She inherited half a ranch in Montana...

But her inheritance is his home!

Cowboy Gus Hawkins would wager his hat that Lillie Jean Hardaway is bad news—and as far as he’s concerned, he’s right. She just inherited half of the Montana ranch Gus has worked on for fifteen years. His home. Now Gus can’t decide what’s worse: that this pretty city slicker could destroy his dreams before returning to Texas...or that he’s falling head over spurs for her.

JEANNIE WATT lives in Montana’s Madison Valley on a seven-hundred-acre cattle ranch and hay farm, which she shares with her husband, her parents and many animals. Jeannie taught junior high school for about a hundred years and recently retired. When she’s not writing or feeding animals, she enjoys sewing, knitting, running, making mosaic mirrors and reading.

Also by Jeannie Watt

To Tempt a Cowgirl

To Kiss a Cowgirl

To Court a Cowgirl

Molly’s Mr. Wrong

Wrangling the Rancher

Once a Champion

Cowgirl in High Heels

All for a Cowboy

The Bull Rider Meets His Match

The Bull Rider’s Homecoming

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Her Montana Cowboy

Jeannie Watt

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-07829-0

HER MONTANA COWBOY

© 2018 Jeannie Steinman

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

This book is dedicated to my amazing niece, Hanna.

Thank you for carrying on the tradition.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Extract

About the Publisher

CHAPTER ONE

FOR THE PAST several months, Lillie Jean Hardaway had had only two kinds of luck—amazingly good and crazy bad. The seesaw was starting to get to her. Now, as she braced her palms against the door of her car and let her head hang down in defeat, she wondered how she was going to get herself out of this latest instance of crazy bad.

After a couple deep breaths, she stepped back, surveyed her surroundings. The Montana sun had disappeared behind the mountains shortly after her last attempt to drive out of the deep muddy ruts that stubbornly held her car captive, and it was getting dark. Soon it would be seriously dark, so she had to make a decision—follow the road, which, according to the weathered sign she’d passed as she’d turned off the main road, led to the H/H Ranch, or stay with her car and walk in the morning.

Tough choice.

If she was going to walk tonight, she needed to start soon. Her phone was fully charged, so she could use its flashlight when it became too dark to see. And she had her protection dog, Henry—a Chihuahua-dachshund mix wearing a Christmas sweater because it was the only warm garment she could find on short notice. Who knew that Montana was so cold in the spring?

Lillie wrapped her arms around herself as she stared down the long road. What kinds of predators lurked out there, waiting for the cover of darkness? She shuddered at the thought. She knew nothing about fighting off wolves. Should she carry a tire iron or something?

On the other hand, while she had a coat, she had no blanket and it was already getting cold.

Cold? Or wolves in the night?

Lillie went with cold. She and Henry could huddle together for warmth.

Letting out a long sigh, she walked around to the driver’s side to pop the truck latch. It took a little searching by the dim light that shone down into the packed trunk, but finally she found the tire iron under one of her three suitcases. She took it with her as she situated herself in the front seat of the car, reclining the seat back as far as it would go before settling in for what was no doubt going to be a long miserable night.

Yet another tick mark in the “this sucks” column of life. Lillie Jean’s mouth drooped. Until the beginning of this calendar year, she hadn’t had all that many bad experiences. Her childhood had been pleasant and uneventful. She deeply missed her mom, who’d succumbed to breast cancer two years ago, just before Lillie Jean’s twenty-fourth birthday, but after that devastating loss, life had once again shifted back into its normal path. She’d started her small business with her boyfriend, Andrew, who eventually became her fiancé, Andrew. Then, six months before the wedding, he’d become ex-fiancé/business-stealer Andrew.

Lillie Jean rubbed her forehead.

Naive, naive, naive.

Oh, did I mention the part about being naive?

Yeah. I got it. Never again.

She was starting from scratch—financially and emotionally. She was going to watch her back from here on out. If the past several months had taught her anything, it was that there were no excuses for being caught unaware. A little due diligence on her part, and she’d probably still be an owner of A Thread in Time, and she would have cut loose Andrew a long time ago, instead of being caught off guard and humiliated.

A howl in the distance brought Lillie Jean’s head up and made her heart beat a little faster. Cold was definitely better than wolves. Henry snuggled up against her as if to say, “Don’t worry. I’ll fight those wild beasts for you,” because her little dog had yet to figure out that he wasn’t ten feet tall. Lillie Jean stroked his ears, then reached out to touch the cool metal of the tire iron leaning against the gearshift and told herself to be thankful it was March and not January. Although, obviously, March in Montana could be brutal, too.

Maybe that was why her grandfather had left the state for the warmth of central Texas all those years ago.

She’d only know if Thaddeus Hawkins, his business partner, had answers to share. The lawyer hadn’t been able to tell her anything after her grandfather’s unexpected death three weeks ago, except that, in addition to inheriting his personal effects, she would soon be half owner of a Montana ranch. She could truthfully say she still wasn’t over the shock of that meeting. Her grandfather had rented a small house in a modest neighborhood. Driven a twenty-year-old car, which she was driving now. Rarely splurged and had next to no savings. Yet he’d owned half interest in a ranch—eight hundred acres according to the documents. Small by Texas standards, but still, a ranch. Which she hadn’t known about. She and her grandfather had been close, the last of the Hardaway line, and she was still trying to figure out if she felt more mystified or betrayed at being kept in the dark.

A secret ranch. Why?

She hoped the answer lay at the end of the long road she was on...if she ever got there. She wanted to see the place and introduce herself to Thaddeus Hawkins, her grandfather’s former business partner. She had no intentions of lying about who she was or why she was there, but she didn’t think it would hurt to do a little anonymous reconnaissance first. Her experience with Andrew had left her feeling cautious, nowhere close to trusting people blindly as she’d once done. Learning about the ranch had only reinforced the fact that there were just too many secrets in this world, too much double-dealing to take anything at face value.

No matter what, she was never going to be caught off guard again.

* * *

GUS HAWKINS YAWNED as he turned onto the ranch road. His last official shift at the Shamrock Pub, which he owned with his Uncle Thad, had been something. Even though he would still fill in as needed, the patrons of the popular Gavin, Montana, bar had treated the event as a wake. Some brought food. Others brought gag gifts, which was why he now had a temporary tattoo of an anchor on the back of his neck and a lip print on his forehead. One of the college girls had offered him a particularly personal going away present, but he’d gently turned her down. He wouldn’t miss the nightly headaches of the pub, but he would miss the people. The majority of them, anyway.

He slowed as he rounded a series of corners, watching the edge of road as his headlights cut through the darkness. The snow was mostly melted—for now, anyway. Late spring snow and ice storms were a regular occurrence, and since the H/H Ranch still had a number of cows to calve out, there was certain to be one last nasty storm, which would probably coincide with a particularly difficult birth. But for the time being, the new grass was growing and the deer were active as they moved from the valleys to the foothills, following the melt and new growth. He’d had a close call the night before with a large doe and wasn’t all that keen to have another one.

As he topped the hill, he could just see the ranch yard lights in the distance. The place that had been his home since he was fifteen would now be his sole place of employment. He’d essentially worked full-time on the ranch for the past several months, as Salvatore, the H/H’s aging ranch manager, came to terms with the fact that he couldn’t do as much as he once could. Then, after the ranch work was done for the day, Gus put in full shifts at the pub four or five nights a week. The schedule had been grueling—especially during calving season—but Thad had needed the help and Sal needed time. Now Sal was living with his brother in Dillon, and Gus was done double shifting. It’d been easier to hire a good bartender than a good ranch manager, and he had no doubt that Ginny Monroe was more than up to the task of running the bar with Thad. And Thad liked her...maybe more than he wanted to let on.

Go, Ginny. Thad had been single for too darned long.

Gus was smiling at the thought of Ginny easing Thad out of his long bachelorhood as he started back down the hill, driving on the wrong side of the dirt road to avoid the hellacious mud puddle that had formed at the bottom, just around the blind corner. The smile abruptly disappeared as he rounded the corner and found the back end of a giant car directly in front of him. He swung hard to the left, then pulled back onto the road and eased to a stop after barely missing the vehicle. Mystified, he grabbed his flashlight out of the door-panel pocket and got out of his truck, walked back to the car and shined the light on the license plate.

Texas?

What was a gas-guzzling vehicle from Texas doing stuck in the mud on the ranch driveway? No one, save parcel delivery rigs and seasonal hunters, ventured onto this road. Gus pushed back his hat, then stilled as he caught a movement inside the car.

It looked like he was about to get an answer to his question...or so he thought before the head in the car ducked out of sight.

Huh.

He moved closer and bent forward in an attempt to see through the darkly tinted windows into the interior of the car, wondering if someone had left their dog inside to guard the car while they went for help. No...that was definitely a person in there, hunched down in the seat. Probably scared.

“Hi,” he called. “I live on this road. Do you need some help?”

Obviously they needed help, since their car was axle-deep in the mud.

For a moment there was no movement, and then the person leaned across the seat and turned the key, then rolled the window down about an inch.

“I’m Gus Hawkins. I live about five miles down the road. Can I call someone or give you a lift?”

“You live on the H/H Ranch?”

The voice was feminine. Husky. Nervous.

“I do.”

“Oh.”

Gus waited for more. He didn’t get it. “Is that where you were going?”

“Yes. I...uh...thought that Thaddeus Hawkins lived there. Is he a relative?”

His insides went cold when the woman mentioned Thad’s name. Oh, please, not again.

“He’s my uncle.”

A shiver went through her as she stared up at him through three-inch opening in the window. He had no idea who she was, or what her intentions were toward his uncle, but he couldn’t leave her there to spend the night in her car.

“Look—it’s cold out here. Do you want a lift?”

“I...uh...yes. Thank you.” She scooched back across the seat and got out of the passenger side, a small dog under her arm and what looked a whole lot like a tire iron in one hand.

“You aren’t going to conk me with that and steal my truck, are you?” he asked, starting to rethink his offer of a lift. “Because if you are, you should know that there isn’t enough fuel to get back to town.”

In the reflected lights of the headlamps, it looked as if the woman was blushing. “I have no designs on your truck.”

“Good to know.” He smiled, trying to look friendly, while still wondering if he wanted a woman carrying a tire iron riding with him. “These are unusual circumstances and we can sort things out when we get to the ranch, but right now I gotta tell you it makes me nervous having you armed like that.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I don’t know you,” he explained. You might be crazy.

“I don’t know you,” she pointed out as the little dog lifted his lip to show his teeth in a ridiculous display of bravado.

“I’m not carrying a big chunk of metal to hit you with. Besides—you know my name. I don’t know yours. Or why you’re here.”

“My name is...Lillie Jean. The rest I’ll discuss with Thaddeus.”

Gus closed his eyes, then quickly opened them again. She was carrying a tire iron, after all. “How do you suggest we come to a compromise, Lillie Jean?”

It took her less than a second to say, “Pull me out?”

Just what he wanted to do at 2:00 a.m. He jerked his head toward his warm truck. “Grab your tire iron and let’s go.”

“To the ranch.”

“Yes.” Now that he knew she was there to see Thad, he wanted to keep an eye on her. The last incident might have been online, but Thad coming so close to losing so much money had Gus on alert. For all he knew Thad may have met this woman online, and she was here for... He hated to think.

She didn’t move, so he added, “You can either come with me, or stay with your car. There is no option c.”

It might have been the swirl of icy wind sweeping by them that decided her, but whatever the reason, she gave a nod, hugging her dog a little closer as she did so.

“Let me get my bag.”

Instead of following instinct and offering to help, Gus stood back as she awkwardly balanced dog and tire iron while dragging a zippered gym bag out of the backseat. Finally she shut the door with her hip, then headed toward the passenger side of the truck. When she got inside, he had his first good look at her face in the light and found that he had to take a second. Dark hair waved around her face and fell down her back, but it was her eyes that had made him look again. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but the blue-green color reminded him of his favorite alpine fishing lake—a place he hadn’t had time to visit in well over a year.

She placed the gym bag on the console between them, forming an impressive barrier, then settled in her seat, fastening her seat belt as Gus shut his door. He had no idea what she’d done with her weapon, and as he started back down the road, he tried to put himself in her position, assuming that she wasn’t there for a nefarious purpose. A lone female in the middle of nowhere with no cell signal and only a dog in a reindeer sweater for protection. Of course she was nervous.

But why was she traveling to the ranch, and how did she know Thaddeus?

Why would she come to the ranch without calling first?

Gus hoped that he really was rescuing the woman rather than giving trouble a ride to the ranch, but his gut told him that a woman who gave her name reluctantly was not a woman he wanted staying at his place.

* * *

LILLIE JEAN KEPT her eyes forward as the truck bounced over ruts and skirted vehicle-eating puddles. This situation was surreal. She was no longer in control—of anything, it seemed—but she did her best to appear unconcerned about her lack of power.

“How long were you stuck?”

Lillie Jean gave her rescuer a quick sideways look. He had a strong profile, high cheekbones. A chin that kind of said, “Don’t mess with me.” Dark brown scruff covered his jaw, but it looked as if it was the result of forgetting to shave, rather than an affectation, as was often the case where she came from. She thought his hair might be dark blond, but too much of it was hidden by the battered cowboy hat to be sure. He did not look like someone who would hurt her, but she was in the middle of nowhere and he was a stranger, so she was taking no chances. Henry also kept an eye on the guy while pressing his warm body against her chest. Her little dog was taking no chances, either.

“Since around four o’clock.” She’d arrived in the small town of Gavin around three o’clock and decided to drive to the ranch, take a look at her inheritance, meet her grandfather’s partner, then head back to town and stay in a motel for the night. She should have gone with her other plan of heading out to the ranch first thing in the morning, but she had a feeling she would have still gotten stuck.

“Long time.”

“I never expected a mud puddle to be on the other side of the corner.”

“Always expect the unexpected on a country road.”

And in life. Lillie Jean sat a little straighter in her seat as the lights of the ranch came into view and stayed there instead of disappearing as they crested small hills. What now? She’d meet Thaddeus Hawkins late at night. Probably get him out of bed. He and his nephew might offer her a bed. And she would accept, because what was her other option?

This was not the position she’d hoped to be in when she arrived.

She should have called ahead. Should have set up an appointment via her grandfather’s lawyer. There were a ton of things she should have done. Maybe it was grief, maybe it was the need to simply get away from her old life, but climbing into the boat of a car that her grandfather had kept for “old time’s sake” and driving to Montana to see the ranch and ferret out some answers from Grandpa’s partner before seeing if he wanted to buy her share had seemed like a good idea. No—it had seemed like a way to take control of a life that seemed to be barreling out of control. And, indeed, as she’d driven north, she’d started to feel almost intrepid, following a course that was so out of the ordinary for her. She was in control, and, darn it, she was going to get answers. She’d played over many scenarios in her head as she’d driven—and not one of them had ended like this.

The cowboy—Gus—slowed as he drove under a weathered wooden arch into the ranch proper, which was nothing like Lillie Jean had envisioned. A light on a tall pole illuminated two small run-down houses and another light shone on a cluster of weathered buildings—a barn and several sheds. There was movement in the shadows behind the fence next to the barn. Henry’s hackles lifted and he let out a low growl.

“Better keep hold of him until we get into the house. You don’t want him disappearing out into the pasture.”

“Are those horses?” she asked as Gus pulled to a stop next to a picket fence.

“Cows.” He shut off the engine and the headlights faded.

Cows. Of course. It was a ranch.

They opened their doors at the same time. Lillie Jean scooped up Henry and held him against her chest with one hand as she pulled her tote bag out of the truck with the other. The tire iron stayed where it was, lying on the floorboards. She felt a little foolish about her self-protective measures, but if she had it to do again, she’d do the exact same thing. A wooden sign attached to the gatepost welcomed her to the H/H Ranch. Lillie Jean’s mouth tightened. The H/H didn’t feel very welcoming...but it was half hers. The land was worth something even if all the buildings looked as if they were about to fall down.

Once the gate was closed behind her, she put Henry on the ground and followed Gus up the uneven walkway to the back door. Henry quickly did his business, then hurried back to Lillie Jean. Gus opened the door, and they walked directly into a mudroom with boots lining the wall and a broad assortment of coats and hats hanging on hooks above them. The room was freshly swept and baskets of folded clothing sat atop the washer and dryer next to the door leading into the house.

Gus crossed to the door, snapped on a light and stood back so that she could enter first. The big kitchen was as neat as the mudroom. The oak table in the center of the room was an antique and the simple white appliances were close to being antique.

“You can sleep in Thad’s room. Give me a sec and I’ll get you some sheets.”

“Where will Thad sleep?” she asked, horrified at the idea of rousting the old man out of bed and sending him to sleep who knew where.

“Where he’s probably sleeping right now. In the apartment over the bar.”

“What bar?”

“The Shamrock Pub. His bar. Our bar.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Thad doesn’t live on the ranch. He hasn’t lived here for years. He only stays here when he needs to pitch in around the place.”

Lillie Jean’s mouth fell open. “You’re saying...”

“It’s just you and me here tonight.” He folded his arms over his chest and his expression wasn’t at all amused as he said, “Do you want to go back to the truck for your weapon?”

CHAPTER TWO

TWENTY MINUTES LATER, Lillie Jean was lying in a twin bed, staring at the ceiling, too keyed up to go to sleep even though it was almost 3:00 a.m. Gus had handed her sheets for the stripped bed, pointed her in the direction of the bathroom, then disappeared down the hall to a room at the end.

None of this is going according to plan.

Not one thing. Thaddeus had been in the town she’d driven through on her way to the ranch, and, as things stood now, she was dependent on a guy who was probably going to be none too happy when he discovered the reason she was at the ranch in the first place.

A guy who didn’t know her last name, because she hadn’t wanted to tip her hand.

A guy with lip prints on his forehead.

That had been startling. It had taken a moment for her to realize that the prints weren’t lipstick. She didn’t want to think about what the prints were made of or how they got there. None of her business, but seeing them had been enough to make her flip the lock on the bedroom door. She knew nothing about this guy, except that he was extremely good-looking and walked with just a hint of a limp.

Lillie Jean rolled over, pulling the sheet with her. Her insurance covered towing, so tomorrow she’d call her company and have them get her car out of the mud—if they would travel out this far to rescue her. She truly was isolated out here in the middle of Nowhere, Montana. There were other ranches in the vicinity—she’d seen lights in the distance as she’d followed Gus into the house—but for all intents and purposes, she was stranded in a place with no close neighbors, no easy access.

Again...nothing going according to plan.

Kind of the theme in her life over the past months.

Suck it up. The one thing she would not succumb to was self-pity. Her mom would have her hide for that...or rather, she would have had it. Lillie Jean had grown up knowing that even if she was a touch shy, and even if she wasn’t confrontational, she was expected to be strong and roll with the punches. She’d done a crazy thing coming here to Montana on impulse, and now she was suffering consequences. A natural part of life.

She squeezed her eyes shut, felt a touch of moisture at the corners at the thought of her mother. Drew in a deep breath and did her best to come to terms with the situation at hand.

I’m rolling, Mom.

I’m rolling so hard that I get dizzy sometimes.

* * *

GUS SCRUBBED AWAY at the lip print on his forehead, then gave up in disgust. If he didn’t stop scrubbing, he’d have no skin left. No wonder the woman had looked at him so strangely the night before when he’d come back with the sheets. She’d stared at his forehead, then looked down with a few mumbled words of thanks before disappearing into the bedroom. As expected, he’d heard the lock click shut.

Thank you, Mimi, for the “temporary” tattoo and the strategic placement.

The door to Thad’s room was closed as he went by on his way to the kitchen. He started the coffee, then went to the mudroom, slid his feet into his chore boots and shrugged into his heavy canvas coat before heading out to start the tractor. After feeding, he’d roust the woman and before they took the tractor down to pull her car out of the mud, he was going to get some answers. Like who was she and what did she want with his uncle? He wasn’t a big fan of mysteries and secrets. He’d let her hedge the night before, but now that they’d gotten a few hours of sleep, he wanted to know what was what before dragging Thad into it.

There was just enough frozen moisture in the air to feel sharp as he drew it into his lungs, and to coat the gravel with a thin skiff of frost. He unplugged the tractor’s block heater, started the big machine and left it to idle while he fed the barn cats and then tossed hay over the fence to the horses.

He crossed the driveway with a scoop of food for Clancy, the cat who lived under the front porch of the empty manager’s house. Clancy popped his head out, then disappeared back under the porch when Gus set down the bowl, pushing it far enough under the floorboards to allow the cat to feel safe while eating. He then snagged the empty bowl from yesterday and carried it back to the barn with him. The cat had never warmed up to anyone other than Sal, but was too wild for the old guy to take him with him when he retired to Dillon.

When Gus returned to the barn forty-five minutes later, after feeding two pastures of hungry cows, he left the tractor running. If his guest was out of bed, he was ready to yank her car out of the mud—after she answered a few questions.

He heard water running in the bathroom when he walked into the kitchen, so he poured a cup of coffee from the full carafe and sipped it while leaning against the counter. The house felt different with someone else in it. Strange how vibes or energy levels or something like that changed. And the house didn’t feel the same way it did when his uncle spent the night.

Finally footsteps went to the bedroom, then a few seconds later he heard Lillie Jean coming down the hall to the kitchen. Last night he’d come to the conclusion that his guest reminded him of the Disney princesses on the T-shirt Callie, his fill-in bartender, regularly wore. She was small with a lot of dark hair falling down her back and framing her face. Nice mouth, wide eyes. Suspicious wide eyes. She wet her lips as their gazes met and her back went just a little straighter.

“Good morning.”

It was almost but not quite a question. She moved past him to check to see if the yard gate was closed, then opened the back door and let her dog outside.

“Good morning. Coffee?”

“Please.”

She hovered near the doorway as he poured her coffee, and then he set the cup on the table and took the chair at the other end. A few seconds later she opened the door and the little dog raced in, his nails clacking on the mudroom floor.

“Nice sweater,” Gus said drily.

“Henry doesn’t have a lot of hair. Can’t have him freezing to death.”

“No. I guess not.”

“This was the only sweater I could find in a gas station when I realized how cold it was up here.”

Lillie Jean pulled out the chair and sat, taking hold of the coffee cup with both hands, but making no move to drink.

“Things look different in the light of day?”

She gave him a startled look. “What does that mean?”

Gus regarded the table between them, a frown pulling his eyebrows together. Play the game or cut to the chase?

He looked up, met those blue-green eyes and made his decision. Cut to the chase. How many people had this woman twisted around her finger with that innocent expression and those startling eyes? However many, he wasn’t going to be one of them.

“Who are you and why are you here?”

Her eyes went wide at the blunt question, then narrowed as she pressed her lips together, her gaze never leaving his face. At least she didn’t play coy. Gus had no patience with eye batting and mock shyness, having dealt with that particular come-on about a zillion times during his shifts at the pub.

“I told you my name and I’ll discuss the rest with Thaddeus when I get back to town.”

“Why do you want to see him?”

“Are you his keeper?” she responded coolly.

Lillie Jean looked like a waif in the storm, but she had some backbone. “No. I’m his nephew and I watch his back.”

“I will not come at him from behind.”

Was she messing with him? Three years of tending bar at the pub had given him a pretty good feel for people, but now he suspected his first read on Ms. Jean was off base. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to intimidate her into telling him her mission. But he was going to give it another shot.

“Why are you here?” he asked softly.

“I need to talk to Thaddeus. It’s...personal.”

Her continued use of his proper name threw him. “How do you know him?”

“I don’t. But we have mutual acquaintances.”

“Who sent you here?”

She put her palms on the table on either side of her coffee cup. “I don’t know you, so pardon me if I don’t unburden myself to you upon request.”

Now Gus’s eyes narrowed as he regarded the woman across the table. He’d definitely read her wrong. Her delicate appearance and the fact that she’d been rattled the night before had thrown him off track. This woman was a straight-talker. Now it was up to him to discover if that was good or bad.

“Tell you what... I’ll call Thad, tell him you’re here, and he can decide whether he wants to see you.”

It took her less than a second to say, “Very well.”

He pushed his chair back and went to the old-fashioned wall phone hanging near the fridge. He hoped Thad wasn’t going to kill him for getting him out of bed early, but this matter needed to be dealt with. His uncle’s voice was thick with sleep when he answered on the fifth ring, and then he cleared his throat and said hello once again.

“It’s me,” Gus said. He glanced over at Lillie Jean who sat watching him, an impassive look on her face. “There’s a person here at the ranch who wants to talk to you.”

“Who?”

“Her name is Lillie Jean.”

“I don’t know a Lillie Jean.” Thad sounded bemused. Gus knew the feeling. From behind him Lillie cleared her throat.

“Hardaway,” she said. He gave her a confused look. “Lillie Jean Hardaway.”

Gus gave his head a shake and repeated what she’d said. “Hardaway. Lillie Jean Hardaway.”

There was a silence on the other end of the phone, and then Thad said, “I’ll be right out.”

Gus frowned at the change in Thad’s voice. “Wait. Explain what’s going on.”

“I will.” He exhaled loudly. “When I get there. Just...make sure she doesn’t leave.”

“I don’t think that will be an issue,” Gus said. “Her car is axle-deep in the mud on the blind corner. Watch yourself coming around it.”

“I will.” Was it his imagination, or did his uncle suddenly sound older? “I’ll be there in forty minutes.”

Which meant he was pretty much going to put on his clothes and walk out the door. Which in turn meant that he was in some way familiar with Lillie Jean Hardaway and that seeing her was important enough that he wasn’t going to burn any daylight before doing so.

“I’m curious,” Gus said, folding his arms over his chest. “Why you didn’t give me your last name? Why did you let me assume that Jean was your last name?”

“I’m cautious,” she said matter-of-factly.

“That’s not an explanation.”

“I told you...”

“I know. You don’t know me. You don’t know Thad, either.”

“That doesn’t really matter.”

He was about to ask why when she frowned at him.

“I have to ask,” she said in a way that made him think she was purposely changing the subject, “what happened to your forehead?”

“I’m not overly cautious,” he said darkly. Which was a lie. He was always careful in his dealings, which was why Lillie Jean’s appearance on the ranch was sending up so many red flags.

“Is that a tattoo?”

Gus ran his hand over his forehead. The skin was still tender from the scrubbing, but the mark was just as dark as when Mimi had put it on him the night before. That was the last time he let a roll of the bar dice decide his future.

“It’s supposed to be temporary.”

“Not the result of a drunken trip to the ink parlor?”

He didn’t have to ask why she assumed it would be a drunken trip. What kind of sober person would do this to themselves? “It was part of a going-away party gag gift.”

“Are you going somewhere?” she asked politely, although he also read a hopeful note in her voice.

“I worked my last shift at the bar last night. Now I’m full-time manager here.”

An odd expression flickered across her face, there, then gone. “On the ranch.”

“Yes.”

She finally lifted her cup to take a drink. Seconds ticked by and Gus found himself gripping the edge of the counter.

“Where are you from?”

“A smallish town not far from Austin, Texas.”

“That’s quite a distance. How long did it take you to get here?”

“Several days. I took it slow.” She looked out the window at the bare branched trees edging the yard. “Do you mind if I step outside?”

“Not at all.” At least he couldn’t think of a reason to object. He didn’t trust her, though. Not even a little bit. This whole “air of mystery” thing was getting old, but Thad would be there in less than half an hour and maybe then he’d have some answers. In the meanwhile, he’d shut off the tractor, have another cup of coffee and wonder what the hell Lillie Jean Hardaway was up to.

* * *

MONTANA SMELLED GOOD. Lillie Jean would give it that. There was a cold snap to the air that made her feel like shivering as she drew in the scent of evergreens and moist earth. Wrapping her coat more tightly around herself, she walked down the concrete steps leading from the back door to the broken sidewalk. The front entrance was slightly grander, sporting an actual porch and wooden stairs, but the newels were leaning a little and as she walked further into the yard, she could see that the porch roof needed replacing.

Fine. She wasn’t there for the house.

She made her way to the driveway and walked toward the big green tractor parked there. When she was midway between the house and barn, she turned back toward the house, fairly certain she’d catch Gus Hawkins watching her through the window. Sure enough, there he was. He made no effort to step back or to appear as if he wasn’t keeping an eye on her. He didn’t trust her, and, truly, she couldn’t blame him. If positions were reversed, she wouldn’t trust her, either, but she wasn’t going to let anything slip until she met Thaddeus Hawkins. If there was bad blood between Thaddeus and her grandfather, why hadn’t one of them sold his part of the ranch to the other and walked away? Or sold it to someone else? There had to be a reason for that.

There also had to be a reason that her grandfather never once mentioned the ranch to her. Considering the fact that she was his lone surviving relative, that was borderline amazing. And hurtful.

Her nerves jumped when she saw a truck come over the hill in the distance. The problem with her current situation, as opposed to yesterday when she’d tried to drive to the ranch, was that she had no means of escape. Right now, escape sounded good.

Sucking in a breath of crisp air, she turned and walked back to the house, pushing her hands deep into her pockets as she walked and trying very hard to remember just why she thought this might be a good idea.

Answers. She wanted to know why she hadn’t known about this place. Who Thaddeus Hawkins was and why she’d never heard about him. And she wanted to know if Thaddeus would buy her half of the ranch. She needed the money to start a new life, a new business, a new everything. It’d be a lot easier and faster to unload it to the man who already owned the other half.

CHAPTER THREE

GUS HAD HAD no idea what to expect after Thad parked his pride and joy—a ’72 Ford F250 that guzzled gas as if it had a hole in the tank—next to the tractor and made his way to the house. He came in the back door as usual, then stopped dead when he caught sight of the woman sitting at the table, still wearing her coat.

“Lillie Jean Hardaway?” he asked, as if there might be another woman in the house he didn’t know.

“Yes.” She got to her feet, squared her shoulders, then crossed the room to hold out a small hand. Thad swallowed, looking as if he was half-afraid to have Lillie Jean touch him. They shook hands, and then Lillie Jean clasped her hands in front of her and Thad stuck his deep in his pockets. For a long moment he stared at her, as if trying to convince himself that she was real.

“I wouldn’t mind some coffee,” he finally said in a low voice.

Thad looked like he needed more than coffee, but without waiting for Gus to acknowledge his coffee request, he pulled out a chair and sat, motioning Lillie Jean to sit opposite him. Once she was seated, he said, “How is your grandfather?”

“He passed away three weeks ago.”

Thad’s forehead crumpled. “Sorry to hear that.” The comment was perfunctory, but Gus could see that the news impacted his uncle deeply. He set a cup of coffee in front of Thad, then moved back to his vantage point on the other side of the kitchen. He’d give them some space, but he wasn’t leaving his uncle alone with this woman. Not unless he received a direct order.

“Yes. It was peaceful. He’d been having health issues, but we didn’t expect him to go so soon.” Lillie Jean glanced down, pursed her lips as if gearing herself up for some big announcement. “There was some trouble finding the will. Lawyers’ offices moving.” She waved a hand. “When it did surface...he left me his half of the ranch. I found out about it last week.”

“I hadn’t heard anything,” Thad said in a low voice. “No one’s been in contact.”

“They will be.”

Gus’s back jerked straight as the meaning of the conversation became clear. “Wait a minute. Half of this ranch?”

“Yeah.” Thad met his gaze, his expression solemn. “Lyle and I started this ranch as partners.”

Thad had a partner? With the exception of the time he’d spent bull riding, Gus had lived on the ranch since he was fifteen, and he and his uncle had always been close—so why the hell was this the first he’d ever heard about the ranch having dual ownership. “So he’s like what? A silent partner?”

“I guess you could call it that.” Thad turned back to Lillie Jean, leaving Gus to stare at him. “I have a little money in the ranch account that will be yours, too.” Thad smiled grimly. “The accountant sent Lyle a yearly check. It was never that much, but we only went in the red a couple of times over the past few decades.”

“Decades.” Gus realized that his mouth had fallen open and quickly shut it. Funny how you could get out of bed one morning and everything was fine and a little more than twenty-four hours later, you find out that the truth as you know it, isn’t the truth at all.

“How do we know that Lyle Hardaway is really your grandfather?”

Both Thad and Lillie Jean looked his way, but before either could speak, he said to Thad, “Doesn’t it seem kind of unusual for you to get no word of your partner’s death and then she shows up out of the blue, saying that she’s your new partner?”

“I have identification.” Lillie Jean spoke coldly.

“In this day and age, that doesn’t mean a lot.” Maybe he was being rude, but from the moment he’d set eyes on this woman, she’d been secretive. Maybe he’d tended bar for too long, but her story just didn’t smell right. “Why hasn’t Thad heard from the executor?”

“I told you they just found the will.” She glanced over at Thad. “You’ll get your copy soon. Everything except his car was designated transfer-at-death.”

“Did you bring a copy?” he asked.

“I did.”

“Tell you what,” Thad said to Lillie Jean. “Why don’t you let my nephew and me have a few minutes and then I can take a look at the document?”

“Sure.” Lillie Jean pushed her chair back and stood, leaving her barely touched coffee sitting on the table. “I’ll take a walk.”

“It’s cold out there.”

“I don’t mind.”

The little dog looked like he minded. When Lillie Jean pulled her coat off the chair, he gave her a startled “Again?” look, but trotted after her when she headed for the mudroom. Gus waited until she stepped outside and pulled the door shut behind her before turning to Thad and saying, “I had no idea you had a partner.” He sounded harsh, but then he was feeling harsh. All the times they’d talked about Gus taking over the operation of the ranch and never a mention of a partner. And now that partner was dead and who knew what his heir was about to do?

“Not something I talk about.”

“Obviously, but if I’m the manager of the place, don’t you think it would have been good for me to know there’s someone else involved?”

“It’s only been on paper.”

“Kind of more than paper now.” He turned to the window, watched Lillie Jean pace near the trucks, giving them the privacy he needed to process this gut-wrenching turn of events. “What kind of agreement did you and Lyle make?”

“A thorough one.”

“Can she sell?”

“Yeah.” The answer came out on a short definitive note. “If her claim is legitimate, she can sell.”

Gus let out a breath, pushed his hands over his forehead. Cursed under his breath. So much for the business plan he’d drawn up. And the comfortable feeling of knowing his future.

“I don’t blame you for being mad,” Thad said.

“I’m not mad.” He had no right to be mad. He didn’t own any part of the ranch. He’d lived there, worked the land, managed the animals since he was a teen. It felt like his place...but it wasn’t.

“Yeah. You are.”

Yeah, he was. But more than that he was stunned that Thad had never told him any of this—and hurt. Mad felt a whole lot better than hurt.

Thad was studying him with a tight look on his face, waiting for a response of some kind. Gus did his best to focus on the main issue in front of them.

“This woman showing up out of nowhere concerns me. She could be anyone.”

“I’m pretty sure she’s Lyle’s granddaughter.”

“Why?”

“Well, for one thing, his name was Lyle Gene. Her name is Lillie Jean.”

Gus stared at his uncle. “I hope you have more than that.”

“There’s a resemblance,” Thad said in a low voice.

“How long’s it been since you’ve seen this guy?” When Thad gave him a questioning look, he added, “Memories fade.”

“Some don’t.” There was a tone in his uncle’s voice that brought a frown to his face. “She doesn’t look like Lyle...she looks like her grandmother.”

“You know her well?”

Thad gave a small snort. “You could say that...we were married for three years.”

That was the point where Gus felt the need to sit down. “You were married to Lillie Jean’s grandmother?” It was no secret that Thad had divorced long ago, before Gus had been born.

“Yeah. Married Nita and started the ranch the same year. Three years later, Lyle and Nita left for Texas, and I had the ranch all to myself.”

“Son of a...” Gus blew out a breath. Shook his head as if to clear it. “But you guys remained partners.”

“We communicated through accountants and lawyers. I couldn’t afford to buy Lyle out.”

“In all these years.”

Thad turned his coffee cup in his hands. “It was something I’d always meant to address...but never did. I let the days slip by. Sent him a check every year.” He raised his gaze in a quick jerk. “I never had enough to buy him out, okay?”

But he’d managed to buy the pub they now owed together. That was telling.

Gus tilted his head toward the window where Lillie Jean was walking near the barn. “Even if she is a carbon copy of your ex-wife, you still don’t know she’s who she says she is. Maybe she’s a niece or something. Someone who doesn’t have claim.”

“You’re right.”

The words didn’t ring true. Thad was already convinced of Lillie Jean’s identity.

“Get some ID and take a long hard look at that will. Better yet, let your lawyer take a long hard look.”

Thad nodded, but his gaze was still fixed on the table. “Lyle never asked anything of me...he felt guilty because he and Nita fell in love.”

“Must have been a hell of a guilt to have let that much money lay fallow for so many years when he had the right to sell.”

That seemed highly unlikely. Yeah. There was a lot to be ironed out, checked out and generally dealt with. Although...maybe this did solve one mystery.

“Is this why you moved to town?”

“I never liked it here after Nita left. The place felt empty. Sad.”

“But you kept it.” He could have sold for a major profit in recent years, but hadn’t. Instead he’d bought the bar, poured his time and energy into it, building it from nothing while Salvatore ran the ranch.

Thad gave him a fierce look. “I worked like hell to keep my head above water for years. Just to show Lyle and Nita that I could do it without them. I was angry. Bitter. Buried myself on the place. Went a little nuts I think. I didn’t realize just how bitter I was until I had that accident. Didn’t know if I was going to make it back to the ranch.” He gave a laugh. “I had a lot of time to think as I dragged myself back to the trail.”

The accident had happened right around the time Gus had been born. Thad’s horse had lost footing on a steep trail, rolled down the mountain, landed on Thad and broke his leg. Tough old Thad pulling himself back up onto the trail was part of the family lore.

“I realized that I had to get off the ranch, find a new purpose. I hired Salvatore, bought the bar and moved to town.”

Thad and Sal had continued to do the seasonal work—haying, branding, moving cattle—together, but he spent most of his time making the Shamrock Pub the most popular bar in Gavin. And because he didn’t care about the ranch, it had slowly gone to seed.

Gus drummed his fingers on the table, then abruptly stopped. He needed time to work this out. Needed to know if Lillie Jean was legit and if she planned to remain a partner or sell. From the way she shivered every time she hit the Montana air, he was guessing she wasn’t planning to take up residence. He met his uncle’s gaze. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Nothing much to say. This is the way things have been since long before you were on this planet.”

“Still kind of a shock.”

“Yeah.”

“Tread lightly,” Gus advised, not liking the way Thad was watching Lillie Jean through the window, looking as if he was staring into his past. Judging from his expression, the bitterness he might still feel toward his ex-wife, Lillie Jean’s grandmother, was tempered by another, softer, emotion. Thad was only a month shy of turning eighty, and while he was mentally as sharp as ever, Gus couldn’t help but wonder how the old guy was doing emotionally. Was he at a point where sentiment might overshadow logic?

“I’m not about to lose my head, if that’s what you’re thinking.” Thad ground the words out in a gruff tone. “I’m just...processing.”

So was Gus.

“I’ll do some digging while you pull her rig out of that muck hole.”

Gus raised his eyebrows.

“I’m old. I’ve had a shock. But I’m not stupid. I’ll get hold of the lawyer that we sent the checks to—I just gotta find his address. Usually Betts takes care of that.”

“Maybe call Betts.”

“If I can get her. She tends to turn off her phone during tax season.”

Gus let out a breath as he watched Lillie Jean pull her coat around her and duck her chin inside. “Do what you can. I’ll take my time pulling out the car.”

* * *

LILLIE JEAN HADN’T had a clear picture of what a Montana ranch looked like when she’d left Texas. Born and raised in a suburban environment, her limited knowledge of ranching came from watching television, reading novels and visiting a friend’s ten-acre ranchette in high school. None of those experiences had prepared her for the reality of her inheritance.

She didn’t know a lot about ranches, but she knew a run-down property when she saw one. The outbuildings were old and weathered. The house hadn’t seen a new coat of paint in many years. The yard was wild and fences that weren’t made of wire were made of long poles instead of flat planks. Any fanciful thoughts she’d had of keeping her part of the ranch and moving to Montana, thus putting a lot of miles between her and Andrew and all reminders of her failed engagement and stolen business, evaporated early that morning when the sun had risen and she’d gotten a good look at the H/H in the light of day. This was not a place she wanted to live.

The sound of the door opening brought her head up. A second later, Gus Hawkins emerged from the house, heading toward her like a man on a mission. And that mission was to get her off the ranch. Great. They had the same objective.

“Thad needs some time to work through things,” he said as he drew closer. “In the meanwhile, we’ll get your car out of the mud.”

She leaned down and scooped up Henry, who was pressing against her legs while keeping an eye on Gus. “All right.”

There wasn’t much else she could say. She lifted her chin to meet Gus’s less than friendly gaze, hugging her dog a little closer. Do not show weakness. Bullies thrived on weakness. She didn’t think that Gus was a bully, per se, but he was protective of his uncle and his ranch and had made it clear that he didn’t trust her one bit.

Fine. She didn’t trust him, either. He was tall and good-looking and probably used to getting his way. He thought he’d be able to run her off the property, get her away from his uncle—and she was leaving, but not because of anything he’d done. She’d wanted to meet Thaddeus Hawkins, learn her grandfather’s secrets, before putting her part of the ranch up for sale.

She started toward the truck they’d traveled in the night before, but Gus called her name and she stopped, looked at him over her shoulder. He jerked his head toward the tractor. “We’ll take that.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s better at pulling things out of the mud. You might want to leave your little dog with Thad.” He started toward the tractor without another word and, after a brief hesitation, Lillie Jean crossed the driveway to the house. The kitchen was empty, so she set Henry on the floor and promised him she’d be back shortly.

Gus was waiting in the idling tractor when she returned. She started to the passenger door, but he motioned her to the other side of the machine. Cautiously she climbed the steps, finding a small jump seat beside the operator’s chair.

Once the door was closed, Gus pulled a few levers, raised the bucket, and the tractor started down the driveway, shaking and rumbling as he shifted to a higher gear.

Lillie Jean simply held on and focused on the road ahead of her, doing her best to tamp down the feelings that (a) she didn’t belong in a tractor, and (b) the cab of the tractor was too small for two people who didn’t trust one another.

“Do you have the keys?” he asked as they drove through the log archway that marked the entrance of the ranch proper.

“Yes,” she said shortly, glad that she did indeed have the keys sitting deep in her coat pocket. She could have left them in the car, stuck as it was, but old habits died hard. One didn’t leave keys in the car for even a little while where she lived. The place wasn’t crime ridden, but enough things happened, even in the suburbs, to leave one erring on the side of caution.

Lillie Jean held herself so stiffly in the small seat, trying not to let any part of her body come in contact with Gus in the small confines of the tractor cab, that by the time they reached her car, her muscles were starting to cramp. For his part, Gus ignored her. No small talk. No questions about who she really was, or dire warnings about taking advantage of his uncle—both of which she’d fully expected. Instead he’d focused straight ahead, his eyebrows drawn together in a frown of concentration. Plotting how to get rid of her, probably.

Lillie Jean refused to let it bother her. Instead she thought about next steps. The trip back to Texas. Going through the last of her grandfather’s personal belongings which were stacked in her friend Kate’s basement and attic. Her grandfather hadn’t left much. He’d lived comfortably, but hadn’t possessed a lot of material things. Lillie Jean had always assumed his frugal habits had been born of necessity, only to find out that he’d owned half of an eight-hundred-acre spread. It still boggled her.

Lillie Jean had questions about her grandfather and his secret past, and before she left, she hoped that Thaddeus Hawkins would give her answers. He wasn’t suspicious of her, like his nephew was, but he was unsettled by her sudden arrival, and she sensed that it went beyond the surprise element. What on earth had gone on between him and her grandfather?

* * *

LILLIE JEAN SMELLED like lilacs, a scent Gus knew well, due to the thick hedge near the ranch house that burst into blossom each spring, filling the air with perfume and sending old Sal’s allergies into high gear.

He hated that he noticed that Lillie Jean smelled good. Hated the way the delicate floral scent made him feel like leaning closer and taking a deeper breath. In fact, it was really annoying to find himself feeling that way, so he was very glad to finally arrive at the car.

Lillie Jean put her hand on the door handle before he’d rolled to a stop, and he automatically reached past her to keep her from opening the door. She shot him a startled look, which he met with a frown, once again doing his best to ignore the lilacs and the incredible color of her eyes.

“Never open the door until the tractor is out of gear.” He made a show of moving the gear lever. “Big tires,” he said in a clipped voice. “Very unforgiving.”

“Is it okay now?” Lillie Jean asked as she eyed the giant rear wheels.

“Yeah.” He put on the hand brake and set a hand on the back of her seat to maneuver himself out of the cab. Lillie Jean took the hint and climbed down the stairs and jumped to the ground, quickly moving out of range of those big tires. Gus followed her and then reached up to drag the chain off the floorboards under the seat.

The mud was deep and water soaked into his jeans as he crouched down to attach the chain to the frame of the big car. Once done, he motioned for Lillie Jean to get into the driver’s seat.

“What do I do?”

“You start the engine and steer. Do not step on the gas.”

“Why?”

“Because it’ll annoy me if you ram that big car into the tractor.”

“Oh.” She moistened her lips—a mistake in the cool weather—and then said, “You don’t have much faith in my driving ability.”

All he did was point a finger at the car in the mud then turn and walk back to the tractor. “Just put it in Neutral,” he said, “and let me do the rest.”

“Why even start it?”

“So that the steering wheel works.”

From the way her jaw muscles tightened, Gus deduced that she was starting to hate him a little.

“I knew that.” She abruptly turned and headed toward the car, mincing her way across the lumpy half-frozen mud next to the door.

Gus climbed into the cab and, once Lillie Jean was situated behind the wheel, he gently eased the tractor back until the chain was taut. He continued inching backward until the car jerked, then moved forward. Lillie Jean kept the wheels straight until finally the car was free, and he swore he could see her biting her full bottom lip as she concentrated, even though they were separated by twenty feet and two windshields. Once he was certain Lillie Jean wasn’t going to throw the car in gear or anything unexpected, he moved the tractor forward so that the chain sagged.

“There are no more puddles between here and the ranch house, so you should be okay,” he said as he unhooked the chain. “You should be equally okay when you leave, which will be in short order, right?”

Lillie Jean propped a hand on her hip and stuck her chin out. “Enough, okay?”

He stowed the chain back in the cab of the tractor and then turned to her. “Enough what?”

“Enough passive-aggressive crap. And enough insinuating that I’m not who I say I am, and that I’m here to try to take advantage of your uncle. I’m not.”

“I have no way of knowing that.”

“And you have nothing to do with this situation. It’s between me and Thaddeus.”

“Thaddeus is getting up there in years. I’m his nephew, his ranch manager and half owner of his bar.”

“Meaning?”

He gave her a small, not particularly friendly smile. “Meaning that, until Thad tells me otherwise, it’ll be you and Thaddeus and me.”

CHAPTER FOUR

LILLIE JEAN WAS HOT, in the angry sense, and maybe she had reason. Gus rubbed his forehead, then dropped his hand back to his side. Her eyes were pretty much spitting blue fire, but there was something else there besides outrage. Hurt, maybe? She gave the impression of being a woman who expected to be trusted. A woman not accustomed to having her honesty questioned. She was either truly insulted, or she was a very good actress—as an effective scam artist would be.

He needed more information.

He met her angry gaze and said, “Try to see my side of things. You show up out of nowhere, claim to be related to a man I didn’t know existed and twist my uncle into a knot.”

“I twisted nothing. Not your uncle. Not the truth.”

“Sometimes,” he said, fully aware that he was about to insult her again, “people have been known to do deep research and pretend to be people they are not, for personal gain.”

Anger shifted to ice. “I’m not one of them and you have a lot of nerve insinuating that I am.”

“Lillie Jean.” Her name felt odd on his tongue, as if saying it somehow made their relationship more intimate, which was nuts. “Until we have all this ironed out, I’m going to have my suspicions. I’d be stupid not to.”

She pushed her hands deep into her coat pockets and shivered. These were not temperatures she was used to. Her cheeks and the tip of her nose were red, while the rest of her face was pale, making the blue-green color of her eyes more intense. She wore no makeup and a smattering of light freckles showed over her nose. Maybe that was part of her act. The sweet down-home girl without artifice.

Or maybe it wasn’t an act at all.

The one thing he was certain of was that, whether she was legit or not, she’d thrown a monkey wrench into his plans.

He jerked his head in the direction of the ranch. “Let’s get back to where it’s warmer.”

“Yes. Let’s.” There was a faint note of sarcasm in her voice, and maybe he couldn’t blame her, if she was legit.

Big if.

Gigantic if.

He got into the tractor and waited until she pulled past him in the giant boat of a car with the Texas plates. Was it really her grandfather’s car? A prop? His head was starting to ache.

Life had been so freaking simple only twenty-four hours ago, when he’d thought he was beginning a new chapter in his life. One he’d planned for so carefully. Those plans had not included Lillie Jean Hardaway.

If that was her real name.

* * *

THAD LOOKED GRIM when Gus followed Lillie Jean into the house after the car rescue. She excused herself and headed down the hall, an overjoyed Henry prancing close behind her. Thad waited until they heard the door shut before saying, “I called Lyle’s accountant—the one Betts sends the checks to and she gave me the lawyer’s name. The lawyer’s assistant is calling me back within the hour.” Thad looked past Gus toward the hall where Lillie Jean had disappeared. “I need more time.”

“When he calls, maybe you can nail down the reason they didn’t contact you the minute the will surfaced?”

The bedroom door opened again and he and Thad exchanged looks.

“I think she should stay here until we know more.” Thad shifted his weight in the chair. “If she’s who she says she is, we need to talk. If she’s not, we need to know. I want all the facts before we make any kind of decision.”

“I agree.” The door closed, and footsteps sounded on the old wooden floorboards. “In fact, I have some work to do.”

“Guess you could use some company,” Thad murmured in a low voice as Henry danced into the kitchen without his reindeer sweater. “Maybe show our guest some country.”

“Uh-huh.” There were heavy cows to check, a hole in the fence line between the H/H and Carson Craig’s ranch, which the King of Montana demanded be fixed, even though it was a joint boundary and they were both responsible for upkeep and repair. As near as he could tell, Carson’s idea of joint maintenance was for him to order Thad to fix the damned fence. Now.

An uncomfortable silence settled over the room as Lillie Jean entered, and then Thad said to Gus in an overly casual voice, “You better get going before Craig has kittens.”

Gus gave a nod and glanced over at Lillie Jean. “You want to ride along?”

Instant suspicion. “Where?”

“I have to fix a hole in the fence. You’ve come this far, you may as well see some of the ranch before it snows.”

“Snow?” She looked shocked.

“Supposed to have snow tomorrow.”

She glanced over at Thad who nodded. “But the forecast changes hourly. May not be any snow at all. But if you want to go, I’ll babysit your little dog,” he said in a reassuring tone. “And when you get back we’ll have a sit-down.”

“Or the dog can come with us,” Gus said. Dumb sweater and all.

Lillie Jean’s jaw shifted sideways, as if she was well aware that she was being played. “All right. Yes. I’d like to see some of the property.” She glanced down at her dog, who was giving her a beseeching “don’t abandon me” stare. “I’ll leave Henry here where it’s warm.”

“I’ll enjoy the company,” Thad said, making Gus wonder if maybe his uncle needed a dog of his own.

Henry didn’t look all that pleased with the decision, but when Thad reached down and scooped him up with one big hand, the little dog settled on his lap, watching Lillie Jean closely as she gestured toward the coats hanging on hooks next to the back door in the mudroom. “Maybe I could borrow a warmer coat?”

“Sure, but I promise it’ll be plenty warm in the truck.”

“Unless you break down,” Thad said, idly scratching Henry’s ear.

Was that a hint?

“Good point,” Gus said. He headed into the mudroom where he pulled his spare coat off a hook and handed it to Lillie Jean. She slipped into it, put her hands in the pockets and then grimaced. No matter how many times a guy turned his pockets inside out and beat on them, there was always bits of itchy hay there. He reached for a new pair of gloves and handed them to her.

“No hay,” he said. “You might want to grab one of those fleece hats in the basket.”

“Thanks.” She lifted a hat out of the wicker basket that sat on the floor beneath the coats while he wrapped his wild rag around his neck. If he’d had a clean scarf, he would have given it to her, but he didn’t, so she’d simply have to turn up the collar of his coat. But like he’d said, it’d be plenty warm in the truck. It wasn’t that far below freezing, but according to the weather station on the kitchen windowsill, the windchill had knocked the temperatures down below twenty degrees.

He put on his cowboy hat, then pulled open the door and stepped back to let Lillie Jean precede him outside. Before following her into the crisp air, he once again met his uncle’s gaze. Thad gave him a grim nod. The dog on his uncle’s lap looked as if he were about to implode from anxiety, but he stayed put as Lillie Jean stepped out of the house. Gus just hoped Thad had some answers when he got back. He looked determined. The one benefit of almost being scammed last year was that his uncle had no intentions of being played again.

* * *

THE HEAVY COAT Lillie Jean wore smelled of hay and earth and Gus. The warm scents teased her nostrils as she followed the man across the frosty driveway, making her feel as if she was encroaching on intimate territory instead of simply wearing a borrowed coat to keep the wind from cutting through her. She should have simply believed Gus when he said the truck heater would keep her warm enough, and worn her own less than adequate coat.

The wind was blowing stronger than it had been when Gus had pulled her car out of the bottomless pit. Clouds were moving in from the north, a solid bank, grayish at the top, dark charcoal at the bottom, pushing the wind ahead of it. She pulled the coat around her more tightly, the gloves still in her hand. She didn’t want to put them on yet. They were huge but preferable to putting her hands in the prickly pockets of the coat if she needed to warm her fingers. She sincerely hoped she wouldn’t.

Her grandfather’s old car looked ridiculous parked next to the barn—like a time machine. It did not belong on this ranch, and she couldn’t picture her grandfather on the ranch, either. He’d never seemed all that rural to her. He and her grandmother had lived quietly on a one-acre rented lot near the edge of town. They hadn’t kept livestock, or even much of a garden, except for her grandmother’s flowers and tomatoes. He’d worked for nearly three decades at first as a welder, then a shop foreman. For relaxation, he tinkered with motorcycles.

Had he ever been on this ranch? Had he invested with Thad? Were he and Thad friends? Enemies? What?

She was going to get answers before she left.

She hoped. Gus’s grim profile wasn’t making her feel particularly optimistic, but since arriving at the ranch, her mission had crystallized. She’d left Texas to get away from Andrew and the stress of losing her business, losing her grandfather, but the answers she thought she’d like to have, had become answers she needed to have.

Gus led the way to an old truck loaded with posts, wire and tools that looked as if it would fall apart if she breathed on it. But it sounded solid enough when he wrestled open the passenger door and motioned for her to get inside. Everything he needed must have been in the mechanical beast, because after closing her door with a clang that reverberated through the mostly metal interior, he walked around to his side, got in and started the engine. It chugged a few times, then fired to life with a blast of exhaust. The entire cab vibrated.

Lillie Jean couldn’t help frowning over at Gus, who ignored her as he put the vehicle in gear and started down the driveway, stopping at a gate. He got out and opened it, drove through, then got out and closed it again. They drove across the pasture to another gate. This time Lillie Jean said, “Would you like me to open it?” It only seemed polite.

“This one is kind of tricky.”

“I can probably handle it. We do have gates in Texas.” She’d spent time on her best friend’s tiny ranchette during high school. They had wire gates very similar to the one in front of them.

“Have at it.”

She got out and went to the latch, where she realized she’d never seen anything like it before. There was a lever and a loop and, feeling a little foolish at having to take her time to study the contraption, she finally managed to pop the loop off the top of the wire gate and drag it open so that Gus could drive through.

“That lever is kind of counterintuitive,” she said as she got back into the truck.

“I’m not a fan,” he agreed.

Common ground. She brushed the thought aside. What did she care if he agreed with her or not? Especially when it was patently obvious that she was with him because he hadn’t wanted to leave her alone with Thad. What did he think she would do? Weave some kind of a hypnotic spell over his uncle?

No. He thought she might listen in on phone calls. A phone had been sitting on the table when she and Gus had returned to the house, as if Thad had been making or waiting for calls. She didn’t blame him. She would have done the same. She could have helped him do the same, but that was neither here nor there. They didn’t trust her, and she couldn’t force them to. Let Thad get his answers—then perhaps he’d give her some.

Gus drove across the grassy pasture to the tree line and then followed the narrow road through the deciduous trees that were just leafing out. They came to another field and then a fence. Gus turned to the truck to follow the wire along what was more of a trail than a road. The grass was short and slick with frost in the high area between the two ruts that the tires were following.

“Is it always this cold in March?”

“Pretty much. The weather changes fast here. It might be balmy in a few days.”

“Define balmy,” Lillie Jean muttered.

“Not freezing.”

“Kind of what I thought.” She glanced over at him, but he kept his eyes on the fence. She had a sense of him wanting to say something, but holding back. Okay. He could talk when he was ready. She was certain he wasn’t going to say anything she wanted to hear, anyway. She’d gone with him for two reasons—to get a look at her inheritance, and to give Thad time to check her out. She hoped he did a lot of research while she was gone. Once he understood that she was on the up-and-up, then they could move forward.

The truck lurched and it hit a deeper rut, knocking her against the door, then shooting her sideways to bump shoulders with Gus, causing the seat belt to cut into her.

“Road gets rough sometimes.”

This isn’t a road. It wasn’t. It was a rutted track, working its way through a pasture, over and around rocks, through boggy spots. Gus was now driving so that the tires were next to the ruts, rather than in them, but every now and again, the truck slid into one of the deep Vs.

He pulled to a stop, put the truck in neutral and set the parking brake. “I’ll leave the heater on. You’ll be fine.”

“I’ll get out for a while.”

He gave her a “suit yourself” shrug and opened his door. While Lillie Jean stepped down into the crunchy frozen grass, he went to the rear of the truck and pulled out a bucket and an odd contraption. He walked to the fence, set them down and then went back for a roll of wire. For some contrary reason, Lillie Jean did not want to get back into the truck. Maybe it was because he thought she was too wimpy to stand out in the cold—and it was at least ten degrees colder here than it had been at the ranch. Altitude, maybe. Her lips twitched grimly. They didn’t have much altitude where she came from. Rolling hills, but no big changes that would drop temperatures ten degrees or so.

Gus set about connecting new wire to old, stretching it tight with the metal contraption, then crimping it off with a small tube and pliers. He did it for all five strands in a surprisingly short period of time, then loaded his tools back into the truck, which was still chugging away, sending up an exhaust cloud near the rear wheels. There was something satisfying about watching a guy do something he did well, or maybe there was something satisfying about watching a guy as good-looking as Gus do something he did well. And maybe it was just a little irritating that, due to circumstances, he was probably always going to view her through a veil of suspicion.

So be it. Some things were simply out of her control. Like the fact that she felt this crazy tug toward the man. Despite everything, he kind of fascinated her. Well, he was a Montana cowboy—the stuff of which legends were made. She wasn’t going to think about the fact that legends were made about Texas cowboys, too, and so far she hadn’t met a man from Texas who’d fascinated her like this guy was doing.

Time to get her mind back on the here and now. “Do you have deer on the ranch?” Mentally she rolled her eyes. Of course, they had deer. She’d seen them last night.

“Deer and elk and antelope. Moose.”

“Bears?”

“Yes.”

She wasn’t a big fan of bears. She’d never seen one in person and she didn’t want to.

Gus headed for his door, leaving Lillie Jean to wrestle with hers. Finally she got the thumb latch pushed in and pulled the heavy door open on protesting hinges. “You should put some grease to this thing.”

“I’ll see to it,” he said in a tone which indicated a lack of appreciation for her helpfulness.

“Just a suggestion.” Not trying to tell you your business or take over the ranch.

Nope. She had no intentions in that direction. She’d seen enough of the ranch to satisfy her curiosity, and now she was going to settle matters with Thaddeus, get her answers and drive back home. Once there, she’d find a job and a more permanent place to live than her friend Kate’s tiny house. And maybe, because of this quest and her time away from Serenity, Texas, she’d be better equipped to deal with the fallout of her broken engagement and the fact that A Thread in Time was no longer hers. Maybe some new scandal had rocked her community and she wouldn’t be on the receiving end of pitying glances and less than helpful reassurances that this had all happened for a reason.

But no matter what, it was going to sting to drive past her storefront, and it was going to suck to run into Andrew and her other ex-partner, Taia. The business stealers.

How had she not seen any of this coming?

The fact that she hadn’t, that she’d assumed that Andrew’s vague withdrawal had something to do with prewedding jitters, left her shaken. Half-afraid to trust her own judgment. And worse than that, it had affected her creativity. She hadn’t sewn or picked up her sketch pad in six weeks. And the way things were going, it didn’t look like she was going to reclaim her creativity anytime soon.

She let out an audible sigh, and then her eyes flashed open as she realized what she’d done. Audience. You have an audience.

But when she gave Gus Hawkins a furtive sideways glance, he appeared as lost in thought as she’d been, eyes fixed on the track in front of them.

* * *

LILLIE JEAN HUDDLED in the oversize coat, even though the heater was blowing full blast and Gus was starting to sweat, almost as if she was trying to disappear inside of it. Every now and again he’d hit a rut wrong or the tire would bump up over a rock and it would throw her sideways, but she always righted herself without a word. It was obvious that she didn’t have a lot of experience driving over rough terrain, because she didn’t have a clue how to anchor herself in place with strategic handholds. The truck was old and had lap belts instead of shoulder harnesses, and he couldn’t help but note that Lillie Jean needed a shoulder harness.

“You might want to grab the handle above the door,” he said after a big bump that almost brought her out of her belt. “It’ll keep you from bouncing around so much.”

“Thank you.” The words came out stiffly, but she took hold of the plastic handle.

“Not a problem.” His words were equally clipped.

The rest of the boundary fence in this pasture was intact, which would keep Carson off his back for a day or two. The man understood next to nothing about ranching, but that didn’t keep him from giving directives. Gus had felt sorry for the guy Carson hired to manage his place a few months ago, but the man quickly came to his senses and quit two weeks in. Now Carson ran the place himself and let everyone know it when they met at various public events.

“Do you own an interest in the ranch?”

Gus shot Lillie Jean a frowning look. He’d been so deep in his head that she’d startled him by speaking.

“I manage the place.”

“Are you Thad’s heir?”

He didn’t want to answer that question, but couldn’t come up with a reason not to. “The last I heard.”

“Does he have a will?”

“He does.”

“So this isn’t only about you watching out for your uncle. You’re watching out for you, too.”

He shot her a cool look. “Something wrong with that?”

“No.” She spoke lightly. “But maybe being in that position will help you to understand that I’m in the same boat.”

He didn’t have a lot to say to that. Did he resent her showing up out of nowhere? Oh yeah. But facts were facts, and if she was the silent partner’s heir, then he had to adapt. In twenty-four short hours his life had essentially been turned upside down by something that Thad had been aware of all along. Who would have thought quiet Thad would have been embroiled in such a soap opera?

But it did explain why he wouldn’t live on the ranch. It might even explain why he’d clung to his bachelorhood so tightly. He was afraid not to. And that kind of broke Gus’s heart. Decades of loneliness and now Lillie Jean shows up as a flesh-and-blood reminder of everything that had gone down. He hated that his uncle had to deal with this.

“Did it occur to you before you arrived that showing up as you did would upset Thad?” He tried not to sound judgmental, but failed.

“I wanted answers.” There was a tightness to her voice. “I wanted to see the ranch.”

“So, no.” Gus glanced sideways at his passenger, then let out a curse as the truck lurched sideways, yanking the steering wheel out of his hands. The frame of the truck hit rock as the front wheel slipped deep into a rut. Lillie Jean’s head snapped forward on impact, her forehead making solid contact with the dash.

“Lillie Jean—”

She pulled herself upright, one hand pressed against her forehead just over her right eyebrow, her eyes wide with shock. He gave another silent curse as he saw blood oozing from between her fingers.

“Keep your hand there.”

She instantly pulled it away, took a look at her bloody fingers, gasped, then quickly put her fingers back where they’d been, smearing blood across her forehead. Gus had caught a quick look at the wound, which was bleeding freely as head wounds tended to do. It was short and gaping. Deep, dark red.

“Hold on.” He fished around under the seat and pulled out a first aid kit sealed in a zipper bag. It contained only rudimentary supplies, but had saved his butt a time or two when he’d injured himself while working alone. He pulled out a box of gauze pads and peeled one off the top and handed it to her, she pressed it to the wound for a few seconds, then turned and pulled down the visor.

“No mirror,” she muttered.

“Old truck.” If it had been newer, she probably wouldn’t have an injury, but the dash was sunbaked and hard as a rock.

She peeled the gauze off and tilted her head toward him, obviously wanting an opinion.

Gus shook his head and handed her another gauze pad. “Quick, before it drips.”

Lillie Jean slapped the new gauze in place, and Gus said, “We can go to the urgent care clinic and they can put a butterfly on it and close it up.”

“Or...?”

Or? What did she mean “or”?

“I can do the same?”

She reached for another gauze pad. “Take me to the ranch. We can do it there.”

“You’re sure?” Because he didn’t want her coming back at him later.

“Yes.” She gave him a conflicted look. “I don’t want to pay for urgent care at this point in my life.”

That gave him something to chew on as he very carefully drove back to the house. He stopped at the first gate and Lillie Jean started to open the door, as if she was going to open the stubborn gate latch with one hand, and hold the gauze to her forehead with the other. Gus stopped her with a quick, “I’ll do it.”

“Afraid of getting blood on your coat?”

Gus almost smiled. Almost. “Yeah.”

“Whatever.” She reached for the first aid bag as he got out of the truck. When he got back in she had another pad in place. The bleeding had slowed and he hoped by the time they got back to the ranch they’d be able to work on the cut.

Thad was still at the kitchen table, talking into the landline when Lillie Jean walked into the kitchen ahead of Gus. He nearly dropped the phone when he caught sight of bloody Lillie Jean. “Excuse me,” he said into the receiver. “What happened?” His gaze went straight to Gus.

“I hit a rock, slid into a rut. Lillie Jean’s forehead slammed into the dash. I’m going to render first aid.”

Thad bounced a frowning look between the two of them. “You want to go to the clinic?”

“No,” Lillie Jean and Gus said in unison.

She glanced up at Gus. “I’ll clean it up and then call you when I need help with the butterfly.”

He nodded and then shrugged out of his coat as Thad went back to his phone call. Henry followed Lillie Jean down the hall, the bathroom door closed, and Gus went to pour a cup of coffee. What a morning.

As near as he could tell, Thad was talking to his attorney, so he wandered into the mudroom and threw a bunch of dirty jeans into the wash to give his uncle some privacy. When he heard the bathroom door open again, he poked his head into the kitchen and Lille Jean beckoned him from the hallway.

“Prognosis?” she asked. She removed the folded tissue she had over the wound to show him a half-inch-long cut that would be a cinch to butterfly closed.

“I think we can do this without leaving a scar.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you some kind of an EMT or something?”

“Bull rider.” One corner of her mouth quirked up as he corrected himself. “Former bull rider. I know about scars.” And regardless of how he felt about her being there, he’d hate to leave one on her beautiful brow.

“In that case, carry on.”

He was kind of surprised that she placed herself so totally in his hands, but if she didn’t have money for urgent care, then that could be a big influencer in her decision. He stepped closer and opened the medicine cabinet and pulled a box of adhesive stitches off the shelf. Lillie Jean swung the mirror closed again and he dug in the box for the size he wanted.

“Why don’t you take a seat.” He gestured at the commode and she sat, lifting her chin. Gus brushed the hair away from her forehead as he surveyed the cut, trying not to notice how the silky strands teased his fingertips. He opened the suture package. “Dab the blood away. Press hard, then lift the tissue.”

Lillie Jean pushed hard against her forehead and when she lifted the tissue, he quickly applied the butterfly, expertly pulling the edges of the cut together so they touched. He dropped his hands and sat back on his heels. It looked good. She looked good. He was losing it.

Lillie Jean got to her feet and moved past him to look in the mirror, tilting her chin sideways to get a better angle. “You did well.”

“Like I said, practice.”

Lillie Jean lightly touched the wound as if testing for pain. “Remind me not to ride with you again.”

“I should have kept my eyes on the road.” Instead of on you. The crazy thing was that once again he was having a hard time keeping his eyes off her. Something about her tugged at him, made him want to study her.

Okay. She kind of fascinated him.

Suddenly the bathroom was about half the size it usually was, and he felt a deep need to escape. “I’ll, uh...let you...yeah.”

CHAPTER FIVE

WHEN WAS THE last time he’d been at a loss for words? Pub keepers had to have their wits about them and he was kind of known for snappy comebacks. But not today. He felt like a tongue-tied junior high kid as he escaped the overly small bathroom.

Thad was in the mudroom putting on his coat.

“Going somewhere?”

“Sal’s place.” Thad jerked his head toward the hallway. “Is Lillie Jean okay?”

“Seems to be doing all right. She’s tougher than she looks.” He half muttered the second part, coming to terms with the fact that maybe Lillie Jean was a fish out of water, and maybe she resembled a Disney princess in some regards, but that didn’t mean she was overly delicate.

Thad shot him an accusing look as they went out the door. “I told you to buy me some time, not bring her home all bloody.”

“It was an accident.”

“Yeah. I know. But I want to keep on her good side.”

“She is who she says she is?”

“Appears so. I had a long talk with the lawyer kid, who said the will was straightforward. The deed automatically transferred to Lillie Jean at Lyle’s death. There’s just a little paperwork to clear up.”

Gus rolled his eyes at the word kid. To Thad, anyone under the age of forty was a kid, even if he was a lawyer or a bull rider or whatever. “Why weren’t you notified of your partner’s death?”

“They’re behind. They just moved offices and his father retired.” Thad’s mouth twisted. “I gave him a little guff, but, bottom line, Lillie Jean is who she says she is.”

Even though he’d expected something along those lines, Gus felt his stomach twist. His carefully planned future was now null and void.

“I stored some papers in Sal’s house. I want to take a look at them.” Thad gestured toward the manager’s house with his gray head. “You may as well come.”

He may as well. They crossed the short distance to the house without speaking. Thad pushed the stubborn door open and it scraped its way across the worn carpet. The interior of the house felt colder than the outside air, even though Gus knew the furnace was set to come on at fifty degrees and thus keep the pipes from freezing.

Sal had left some time ago, and a layer of dust had settled over the carpet and the few pieces of furniture the former manager had left behind. Furniture that had probably been in the house when he’d first moved in twenty-five years ago.

Thad went to the hall and pulled the cord that lowered the attic steps. The attic was cramped, so Gus waited near the kitchen door while Thad thumped around upstairs, then came back down carrying a metal box.

Gus asked the obvious question once Thad placed the strongbox on the wobbly kitchen table. “Why do you keep things here?” It wasn’t like there wasn’t a lot of room in the main house. It, too, was sparsely furnished.

“I burned most of it. Didn’t want the rest anywhere near me.”

Thad pulled a key out of his pocket, turned the lock and opened the lid. There wasn’t much inside—a couple of envelopes, a small box and a set of keys. Safe-deposit box keys. Thad pulled out an envelope, spread the yellowed paper it contained on the table. It was a handwritten agreement, signed by Thad and his partner.

“The official agreement is exactly the same.”

“You’re sure?”

“Called Ned.” His current lawyer, who happened to be his original lawyer’s son. Another lawyer kid. “He found a copy of the agreement and answered some questions for me. It’s something called Tenant in Common. I kind of remember Ned’s dad talking us into it, saying that this way, we were both protected. Neither of us could force the other to sell. We could just sell our interest to someone else.”

“Is it transferable?”

“This one is.” Thad gave a rueful cough. “You see, Nita and I were thinking about kids and we wanted to protect their interests, too.”

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