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“Maybe.” Fiona sat next to him on the rail. “I want you to take me to Wolf’s hideout.”
Falcon shook his head. “I can’t do it. It’s too dangerous.”
“As your beloved aunt, I insist.”
He sighed. “I know you do. It won’t do any good. There’s nothing there. My brothers and sister already paid the cave a visit.”
“Find anything?”
“Not a thing. They were gone.”
“Good.” She hopped off the rail. “Then if nothing’s there, you won’t be worried about taking your aunt out for a small look-see.”
“I’m not going to do it,” Falcon said, “no matter how much I love you.”
“I love you, too, but don’t try to sweet-talk me, because this time it won’t work. Let’s go.”
Falcon wondered if there was another family on earth whose aunt ruled the roost with such vigor. “I could be persuaded to compromise.”
“You want me to end the search for Taylor’s prince.”
“Perhaps not be quite so enthusiastic about it.”
She smiled, her eyes twinkling. “You’re not afraid of a little competition, are you?”
He took a deep breath. “Look. I promised Jillian—well, I didn’t really promise Jillian, she posed a challenge I thought was aggravating but respectable—that I wouldn’t crowd Taylor. It’s sort of a may-the-best-man-win thing. I have no doubt of my best-man status where Taylor is concerned. But it’d be nice if my aunt wasn’t stacking the deck against me.”
“I understand and can probably agree to your terms,” Fiona said. “Partially, anyway. I have to take into consideration what’s best for both of you, you know. Still, I’ve been known to parlay on occasion.”
“You really want to see that cave, don’t you?”
She nodded. “About as much as you want your girl.”
Falcon wasn’t really surprised. There was very little that didn’t interest the redoubtable aunt. “Come on,” he said. “Don’t tell my brothers, and definitely not Ash, that I gave in to your gentle persuasion.”
Fiona grinned. “I believe I have something of a reputation for being able to keep a secret.”
Didn’t he know it.
* * *
A SH MADE SURE HER POST was covered, then sneaked off to the canyons to hunt for her elusive crush. Xav Phillips was hiding from her and had been for months, though he wouldn’t admit it. He’d taken over the outer perimeter of the ranch as his own personal post, though any of her brothers would be willing to take turns living in the canyons. Xav had exiled himself, and Ash had a strong suspicion it was because of her.
It didn’t help that both his brothers, Shaman and Gage, and recently his sister, Kendall, had succumbed to the allure of marriage. Xav was determined to break the Phillips curse.
It wasn’t just the Phillips curse. The Callahans had a real reason to wed. Fiona had thrown down a gauntlet, letting the seven Callahan siblings know that a great deal of land north of the canyons was up for grabs, a lottery to be won by the luckiest Callahan. You had to be married and have a family to quality for Fiona’s raffle.
Everybody knew what Fiona had done to their six Callahan cousins—every last one of them hotfooting it to the altar for a stake at Rancho Diablo.
Ash wanted the land for Sister Wind Ranch, and Xav Phillips was her man.
But then she’d discovered that her aunt was cheating, trying to encourage them to get competitive and marry, though there was no “prize.”
Still, Xav Phillips was her man. Even without the excuse of a holy grail, she wanted him more than ever.
She intended to do something about that.
Her brothers would be furious if they knew she was in the canyons without protection, especially after what had happened to Falcon. Ash didn’t want to think about that.
She had to see Xav. It had been a solid month since she had. Never had she known a man who could go without creature comforts as long as he could, just to avoid falling in love.
She caught sight of Xav’s horse, Omega, a big black gelding that complemented his owner. Xav wasn’t in the saddle, which seemed a bit odd. He had to be close, so Ash cantered forward.
Xav’s horse whickered at her when she rode alongside him. The horse eyed her almost thankfully. Glancing around, she looked for Xav. She didn’t dare call out to him, and cell service would be dead here. “Where’s your dad?” she asked the horse, but he seemed too tired to even shake his mane or move much. This wasn’t like Xav’s powerful horse at all.
Something was wrong.
The first thing she had to do was get this horse out of the searing heat and to water. Glancing around for an outcropping or any sort of shelter, Ash headed over to the nearest narrow carve-out she could find. Xav’s horse followed, more like Eeyore than Trigger, and Ash’s unease grew.
She saw Xav under the outcropping, lying faceup, eyes closed. He was so still she feared he might be dead. He shifted at the sound of horse hooves on the dirt-packed canyon floor, but didn’t open his eyes.
“Xav?” Dismounting, Ash ran over to him. “What’s wrong?”
He barely moved—but at least he lowered his arm and opened his eyes, turning toward her.
“Hey, Ashlyn.”
“What happened?” She knelt beside him, glancing over his body. Everything looked fine—until she saw the blood leaking from his leg. “Did you fall?”
“Someone took a shot at me.”
She had to get him help. “Can you walk?”
He didn’t reply. She felt his forehead—fever, of course—swiftly thinking through her options. She could ride back for Galen and her brothers, but that would take time. Whoever shot Xav knew he’d gotten a good hit, and might be looking for him. There was no way she’d be able to lift him into the saddle, even if she could help him walk to his horse. By the amount of blood on his jeans, she guessed he’d been lying here awhile.
“I don’t suppose you can walk.”
He tried to lever himself up from the rock ledge, but although Ash pulled at his back, she couldn’t support him, and he was too weak. “Okay, listen, Xav. I’m going to ride for—”
“Is something wrong?”
Ash gasped at the unexpected voice booming near her as Storm Cash walked up to the outcropping. The Callahans hadn’t yet decided if he was friend or foe, though the vote was leaning toward the latter. Storm was certainly a handsome, rugged man, and he seemed nice enough to Ash—she hadn’t picked up any hints otherwise—but someone had put a bullet in Xav. She looked at Storm, a bit of fear inside her.
“Xav fell off his horse,” she said, not certain how much to share, and Storm glanced at Xav, concern etched on his chiseled face. No hint that he was the shooter coming to find his prey.
“Fell off?” He glanced at the blood crusted on Xav’s jeans and pooled beneath him. “That’s not like him.” He knelt close to Ash, looking down at Xav. “If I help you to my horse, can you at least hang over the saddle?”
Xav gave a slight nod.
“I’ll help you,” Ash said, her heart racing. “We’ll just put him on his horse. That way you won’t have to follow us back—”
He looked at her. “His horse seems to be about done in. That’s what I really came to check on.”
She didn’t mention that he was trespassing on Callahan land. This wasn’t the time. Friend or foe, she needed Storm’s assistance.
The mention of his horse being in trouble seemed to give Xav a vital boost of energy. He tried to raise himself to his elbows, and Storm helped him up from there. Though Xav was taller than Storm by a few inches and probably outweighed him by an athletic twenty pounds, Storm managed to get him to his horse. He helped Xav get his foot into the stirrup, then slump across the saddle.
“That’s all we needed, buddy. We can take it from here.” Storm turned to Ash. “Maybe we should get him to a hospital.”
“I’m taking him to the ranch.” Ash stood ready to defend this plan. “My family will decide what’s best for him then.”
“There’s no telling how much blood he’s lost. Maybe we take him to my ranch. I’ve got a—”
“Mr. Cash,” Ash said, “Xav is going to our ranch. Thank you for the use of your horse, but if you have a problem with being on Callahan land, I’ll take him myself and return your horse to you later.”
“It’s fine,” Storm said. “Whatever you want.”
He mounted his horse with Xav across the back and began walking. Ash watched Storm suspiciously, then mounted her own horse. To her relief, Xav’s horse followed, even though it was a shadow of its normally vigorous self. Watching the terrain for any signs of danger, Ash stayed close to Xav, occasionally glancing at Storm.
How had he managed to coincidentally show up after Xav was wounded? She was so suspicious of him and so worried about Xav that her body felt flooded with adrenaline. Her brothers were going to kill her for being in the canyons. And they weren’t going to be happy about her dragging Storm Cash to the house.
Her brothers didn’t understand how she felt about Xav.
Storm waited for her to catch up to him. “I wasn’t entirely honest about my reason for being back there.”
A tickle of unease hit Ash. Worried, she glanced toward Xav. He wasn’t moving much. Was almost too still.
“Oh?” She didn’t look at Storm.
“I’m afraid I followed you.”
Her gaze jumped to him then. “Why?”
Storm shrugged. “Wanted to talk to you.”
Maybe there was a logical reason behind the man’s frequent presence at the ranch—beyond the overly friendly neighbor visits. “Something on your mind, Storm?”
“This may not be the best time to mention it, but you’re pretty hard to get hold of, Miss Callahan.” He glanced her way. “I was hoping you might accompany me to the Diablo Ball in December.”
She blinked. Awkward. “I heard you’d proposed to Taylor Waters.”
He nodded. “I did. She turned down my suit. So then I thought maybe my neighbor gal might want to accompany me. Sounds like it’s going to be a real nice evening.”
Xav looked as if he was trying to rise to a sitting position, though he wasn’t going to make it. He muttered something, a string of incoherent words, and Ash looked at him with concern. “The less you move, the faster we can get you home, Xav. Your weight is too much on the horse,” she told him. “Try to stay still.”
After a few more twitches, he settled.
She looked back at the other man. “I don’t know what to say, Storm. I wasn’t planning to attend the charity ball.” Of course she was—but she’d been planning to go solo, if she could talk Galen into letting her off post that night.
Xav made more noise, sounding like a pheasant startled from a forest. Of course, he was feverish, so that probably had a lot to do with his sudden flailing. No telling how long he’d been lying out there, bleeding.
He’d do anything to avoid her.
“Let me think about it, although I warn you my brothers will not be happy. But I did want to go, so thank you for the offer,” she told Storm, and Xav fell silent at last.
* * *
“I THOUGHT I’ D COME BY to talk to you,” Taylor said to Falcon as she hopped out of her truck. “Unless you were about to leave?”
Fiona and Falcon did look as if they were about to take off somewhere. Taylor knew she should have called first. The thing about Rancho Diablo was that people felt comfortable dropping by whenever and often, and she’d decided to ambush her own nerves and just make herself go face Falcon. Spur of the moment. No phone call to make things more uncomfortable than they already were.
Now Taylor wondered if she’d been a bit too impulsive.
“We were about to leave,” Falcon said, and his aunt nodded enthusiastically. “But you’re welcome to ride with us.”
Fiona turned and stared up at Falcon as if he’d lost his mind.
“You said you’d help me out,” he told her.
“I didn’t say we’d give away the family secrets,” Fiona shot back.
“Maybe another time,” Taylor said, and Falcon and Fiona both said, “No!”
“By all means, come with us,” Fiona said. “We’re just going to take a small joyride on the ranch.”
“More ghost-busting?” Taylor asked brightly. “Falcon’s big on ghosts.” She got into the backseat of the military jeep.
Fiona sent her nephew a droll look. “Our whole family enjoys a good paranormal goose-pimpler.”
The Callahans were legendary for their love of ghost stories and spiritual juju, according to her aunt Nadine. They even let a local woman give ghost-hunting tours on the ranch in the fall. Taylor smiled as they drove, listening to Fiona and Falcon banter. Fiona seemed very fond of her nephew, and just couldn’t help ribbing him. Taylor’s gaze focused on some horses making their slow way in the distance. Ash’s platinum hair caught her eye, but she didn’t recognize the man riding beside her. A third horse followed disconsolately behind the riders. “Who’s that?” she asked, touching Falcon’s shoulder. Through the black T-shirt she could feel muscles, strength—solidness so comforting.
“It’s Ash,” Fiona said. “And Storm.”
“Never a good combination. Let’s go throw a burr into whatever he’s up to. Hope you don’t mind, Taylor.”
“Fine by me.”
They pulled up alongside Ash and Storm, who came to a halt. Falcon cursed and jumped from the jeep. Fiona wasn’t far behind her nephew, and Taylor followed, too, as they hurried to help Xav.
“What happened?” Falcon demanded.
“I found him pretty much unconscious,” Ash said. “He’d dragged himself under a ledge. His horse was standing in the open, or I’d never have spotted him. Xav’s been shot.”
“What were you doing in the canyons?” Falcon demanded, examining Xav. “Help me get him into the jeep,” he told Storm. “You can explain to me later why you always seem to be around when something’s going wrong, Cash.”
The two men lifted Xav from the saddle, gently carrying him to the jeep. “I’m going to run him to the hospital,” Falcon said. “Fiona, I hate to abandon you—”
“I can take care of myself,” she said. “So can Taylor. Hurry!”
