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“How did your accident happen?”
“I was preoccupied about finding Cody at the ranch and didn’t see the snake until it was too late. Unfortunately Thunder saw it and reacted. I’m just glad the rattler didn’t bite me when I was on the ground unconscious.”
“God was looking out for you.”
“You think? Lately I’ve been wondering if the Lord was giving me a wake-up call. I know I attended church with the family, but to be honest, I’ve never been that serious. I needed to be shaken up. I have a child now.” He pulled his rein to the right and started toward the dirt road in front of the barn.
“You’re serious about changing?” Lucy had known Ben forever and only saw him as the charming ladies’ man that he’d been for the past fifteen years.
“I’m working on it. When I woke up in the hospital, I knew that I had been given a second chance, and this time I don’t want to blow it.”
Lucy had seen others say they were going to change, but they never did. It wasn’t an easy thing to do. Habits were hard to break—and human nature even harder.
“Chloe told me riding would be good for me. Help me get stronger. I feel like a weakling and, you know,” he added, swinging his attention to Lucy, “we macho men don’t like to be weak.” Then he winked at her.
Laughter bubbled to the surface. “You’re incorrigible.”
The dimples deepened as he touched his brim and nodded once. “I aim to please. I’m feeling cautious today. Let’s go toward Tyler’s ranch.”
She rode next to Ben along the road passing by the older original barn. He stopped in front of it. “I’m thinking of hosting a young cowboy/cowgirl camp here this summer and using this barn. It’s still in good shape but a distance from the house, so not used as much.”
“Didn’t your granddaddy move everything to the new location?”
“Yeah. Grandma Mamie still comes once a month to weed the garden she had at the old house. Zed, who lives here, is thrilled she does. As tough as he tries to be, he loves the flowers that bloom in the garden. He told me once coming home after a long day and seeing those bright colors always lifted his spirits.”
“Maybe Mamie would come over and plant a garden like that for me. Of course, she’d probably have to take care of it. I barely have time for housework, let alone yard work.”
“Zed and you aren’t the only ones who love bright colors. Cody almost got hold of the flowers in a vase on an end table. Thankfully I managed to grab him in time.” Ben urged his horse to move forward.
Lucy fell in beside Ben on the road. “Your son is named after your grandfather. That couldn’t be a coincidence. Are you Cody’s father? Is that what the letter I gave Grady from Alana was about?”
All evidence of a smile disappeared. “Yes.”
“I’m sorry Cody’s mother died in the car accident. Was she coming back for him?”
Ben’s mouth turned down, his posture ramrod straight. “No, she didn’t want Cody. I’m just glad she left him at our ranch and not somewhere else.”
Tension poured off Ben for a long moment, and Lucy wished she hadn’t brought up the subject of Cody’s mother. She knew that Ben’s mother had walked away from her marriage and sons. She rarely had come to see them before she died. Was Ben thinking about the correlation?
She wanted to change the subject. Never before had she and Ben had deep conversations, and all of sudden they were talking about the past. “How far along are you with plans for the camp?”
“Before my accident, I’d been talking with Carson about it. I wanted the Lone Star Cowboy League to sponsor the camp as an outreach project. Last week before I came home, I told him I was still interested in doing it. We’ll be getting together about it soon, since the camp could start in June, if we have the time to do it that fast. There will be a lot to do in three months. It’ll be something my son will enjoy when he gets older.”
She slanted a look at Ben as he headed across a field behind the old barn. She’d never thought of Ben as father material. This side of him was interesting, but would it last? Like a hummingbird, he’d flit from one flower to the next, never staying long.
Chapter Three (#ulink_f3457430-c756-54c9-8866-18e5904be2ca)
Sitting around the large table in the kitchen, Lucy still felt shell-shocked. She hadn’t intended to stay longer than necessary for her job. The horse ride had been over an hour when she’d thought it would last maybe thirty minutes. And now she was eating lunch with the family. How had she let Ben talk her into staying? He was lethal when he turned his full-fledged smile on her. But in her defense, she’d been starving, and riding the mare had only increased her hunger.
Yes, that’s it. Not Ben’s charm.
But then she looked across the table at Ben. A hard knot in her stomach unraveled. He was feeding Cody, who sat next to Ben in his high chair, and she had a front-row seat to watch. His baby giggled, grabbed for the spoon and flung some sweet potatoes into Ben’s face.
Lucy pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. She couldn’t hold it in and joined the rest at the table while Ben patiently took his napkin and wiped it off his cheek.
“Good aim, son. I guess you aren’t hungry anymore.”
“I always say when a child starts playing with their food, they’re finished.” Mamie grabbed the plate while Ben went for the spoon in Cody’s hand.
But the baby was too quick, and the utensil sailed halfway across the table, landing in the middle of the pasta salad.
Ben moved the high chair back a little so Cody couldn’t get hold of anything else to throw, then took a bite of his turkey sandwich.
Lucy turned to Chloe. “See what you get to look forward to. Food fights.”
Chloe chuckled. “Cody is definitely preparing me for my own child.”
“When are you due?” Lucy took a swallow of her sweetened tea.
“Three months and counting. That’s why,” Chloe said, glancing at her fiancé, Grady, “we’ve decided on a small wedding this month with family and close friends. I don’t want to be a whale waddling down the aisle.”
“Never, not you.” Grady leaned toward her and gave her a quick peck on her cheek.
“Just let me know when to show up,” Ben said, accompanied by a wail from Cody.
But as he turned toward his son, Mamie stood and took the crying child out of his high chair. “He usually takes a nap after lunch. Almost like clockwork. I was afraid he wouldn’t last since we held lunch. I’ll be right back.”
“Grandma, I can take him to his room.” Ben started to rise.
His grandmother waved him down. “Nonsense. You have a guest here.” Then she scurried unusually fast for a seventy-eight-year-old woman.
Ben watched them leave, then faced the three remaining at the table. “I know everyone has tried to fill me in on what I’ve missed while I was in a coma and the hospital. Besides the crime spree with the Robin Hoods, anything else you’ve forgotten to tell me other than the letter you gave me finally yesterday morning?” He stared at his brother.
“I’m pleading ignorance.” His mouth twitching, Grady took a sip of his drink. “I was gone for two months of that. You’ll have to depend on Chloe and Lucy to tell you.”
Everyone peered at Lucy. She held up her hand. “Why are you looking at me?”
“You’re the sheriff, and you know everything,” Ben said with a grin.
No, she didn’t. What had been in that letter from Cody’s mother? “Other than six months of robberies and now nothing, that’s it. It’s been pretty quiet, thankfully.”
“Carson finally proposed to Ruby. They are engaged, and it was about time. I thought they would marry in high school.” Chloe reached for the pasta salad and took the spoon from it before dishing up more on her plate. “You know the saying. I’m eating for two.”
“And Eva and Tyler got married. I’m glad our cousin and Tyler are together.” Grady stood and took his plate to the sink.
“Yes, and I hope they’ll adopt a baby,” Mamie said as she came back into the kitchen. “Eva was really good with Cody and would make a great mother.”
Lucy finished the last bite of her sandwich. “I guess the biggest surprise was Amelia and Texas Ranger Finn Brannigan. I never saw her falling for another Texas Ranger. Funny how things work out.”
“You should never say never. I’ve found it comes back to bite you.” Ben retrieved a wet dishcloth and wiped down the high chair. “I never saw myself as a father, and I wake up from a coma to find the baby left on our doorstep is my son.”
Lucy almost asked Ben why he didn’t think he’d ever be a dad, but she didn’t. She knew about the shaky relationship he’d had with his own father, but from what little she’d seen today, Ben was trying hard to be a good one.
“Another surprise was Clint falling in love with Olivia. He’ll be an instant dad to triplets when they marry in June.” Grady refilled his iced tea.
Just weeks ago Clint’s father’s remains were found in the Deep Gulch Mountains, where he’d met an accident years ago. Clint hadn’t been abandoned like he’d thought. “The nice thing is Clint now has closure about his dad leaving him when he was a child. I think he’ll be able to relate to Olivia’s boys.”
“Lucy, what happens if you can’t find out who’s stealing from the ranchers?” Ben retook his seat across from her.
“I’m going to.” She was up for reelection next year, and if she didn’t find the persons responsible, Byron McKay would probably put all his money and community presence behind getting a new sheriff.
“The Rustling Investigation Team thinks it could be teenagers,” Grady said, covering Chloe’s hand resting on the table.
Ben threw Lucy a look. “Is that really why you want to hang around the barn? I thought it was my irresistible charm.”
“Like I already told you, Betsy McKay is connected somehow, and Maddy was her best friend. I’ve talked with her as the sheriff before today, but she was wary. I didn’t feel that way earlier.” She was not going to let Ben get to her.
Chloe’s forehead creased. “You think Maddy and Betsy are robbing the ranchers?”
“We’ve tried to find Betsy but haven’t been able to locate her. But no, not Maddy. I did some checking, and she has an alibi for one of the robberies. She was at a sleepover with four other girls. She may know something and not realize it.” From what she’d seen and heard about the foster child, she was a good kid.
“So this is why you asked the league for a list of members with teenagers,” Grady said.
All eyes turned to Lucy, and for a brief moment she felt like a suspect being interrogated. “Yes. As we have surmised, the Robin Hoods are probably two or more teenagers, most likely boys based on the equipment they took. The thieves would have to be strong. Neither Maddy nor Betsy fit that profile. The Robin Hoods would have to be comfortable around cattle and horses to take them without anyone knowing. They would also have to be able to drive a trailer and be familiar with the area around here.”
“That describes most of the teenage boys in the vicinity. I see why you want that list.” Ben shifted his attention to his twin. “I understand Tyler is going on his honeymoon soon. I’d like to take his place on the Rustling Investigation Team. We need to find whoever is doing this.”
Grady shook his head. “You’ve only been home awhile, Ben. You’re just getting your strength back.”
Ben drilled a hard gaze into his brother. “I know what I’m capable of. Do I have to go to Carson about this?”
“No.” Grady glanced toward Lucy. “If you want to take Tyler’s place, then do, but don’t forget you were in the hospital for a long time. You don’t have to do everything the minute you are released. I was going to sit in for Tyler, but you can instead. I have to go to the VA in San Antonio for a couple of days next week. The team is meeting Wednesday night. Lucy, is that okay with you?”
“Sure.” Oh, great. More time she’d be spending with Ben. She placed her napkin on the table. “Thank you for inviting me to lunch, but I have paperwork to finish at the office, so I’d better leave.”
Ben’s grandmother grinned. “I’m so glad you could join us. Don’t be a stranger.”
“I’ll walk you to your car.” Ben rose at the same time Lucy did. She shouldn’t be surprised he’d said that because Ben was always a gentleman.
Outside, Lucy set her cowboy hat on her head and slipped on her sunglasses. Ben strolled next to her without his Stetson. When he paused next to her car, he squinted, the wind catching his sandy-brown hair that touched the collar of his plaid shirt.
He took her hand. Lucy started to pull it away when she spied Maddy and Christie standing just inside the barn doors looking at them.
“I thought we decided not to play that game,” she whispered while giving him a sweet smile.
“We’re not playing any games. You are a friend, aren’t you?”
She nodded.
“I’m thanking you for a nice ride this morning. I didn’t think about falling from my horse once while on Thunder. It must be the company I was keeping. Will I see you before Wednesday night?” The volume of his voice rose enough that the girls probably heard the question.
“At church tomorrow?”
“I’ll be there. But I thought you’d want to go on another ride before the sun sets after work next week.”
“How about next Wednesday? I’ll come early, maybe go for a ride, then go to the meeting?” The things she did to get to the bottom of this investigation.
“Sounds like a date.” He quirked a grin and squeezed her hand before releasing it and opening her driver’s-side door.
As she drove away from the ranch, she glimpsed Ben saying something to the two teenage girls, then heading back to the main house. Tall, he walked with confidence, but he’d lost weight while in the coma. But that wasn’t the only thing that was different from before. There was something in Ben’s bearing that had changed. Maybe because he was a father now.
* * *
Lucy entered Maggie’s Coffee Shop and spied the owner behind the cash register. Maggie Howard had been a few years ahead of her in school and had always been a kind and generous woman. Lucy smiled and waved at the petite redhead, then scanned the café for Chloe. Lucy saw her and made her way toward one of her best friends. Although Lucy’s job as sheriff took her all over the county, Little Horn would always be her home and base. She’d discovered when she lived more than six years in San Antonio that she was a small-town girl at heart.
“I’m glad you could meet me for lunch,” Chloe said to Lucy as she sat down.
“It sounded important.”
“We finally decided last night what we want for our wedding. Pastor Mathers will marry us at church, and then we’ll go back to the ranch for a small gathering of family and friends.”
Lucy knew about all the problems Chloe had had in her first marriage and her ex-husband’s unfaithful behavior, and was thrilled her friend had found someone who would be a good dad for her unborn baby. When Chloe’s ex-husband had heard he would be a father, he’d wanted nothing to do with the child. “When is it?”
“In ten days on Friday evening. The wedding will be at six and the dinner at the ranch at seven.”
“I hope I’m invited, or I’m going to crash your wedding.”
“Of course, you are. I want you to be my maid of honor. The only people at the church will be Mamie, Ben as best man and you.”
The waitress stopped at the table to take their orders.
After she left, Lucy leaned forward and asked, “What can I do to help?”
“The beauty of a small wedding is there won’t be much to do. The cook at the Stillwater Ranch and Mamie are going to plan the dinner. So all you have to do is show up at the church.” When the waitress set their drinks on the table, Chloe paused, then said, “Are you dating anyone?”
Lucy dropped her jaw, then snapped it closed. “Why?”
“Just wondering. The last time we talked about men I was going through a divorce and you weren’t dating anyone, but you’ve been at the ranch a lot lately. Interested in Ben?”
“It’s police business.” Lucy sighed. “Are you going to be one of those women who because she’s deliriously happy thinks everyone around her should be in a relationship?”
“What’s wrong with that? I want my friends to be happy.”
“You forget I tried a serious relationship in San Antonio. Jesse didn’t work out.” That was putting it mildly. She and Jesse had been talking about getting married until she’d stumbled across a woman he was dating in Austin when he went there for work. Then to make it worse, he had begun taking out another lady in San Antonio while professing the whole time he was in love with Lucy. “The men I’ve seen and dated have a commitment phobia. I’m usually around two kinds of men—law-enforcement officers and criminals. Neither have I found to be good husband material.”
“Your father has been married to your mom for thirty-eight years. Every time I’ve seen them when they visit you, they’re still in love as though they are newlyweds.”
“My dad is the exception.” He was nothing like Jesse, the FBI agent in San Antonio who’d stolen her heart and stomped on it. But besides Jesse, she’d also seen fellow officers on the San Antonio police force she’d worked with either drink excessively or date excessively. When they did marry, the marriages usually didn’t last. She didn’t want that for herself.
