of the house, the kitchen.”

  He trailed behind her and watched as she sailed up the back steps and twisted the door’s handle.

  The door didn’t budge.

  He saw her shoulders slump as she fished in her pocket for her key. A moment later she opened the door and stepped inside, with Finn behind her.

  “Aunt Nola.” Even while calling out her aunt’s name, Jessie was shaking her head. “If she was here, the door would be unlocked. I’ve never known Aunt Nola to lock the door unless she was heading to town. And even then she left it unlocked more often than not.”

  As they walked through the rooms, Finn noted the bright, airy windows free of curtains or drapes, offering an unobstructed view of the rolling hills beyond. The furniture was old but elegant. In the parlor, two wing chairs sat on either side of a stone fireplace. A sofa had a handmade afghan draped over one arm. In the dining room an oak side table displayed fine china and crystal and an oak dining table big enough to seat a dozen guests.

  As they climbed the stairs to the bedrooms, he noticed the walls were decorated with a dozen or more framed photographs of ancestors, many of them bearing a resemblance to Jessie.

  Finn paused. “Is this you?”

  She turned back to study the framed picture of a little girl with golden curls and a missing front tooth, holding the hand of an auburn-haired woman wearing overalls and rubber boots.

  “That was my first year here on the ranch.” She pointed to a photograph above it, with a handsome man and a beautiful woman holding a baby between them. “And that’s me with my parents.”

  Upstairs she showed Finn her old bedroom, where more photos covered the top of a six-drawer dresser. While he remained to study them, Jessie moved down the hall to her aunt’s room.

  A few minutes later he found her there, kneeling by the open closet door.

  “What do you have there?”

  She looked up. “Aunt Nola called this her treasure chest.” She picked up a simple shoebox stored among a cluster of leather boots and similar boxes, before carrying it to the bed.

  She removed the lid. Inside she found an old photo of her aunt, auburn-haired, green-eyed, and smiling for the camera.

  After rummaging through the articles, she gave a sudden gasp. “This is new.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because I’ve never seen it before. And I’ve seen all my aunt’s treasures.”

  She handed over the photograph and Finn studied the same woman as in the earlier photos. But this woman’s hair was now threaded with gray. She wore simple denims and a plaid shirt, the sleeves rolled to her elbows. The man beside her was long-limbed in his faded jeans and cowboy hat. His arm was around her shoulders in a proprietary way. And though she was looking at him, he was staring straight into the camera, eyes narrowed in thought.

  “Could this be Wayne Stone?”

  Jessie gave a shrug of her shoulders. “I wish I knew. But I do know it wasn’t here a month ago. On my last visit home Aunt Nola asked me to bring down her treasure chest. She had an old photo of my father—her brother—she wanted me to have. And I went through everything in this box until I found it. I know this picture wasn’t among them.”

  “Good. We’ll take it along. If we can identify him as Stone, maybe Basil can find someone in Haller Creek who will recognize him.”

  He motioned toward the wranglers who could be seen in the hills with the herds. “Why don’t we talk to some of your aunt’s old employees and see if they can shed any light on her disappearance.”

  Jessie replaced her aunt’s shoebox in the closet and tucked the photo in her pocket before following Finn down the stairs.

  Out in the barn they saddled two horses and headed toward the hills.

  As they rode, Finn couldn’t help noticing the sleek cattle, the well-maintained outbuildings.

  “Your aunt took good care of her inheritance.”

  “She was a rancher to her core, and so proud of everything her family had worked for.”

  As they came up over a rise, they spotted a range shack and a cluster of wranglers on horseback.

  Finn glanced at Jessie. “Do any of them look familiar?”

  “No. But Hugh Jenkins, Aunt Nola’s foreman, often takes on extra help in spring and again in the fall.” She led the way toward the group of horsemen before dismounting. “Hello. I’m Nola Blair’s niece, Jessie. Is Hugh inside?”

  The wranglers glanced at one another before one of them said, “I don’t know anyone named Hugh.”

  “Hugh Jenkins. He’s ranch foreman here, and has been for the past twenty or more years.”

  “You’d want to talk to Ken Kyle. He’s the one who hired me.”

  Another wrangler nodded. “Kyle hired me, too.” He pointed. “He’s up there with the herd
.”

  Jessie pulled herself into the saddle and she and Finn rode in silence until they reached the top of the hill, where a flat meadow was crowded with cattle.

  After inquiring about Ken Kyle, they were directed to the far side of the herd.

  “Ken Kyle?”

  At Jessie’s question, one horseman separated himself from the others and lifted his wide-brimmed hat. “Yes, ma’am. I’m Ken Kyle. What can I do for you?”

  “I’m looking for Hugh Jenkins, the longtime foreman here.”

  He shrugged. “Sorry. I just started here a couple of days ago. I don’t know anyone by that name.”

  She glanced at Finn before saying, “Mr. Kyle, my name is Jessie Blair. I’m Nola Blair’s niece.”

  He gave her a blank look.

  She tried again. “Nola Blair owns this ranch.”

  He shook his head. “Sorry. I don’t know anyone by that name. I was hired by a man named Wayne Stone, who said he was the owner of this place.”

  She slipped the photo from her pocket. “Is this Wayne Stone?”

  He barely glanced at the photo. “Sorry. I never met my employer.”

  “Then how did he hire you?”

  “Over the phone. He said he got my name from Ron Eberly, who just recently sold his ranch and was about to let all his wranglers go. His offer was too good to pass up.”

  Finn asked, “How are you and the wranglers paid?”

  “We’ll get a check in the mail. Instead of being paid once a month, like most ranchers do, Mr. Stone promised it will arrive every Friday. With a deal like that, it was easy for me to hire a slew of wranglers looking for work.”

  Finn took one look at Jessie’s face and knew he needed to get her away from here before she broke down.

  “Thanks, Ken.” He offered a handshake. “I’d like to give you my card. If the new owner shows up, or his wife, would you give me a call?”

  The cowboy shrugged and accepted the card. After reading it he looked over. “Why is a lawyer asking questions about the owner of this ranch? I hope we’re not facing any legal troubles.”

  Finn gave him an easy smile. “Miss Blair here is worried about her aunt. She’s been gone since her marriage to Wayne Stone. She’d really appreciate knowing whenever her aunt returns safely home.”

  “Sure thing.” The cowboy tucked Finn’s card into his shirt pocket before saying, “Nice meeting both of you.”

  “You, too, Ken. And thanks for the information.”

  Finn turned his mount toward the distant ranch house, and Jessie did the same.

  They rode across the meadow in silence.

  When they reached the barn, they unsaddled their horses and turned them into stalls, forking feed and pouring water into troughs before making their way to Finn’s truck.

  As he drove away, he saw the way Jessie turned her head, studying the house with a sadness she couldn’t hide.

  He reached over and took her hand. “I know this is all too much to process in one big gulp. But hang on, Jessie, and we’ll sort through this.”

  She looked down at their joined hands before turning to look at him. “Do you really think so? Or are you just trying to humor me?”

  “I’m a lawyer. My job is to weigh all the facts as I gather them, and try to make some sense of them. Right now, I’m as confused as you are. But I’m beginning to think there’s something very wrong here. If you’re willing to trust me, I’ll walk with you through this maze and we’ll come out the other side.”

  “But will we come out the other side whole? Or will I be forced to accept this…this stranger as the legal owner of my aunt’s ranch?”

  “That’s the million-dollar question.” He squeezed her hand. “I hope Wayne Stone finally shows his face. And I hope, when he does, your aunt has simply fallen hard for a good guy. But if he turns out to be a scam artist, or if she’s been harmed in any way, you have my word I won’t rest until he pays.”

  “But look how brazen he is. He just walked in and took over another person’s lifelong property without a fight.”

  “Oh, he’ll have a fight on his hands if he doesn’t have the answers to your questions. I guarantee you that. Because there’s nothing I like more than a good knock-down, drag-out brawl. I just happen to do my fighting in a courtroom.”

  She was silent for the longest time before saying softly, “Thank you.”

  “I haven’t done anything yet.”

  “You believe me. You’re the first to do that. You’ll never know what it means just to have you on my side.”

  Finn stared straight ahead. “I guess I’d know a little about that. When I was a scared, angry kid, I thought the whole world was against me. Then I met Mac, and he let me know he would stand by me, no matter what. Knowing that changed my whole world.”

  He turned and met her direct gaze. “Everybody needs to know they have somebody on their side, Jessie.”

  He shot her one of those sexy smiles that did strange things to her heart. “So, my advice to you is”—his tone changed to a teasing drawl—“you stick with me, little lady, and we’ll get to the bottom of this mystery.”

  She found herself laughing despite her worries. “That’s really cheesy, Counselor.”

  “But it made you smile.”

  She nodded and turned to stare out the window. Finn looked over to see Jessie lean her head back and close her eyes.

  It may have been the emotional toll she’d been enduring, or simply the soothing motion of the vehicle as it ate up the miles back toward Haller Creek, but he soon heard the sound of her soft, even breathing that told him she’d found some escape in sleep.

  He took the opportunity to study her as she slept. Her hair fell over one eye, drifting like a cloud against her cheek.

  It was true that his first impression of her had been that she was almost too pretty to believe. But it wasn’t her physical beauty he was thinking about now. There was a sadness, a vulnerability in her that touched a chord deep inside.

  He understood what it meant to need someone to believe in you. But more than that, he knew how lost a person could be without family. It had been the separation from his brothers all those years ago that had left the deepest scars. With Ben and Sam by his side, he could face anything. Without them, he’d felt the weight of the world on his young shoulders.

  Such a heavy load for Jessie to carry on those slim shoulders, he thought as he studied her. And for some reason he didn’t want to probe too deeply, he felt a real kinship with this woman who had burst into his life with a wild tale and sad, trusting eyes.

  He knew there were those who would call him a fool for getting involved in this whole crazy story. After all, the authorities who dealt with such things on a regular basis had already discounted her fears. Still, he couldn’t agree with them. In fact, the more he looked into this, the more he began to believe. Or was he talking himself into something because he really wanted to believe her? It was easy to care about Jessie. Despite the air of sophistication, there was a simple goodness in her that tugged at him.

  Hearing alarm bells going off in his mind, he looked away from her and turned his attention to the road.

  Time to remind himself of one more fact. He was a lawyer. She was his client. And he couldn’t mix business and pleasure.

  Chapter Six

  When Finn parked the truck, Jessie’s head came up and she looked around, struggling to get her bearings.

  “Where are we?”

  “Back at my home.” He pointed to the line of trucks alongside the back porch. “Looks like my brothers beat me to it again. Not that I’m surprised. They always seem to make it in time for supper.”

  He stepped out and circled around to open the passenger door.

  As Jessie moved along beside him, she looked over. “You’re lucky to have so much family.”

  “Yeah.” He leaned close, like a conspirator. “But don’t let them know I admitted that.”

  She was smiling as they climbed the steps and walked th
rough the mudroom on their way to the kitchen.

  The minute they entered the house, Archie raced toward them, tail wagging, tongue lolling.

  Finn stooped. “Jessie, this is Archie. He was rescued by Ben and Becca, and has become another member of the family.”

  “Hi, Archie.” She was instantly on her knees, accepting wet doggie kisses and laughing. “Oh, he’s a sweetheart.”

  The chorus of voices and the sound of laughter greeted them, causing them to stand and pause in the doorway.

  To Finn it was a familiar sight. Penny slicing something in a roaster. Becca lifting a pan of biscuits from the oven. Mary Pat tossing a salad. Zachariah filling glasses with water before placing them around the table. Otis and Roscoe, fresh from tending the herd in the hills, washing up at the big sink, while Ben and Sam and Mac stood together, sipping longnecks and sharing an amusing story about their day.

  Ben was saying, “…threatened to sue the county if she couldn’t find her false teeth after spending a night in jail drying out. And I told her she was so drunk the night before, she probably swallowed them. And wouldn’t you know, she dropped to her knees and clutched her stomach, claiming she’d sue to have them surgically removed.”

  Mac and Sam were laughing so hard they had to wipe tears from their eyes.

  Sam shook his head. “Only Minnie Purcell could be that gullible.” He looked at his brother. “So, did you find her false teeth?”

  Ben nodded. “On the floor under the bunk in cell two.”

  “So,” Sam asked, “they fell out while she was asleep?”

  “Looks like it. Of course, she was asleep in cell three. But she thinks she may have loaned them to old Titus McCool, who was sleeping off a drunk in cell two, and claimed he couldn’t eat without his teeth.”

  Another round of laughter followed that statement.