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“Maybe,” Cade said. “But it won’t hurt to keep a sharp eye out.”
“That’s what they’ll be expecting,” Austin said. “For us to be watching. Of course, it’s always good to be cautious.” He drained his glass. “Sorry to drink and run, Reno,” he said, setting the tumbler on the table. The ice cubes rattled, and as an afterthought, the sheriff fished one out and popped it into his mouth to chew on. “Tell Sam to keep me posted,” he mumbled around the ice cube.
“Yeah, sure.” But Cade wore a stubborn expression.
Wynonna pulled into the yard in her beat-up GMC pickup as Austin was loading the sorrel into his trailer. They exchanged greetings before the older woman climbed the porch steps, carrying a couple of shopping bags.
“Need help with that?” Cade asked, rising.
“Heavens no, it’s just a few groceries. How are you, Matt?”
“Been better,” the cowboy said.
“Well, let’s pray you’re on the mend,” Wynonna declared, the false hope sliding off her tongue as slick as wax on a snowboard.
As she passed Reno, she raised a curious eyebrow that said, We’ll talk about this later. Reno knew Wy would have fun teasing her about drawing the attention of two good-looking, single cowboys. Having tea on her porch at that.
I was thinking of Matt, Reno would argue.
Uh-huh.
Or maybe a cowboy with blue-green eyes. One she seemed to be harboring a new kind of feeling for, in spite of their muddy past.
CHAPTER FOUR
CADE DROVE HIS FATHER home, unable to get Reno out of his head. Not to mention the way Austin Pritchard had looked at her. The man rubbed him the wrong way. Always had, even though they’d worked together only a short while before Cade quit the sheriff’s department. Austin was cocky, and he’d had what women called fast hands. Back in the day, on more than one occasion, Cade had seen him get grabby with the ladies after a couple beers in the bar. And the guy had had an eye for Reno years ago, even though he was only a year younger than Cade himself.
Jackass.
“I enjoyed that,” Matt said. “Thanks, son.”
Cade focused on the road. He knew how hard it was for his dad to admit his limitations. Putting up with Austin was well worth the effort if the outing gave Matt even a few moments’ pleasure. “Glad to have your company, Dad.”
Matthew harrumphed. “If your mother had her way, I’d be in some damn hospital lying flat on my back, waiting to die.”
“Don’t you think you’re being hard on her?” Cade asked. He hated the rift that seemed to grow between his parents with each passing day. Estelle couldn’t hide her anger that the man she loved and had been married to for nearly forty years had smoked his way closer to his grave. “Be patient, Dad. Mom only wants what’s best for you.”
“In her own way, I suppose she does. But it’s not my way.”
Stubborn old cowboy. Yet, like it or not, Cade could relate.
“Sam’s thinking about camping out near the watering hole,” he said, changing the subject. “Keep a closer eye on the mustangs that way. I might go with him, if you and Mom can spare me for a little while.”
“Those horses are gonna find someplace else to water if you spook them,” Matt said, “not to mention the poachers aren’t likely to return to the same spot, when they know you saw them there.”
“It’s a place to start. I’ll take Jet up there with me, and one of your packhorses, if that’s okay. Sam will be on horseback. Maybe the herd will be curious enough about the geldings to stick around for a bit. If not, then I guess Sam will ride after them wherever they go. I’d sure like to help him,” he repeated. Actually, helping catch the poachers had a great deal to do with Reno. Cade owed her. If he could in some small way make up for the past, maybe he’d sleep better at night, and God knew she loved those mustangs.
He couldn’t be gone on a long stakeout, since he’d come here to help his parents with the Diamond L. If only he could clone himself…
“Do what you want,” Matt said. “Your mom and I don’t expect you to spend every waking minute with us. But she’s got a Fourth of July barbecue planned for tomorrow. It’s something she’s been doing the past several years. She’s got all the neighbors coming, and she’ll be disappointed if you’re not there.”
Cade’s hands went cold. A barbecue? His mother had never mentioned it to him. Shit. That meant he’d have to face all their neighbors in one fell swoop. Neighbors who knew he’d killed Sonny. Some had thought him a hero, others not so much, not after the way he’d left Reno. Either way, he wasn’t ready for this. He didn’t want to be the center of attention.
It’s just a barbecue. Get a grip.
“What time?”
“Five-thirty, thereabouts. After the rodeo.”
“All right. But I think I’ll still camp out tonight.” Riding always put him in a better frame of mind. Maybe he’d feel calmer, more up to facing people afterward. “I’ll let Mom know I’ll be back in plenty of time to help set things up.”
“Guess that’ll work.”
“Is Reno invited?” The question slipped off his tongue before Cade could stop it.
“I reckon. She’s a neighbor, ain’t she?” In Eagle’s Nest, anyone living in the county was considered a neighbor. “Sure wish I could camp out with you,” Matt said, his breathing labored. He looked ready for a nap.
“So do I,” Cade said.
As a kid, how many miles had he covered with his dad over the years, riding herd, fixing fence? Enough to stretch coast to coast and then some, he’d wager. He grinned, trying to lighten the mood. “Coming back early will work out all right, anyway. I can’t leave you alone too long with Mom distracted. You’re bound to sneak a smoke, or maybe try to move the cows by yourself.” Cade and Heath—the one ranch hand they had left—were planning to drive the cows and calves to new pasture in the next few days.
“Humph. I wish,” his dad grumbled. “Your mother would have my hide tanned into saddle leather, just so she could ride my back even after I’m gone.”
Cade couldn’t help but laugh. “She loves you.”
“I know.” Matt reached into his shirt pocket and fished out the single cigarette he kept there. He put it in his mouth and rolled it from side to side. “Man, I miss these confounded things.”
Cade grunted. “Why do you torment yourself that way?”
“Sometimes a little torment is worth it,” Matt said. “Kind of like you and Reno.” To Cade’s surprise, a twinkle lit his father’s eyes.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He snorted. “Any fool can see you still care about her.”
“It’s not like you think,” Cade said. “She never thought about me that way, anyhow.”
“That was then, this is now.”
“Whatever,” Cade said. “I owe her, and that’s that.”
“You didn’t make Carlina swallow those pills,” Matt said. “Sonny Sanchez did that, as sure as if he’d shoved ’em down her throat.” He lowered his voice. “When are you going to stop tormenting yourself, son?” He slipped the cigarette back into his shirt pocket and took out a snuff can. “Tell your mother, and I’ll tan your hide.”
Cade bit his lip.
Not about the chewing tobacco, but against the guilt he still couldn’t shake.
If he hadn’t shot Sonny, Carlina Sanchez never would have overdosed.
And Reno would’ve had the mother she’d needed.
RENO CLEANED UP the kitchen, washing the plastic tumblers and sun tea jar. While the clean container filled again beneath the running tap, she reached in the cupboard for tea bags, and noticed the note Wynonna had scribbled on the dry erase board fastened to the fridge: “BBQ—Diamond L—5:30 Sun.”
She’d nearly forgotten.
The Lantanas had been putting on an annual Fourth of July barbecue ever since the summer Cade left. Reno wondered if the tradition had started out of guilt or remorse. After all, he hadn’t gone under pleasant circumstances. And while a lot of townspeople thought of him as a hero, there were those who weren’t so sure.
No matter her own personal feelings, Reno had sympathized with Cade’s parents, Estelle in particular. How hard it must seem to be the mother—a mother in a small town—of a man who’d had to shoot and kill someone. Even if your son was a deputy sheriff. Even if the man he shot was a pedophile and a killer.
And even if Sonny Sanchez was the only father Reno had ever known.
Reno raised one eyebrow. The note hadn’t been on the fridge earlier.
“Ah, you noticed,” Wynonna said from behind her. “I, uh, forgot to remind you before.”
“No problem.” She turned off the faucet, straightened her shoulders, lifted her chin and knew she wasn’t fooling Wy any more than she was fooling herself. “I’ve gone to Estelle’s barbecue for the past nine years. Why shouldn’t I go this year?”
“Exactly.” Wynonna nodded, relief spreading over her features.
Reno’s shoulders slumped. “Who am I kidding, Wy? I can’t go this year.”
Wynonna busied herself drying the tumblers Reno had stacked in the dish drainer. “And why not?”
“You know why.”
“It’ll be fun. You’re going to stand there and tell me you’d let a man—even Cade Lantana—stop you from going?”
Reno pulled the tea bags from their individual wrappers and placed them in the jar. “I think you know the answer to that.”
“You have to go. It would be rude if you don’t attend.”
She didn’t want to socialize with Cade. The mustangs were one thing, but…
But she was still pissed at him—her big brother—for leaving her.
“Estelle went to a lot of hard work,” Wynonna said. “I’ve been helping her here and there.”
Since Wynonna often went on a baking spree, Reno hadn’t really thought much of it when she’d noticed the extra homemade desserts stored in the refrigerator. She was about to protest when the phone rang, making her jump.
“Hello?”
“Hi yourself, gorgeous.”
“Austin. What are you up to?”
“About six-one.” He laughed.
Reno couldn’t help but chuckle. “Ha. You ought to get your own stage act.”
“Maybe I will. You want to be my assistant?”
“Nope. I have an aversion to being sawed in half.”
“That’s a magician’s assistant, not a comedian’s.”
“Comedians don’t have assistants.”
“Darn. Do they have dates?”
“I don’t know. Maybe they prefer raisins.”
He laughed again. “Oh, that’s bad. But not bad enough to keep me from asking you out.”
“Is that right?” Reno wrapped the kitchen phone cord around her index finger. “Where to? If it’s Red Lobster, I’m there.” There was one in Grand Junction—worth the eighty-five-mile drive.
“Sorry to disappoint you. I was thinking more along the lines of a barbecue—the one at the Diamond L, to be exact.”
The Lantanas’ barbecue…shit.
Reno cupped the phone with one hand, turning her back on Wynonna, who pretended to be busy putting the dishes in the cupboard.
“You’re going?”
“Of course. I always do.”
“Well, yeah, but I thought…”
“That Cade would keep me away? Not hardly. He may think he’s a big bad BLM agent, but this isn’t Idaho.”
Reno rolled her eyes. “Austin, you don’t have to play macho to me. I’m not impressed and you know it.”
“I’m wounded.” She could picture him clutching his chest, and she had to smile. “Don’t tell me Cade’s scared you off going?”
“What makes you say that?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I think someone had a crush on someone else a long time ago. And I also think I know a pretty woman who got her heart stomped on when that coward left.”
“Don’t call him that.”
“Hey, take it easy. I’m just quoting your grandpa Mel.”
Reno’s chest burned. “Leave my grandfather out of this,” she snapped.
“He should be a man. Stand up for what he did. He wasn’t wrong.”
Maybe not in shooting Sonny. But Cade had been wrong to leave her. That had broken her heart and angered Grandpa Mel. Reno often wondered if the shooting and her mother’s suicide had contributed to her grandfather’s decline in health, and ultimately the back-to-back strokes that had killed him.
“And, no,” Reno said, “I don’t plan on letting Cade Lantana get to me.”
