A Reunion for the Rancher (Lone Star Cowboy League 1) Read online

  She closed her eyes at the revelation. “Thank you.”

  “It’s my farm and my family, too. Sometimes you forget that, Ruby. It isn’t all on you.”

  She leaned into his shoulder, and he patted her back before moving away. She smiled, because he’d never enjoyed her displays of sisterly affection. “I’m proud of you, Derek.”

  “And I’m not going to let you down. I’m almost twenty. It’s time for me to get my head on straight and figure some things out.”

  “Yes, well, I’m nine years older than you and I can say the same about my life.”

  “You had a career, sis, and you gave it up to come home and help out. You’ll get another job.”

  “You’re right. I will. I really hope I can get on with the state. I’m just not sure I want to continue being a caseworker.”

  He walked with her to the field where a half dozen ponies and small horses grazed on grass that was brown. The animals were all colors, all sizes. But they were gentle and well broke.

  “There was another theft last night,” Derek said as he leaned against the wood fence. “You know they’re going to come here, right?”

  “I know.”

  Four head of cattle from a farm that ran hundreds of head. Why just four? The thieves were being careful? Or maybe unsure of how to dispose of the animals?

  From what she’d heard they were hitting farms that had recently purchased animals, so the cattle weren’t yet branded. That was smart on their part and meant the thieves knew the ranches.

  A truck pulled up to the house. Ruby glanced in that direction and groaned. “Why?”

  “Because the guy still has a thing for you?” Derek said with a grin.

  “I think that’s the furthest thing from the truth.” She watched as Carson Thorn got out of his truck, and then she watched as he stood there waiting for something. Or someone.

  She saw the someone. A little boy with dark hair and the same confident swagger as Carson. The two headed her way, discussing something that appeared to be of major importance if the serious look on their faces meant anything. Carson shook his head. The little boy frowned. Carson looked away but not before she saw his lips turn in amusement.

  “Carson,” she greeted with her best formal tone. All business. That was how she wanted to keep him, in the category of the past, and business.

  “Ruby,” he said, tipping his hat.

  “And this is?” She knelt in front of the child. “That’s a great hat.”

  The miniature Carson pushed his white cowboy hat back and gave her a careful look before nodding in the direction of the horses. “I’m Brandon. Are those your ponies?”

  “Yes, they are.”

  “My mom says I’m about big enough to start riding.” His gaze shifted to Derek. “Wow, that belt buckle is cool.”

  She glanced up and saw the buckle in question. The one their father had won for a national championship. A belt buckle she’d told Derek to get rid of. He could sell it. He could give it away. She didn’t care. But she did care that he held on to the past and to his hero worship of their father.

  Derek shot her a look telling her to mind her own business.

  “Thanks.” Derek glanced toward the ponies. “Want to check them out? Carson can list all the reasons why I’m...”

  Derek stopped himself with a warning look from Ruby. The last thing they needed was for Derek to antagonize Carson Thorn.

  The little boy looked at him, waiting expectantly for him to finish what he planned to say.

  “Carson can tell you why I’m the best person to teach you to rope,” Derek finished with a grin.

  Ruby watched her brother walk away with the child. She looked back at Carson, watched him watching the two—one tall and lanky, the other small and confident. She hated that looking at Carson brought it all back—the hope, the laughter. The dreams.

  The heartache.

  Smoke and mirrors, she realized now. It had all been an illusion. The smoke cleared and she’d seen reality the day Carson’s dad had handed her a check and told her to go to college, be someone, but not to count on being a Thorn.

  “Did you put up the cameras?” Carson asked as he continued to watch Derek with the child. They had retrieved a rope from the barn. Derek was showing the little boy how it worked and then letting him give it a shot. The lasso flew through the air and fell to the ground short of the target—the fence post.

  “No. I have to wait until I can pay an electrician. And why are you really here? The cattle stolen last night?”

  “No.”

  “Something else?”

  “He’s my nephew. Jenna’s son,” Carson said, watching the little boy climb the fence and reach for a buckskin pony the color of wheat.

  That wasn’t really an answer to her question. She considered pushing, but why? His answer would probably just upset her. Not only that, but she’d latched on to another issue that proved she couldn’t be in Little Horn and not get all tangled up in the past.

  “Is Jenna in town?” Silly question. If her son was in town, she was in town.

  “No,” he answered, his firm lips held in a straight and unforgiving line. “She showed up early this morning and dropped him off. I’m not quite sure what to do with him.”

  “How long do you think you’ll have him?”

  He rubbed a hand across his jaw and shook his head. “I don’t have a clue. She said a few days, but I’m a little worried.”

  “About her?” She shouldn’t care. She shouldn’t delve into his life or the uncertainty in his expression.

  “Yes. But I’ll call her later and see what we can figure out.”

  “If she’s leaving him for any length of time, he should probably be in school.”

  His eyes narrowed and he looked down at her. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead. She took me by surprise.”

  “Ambushed.” She grinned as she said it.

  “Something like that.”

  “You’ll have to enroll him if she doesn’t come back.”

  He nodded but his gaze had drifted back to the boy. “Once I can talk to her and get more out of her than she needs time, I’ll do what I have to do. What are the ponies for?”

  “Riding lessons.”

  He nodded yet again and headed that way, toward the horses, her brother, his nephew. She followed.

  “Where are the security cameras?” he asked as he stopped to watch Derek lift his nephew over the fence and to the ground.

  “In the back of my truck,” Ruby answered. “Derek, could you get a saddle for the buckskin?”

  Derek let a shoulder rise and fall. “Sure. Brandon, let me lift you back over the fence.”

  Brandon shook his head. “I can do it.”

  Sure enough he climbed the fence, dropping to the ground next to his uncle. His very solemn uncle, who watched him as if he was some type of alien creature. She guessed to Carson the child was foreign and strange.

  He was a child. Carson had probably never been a child. Even as a teenager he’d been older than his years. She imagined as a boy he’d been just as serious.

  “Which saddle?” Derek asked as he headed to the barn.

  “I only have three. Grab the one you think will work best.”

  “What are you doing?” Carson asked.

  “Giving your nephew a free riding lesson. And then you can tell everyone what a great time he had.”

  “Can I?” he asked.

  “Please,” she added. And he smiled, shifting the seriousness from his features, relaxing just enough to make him look younger, less controlled. More like himself.

  “It would be a decent thing to do,” Derek added.

  “Yes, it would,” Carson agreed. His careful gaze lingered on the six horses in varied sizes from pony to small horse.

  After a cautious look at the two of them, Derek walked away, taking his new friend with him. Ruby was left to deal with Carson and leftover emotions that should have been put to rest years ago.

  It wo
uldn’t help to look at him, to look into brown eyes that were at once serious and warm. It wouldn’t help to think about how it had felt to stand this close to him at seventeen, thinking they would always be together.

  What helped was thinking about how it felt to leave thinking he might come after her, that he might still want her once he realized how much she’d given up for him.

  He hadn’t come looking for her. She’d done her best to forget.

  Chapter Three

  “Do you have a ladder?” Carson shifted his attention away from the horses, away from watching Derek Donovan as he saddled a small buckskin pony.

  Ruby started at the question, her eyes widening. She shook her head and then it must have dawned on her what he’d asked.

  “Of course.”

  “You give Brandon the riding lesson and I’ll install your security cameras. I’ll wire them in here with the light. Send Derek over to help me.”

  She chewed on her bottom lip, studying him, thinking, he was sure, about the past. He didn’t have time for the past.

  “I’m trying to help you out.”

  “I get that,” she answered, still looking unsure. “I know you want to help. I also know you’re here to question my brother. So it doesn’t make sense to wire cameras if you all think he’s the thief. We don’t have much to steal, and he isn’t going to steal from his own family.”

  “I just think he ought to be ready to tell people where he was last night.”

  Her eyes narrowed and she exhaled. Her cheeks flushed pink, and her eyes glittered with anger and unshed tears. “And sometimes I think you’re about to be nice. But then you’re not. If you must know, we took Gran to the ER.”

  “I’m sorry.” And he meant it. Man, he really meant it. He was sorry he’d asked the question. He was sorry Iva was sick. He was sorry that this woman had taken his dad’s money over what he thought they’d shared.

  But maybe at nineteen he hadn’t really understood what they’d shared. He’d been a kid. She’d been a kid. Maybe his dad had been right; they were rushing into things too young.

  “Is Iva okay?” he asked, going for the topic that made sense.

  “She’s good. They changed her medication and she got a little light-headed.”

  “I see. You know,” he started to offer help, but pulled back the reins on emotions that could get the best of him. “If Derek wants to help, I can show him how to do this, and next time he can take care of it.”

  She nodded, but she didn’t look like someone about to accept his offer. She’d told him years ago it was easier to do it herself than to count on someone and be let down. She’d been young, determined to take care of her family, determined to do something with her life.

  Her determination had been everything to him. Because she’d been determined to make him laugh, to make him forget expectations that everyone had for him.

  When she nodded, accepting his offer, it took him by surprise.

  “The ladder is in the storage room in the barn. I’ll get the cameras for you.” She started to walk away. He stopped her by reaching for her arm and holding her in one place for that brief moment.

  “We’re neighbors. You know to call if you need anything.”

  She pulled free. “Yes, of course.”

  With that she walked away. He watched her go through the gate, joining Derek and Brandon. The wind blew her hair and she brushed it back. He saw her smile at Brandon, say something that had the kid grinning big. She ruffled his hair and they both laughed.

  Derek left her side and headed toward the barn. Carson walked through the open door. Inside the dim interior he found the ladder, found tools that he’d need, and then Derek was there, watching.

  “She’s a good person, you know.” Derek stood tall, shoulders back. He’d grown since those days when Carson and Ruby had dated. He’d been about seven or so, and he’d wanted to tag along, sharing information about bugs he’d seen and cool cartoons he’d watched.

  “I know she is,” Carson admitted. “Want to help me out?”

  “Sure, I’ll help you out. And I’ll give you advice. The first time you hurt her, I was a kid. I’m not a kid anymore.”

  “I get that.” Carson carried the ladder past Derek. He got what the other man was saying, but he would like to know how her walking out on him had become his fault.

  He didn’t plan on having that conversation with her brother. Instead, he set the ladder up against the side of the barn.

  “Want to give me a hand?” he asked as he climbed the ladder.

  Derek flashed a big grin and pushed back his hat. “Sure. You climb on up and I’ll push the ladder over.”

  “That isn’t exactly what I meant. Hand me the first camera and wire nuts. I’m going to...”

  Derek started to do just that but both of their gazes landed on the car coming up the drive.

  “Great. That’s just what we need, more law.” Derek looked up at him. “Did you do this?”

  “No, Derek, I didn’t do this. But you have an alibi, so relax.”

  Derek shook his head. “From the guy who wants me back behind bars.”

  “I didn’t say that.” Carson came down from the ladder and stood next to him as the sheriff pulled up in her patrol car. “There’s no evidence you’ve stolen anything.”

  “No, there isn’t. That’s because I haven’t. I got in trouble a couple of years ago and I learned my lesson.”

  “I’m sure you have.” Carson wanted to believe Derek. He did seem like a changed person.

  Lucy got out of her patrol car, pushing sunglasses back and surveying the property. Derek went forward. Carson followed, but he shot a gaze in Ruby’s direction, watching her lead the pony that Brandon rode. She had gone still and even from a distance he felt her silent accusation.

  “Lucy,” Derek started. “I guess you’re here to look for stolen property?”

  Carson had to give it to Derek, he wasn’t acting guilty.

  Lucy pushed back short, blond hair and looked around the place, a frown turning her lips. “Yeah, afraid so. Derek, I’m going to ask you to take a seat in my patrol car. It will make things easier as I take a look around.”

  Derek slid into the backseat of the car. His jaw clenched, his eyes closed. Carson felt a truckload of sorry for him.

  “I haven’t seen anything, Lucy.” The defense came unplanned but there it was, hanging between them as Ruby walked up, Brandon at her side.

  “You haven’t seen anything because there’s nothing to see. We were at the ER with Gran. You can check it out, pull video, whatever you need to do.” Ruby had a hold of Brandon’s hand. The boy squirmed and shifted from foot to foot. She gave him a look, her expression softening to tender. “I’m going to take Brandon inside. Gran has some great cookies and chocolate milk. I’ll be back.”

  Carson watched her go. He guessed if he wanted to keep a wall between himself and Ruby Donovan, this was the way to do it. She wouldn’t want much to do with him as long as her brother was a prime suspect in the robberies. He could do without the complication of getting involved in her family drama.

  It was a win-win situation.

  Other than the fact that the guy in the backseat was being accused when there wasn’t a bit of evidence against him. This entire situation was getting out of hand. The thefts, people turning against each other. Carson didn’t know how they would stop what felt like a train speeding down the track, about to derail.

  He didn’t know how he would steer clear of Ruby Donovan and whatever still lingered between them.

  * * *

  Ruby stormed through the house, Brandon in tow. The little boy hurried to keep up with her. As she headed into the kitchen, Gran looked up from her seat on the walker that was pushed up to the counter. Frail was something Iva Donovan refused to be. Even after a night in the ER, she was thinking about feeding her family. Her eyes lit on the child Ruby had dragged in with her.

  “You trying to pull his arm off, Ruby?”

 
Ruby stopped, bringing the child to a halt next to her. “No. Oh, Brandon, I’m sorry. Down the hall, buddy. That’s the room you’re looking for. I’ll get your cookies and milk.”

  “What’s going on? And isn’t that Jenna’s child?”

  “Yes, it is Jenna’s child. Carson is here. He came over to, I don’t know, maybe search the place. Maybe to help put up cameras. I’m not sure. And now Lucy is here because there was another theft last night.”

  She poured milk and opened the cookie jar. Brandon came back down the hall. He climbed up on a stool and waited.

  “Someone took Uncle Carson’s trophies that were his mom’s,” the child said as he reached for a cookie. His elbow hit the milk and it tumbled, sending liquid spilling across the counter. “Oops.”

  Ruby reached for a roll of paper towels and wiped up the mess. “Oops. The nice thing about messes is that they clean up.”

  “Yeah, my mom says I’m clumsy and she’s tired of cleaning up after me. I make a lot of messes.”

  “Kids do, Brandon.” Ruby shoved off the caseworker ingrained deep within. She no longer had that job. She was here restoring a farm, finding a way to get back to the life she had walked out on years ago.

  She’d moved to Oklahoma after college. She’d visited when she could. She’d sent money home to help her grandmother who insisted on keeping the farm.

  “Where is Carson?” Iva asked as she peeled carrots.

  “Outside with Derek and Lucy. I’m sure they’re going through the barn.”

  “Looking for trophies,” Brandon supplied as he munched down on a cookie.

  “Oh, yes, trophies.” Ruby drew in a breath. “I’m going to check on the pony. He needs to be unsaddled. Brandon, you stay here with my granny and I’ll be back.”

  Brandon grinned. “Because Uncle Carson needs someone to take him down a notch. That’s what my mom always says.”

  Iva snickered and tossed a half carrot to the child. “Eat something good for you, little man. If your mouth is full it won’t run quite so much. And Ruby, head on out of here before you blow a gasket.”

  Ruby took her grandmother’s advice and headed for the front door, barely noticing the worn furniture, the threadbare rugs and the dust. There was so much to do. She didn’t know when she’d get it all done. The house, the farm, even Derek and Iva were in need of her attention.