October
It would’ve been dark outside if the full moon wasn’t glowing down on everyone like a big ball of white fire. The bonfires dotting the craggy field behind the park were helping light the place, too, on the night of the reservation’s big harvest festival.
Miley couldn’t have felt less like partying. The news her mother had just given her was mildly depressing. She glanced over her shoulder at her mom and her new stepdad, happy that the two newlyweds were so happy together. She just wished their happiness hadn’t come with such a big side of misery for herself.
The fact that she was miserable at all made her feel guilty. Did it mean she was a bad person? Was she being selfish?
The dirt path in front of her blurred, making her miss seeing a half-buried stone. The toe of her sneaker caught on it, making her stumble. She pitched forward and collided with something solid.
“Whoa!” The concern in Josh Chavez’s voice made her heart sink further. There was nothing worse than being caught in the middle of a pity party by one’s pastor, a man who rubbed elbows with God all day long.
“You okay there?” His hands closed around her shoulders, cupping them firmly.
“Yes,” she lied, but lying made her feel even more guilty. “No,” she corrected with a sigh, feeling thoroughly cornered. There was no point in hiding the truth from the guy who’d all too quickly become her dearest friend in the world. Because of how much she adored him, it was going to be that much harder to do what she’d just this evening made up her mind to do. The college acceptance letter that had come in the mail earlier was practically burning a hole in her back pocket.
“Wanna talk about it?” He stepped closer to sling one arm loosely around her, nudging her closer to the nearest bonfire.
“Can we, um…” She glanced around them, hating how blurry everyone and everything still looked. “Go somewhere else? Somewhere more private?”
“Really?” He hugged her closer. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited to hear you say that.”
A damp chuckle slid out of her, which was probably what he’d been aiming for. “I didn’t mean…that is…” She paused, unsure how to tell her best friend that she wasn’t sure she was ready to neck with him just yet.
“Believe me, I know.” There was a long-suffering note in his voice that almost made her laugh again.
However, she didn’t want to hurt his feelings. The way he felt about her was no laughing matter. It was yet another one of the big, weighty things in her life she wasn’t sure how to handle.
She cared for him. A lot. But she was only eighteen, and he was three years older. Plus, her dad had died a year-and-a-half ago, pulling the emotional rug out from underneath her. To sum it all up, she wasn’t sure she had much to offer any guy in the way of a relationship right now. If she had, though, Josh would’ve been her top pick of guys to date. Oh, who was she trying to kid? He was her only pick.
As he led her toward one of the hiking trails in the tree line, she focused on getting a grip on her emotions. At the very least, he deserved an explanation for her near meltdown.
“My mom is pregnant.” The words burst out of her, bringing on another wave of tears. “I’m going to be a big sister.”
At the age of eighteen, no less. Actually, she’d be nineteen by then. That was a huge age gap between siblings.
“Ah.” Josh reached over to tuck her head against his shoulder.
The fact that he was wise enough not to launch into a frenzy of congratulations made her cry harder.
“I’m a horrible person, aren’t I?” she quavered, unsure if he could even understand what she was saying through all of her boohooing. “I should be happy for them, right? Nothing but happy.”
“Pretty sure you know the answer to that.” He abruptly tugged her off the beaten path to a secluded spot beneath a cluster of trees.
She ended up in his arms. They stood there for a while, just holding each other while she wept silently. It was a couple of minutes before she could speak again.
“I know how petty this sounds, but I’m about to lose my super special, only-child spot in my mom’s life.”
“Yes to the only-child part,” he returned huskily, cuddling her closer. “No to the special part. Trust me. You’ll never be any less special to the people who care about you the most.”
He was including himself in that group, something that didn’t make her feel much better. She was out there, soaking up all of his sympathy and kindness without giving him one thing in return.
His hand gently cupped her cheek, holding her head against his chest. “There will be other special spots for you to step into.” He bent his head to press his cheek to the top of her head. “When you’re ready.”
Again, she was pretty sure he was referring to the two of them — what he hoped they would become to each other someday. Which meant she couldn’t hold off telling him the truth any longer. The whole truth.
“I’ve decided to go to college.” It felt weird admitting it to him. Though it was the right thing to do, she worried she might be doing it for the wrong reasons. Partially for the wrong reasons, at any rate.
He raised his head. “Good for you!”
She yanked her gaze to his. “You know what this means, don’t you?”
He grinned down at her in the moonlight. “Yeah, it means you’ll have a fancy college degree a few years from now.”
“It means I’m moving away from the rez,” she informed him tightly. The college she’d been accepted to wasn’t within reasonable commuting distance. She’d have to pack her bags and go live there on campus for a few semesters. Her mom was going to be thrilled when she found out she’d finally won that particular argument.
Josh’s smile disappeared. “But you’ll come back, right?”
She didn’t have to think twice about her answer. “I’ll always come back. The rez is my home now.” She was serious about going into the rawhide business with Hawk, but her mom had been right about that, too. The only way Miley was going to be able to earn a real income and make a living out of it was by putting on her business cap and jumping with both feet into entrepreneurship. Hawk didn’t have the time to make it happen on his own. His responsibilities as a bodyguard at Lonestar Security kept him too busy. It was going to be up to her and her alone to make this happen.
“Then I don’t see the problem.” The relief in Josh’s voice made her smile despite her teary-eyedness.
“It won’t be the same when I get back.” She leaned back in his arms. “We’ll both be older, and people change.” She wasn’t a hundred percent sure what she was saying, only that it felt like it needed to be said.
He ducked his head a little to bring them eye-to-eye. “You’re not going as far as the North Pole, you know.”
“True, but—”
“I’m gonna visit you in college.” He talked right over her in a teasing voice. “I’ll visit you as often as I can.”
“I’d like that.” She met his gaze, feeling suddenly shy.
He reached up to touch her cheek. “Don’t want all those college guys thinking you’re too available.”
She was suddenly grateful for the darkness, hoping it was hiding her blush. “I’m not going to college to, um, meet other guys.” She needed him to know that.
“But you will.” His expression grew so mournful that she reached up to clasp the hand he still had resting against her cheek.
“They won’t be you,” she said firmly. “They’ll never be you.”
His dark gaze burned into hers. “Will you let me take you on a date before you go?”
She nodded, hardly able to breathe. It would be their first date. Would it mean she was officially dating Pastor Josh Chavez?
“I’ll start college full time in January,” she confessed softly. “They’re letting me join in the middle of the school year.”
“Of course, they are.” He winked at her. “They’re lucky to get you, and they know it.”
“We don’t have to wait that long, though.” The way he was looking at her made her insides feel all melty. “To, um, go on our first date.”
“Good to know.” His eyes widened a little in surprise. “Because I was kind of hoping you’d go to the dance with me this evening.”
She nodded happily. “That sounds a lot better than slinking away in the darkness to spend the rest of the night pouting over what my mom just told me.”
“It’s not pouting.” He lightly tapped her nose. “It’s a lot to absorb.”
“It’s totally pouting,” she sighed, “but thanks for defending me.” Defending her was something he happened to be very good at.
“That’s what best friends are for.” He tapped her nose again. “And boyfriends, whenever you’re ready to give me an upgrade.”
“Oh?” She snickered, unable to resist teasing him. “I just assumed you’d already given yourself the upgrade.”
He looked a little dazed. “If that’s your way of saying yes to the proposed upgrade…”
She let a tremulous smile serve as her answer.
“Wow!” Looking even more dazed, he dipped his head to hover his mouth over hers. “You sure about this?”
She wasn’t sure about many things at the moment. Everything inside her head felt so tangled up. However, she suddenly and desperately wanted to know what it would be like to kiss her favorite pastor, closest confidante, and best friend.
“Yes,” she whispered.
There was a swollen pause. Then his mouth gently touched hers.
And all the tangled-up things inside her felt right again.
* * *
Tucker studied the way Hawk was holding Annalee as they swayed back and forth together beneath the stars. He’d never seen two people more in love with each other. The way they were gazing into each other’s eyes, like they were the only two people in the world, twisted his insides. Nobody had ever looked at him that way. Nobody.
Feeling like an intruder, he turned his gaze away — just in time to watch Miley walk hand-in-hand out of the woods with Josh Chavez.
You have got to be kidding me! He tasted a mixture of self-disgust and envy at the realization that even sassy little Miley was leaps and bounds ahead of him on her journey to happily-ever-after.
She was too young to even understand what she’d found in the young pastor, which in no way altered the fact that what she’d found in him was solid. Real. It was something that would get more beautiful with time. Something she would forever cherish.
While I skid ever closer to my grumpy old man years… He yanked his gaze away from them, wondering if there was any safe place to look tonight where everyone wasn’t drowning in sickeningly sweet love.
His gaze landed on the weed-thin woman stalking in his direction, and he almost started laughing from relief.
Finally! Mallory Evans was a lot of things, but sweet didn’t even make the list of adjectives he would use to describe her. Thankfully, he wasn’t in the mood for sweet, because the only thing she was usually good for was their next bickering match.
She stomped straight up to him in her dusty jeans and scuffed cowgirl boots, looking every ounce as cranky as he felt. “There you are.”
No hello. No small talk. No fake smile. Just right to the point.
“Here I am,” he drawled, knowing his evening was about to get a lot more interesting. “As always, you’re the queen of the obvious.”
“As always, you’ve been ignoring my texts,” she snapped. “In case you’ve forgotten, I’m paying good money to reserve your annoying services.”
“No way I’ll ever forget it. You won’t let me.” It would’ve been easier to dislike her if she wasn’t so stinking pretty in her own all-natural, no-makeup, hardworking, windblown sort of way. He’d never met another woman like her. She was like a bulldog with a bloody bone when she wanted something. The fact that she’d gone to so much trouble to get a little face time with him was telling.
And concerning. “Everything okay?”
“No, Tucker,” she exploded. “Everything’s not okay.” She slapped her hands down on her hips. “That’s why I’m here, which you’d know…” she angled her head impatiently at him, “if you’d bother checking your text messages.”
“My phone’s in the shop.” He studied her closely, noting her red-rimmed eyes that the moonlight wasn’t doing a very good job of hiding. “Dropped it in a water trough a few hours ago at Johnny’s dairy farm.” He reached for the loaner the phone shop in town had given him that he hadn’t bothered setting up with proper notifications and such. Sure enough, a whole string of text messages from her were waiting for him. He hastily scanned them, straightening at their note of seriousness.
“You’re down another Holstein, eh?” Her case was the weirdest one he’d ever worked. Cattle disappearing at the rate of one or two head per month wasn’t something that took high priority with the police. Small numbers like that could easily be explained by broken fences and any number of other reasonable explanations. However, he doubted she wanted to hear that, so he kept his thoughts to himself.
“It wasn’t just any cow,” she stormed. “It was a gift from my…” She broke off what she was about to say next, whipping her face away from him.
He watched her throat constrict with emotion, knowing she’d been about to say the latest missing cow had been a gift from her father — the father that was no longer on this side of Glory. It drained the rest of his irritation straight out of him and replaced it with anger. Real anger. The kind that made him want to punch something.
“Talk to me,” he growled. “Tell me everything you can think of that might have anything to do with this latest missing cow.”
“Like you’ll even believe me.” Her voice was bitter. “I’m not an idiot. I know you’re not taking my case seriously. Or me, for that matter.”
It wasn’t true, and he was about to set her straight on the issue, once and for all. However, a blur of movement in the hot beverage line to his left made the words stall in his mouth.
If he’d so much as blinked, he would’ve missed the fact that one of her employees had just finished stealing someone else’s to-go cup from the booth’s pickup window.
“Who’s that guy?” he demanded, pointing at the scrawny excuse for a cowboy. The kid couldn’t be more than Miley’s age, with stringy brown hair and a hoodie that was several sizes too big.
Looking exasperated, Mallory glanced in the direction he was pointing. “That’s Chip.” She shook her head. “Actually, his name is Danny, but his parents call him Chip as in chip off the old block.”
“Does he work for you?” The punk looked familiar. Tucker was pretty sure he’d seen him kicking around the back roads on a dirt bike.
“Part time.” She shrugged. “He was sort of a package deal. His dad is one of my ranch hands, and his mom helps with the bookkeeping. Well, and anything else I need. They live on site and feel more like family than employees.”
Tucker’s eyebrows rose. “Then a little discipline might be in order for Junior.”
“Discipline!” Her forehead wrinkled in vexation. “What are you talking about?”
“He stole the hot chocolate he’s sipping on. Or coffee.” Or whatever else he was drinking that he hadn’t paid for.
She stared at the teenager in question for a moment. Then she glared indignantly at Tucker. “Are you sure?”
He gave her a dirty look. “You don’t pay me to make stuff up.”
She blinked at him, shaking her head. “I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation.”
“Yeah, it’s called dishonesty.” He couldn’t believe she was defending the little scallywag.
“Tucker,” she protested, sounding uncertain. “Are you sure you didn’t misread the situation?”
He held her gaze, glaring back. “He’s a thief. That’s what you pay me for. To investigate and tell you the truth.”
She momentarily caught her lower lip between her teeth. “I’m paying you to find my missing cattle!”
“And I just pointed out a theft that’s pretty close to home. If you don’t want to hear the truth, you shouldn’t have hired me.” He stepped closer to look down his nose at her, knowing it would rub her every way but the right way. She was more than welcome to fire him if she didn’t like what she was hearing.
They engaged in a heated staring match. He was the first one to speak again. “Sometimes the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.” A new theory was forming in his head, one that would describe her disappearing cattle better than anything else he’d come up with so far.
“Take that back!” She caught her breath sharply. “What part of they’re like family to me don’t you understand?”
“All of it.” His words came out harsher than he intended, but it was true. He didn’t have any family left. He also didn’t have any close friends or close ties. By design. In his experience, most people couldn’t be trusted.
She looked at him like she couldn’t believe what he was saying. “Do you even have a heart? I’m starting to think there’s a dark, hollow spot where it’s a supposed to be.”
He continued to glower at her. “Call it whatever you want. It won’t change the fact that you’ve got a coffee thief on your hands.”
“Fine.” She gestured angrily at him. “I’ll talk to him. Can we get back to hunting down whoever’s helping themselves to my cattle?”
“Never stopped.” He grated out the words, fully intending to do a little more research into ol’ Chip and everyone associated with him. “As soon as you get back to your ranch, I’m gonna need everything you have on file concerning Junior and his parents.”
“You’re as mean as a rattlesnake,” she hissed.
“Did you even bother doing a background check on them before you hired them?” Since she was already mad at him, he didn’t bother curbing his sarcasm.
Her fuming silence was telling. “I’m going to take that as a no.”
There was so much animosity in the air between them that he wouldn’t have been surprised to see smoke seeping from her ears. On the upside, she no longer looked one short breath away from weeping.
You’re welcome.
She half spun away from him. “I’m leaving.”
“Not before you pay the vendor that punk shorted,” he said evenly. “If you won’t, I will.” Then he waited, not sure why her next words mattered so much to him, but they did.
As it turned out, she didn’t have any more words to toss at him. Instead, she stomped over to the vendor and slapped a five-dollar bill down on the cabinet. Then she stomped away without explaining to the open-mouthed barista what it was for.
Tucker stared after Mallory, feeling like she’d passed a test as she collected Junior and towed him toward her pickup truck.
His interest level in her case shot to a new high. I’m gonna catch your cattle rustler, darlin’. He was going to help put the scoundrel behind bars, because Mallory Evans was an honest rancher. She deserved no less.
He tried to tell himself it was his only reason, but it wasn’t true. He wanted justice for her, because it was her. Afterward, she would continue hating him, maybe even more than she did now, and he’d move on to the next case like he always did.
But he’d have this moment to treasure. There was nothing more attractive to him than honesty, and Mallory Evans had enough of it to make her the most beautiful person he’d ever encountered.
Fortunately, she didn’t know it. She would never have to know it.
