Buch lesen: «The Right Cowboy»

Chapter One

Tamsin Rayburn pulled in her parking space in front of Ostler Certified Accounting Firm in Whitebark, Wyoming. She was running late to get back to the ranch. Dean would be picking her up for dinner and she needed to hurry.

With her light chestnut hair swishing against her shoulders, she got out of the car and rushed through the reception area to her office. Her boss would be pleased to know she’d finished auditing the books for Beckstrand Drilling earlier than planned and could start on the Whitebark Hospital audit.

In her haste, she almost ran into Heather Jennings, a coworker who’d become a close friend over the last two years. It looked like everyone else had gone home. Smiling at her she said, “I’ve never needed a weekend more. How about you?”

Heather studied her for a moment with an anxious expression. “You don’t know, do you?”

She was being very mysterious. “Know what?”

“I’ve been hoping you would walk in here before I left. Now I’m almost afraid to tell you.”

“Heather—what’s wrong?”

Her friend drew in a deep breath. “There’s only one way to say this. Today I had lunch with Amy Paskett.” Amy was a girl Tamsin had known from high school who worked at Paskett’s feed store. “It turns out her father waited on Cole Hawkins this morning. Apparently he’s back in Whitebark for good.”

Tamsin grabbed the edge of her desk while her world whirled for a moment. “Wh-what did you say?” she stammered.

“I knew this would be hard for you to hear.”

Cole was home for good? The cowboy who’d left the state nine years ago, riding off with her heart?

The last time she’d seen him was at a distance when he’d come home for his father’s funeral six months ago. He’d been driving down the street in a friend’s truck, but he hadn’t seen her. Once the funeral was over, he’d left again.

Shock didn’t begin to describe what she was feeling. “How long has he been here?”

“I don’t know. That was all Amy said in passing. I’ve been waiting to tell you in case you hadn’t heard. If you hadn’t come, I would have phoned you.”

Tamsin looked at Heather, still reeling from the incredible news. “Thank you for being such a good friend.” Heather knew some of her past history with Cole, but not all.

“I’m not sure thanks is the right word.”

“Yes, it is.” She gave her a hug. “I’m grateful to have heard it from you first. Now at least I’m prepared should someone else tell me.”

“Look—I’ve got to go, but call me this weekend and we’ll talk.”

She nodded. “I’ll walk out with you.”

Tamsin waited while Heather locked up, then she hurried to her car. She was so shaken by what her friend had told her, she trembled all the way to her family’s ranch located two miles south of town.

There’d been an article in the Sublette Gazette four months ago about the rodeo legend Cole Hawkins being involved with a country singer from Colorado. It didn’t surprise Tamsin since he was a talented musician and songwriter himself. Maybe he’d married the woman and had brought her home to settle down.

If he were recently married, how would Tamsin be able to handle it, knowing she’d be seeing them coming and going?

After he’d left Wyoming, she’d worked through her sorrow day and night for several years to earn enough money to put herself through college. Once she’d finished her schooling, she’d spent the last four years throwing herself into her career as a CPA.

At twenty-seven she had dreams of opening up her own agency one day, and she’d been dating Dean Witcom, an amazing man. Their relationship had grown serious. Lately she was excited about where it was headed. He’d be a wonderful, devoted husband just like his brother Lyle who adored her sister.

Yet the mere mention of Cole—let alone that he was home to stay—sent stabbing pain through her as if it were only yesterday he’d said goodbye to her. She couldn’t bear it, not when she’d fought with everything in her power to put his memory behind her. If her sister Sally knew about Cole, she’d kept quiet about it.

Once Tamsin reached the ranch house, she felt a guilty pang when she saw that Dean’s truck with the Witcom-Dennison Oil Association logo was parked out in front. How could she be thinking about Cole when Dean was here waiting for her? What was wrong with her?

She drove around the back and rushed inside to find her sister. Sally and her husband, Lyle, who also worked at WDOA, were living temporarily at the ranch. They were probably in the living room talking to Dean while he passed the time until Tamsin got home. No one else was in the house. Their parents were on a vacation in Afton to visit extended family.

Dean had told her to get dressed up. Tamsin had the suspicion he’d planned something special. She’d been looking forward to it and had bought a new dress, but there was no way she could enjoy an evening with him tonight and pretend nothing was wrong.

“Sally?” She knocked on their bedroom door in case she was in there. The family’s golden retriever came running up to lick her. “Hey, Duke. Is Sally in there?” She rubbed the dog’s head.

Her pregnant younger sister opened the door, finishing pulling a loose-fitting top over her maternity jeans. “Tamsin—” She looked surprised to see her.

“I’m so glad you were in here.” Sally was the one person who knew everything about her heartbreak over Cole and had consoled her through the worst of those early days when she’d thought her life had ended.

“What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Not a ghost.” She hugged her arms to her waist. “Cole’s back.”

Her sister’s eyes—sky blue like Tamsin’s—narrowed in disbelief. “Come on in.”

Tamsin stepped past her. Duke rushed in before Sally shut the door behind her. “You actually saw him?” The question revealed that her sister hadn’t known anything, either.

“I just came from work. Heather told me he’d been seen at Paskett’s feed store this morning. Do you think Lyle knows?”

“No. Otherwise he would have told me and I would have phoned you.” She put a hand on Tamsin’s arm. “Did you know Dean is here? Lyle’s out in the front room with him.”

Tamsin nodded. “I saw his truck, but I need time to recover from the shock. Ever since I started seeing your brother-in-law four months ago, I assured him there’d been no other man in my life for a long time. At this point I’m totally involved with him, but Dean’s not going to trust me if he finds out the real reason why I’m so upset tonight. I can’t believe how this news has affected me.”

“I can. Let’s face it. You never got over him.”

“Yes, I did!” she defended.

“Then why has this news caused you to lose all the color in your face?”

She lowered her head. “You’re exaggerating.”

“Look in the mirror.”

“I’m going to be fine.”

“I hope that’s true. As far as I’m concerned, Cole Hawkins made the biggest mistake of his life by walking away from you. He was a fool and never deserved you. What astounds me is that he still has the power to do this to you after being gone for so long. Don’t let him do this to you.” Her voice shook.

“You think I want to feel like this? Oh, Sally. What am I going to do? I guess this day had to come and I’ve made too much over it because—because I always wondered what it would be like to see him again. I just need tonight to put everything into perspective. Can you understand?”

“Of course I do.”

“Dean’s the man I care about now.”

“I know, and he’s so crazy about you it’s sickening.”

“Thanks.”

“You know what I mean. Look. Stay in here. I’ll go out and tell Dean you’ve come home with a migraine and will call him later.”

“I hate doing this to him, but there’s no way I can hide my reaction right now. I’m afraid it will show and ruin the evening he has planned. I’ll have to sleep on it. In the morning, everything will be all right. I’ll phone him and let him know I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be convincing.”

Tamsin hugged her sister who was only two years younger. Some people actually thought they were twins. “Thanks, Sally. What would I do without you?”

“I say that about you all the time. If you hadn’t been there championing me during my barrel racing days when I couldn’t get it together, I don’t know how I would have made it. I’ll be back in a minute and we’ll talk.” Duke followed her out the door.

* * *

COLE HAWKINS HAD only been asleep five hours Sunday night when the pager on the side table went off at ten after three in the morning. He shot out of bed and put on jeans and a T-shirt. After grabbing his keys, he hurried to the back porch of the ranch house to pull on his turnout gear. His Ford-350 diesel truck was parked nearby for a quick exit in the warm late-June air.

He climbed inside and headed for the fire station in Whitebark, three miles away. The small town of thirteen hundred people was nestled at the base of the Wind River Range of the Rocky Mountains, known as “The Winds” by those who’d been born and raised there like Cole.

Located in the west-central part of the state, the crest of the magnificent range silhouetted under tonight’s half-moon ran along the Continental Divide. Gannett Peak rose 13,804 feet, the highest in Wyoming. That image of home had been inscribed in Cole’s mind and heart forever, having grounded him during his nine years away.

During the time he’d been at the University of Colorado in Boulder to complete undergraduate and graduate school, he’d also managed to become a firefighter. After working his tail off, he was finally back in Whitebark, ready to get started on his career, and do something drastic about his aching heart.

There was only one woman in this world who could fix it. He knew Tamsin didn’t want to see him...not ever. But that was too damn bad because when he’d come home for his father’s funeral six months ago, he’d heard she wasn’t married yet. Now that he was back in Wyoming territory, he planned to stake his claim no matter how long it took.

More determined than he’d ever been in his life, Cole roared into town and drove around the back of the station to park. Grabbing his helmet, he ran through to the bay and climbed in the tender truck.

Wyatt Fielding, an old friend who’d done bull riding with him in high school, was driving. They took off with the blare of the siren and lights flashing. This baby held twenty-five hundred gallons of water; an accident could be disastrous. He grinned at Cole.

“It’s so great to have you back after all this time. I couldn’t believe it the other day when Chief Powell told us you’d signed on with the department here.”

“Only when I’m available. There’ll be times when I’m up in the mountains working.”

“Understood. I guess you realize you’re still a rodeo legend around these parts.”

“So were you.”

“That’s bull and you know it. I was never good enough to go on the circuit.”

“Well, those days are over for me, Wyatt. I’m just thankful to be home at last.”

“You and I have a lot of catching up to do, but we’ll have to do it later. A fire has broken out on the Circle R Ranch. The ladder truck already took off. Captain Durrant is waiting for us.”

Circle R... “You don’t mean Rayburn’s—”

“There’s only one Rayburn in Whitebark.”

Cole’s heart started to thud unmercifully. Tamsin Rayburn, the girl he’d come home for, if she was still living there. A fire had broken out on her family’s ranch? He couldn’t believe it. Maybe he was going to see her sooner than he’d planned, but fear seized him that she could be in danger.

While Wyatt took the turnoff for the ranch, Cole’s mind relived their history that went back to his senior year in high school when they’d fallen madly in love. But circumstances beyond his control had separated them. She’d stopped returning his letters and phone calls. She’d even changed her phone number.

When he did visit his father periodically during those years, he knew she wanted nothing to do with him. Until he was home for good, he couldn’t do anything about their situation.

Cole had only been back in Wyoming five days. His first responsibility lay with his family’s longtime friend and foreman, Sam Speakuna, and his wife, Louise. They were Arapahoes from the Northern Arapahoe reservation who’d come to work for his father early on. Over the years they’d spent part of the time in their apartment on the Hawkins’ ranch, and commuted to Lander where they had a home and could be with their family.

All the time Cole had been away, those two had shouldered the full responsibility of the ranch house and the crew of two wranglers who handled their herd of forty head of beef cattle. They were like family to him at this point. Now it was time to discuss their future and the future of the Hawkins’ small cattle ranch.

After a meeting with Fire Chief Owen Powell, who’d received Cole’s credentials from Colorado, he took him on board immediately. After his father’s funeral, Cole had talked to Chief Powell about the possibility of his coming on board when his time in Colorado was over.

The chief was overjoyed at the prospect, telling him Whitebark could never have enough firefighters. Cole knew that was true. It helped to know he would have a place in the department. It wasn’t just the extra income, but that sense of belonging he needed to feel after being away so long.

His own father had combined firefighting and ranching. Now that Cole was back, he’d honored his father’s wishes to follow in his footsteps and do his part for the community, too. But he’d hardly had a chance to catch his breath before the pager had awakened him tonight.

The Circle R lay outside Whitebark at the other end of town. Cole had been there many times before in the past saying good-night to Tamsin. He could have found it blindfolded. Tonight he could see flames shooting up in the sky from the barn before they even drove in.

When they arrived, Cole heard quiet pandemonium and horses squealing. A mob of ranch hands had assembled. They were rescuing the animals and leading them toward the paddock in the distance. His eyes searched frantically for Tamsin but saw no sign of her or her parents. Maybe she wasn’t even here.

While the guys on the ladder truck were working the hoses, the captain signaled Wyatt to go to the other end of the barn. As they drove around, Cole whistled. “Somebody left an old wooden work ladder against that window. My gut tells me an arsonist has been at work.”

“I think you’re right.”

The second Wyatt parked the truck, they both jumped out and started pumping water. Their job was to put out any new spots of flames shooting up through the boards. Black smoke was curling out from the seams.

After a few minutes, everything looked under control from their side. They turned off the pump and racked the hoses before driving around to the front of the barn. A couple of the crew were inside looking for hot spots.

Captain Durrant worked as incident commander. He and another fire department official walked over to him and Wyatt. “It’s good to have you aboard, Cole.”

“I’m glad to be here, sir.”

“Call me Jeff. This is Commissioner Rich, head of the arson squad.”

The older man nodded to Cole. “Did you see anything that caught your attention around the other side?”

“There’s an old work ladder propped by the window. We figured the arsonist used it to either get in, or climb up on the roof and make a hole to whip up the speed and intensity of blaze. Evidently he didn’t have time to hide it.”

“Good.” The commissioner eyed Wyatt. “Do you have anything else to add?”

“Yes. The black smoke indicates an accelerant was used. I couldn’t smell it around the side, but I can smell gasoline fumes here.” The barn had become an unusable disaster.

“There’s been a series of ranch fires that have broken out in Sublette County over the last three months,” the older man informed them. “Not all have been the same and we haven’t been able to solve the logic of them yet, but every bit of information helps. Thanks for the creditable information. It ties in with the forensics evidence on these other cases that an accelerant was used.”

After he walked away to do his own inspection, Cole turned to the captain. “I used to know the people who live here. Where are they?”

“Howard Rayburn and his wife are out of town. Apparently their dog started barking and woke up the other members of the family. They’re probably with the horses. I believe their son-in-law, Lyle Witcom, called 911.”

Cole reeled. “Did you say son-in-law?”

“Yes. He’s married to one of their daughters.”

Maybe his information about Tamsin had been wrong. Please God, let it be her younger sister, Sally. The very thought of it being the woman who’d always had a stranglehold on his heart shook him to the core of his being.

Before he lost his grip, he said, “Their horses are going to need a new home until this barn is rebuilt. The barn on my ranch has room for six more horses. I could drive home and bring my rig to transport them.”

“I have no idea what arrangements they plan to make, but I’ll let them know of your generous offer.”

Before Cole could say anything else, another member of the crew called to Jeff, diverting his attention. Cole turned to Wyatt. “While we walk around the barn again to find more hot spots, tell me which Rayburn sister is married. Do you know?”

Wyatt eyed him curiously. “It’s Sally. She married Lyle Witcom last year.”

With that news Cole was able to breathe again. Everything about this unexpected night had him so tied up in knots he was losing his concentration.

They started another inspection. After twenty minutes they finished examining the exterior of the barn, looking for any evidence that could help identify the arsonist.

“If this guy loves to set fires to watch things burn up for the hell of it, he got careless here.”

“Something must have frightened him off,” Cole murmured. “If there’ve been a lot of fires lately, I’m thinking this freak has a definite agenda and that means he needs help to coordinate these raids. I’d be willing to bet he’s doing this with a bunch of guys out for some kind of revenge.”

Wyatt flashed him a glance. “For what reason?”

“Fire bugs don’t need much to go on a rampage. I saw it over in Colorado. The motive in that case had to do with a group trying to intimidate a legislator on the marijuana issue. They were caught and brought up on criminal charges, but not before a lot of damage was done to his property and he spent time in the hospital.”

“Incredible.” They waved to the guys on the ladder truck who were cleaning up. “Shall we go back to the station?”

“Give me a minute, Wyatt. I’ll be right back.”

Cole broke into a run as he headed for the corral where he could see some hands gentling the horses. A little closer now, he glimpsed the woman he’d been searching for rubbing her horse’s forelock. Her back was toward him. The ponytail looked painfully familiar.

The blood pounded in his ears. “Tamsin?” he called to her.

She turned around, causing his second shock for the night because it was her sister in the last stages of pregnancy who faced him, not Tamsin.

The last time Cole had seen Sally, she’d been sixteen and had just ridden in the local teen rodeo. But her disappointing marks had devastated her and she’d cried against Tamsin’s shoulder. Both sisters bore a strong resemblance to each other and had been touchingly devoted.

“Do I know you?”

Whoa. With his five-o’clock shadow and helmet, she obviously didn’t recognize him. Or maybe she did and pretended not to. Probably the latter since he knew she had no love for him. He removed his helmet.

Her features tightened as she studied him. “So the rumors really are true. The great rodeo legend who rode off chasing his dreams is back and working as a firefighter, no less. Who would have thought? If you turn your head, you’ll see my sister—she’s right over there.” Her eyes narrowed. “You just can’t help yourself, can you? But if you approach her, you do it at your own peril.”

Sally turned back to her horse.

A kick in the gut from a wild mustang couldn’t have been more debilitating than her warning. But he shouldn’t really be surprised when he knew the girls had been each other’s best friend all their lives.

Without saying another word, he looked around and saw Tamsin talking to one of the stockmen while she patted her horse’s neck. He walked closer to her, holding the helmet under his arm.

The unremarkable jeans and T-shirt she must have put on when the alarm sounded only emphasized the gorgeous mold of her body and long legs.

First light had already crept across the sky. That pink tone added a tint to her skin and highlighted the shape of the delectable mouth he’d dreamed of kissing and tasting every night.

Her hair hung to her shoulders. He picked out the streaks of gold among the light chestnut sheen no artificial color could improve upon. Once again her natural beauty took his breath.

Maybe she heard his quickly indrawn breath because her eyes suddenly swerved to his. Though she made no motion of any kind, he could sense the stiffening of her body.

“I’m sorry about the fire, Tamsin, but I’m happy to see all your horses are safe. If you need a place to stall them for a while, I have space in my barn and will transport them for you. I’ve already informed the captain. All you have to do is say the word and I’ll be back to load them within the hour.”

“Thank you,” she said through wooden lips. “We’ve already had three offers and my brother-in-law is taking care of the arrangements as we speak.”

“Tamsin—” He said her name again, but by now another man with brown hair wearing chinos and a polo shirt had come running into the corral and threw possessive arms around her as if she belonged to him. Cole watched her melt against his body. She’d obviously done it before and buried her face against his shoulder.

If this was the kind of peril Sally had been talking about, then Cole got the point. It was more like he’d been run through by Tamsin’s twelve-foot lance on the field of battle. He turned away and walked back to the burned barn where Wyatt was waiting for him.

The ladder truck had already started back to town. Cole climbed in the tender truck and they took off. His body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.

Wyatt flashed him a side glance. “Are you all right?”

“I don’t know. Ask me in the morning.”

“It already is morning.”

So it was.

“Do you want to stop for coffee and doughnuts at Hilda’s?”

No, but he knew Wyatt wanted to. “Sure. I could use both. Does this mean you don’t have a wife at home who will fix your breakfast when you get there?”

“What woman would that be?”

Cole actually chuckled. “Amen to that. You’ve just described my life, Wyatt. A half hour ago I was warned that if I approached the woman I was looking for, I had to do it at my own peril. That turned out to be true, unfortunately.”

“You’re talking about Tamsin. I remember back in high school when you two were so close during our senior year, I couldn’t imagine that changing.”

“At the time, I couldn’t, either. Now we live in separate universes.”

“So that’s why you came back to the truck looking like one of the walking dead.”

“Thanks.”

“Hey—have you taken a good look at me? We could be brothers. Welcome to the club. We’re great at wrangling steers, herding sheep or fighting fires. Give us any task, but get us around a woman and we just don’t know how to do it right.”

“You said a mouthful.”

“I don’t mean you, specifically, Cole. I’ve been a mess for a long time and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. There are more guys like us in the department. Take Porter Ewing, who’s a recent transfer with the forest service from New York. He swings in when needed. The dude’s convinced there’s no woman alive who would want him.”

Cole laughed out loud despite the pain of seeing Tamsin in that other guy’s arms. He’d always liked Wyatt. His sense of humor was a welcome balm to the horrific experience he’d just lived through. Only one thing saved him from oblivion. She wasn’t married yet.

Welcome home, Cole.