He reminds her of a past she’s spent a long time trying to forget...

Jen Delaney kept her romance with Tyler Carson secret—along with her broken heart after he left Bent. Now the army ranger is back and convinced a madman is targeting Jen to get to him. When the stubborn woman doesn’t heed his warnings, Ty is forced to take extreme measures. But nothing he does seems to deter their dangerous stalker, and time is running out...

NICOLE HELM grew up with her nose in a book and the dream of one day becoming a writer. Luckily, after a few failed career choices, she gets to follow that dream—writing down-to-earth contemporary romance and romantic suspense. From farmers to cowboys, Midwest to the West, Nicole writes stories about people finding themselves and finding love in the process. She lives in Missouri with her husband and two sons and dreams of someday owning a barn.

Also by Nicole Helm

Wyoming Cowboy Marine

Wyoming Cowboy Sniper

Wyoming Cowboy Justice

Wyoming Cowboy Protection

Wyoming Christmas Ransom

Stone Cold Texas Ranger

Stone Cold Undercover Agent

Stone Cold Christmas Ranger

All I Have

All I Am

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Wyoming Cowboy Ranger

Nicole Helm

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-09399-6

WYOMING COWBOY RANGER

© 2019 Nicole Helm

Published in Great Britain 2019

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 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.

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Version: 2020-03-02

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For anyone who found the courage to go home again,

and those who had the bravery to stay.

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

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Epilogue

About the Publisher

Chapter One

Jen Delaney loved Bent, Wyoming, the town she’d been born in, grown up in. She was a respected member of the community, in part because she ran the only store that sold groceries and other essentials within a twenty-mile radius of town.

From her position crouched on the linoleum while she stocked shelves, she looked around the small town store she’d taken over at the ripe age of eighteen. For the past ten years it had been her baby with its narrow aisles and hodgepodge of necessities.

She’d always known she’d spend the entirety of her life happily ensconced in Bent and her store, no matter what happened around her.

The reappearance of Ty Carson didn’t change that knowledge so much as make it...annoying. No, annoying would have been just his being in town again. The fact their families had somehow intermingled in the last year was...a catastrophe.

Her sister, Laurel, marrying Ty’s cousin Grady had been a shock, very close to a betrayal, though it was hard to hold it against Laurel when Grady was so head over heels for her it was comical. They both glowed with love and happiness and impending parenthood.

Jen tried not to hate them for it.

She could forgive Cam, her oldest brother, for his serious relationship with Hilly. Hilly was biologically a Carson, but she’d only just found that out. Besides, Hilly wasn’t like other Carsons. She was so sweet and earnest.

But Dylan and Vanessa... Her business-minded, sophisticated older brother impregnating and marrying snarky bad girl Vanessa Carson... That was a nightmare.

And none of it was fair. Jen was now, out of nowhere, surrounded by Carsons and Delaneys intermingling—which went against everything Bent had ever stood for. Carsons and Delaneys hated each other. They didn’t fall in love and get married and have babies.

And still, she could have handled all that in a certain amount of stride if it weren’t for Ty Carson. Everywhere she turned he seemed to be right there, his stoic gaze always locked on her, reminding her of a past she’d spent a lot of time trying to bury and forget.

When she’d been seventeen and the stupidest girl alive, she would have done anything for Ty Carson. Risked the Delaney-Carson curse that, even with all these Carson-Delaney marriages, Bent still had their heart set on. She would have risked her father’s wrath over daring to connect herself with a Carson. She would have given up anything and everything for Ty.

Instead he’d made promises to love her forever, then disappeared to join the army—which she’d found out only a good month after the fact. He hadn’t just broken her heart—he’d crushed it to bits.

But Ty was a blip of her past she’d been able to forget about, mostly, for the past ten years. She’d accepted his choices and moved on with her life. For a decade she had grown into the adult who didn’t care at all about Ty Carson.

Then Ty had come home for good, and all she’d convinced herself of faded away.

She was half convinced he’d returned simply to make her miserable.

“You look angry. Must be thinking about me.”

Her head whipped up, the jolt of surprise having nothing on the white-hot flash of fury. “I never think about you, Tyler.” She definitely wasn’t about to admit she had been.

His cocksure grin faded somewhat. He hated his full first name with a passion she’d certainly never understood, but it was one of the few tools in her arsenal she had to get under his unflappable demeanor.

He wasn’t the only person who made her want to lash out, but considering what he’d done to her, she didn’t make an effort to curb that impulse like she did with everyone else.

She slowly rose from where she’d been crouched, dusting her hands off by slapping them together. “Don’t you have anything better to do than stalk me?” she asked haughtily, sailing past him in the narrow aisle with as much grace as she could muster.

“Don’t flatter yourself, babe.”

Babe. Oh, she’d like to knock his teeth out. Instead she scooted behind the checkout counter and smiled sweetly at him. “Then might I kindly suggest you make your purchases.”

“You really think I’d be talking to you if I didn’t have to be? I’ve got ample time to corner you if I wanted to at a family gathering with all the recent Carson-Delaney insanity going around.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. He’d always been tall, rangy, dangerous. Age only enhanced all of those things. It was hardly fair he looked even better now than he had then. Certainly unfair he was talking to her as if she’d been the one to disappear in the middle of the night a decade ago.

“So what is it you want?” she demanded, but the fact he had a point had fear sneaking past her Ty-defenses. “There’s not more trouble, is there?” Bent had been a beacon for it lately.

Laurel and Dylan and even Vanessa dang Carson might be going around town yapping they didn’t believe in curses or love solved curses or whatever, but trouble after trouble didn’t lie. Jen was convinced there had to be something to the old curse that said a Carson and Delaney falling in love only spelled trouble.

“No trouble,” Ty said casually. “Just a concern. We’ll call it a gut feeling.”

Develop those off army rangering, did you? She bit her tongue so the words wouldn’t escape and reveal how many scraps of information she’d collected about him over the years.

“How can I help?” Mr. Army Ranger should take care of his gut feelings himself, shouldn’t he?

“I just need you to give me a heads-up if you get any new people in the store. You can even send the info through Hilly or Addie, if you’d rather.”

Jen raised her chin. It’d be a cold day in hell before she gave this heartless, careless jerk any clue she still had feelings for him. “I don’t need to go through anyone, but surely you don’t need to know every single stranger I get in here.”

“And just how many strangers do you typically get in here?” Ty asked drily.

“Enough.”

He didn’t respond right away, though she could tell by the tiniest firming of his mouth that he was irritated with her. It nearly made her smile. Ty was not an easy man to irritate—at least not visibly.

“This isn’t about us,” he said in low, heavy tones.

Any twitch of a smile died. Us. They did not acknowledge us, and hadn’t since his return. There’d been no mention that they’d ever sworn their love for each other. They’d been stupid teenagers, yes, but she’d so believed those words.

“We’ve had enough trouble lately,” Ty said, and she hated that she could see the stiffness in his posture. Anyone else wouldn’t have noticed the change, but she knew him too well even all these years later to miss that slight tightening in the way he held himself. “If there’s going to be more, I want to head it off at the pass. You run the most visited place in Bent. All I’m asking is for you to—”

“Yes, I understand what you’re asking,” she replied primly. “Consider it done. Now, feel free to leave.” Because she hated him here. Hated breathing the same air as him. Hated looking into those blue eyes she knew too well, because his build could change, the skin around his eyes could crinkle with the years, but the sharp blue of tropical ocean would always be the exact same.

And it would always hurt, no matter how much she tried to exorcise that pain.

He rapped his knuckles against her counter lightly, his lips curved into something like a wry smile. “See you around, Jen.”

Not if I can help it.

* * *

TY COULDN’T EXPLAIN the feeling that needled along his spine. It had nothing to do with the heavy weight that settled in his stomach. The needling was his gut feeling, honed as an army ranger, that told him the strange, threatening letters he’d been receiving weren’t a prank or a joke.

The hard ball of weight was all Jen. Regrets. Guilt. Things he’d never, ever expected to feel, but adulthood had changed him. The army and army rangers had changed him. All the regrets he swore to himself at eighteen to never, ever entertain swamped him every time he saw her.

He tried not to see her, but his family was making it even harder than this small town.

All that was emotional crap he could at least pretend to ignore or will away. Which was exactly what he could not do with the latest letter that had been mixed in with the other mail to Rightful Claim, the bar his cousin owned and where Ty worked.

Vague. Ominous. Unsigned. And addressed to him. He had his share of enemies in Bent. Being a Carson in this town lent itself toward Delaney enemies everywhere he went. But though he’d love to pin it on a Delaney or a crony of theirs, it wasn’t.

This was something outside, which meant it likely connected to his time in the army. Yeah, he’d made a few enemies there, too. He wasn’t a guy who went looking for trouble. In fact, he could get along with just about anyone.

Until he couldn’t.

He blew out a breath as he crossed Main. Away from the prim and tidy Delaney side of the street, to the right side. The rough-and-tumble Carson side with Rightful Claim at the end—with its bright neon signs and assurance that nothing in this town would ever be truly civilized like the Delaneys over there wanted.

Except the lines weren’t so clear anymore, were they?

Dylan Delaney was standing in the garage opening to Carson Cars & Bikes. Vanessa and her swell of a baby bump stood next to him, grinning happily up at the man she used to hate.

What was wrong with his cousins? He could give a pass to his brother. Noah’s wife was barely a Delaney. Oh, somewhere along the line, but Addie hadn’t grown up here. Dylan and Laurel? Born and bred rule-abiding proper Delaney citizens, and somehow Vanessa and Grady were head over heels in dumb.

Ty should know, shouldn’t he? He’d been there first. He’d just had the good sense to get the hell out of that mess while he could.

But that only conjured images of Jen, who hadn’t had the decency to change in his near decade away. Once upon a time he’d been stupid enough to count the freckles on her nose and commit that number to memory.

It wasn’t the first time he wished he could medically remove the part of his brain still so in tune to that long past time, and it probably wouldn’t be the last.

He didn’t nod or greet Dylan as he passed and felt only moderately guilty for being rude. Until Vanessa’s voice cut through the air.

“Hey, jerkoff.”

He heaved out a sigh and slowly turned to face her. Her baby bump was so incongruous to the sharp rest of her. “Yes, Mrs. Delaney,” he replied.

She didn’t even flinch, just slid her arm around Dylan’s waist. As though a Carson and a Delaney—opposites in every possible way—could be the kind of lifetime partners real marriages were made out of.

If he could erase four years of his adolescent life, it would have been funny. He would have had a heck of a time making fun of all of the fallen Carsons. But since he’d given all that up once upon a time, and no one had any clue, all this wedded bliss and the popping out of babies was hard to swallow.

“You coming to the baby shower?” Vanessa demanded. Marriage and pregnancy hadn’t softened her any. At least there was that.

“Do I look like the kind of man who goes to baby showers?”

“Oh, don’t be a wuss. It’s coed.”

“It’s co-no.”

“Noah’s coming.”

Hell.

“You’re way more of a baby shower guy than Noah.”

“I take offense to that.”

She grinned. “Good. I’ll count you down for a yes.”

“I don’t think—”

“Give him a break, Van,” Dylan said, his arm resting across her shoulders, as if just a few months ago they hadn’t hated each other’s guts. “It’s only because Jen’s going to be there.”

Ty stiffened, fixing Dylan with an icy look. “What’s Jen got to do with anything?”

Vanessa’s smile went sly, but she nodded agreeably to her husband’s words. “It’s no secret you two hate each other.” She enunciated the word hate as if it didn’t mean what it ought.

But it darn well had to. “I can’t stand the whole lot of you, but I’ve suffered through a few weddings now—a lot better than the two of you did on that first one,” he replied, nodding toward Vanessa’s expanding stomach.

Vanessa rubbed her belly. “That was fate.”

“That was alcohol. Now, I have things to do.”

“One o’clock tomorrow. Don’t be late.”

He grunted. He could disappear for the night, easily enough. Even his brother wouldn’t be able to find him. But Noah would be disappointed if he baled. Worse, Noah’s wife, Addie, would be disappointed in him. She’d give him that wounded deer look.

Damn Delaney females.

Ty stalked down the street, edgy and snarling and with nothing to take it out on. He pushed into Rightful Claim knowing he had to rein in his temper lest Grady poke at it. Though Grady owned Rightful Claim, Ty lived above it and worked most nights as a bartender.

He’d been toying around with the idea of convincing Grady to let him buy in as partner. He just wasn’t 100 percent sure he wanted to be home for good. He was done with the army rangers, that much was for sure, but that didn’t mean he was ready to water the roots that tied him to Bent.

Didn’t mean he wasn’t. The problem was he wasn’t sure. Until he was, he was going to focus on taking it one day at a time.

Grady looked up from his place behind the bar where he was filling the cash register to get it ready for the three o’clock opening. “You got a letter in the mail,” Grady offered lightly, nodding toward a pile of envelopes and glossy postcards. “No postage. Odd.”

Ty shrugged and snatched up the letter with his name on it. “Women never leave you secret admirer notes, Grady?”

“No, women used to leave me themselves,” Grady said with a sharp grin.

“Used to,” Ty replied with a snort. “Old married man.”

“Ain’t half-bad with the right marriage, in my experience.”

“Sage advice from the married-for-less-than-a-year. You come talk to me when you’ve got a few decades under your belt.”

“Won’t change anything,” Grady replied with a certainty that didn’t make any sense to Ty. How could anyone possibly be sure? Especially Grady? His mother had been married more times than Ty could count. At least Ty’s dad had had the good sense to stop after Mom had died. Focused his making people miserable on his kids instead of on a new woman.

“You okay?” Grady asked casually enough.

“Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

“You seem...”

Ty looked up at his cousin and raised an eyebrow.

“Edgy,” Grady finished, heeding none of Ty’s nonverbal warnings.

“I’m always edgy,” Ty said, trying to flash the kind of grin he always flashed. It fell flat, and he knew it.

“No. You’re always a little sharp, a little hard, but you’re not usually edgy.”

Ty shrugged. “Just waiting for the curse to hit us trifold. Or is it quadruple-fold? Can’t keep up with you all.”

“If you believe in town curses, it’s out-of-your-mind-fold.” Grady still stood behind the cash register even though he’d finished his work. “If you’ve got trouble, you only need to share it, cousin. Mine, cow or woman?”

Ty wanted to smile at the old code they’d developed as kids. But the problem was he didn’t know what kind of trouble he’d brought home. Whatever trouble it was, though, it was his problem. They’d had enough around here lately, and with Van and Laurel pregnant, Ty wasn’t going to make a deal about things.

He was going to handle it. He always handled it.

“Be down for opening,” Ty grumbled, dreading the Saturday night crowd. He moved through the bar to the back room, not looking down at the letter clutched in his fist. He walked up the stairs, forcing himself not to break into a jog. When he stepped into his apartment, he ripped open the envelope, trying not to focus on the lack of postage.

He pulled out a small, white piece of paper, eyes hurrying over the neatly printed words.

It must be nice to be home with the people you love—family, sure, but first loves most of all.

It won’t be so nice to lose. One or the other.

Ty crumpled the note as his hand curled into a fist. He reared his arm back, ready to hurl it into the trash, but he stopped himself.

He smoothed the note out on the counter and studied it. Whoever was threatening him anonymously would have to be stopped.

Which meant he had to figure out who wanted to hurt him and was close enough to drop an unstamped letter in his mailbox.

The people you love.

Not on his watch.

* * *

JEN DELANEY WAS as pretty as he’d been told. It gave him a little thrill. As did watching her while she hadn’t a clue anyone was watching. She stocked shelves, waited on the occasional customer, all while he watched from the viewfinder of his camera.

He’d had to take a break when Ty Carson had sauntered up, but that had given him time to leave the note.

Ty Carson.

Feeling the black anger bubble in his gut, he lowered the camera. He took deep calming breaths, and counted backward from ten just like Dr. Michaels always told him to.

He found his calm. He found his purpose. He slid into the car he’d parked in the little church parking lot. He exchanged his camera for his binoculars.

He could just barely make Jen out through the storefront of Delaney General. She was the perfect target. In every way.

And when he targeted her, he’d make Ty fear. He’d make Ty hurt. He’d ruin his life, step by step.

Just like Ty had ruined his.

On one last breath, he smiled at himself in the rearview mirror. Calm and happy, because he had his plan in place.

Step one: charm Jen Delaney.

It shouldn’t be hard. He knew everything about her. Thanks to Ty.

Chapter Two

Saturday evenings at Delaney General were always fairly busy. During the week Jen’s crowd was minimal and usually the browsing kind. Weekends were more frantic—trips to grab what had been forgotten over the week. A twelve-pack of beer, sauce for spaghetti already on the stove and, in the case of one nervous young gentleman, a box of condoms.

She’d made one joke about telling his mother. He’d scurried away, beet red. There was some joy in living in a small town. Jim Bufford hefted a twenty-four-pack of her cheapest beer onto the checkout counter and grinned at her, flashing his missing bottom tooth. “Care to drink dinner with me, darling?”

“Hmm,” she replied, pulling the case over the scanner. Jim had been making this particular offer since she’d turned twenty. Since he made it to just about every female who’d ever worked in Delaney General, she didn’t take it personally. “Some other night, Jim. Got my nose to the grindstone here.”

He handed over a wad of wrinkled bills and tutted while she made change. “Young pretty thing shouldn’t work so hard.”

“And a nice man like you shouldn’t drink his dinner.” She handed him his change and he hefted the case off the counter.

“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled, offering a half-hearted goodbye as he pushed open the door and stepped out. Just a few seconds later the bell on the door tinkled again and someone stepped inside.

She didn’t recognize this customer. He wore his cowboy hat low, obscuring most of his face. Still, she could usually recognize her regulars by size, clothes, posture and so on. This was a stranger.

She remembered Ty’s words from earlier and an icy dread skittered up her spine, but she smiled. “Good evening.”

“Evening,” the man returned, a pleasant smile of his own. She couldn’t see his eyes, but his smile wasn’t off-putting. He was wearing what appeared to be hiking gear and had a fancy-looking camera hanging from his neck. “I don’t suppose you carry film?” He lifted the camera and his smile turned sheepish.

“Afraid not.”

He sighed. “Didn’t expect to use so much. You’ve got a fascinating town here, ma’am.”

“We like to think so.” She kept her smile in place. The man was perfectly polite. No different from any other stranger who walked into her store looking for provisions of any kind.

Her palms were sweaty, though, and her heart beat too hard. It was only her and him in the store right now, and Ty had warned her about strangers.

And you’re going to trust Ty Carson on anything? No. No, she wasn’t, but... Well, there’d been too much trouble lately not to heed his warning. So, she’d be smart. Do what her deputy sister would do in this situation: pay attention to details. The man was tall, maybe around her brother Cam’s height. But not broad. He had narrow shoulders, though the way he walked exuded a kind of strength. Like a runner, she supposed. Slim, but athletic. She couldn’t determine the exact shade of his hair because of the way the hat was positioned and the way he was angled away from her, but it wasn’t dark hair.

“I don’t have film, but I’ve got food and drinks or anything else you might need.” She smiled at him, but he still didn’t look her way. He examined the store.

“Actually I stopped because I was wondering if you’d mind if I took a few pictures of your store.”

“I thought you were out of film.”

“I am, which is a shame. But I use my phone for pictures, too. I was using film out here because the ambiance seemed to call for it. I was over at the saloon. I hear the swinging doors are original.”

“So they claim,” Jen muttered, irritably thinking of Ty.

“Amazing.” He meandered over to a row of candy, studied the offerings. “I took way too many pictures. And the boardwalks. The signs. It’s like stepping back in time. I’ve been mostly sticking to ghost towns but the mix of past and present here... It’s irresistible.”

“So you were out at Cain, then?” she asked, referencing a popular ghost town destination for photographers and adventurers.

He nodded, still keeping his head tilted away from her. “That’s what brought me out this way.”

“From where?”

He chuckled. “You ask every stranger where they’re from?”

She had to work to keep the pleasant smile on her face. She couldn’t blow this. “Tend to. We don’t get many outsiders.”

“Ah. Outsiders. Must be nice to live in a community that protects itself against outsiders. You’d feel...safe. Protected and cared for.”

She hadn’t felt particularly safe after the craziness of the past year, but she decided to agree anyway. “Very.”

He swayed on his feet, trying to brace himself on the shelf and upending some candy before he fell backward onto the floor.

Stunned, Jen rushed forward, but he was already struggling to sit up.

“I’m all right,” he said, holding out a hand to keep her back. “Just haven’t eaten since breakfast. Got caught up, and I suppose the lack of food caught up with me. I’ll be all right.”

She grabbed one of the candy bars that had fallen to the ground and ripped it open before she handed it to him. She didn’t think he’d gotten caught up. She was starting to think he didn’t have any money. She almost felt sorry for him. “Here. Don’t worry about paying for it. Just eat.”

He took the candy, and then a bite. “You’re too kind.” He looked up for a second.

Blue eyes. A vibrant blue. Blond hair, wispy and nearly white really. Not with age, just a very, very light shade of blond. His nose was crooked. To the left.

“Didn’t expect to run across someone so young and pretty in a tiny little Wyoming town.”

“Uh—”

“Sorry.” He looked back down at the candy bar, the brim of his hat hiding everything again. “That’s awkward and uncomfortable. Let’s blame it on the lack of food. Do you think I could trouble you for a small sip of water?”

Jen jumped to her feet and hurried for the cooler that boasted rows of water bottles. She grabbed one of the larger ones and twisted it open. “Here,” she said, returning to his side. “You just take this.”

He took a sip and then nodded, using the back of his arm to wipe the water droplets off his mouth. He kept his head down.

Was it purposeful? Was he trying to make sure she couldn’t identify him? Was he planning something awful? But she’d seen his eyes and the color of his hair—she only had to remember the details.

He took another bite of the candy bar, then a drink of the water. She racked her brain trying to figure out what to do. How to defend herself if he lunged at her. This could all be an act. A ploy. Weaken her defenses, catch her off guard.

Carefully, Jen leaned slightly away and got to her feet, keeping her eyes on him and her body tense and ready to react.

“Thank you for the kindness,” he said, sounding exhausted. But it could be acting. “I should be out of your way.” He struggled to his feet, swayed again, but righted himself.

He seemed so genuinely thankful and feeble. The man was a mess, and maybe he was Ty’s threatening stranger, but he wasn’t doing anything to put her in danger at the moment.

And why would he? He was probably just after Ty. How could she blame anyone on that front?

“Can I get you anything else? Maybe a sandwich? A bag of chips?” His clear weakness ate at her. A man shouldn’t go hungry. Though, she supposed, he could sell that nice camera if he was really that bad off.

“No. No, I’ll be fine.” He kept his head tilted away, but the corner of his smile was soft and kind as he lifted the water bottle in salute. “I appreciate it, ma’am. Your kindness won’t be forgotten.” And with that, he walked out of the store. No trouble. No danger.

Leaving Jen unsure about what to do.

* * *

TY DIDN’T OFTEN find himself uncomfortable. He’d learned early to roll with whatever punches life threw at him. There’d been quite a few.

But nothing could have prepared him for a baby shower. A Carson-Delaney baby shower. Laurel and Vanessa were laughing over their baby bumps, pastel pink and blue decorations everywhere, and Carsons and Delaneys mingled like there’d never been a feud.

Jen was in a corner talking to Addie and Noah, Addie’s toddler trying to crawl up Noah and laughing hysterically when he fell. Noah watched with the patience of a happy man.

Ty had never particularly understood his brother, though he loved him with a fierceness that meant he’d lay down his life for the man. What he did know about Noah was that having Addie and Seth in his life and on his ranch made him happy, and that was all Ty really cared about.

“Delaney Delirium getting to you?”

Ty gave Grady a cool look. “Just trying to understand all this baby business,” he said, nodding toward Noah and the way he held Seth easily on his hip.

Grady patted him on the back. Hard. “Sure, buddy.”

“You really want to be a dad after the way we grew up?” Ty asked, unable to stop himself. He didn’t get it. The way Noah had taken to Addie’s nephew that she was guardian and mother to, as if it were easy to step into the role of guardian and father. The way Vanessa and Grady seemed calm and even happy about their impending parenthood.

The Carson generation before theirs had not been a particular parental one. More fists and threats than nurturing happiness.

“Figure I got a pretty good example of what not to do,” Grady said with a shrug. “And a woman to knock some sense into me when I make mistakes. Besides, we turned out okay in spite of it all.”

“And Delaney senior ain’t got a problem with his grandchild being raised by a cop and saloon owner?”

“Laurel’s father doesn’t get a say.”

Ty knew it was different for Grady. Ty had been eighteen when Mr. Delaney had flexed his parental and town muscles to make sure Ty got the hell away from his daughter. Grady wasn’t a dumb teenager, and neither was Laurel. They could refuse a parent’s interference.

Couldn’t you have?

He shook his head. Ancient history. No amount of Carson and Delaney comingling was reason to go back there.

Laurel called Grady over and he left Ty in the middle of all this goodwill and pastel baby nonsense. He was somewhere in no-man’s land. He almost wished a sniper would take him out.

There were toasts and cake and presents of tiny clothes and board books. No matter that their families had been enemies for over a century, no matter that people in town still whispered about curses and the inevitable terrible ends they would all meet, Carsons and Delaneys sat together celebrating new lives.

Some unknown ache spread through him. He couldn’t name it, and he couldn’t seem to force it away. It sat in his gut, throbbing out to all his limbs.

Faking his best smile, he went to Vanessa and Grady and made his half-hearted excuses to leave early. No one stopped him, but his family sure watched him slip out the front door. He could feel their eyes, their questions. And worst of all, their pity.

As if being alone was the worst fate a person could face. He’d seen a lot worse. This was fine. And good. Right for him. Alone suited—

“Ty.”

There was something his gut did when she said his name. No matter the years, he couldn’t seem to control that intrinsic physical reaction to his name forming on her lips. A softening. A longing.

He took a minute to brace himself before he turned around. Jen stood on the porch of Grady and Laurel’s cabin. She looked like cotton candy in some lacy, frothy pink thing.

And all too viscerally he could remember what she looked like completely unclothed. No matter that he assured himself time changed things—bodies, minds, hearts. It was hard to remember as she approached him with a face that wasn’t shooting daggers at him for the first time since he’d arrived home.

“Listen.” She looked back at the open door, then took a few more steps toward him on the walk. “I wanted to let you know I had a stranger come in the store last night.”

“What?” he demanded, fury easily taking over the ache inside him. Last night? “Why didn’t you call me? I told you—”

She lifted her chin, her eyes cold as ice. “You told me to let you know. Here I am, letting you know. I don’t think he’s whatever you’re looking for. He was perfectly nice. He just asked to take pictures of the store, and then he—”

“What time did he come in?”

“Well, seven but—”

“He was going to take pictures when it was pitch-black?”

She frowned at that, a line forming between her brows that once upon a time he’d loved tracing with his thumb. Where had that memory come from?

“He was hungry. He fainted. He was out of it. Confused maybe. And totally polite and harmless.”

“Damn it, Jen. I told you to call me. I could have—”

“He didn’t do anything. I know you’re paranoid, but—”

“I am not paranoid. You think a man who gets a letter with no postage delivered to where he lives and works is paranoid?”

She tilted her head, studying him, and he realized with a start he’d said too much.

He never said too much.

“What was in the letter?” she asked, her voice calm and her eyes on him.

It was hell, this. Still wanting her. Missing that old tiny slice of his life where she’d been his. He didn’t want this, but he couldn’t seem to get rid of it. It ate at him, had him dreaming about doing things he couldn’t possibly allow himself to do. Every once in a while he’d think...what would just one touch do?

But he knew the answer to that.

She audibly swallowed and looked away, a faint blush staining her cheeks. She felt it, too, and yet...

“It doesn’t matter,” he grumbled, trying to find his usual center of calm. His normal, everyday clear-eyed view of the world and of this problem he had. “What did he look like? Better yet—I want to see your security tape.”

Her eyes flashed anger and frustration. “You are not looking at my security tape.”

“Why not?”

“It’s an invasion of my customers’ privacy.”

He snorted. “I don’t care that Mary Lynn Jones bought a pack of Marlboros even though her husband thinks she quit or that little Adam Teller was buying condoms because he talked his way into Lizzie Granger’s pants.”

Jen’s mouth twitched, but then she firmed it into a scowl. “How do you know all that?”

“I pay attention, babe.”

Her scowl deepened and she folded her arms across her chest. “Blond hair, blue eyes. About the same height as Cam. I’m not sure what that’d be in feet and inches, but I imagine you would. Skinny, but strong, like a marathon runner. He wore hiking clothes and boots, all in tan, and a big, fancy camera around his neck. Topped it off with a Stetson. Said he was taking pictures of ghost towns and happened upon Bent.”

It was more to go on than he thought he’d get out of her, but still not enough to ring any bells. “Tattoos? Scars? Something off about him?”

She shook her head. “Not that I could see.”

“I want the tape, Jen. If someone is...” He didn’t want to tell her. Didn’t trust her to keep it a secret and let him handle it, but he needed to see the man himself. Needed to identify him so he could neutralize this threat. “I’m getting letters. They’re not threatening exactly, but they’re not...not. I know you don’t care about me, but your family is all tangled up with mine now.” He gestured at the whole irritating lot of them. “Don’t you want to protect what’s yours?”

“Of course I do.”

That sharp chin of hers came up, defiant and angry. Her temper used to amuse him. Now it just made that ache center in his heart.

But that wasn’t the problem at hand. “Then let me see the tape. If I recognize him, I’ll know what to do. If I don’t, then maybe you’re right and it’s harmless coincidence.” He didn’t believe that, but he’d let her think he did.

She was quiet and stiff for humming seconds, then finally she sighed. “Oh, fine. I suppose you want to go now?”

He only raised an eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes. “Let me get my purse and say my goodbyes.” She stalked back inside, grumbling about irritating, stubborn males the whole way up.

All Ty could do was pray he’d recognize whoever was on that tape and everything would be over.

* * *

JEN STEPPED OUT of her tiny little sedan, dressed all in pink, her dark hair in pretty waves around her shoulders.

Sweet. Just like Ty had said. She’d been wary of him last night when he’d first walked into the store. He’d seen it in her eyes, but the feigned hunger and stumble had softened her. She’d given him food and water. Good-hearted, she was indeed.

He smiled, watching as Jen stood there in front of her store. When a motorcycle roared into view, his smile died.

Even before the man took off his helmet, he knew who it was. He watched Jen. She didn’t seem happy to see Ty, but nor did she seem surprised or unhappy.

He scowled, watching as Ty strode over to Jen. They exchanged a few words and then Jen unlocked the store and stepped inside, Ty right behind her.

She didn’t flip the sign from Closed to Open.

He narrowed his eyes. The rage that slammed into him was sudden and violent, but he’d learned a thing or two about how to handle it. Hone it.

Ty would get his. He would.

So, patience would be the name of the game. And another letter.

This time in blood.

Chapter Three

Jen set her purse down on her desk in the back room of the store and tried not to sigh. Why was she getting involved in this?

Don’t you want to protect what’s yours?

It grated all over again. That he could even ask her that. She would have protected him, sacrificed for him, and he’d left her alone and confused and so brokenhearted she’d...

She booted up her computer, stabbing at the buttons in irritation. She’d eradicate the past if she could, but since she couldn’t she had to find a better way of managing her reaction to it in Ty’s presence.

Looming over her like some hulking specter. She flicked a glance over her shoulder and up. “Do you mind?”

His eyes were hard and his mouth was harder. He was taking this so seriously, and that irritated her. Ty was never serious. Oh, deep down he was, but he usually masked it with lazy smiles and sarcastic remarks.

But whatever this was had him giving no pretense of humor.

She focused on the computer and brought up the security footage. She ignored the flutter of panic in her throat, dismissed it as foolish. Whatever was going on was Ty’s problem, and once she showed him the footage he’d realize that and leave her alone.

She fast-forwarded through the day, moving the cursor to around seven when the man had come in. She zipped through her conversation with Jim and his case of beer, then hit Play when the door opened after Jim’s exit.

They both watched in silence, heads nearly together as they studied the video.

“You can’t see him,” Ty said flatly, his breath making the hair at her ear dance. She ignored the shiver of reaction and made sure her voice was even before she spoke.

“Give it a second.”

They continued to watch, and Jen could only hope Ty was so focused on the video he didn’t notice the goose bumps on her arm or the way her breathing wasn’t exactly even.

She had to fight viciously against the memories that wanted to worm their way into her consciousness. Memories of them together. Close like this. Not at all clothed like this.

But it was silence around them, heavy, pregnant silence, and she didn’t dare look to see if Ty was keeping his eyes on the computer. Of course he was. That’s what they were here for.

“You can’t see his face,” Ty repeated.

Jen peered at the form on the screen. She saw herself, watching the man’s entrance. And everywhere the man moved, his hat obscured his face from the camera.

“He did it on purpose.”

“How would he have known where the camera is?” Jen returned. It was so natural, the way the stranger on the video kept his head down. She wanted to believe Ty was overreacting, but an uncomfortable feeling itched along her spine.

“He did it on purpose,” Ty said in that same flat tone.

“Keep watching. We’ll get a glimpse when he falls.”

But as the man on the screen pitched forward into the candy, and then staggered back before falling to the ground, his face remained completely hidden by the hat.

Jen frowned at that. But surely a man who fell over didn’t purposefully shield himself from a security camera. It was just coincidence.

“Rewind it,” Ty ordered.

She opened her mouth to tell him not to order her around, but then huffed out a breath. Why bother arguing with a brick wall? She moved the cursor back to the man’s entrance, then slowed down the time.

Nothing changed. You couldn’t see the guy’s face. But she let Ty watch. She turned to study him. He was so close her nose all but brushed his cheek. If he noticed, he didn’t show it. His gaze was flat and blank, seeing nothing but the computer screen.

His profile could be so hard. He could be so hard, but there’d been softness and kindness underneath that mask all those years ago. Did it still exist? Or had military life sucked it out of him? Were any of the parts of him that she loved still in there, or were they all gone?

Horrified with that thought, she blinked at the stinging in her eyes. Stupid. It didn’t matter one way or the other. Yes, he’d broken her heart years ago, but she’d gotten over it. She’d moved on. And he definitely had.

So, her brain needed to stop taking detours to the past.

“He faked that fall,” Ty said, as if it was fact, not just his insane opinion on the matter.

“You’re being paranoid.”

He turned his head so fast she startled back. His eyes were blazing blue, and no matter how tightly he held his jaw, his mouth was soft. She knew exactly what it would feel like on hers.

What the hell was wrong with her? She closed her eyes against the heated wave of embarrassment.

“I am not being paranoid,” he said, his voice low and controlled. “I’m being rational. I’m putting all the dots together. That man didn’t fall because he was starving. Did you see that fancy camera? He can afford to eat.”

She opened her eyes, irritation exceeding embarrassment and old stupid feelings. “That doesn’t mean—”

“And furthermore,” Ty said, getting in her face no matter how she leaned away in her chair, “even if he did fall, he kept his face away from that camera for a reason. I know it. Now, you want to prove it, you watch hours of your own security tape and see if that happens with any other person.”

He held her gaze, though after a while some of that furious, righteous anger softened into something else. Something... Something as his blue eyes roamed her face, settled on her mouth.

Jen shot out of the chair, ignoring the fact she bumped into him, and then scrambled away. “I...have to open the store,” she stuttered. “Everyone’s expecting me to open at three.” She was being foolish, but her heart was hammering in her throat and she had to get out of this tiny room where Ty loomed far too large.

He stood, blocking the door, still as a rock, eyeing her carefully. “You have to be careful, Jen.”

She fisted her hands on her hips. “He isn’t after me. Now let me out.”

“He came in here. He talked to you. There’s something purposeful in that.”

“What do I have to do with your threatening letters?”

He heaved out a breath. “Look.” He shook his head, crossed his arms over his chest. He looked at the ceiling, then dropped his arms and shoved his hands in his pockets.

She raised her eyebrows. Nerves? No, not exactly, but definitely discomfort. She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen Ty something like unsure.

“I have a feeling this ties to someone I was in the military with,” he said, sounding disgusted with himself.

“Again, what does that have to do with me?”

“If it’s someone I knew? Someone I bunked with? They would have listened to me talk about home, about my family, about...” He nodded in her direction.

She could only blink at him. He’d talked about her? After leaving her like she was garbage you dumped on the side of the road? It didn’t make any sense.

“I can’t tell anything from that tape, but I’ve got threatening letters and a strange man in your store, so I’ve got to think of the obvious conclusion here. You could be in danger.”

“That’s absurd,” she responded. It had to be.

He stepped forward, and before she could sidestep him, he took her by the chin. Her whole body zoomed off into some other dimension she hadn’t been to in a very long time. She could only stare at him, while his big, rough hand held her face in place.

“I need you to be careful.” He was so solemn, so serious.

Her throat constricted and her heart beat so hard she was sure her whole body vibrated from the violence of it.

His grip on her chin softened, his fingertip moving along the line of her jaw. She wanted to melt into a puddle, but she wasn’t seventeen anymore, and with that fission of delight she was reminded she hated Ty Carson.

She slapped his hand away, raising her chin at him, trying for regal instead of panicked. “Don’t manhandle me.”

He only raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t know what you want from me,” she said, with more feeling than she should have shown him.

“I want you to be aware. Take precautions. Keep yourself safe and protected, and if that man comes in your store again, I want you to call me immediately.” He moved out of the way of the door and her exit. “It’s that simple.”

Simple? Sure. As if anything to do with Ty Carson was simple.

* * *

TY WALKED OUT of the general store knowing he’d overplayed his hand. Disgusted with himself for getting wrapped up in old feelings and memories and not focusing on the task at hand, he stalked to his motorcycle.

But he couldn’t eradicate the look of Jen’s brown eyes, wide on his, her mouth open in shock as he’d held her face. The flutter of pulse. It felt as though in that moment a million memories had arced between them.

He tried to shake it off. They weren’t the same people. He had regrets, sure. He should have handled everything with her father differently. But he hadn’t and there was no reason to beat himself up over it. You couldn’t change the past.

And he couldn’t change the fact being a soldier and away from home for nearly a decade with only sporadic visits when on leave had altered him. He wasn’t the same teenager who’d run off when the right pressure was applied. Even though Jen had stayed in Bent, she wasn’t the same girl.

They were different people, and if there was still a physical attraction it would be best if they both ignored it.

But even more important than that, he had to protect her from whatever was going on. He wasn’t sure how to do that yet, but he knew he had to figure it out.

He almost ran right into someone, so lost in his own irritable thoughts. He opened his mouth to apologize, until he recognized the middle-aged man before him.

Mr. Delaney’s eyes went from the store, to Ty, and then went hard and flat. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Carson.”

Funny how time didn’t change the utter authority in this man’s voice. Jen’s father thought he owned the world, and Ty was sick with regret for ever being a part of that certainty.

“Know what I’m doing? Hmm.” Ty smiled. “I suppose I always do.”

“You’ll watch your step where my daughter is concerned.”

Ty raised an eyebrow and looked back at the store himself. Then he let his smile widen into a wolfish grin.

“I got rid of you once, Tyler. I don’t know why I couldn’t do it again.”

Ty didn’t let the violent fury show. He wouldn’t give this man the satisfaction. He kept the smile in place, made sure his voice was lazy, but with enough edge to carry a threat. “I seem to recall you fooling around with a married woman, Delaney. I wonder what other dirty skeletons are rattling around in your closet. More torrid connections to other Carsons? Or are your kids taking care of that these days?”

It irritated Ty that not even a flicker of that blow hitting showed on Delaney’s face, though he knew it was at least a little knock to the man’s pride. That it had come out he’d had an affair with a woman who’d been married to someone else. And not just that, a woman who was blood related to Ty himself.

“Your cousins have made my children very happy,” Delaney said, surprising the hell out of Ty. “Maybe you shouldn’t have run away all those years ago.” He smiled pleasantly. “But you did. The kind of running away that isn’t so easy to forgive.”

Ty kept his smile in place by sheer force of will. He’d faced down his father’s fists. He had no trouble facing down Delaney’s barbs. “Funny thing about coming back home again.” He glanced at the store. “Some things never change, and some people are more forgiving than others.”

Finally he got a reaction out of Delaney, though it was only a tightening of his jaw. Still, it was better than nothing. “Impending grandparenthood looks good on you, Delaney. Have a nice day.” He patted the man’s shoulder, gratified when Delaney jerked away and stalked into the store.

To Jen. Ty sighed. The simple truth was he had more to worry about than Jen or her father. He had to worry about the messages he was receiving, the uncomfortable gut feeling he had that Jen was in danger. Because of him.

The most important thing was keeping her safe. Not because he still had feelings for her, but because it was the right thing to do. The timing of the letter, the mention of first loves and this stranger’s appearance in the store were too close to be coincidental or for him to believe Jen wasn’t a target.

If this connected to his military days—which were the only days he’d spent away from Bent—and Jen was a target, it would have to be from early in his career. Before the rangers.

He racked his brain for someone he’d wronged, someone he’d had friction with. A few superiors, but nothing personal. Just normal army stuff, and he’d hardly been the only soldier who’d occasionally mouthed off and gotten punished for it. There’d been the man he’d ratted out, but the man on the tape wasn’t Oscar. Not even close. Besides, Oscar had to have known his time in the army was limited when he couldn’t keep himself out of the booze or drugs.

Ty brought to mind the figure from Jen’s security tape. Not even a tingle of recognition. It ate at him, the faceless man manipulating Jen in her own store. It damn near burned him alive to think she’d be a target of something she had nothing to do with.

Target or not, her cooperation or not, he’d keep her safe. He just had to figure out how.

* * *

HE DIDN’T MIND cutting himself. He rather liked it. Watching the blood well up, drip down. He’d always liked blood. Dr. Michaels said he had to be careful, not to get too caught up in it.

She was right. He only had so much time. Ty would stay at the store for only so long, and it would take time to sneak into Rightful Claim. He had to craft his message quickly, then deliver it with just as much precision and speed.

The paper hadn’t worked, so he’d torn off a piece of his T-shirt and concentrated carefully as he used his bloody fingertip to spell out the message.

He admired his work. He supposed blood might tell, giving away his identity, but he wasn’t so worried about that. He liked the message of blood too much to worry about the connections.

Besides, by the time blood told, he’d have his revenge.

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