But after stopping at the sheriff’s office, she’d run some errands, bought herself some dinner and made up her mind. She wasn’t going to let T.D. put her out of business even if she had to take the herd to summer range all by herself—just as she’d told the sheriff. Maybe she wouldn’t have to if any of these wranglers were decent hands, she thought now.
She stepped to the first cowboy who’d climbed out of the trucks and stood waiting for her. As he removed his hat, she looked into the bluest eyes she’d ever seen and felt a start. Was it the scar on his chin or something about his eyes? What was it about him that made her think she knew this man? Or had at least run across him sometime before? Surely, she would have remembered if she had stumbled across such a handsome cowboy.
Stress and lack of sleep, she told herself. Her mind was playing tricks on her. Or her body was. Because she felt strangely close to him as if they’d once shared something almost…intimate? She knew that was crazy. There’d never been that many men in her life.
Jinx shook her head. Her father’s illness, his death, T.D…. All of it had taken a toll on her, she knew. She couldn’t trust her mind or her body or her instincts. And if she and this man had met, wouldn’t he have said something?
“What’s your name?” she asked him.
“Angus Cardwell Savage, ma’am.”
“Cardwell?” Her eyes narrowed. “Any relation to the Cardwell Ranch in Montana?”
“Dana Cardwell Savage is my mother.”
She considered the tall, lanky, good-looking cowboy for a moment, telling herself that she had to be wrong about having met him before and stepped to the next one. “And you’re…”
He quickly removed his hat. “Brick Cardwell Savage, ma’am.”
She felt a start as she did a double take, looking from Angus to Brick and back. “You’re twins?”
“Identical,” Brick said with a chuckle. “Except I’m more charming.”
Jinx ignored that. A charming cowboy was the last thing she needed. She’d married one and look how that had turned out.
She considered the two for a moment. Angus had a small scar on his chin in the shape of a crescent moon. Other than that, she couldn’t tell the brothers apart. She moved on to the next wrangler.
As the cowhand removed the weathered straw hat, a long blond braid tumbled out. “Ella Cardwell,” the wrangler said, lifting her chin in obvious defiance.
Jinx shook her head. “I said I needed men. Not—”
“I can do anything these two can do,” Ella said, aiming her elbow at the two cowboys next to her who were also from Cardwell Ranch. “Usually better,” the cowgirl added, lifting her gaze until Jinx was staring into emerald green eyes that flashed with fire.
She shot a glance at the two Cardwell men, expecting them to object. Neither did. Turning back to the young woman, she said, “Ella Cardwell, huh?”
“My mother’s Stacy Cardwell. Dana’s my aunt.”
“What are you doing riding with these two?” Jinx asked, indicating Ella’s cousins.
“I like wrangling. I’m more at home on the back of a horse than anywhere on this earth.” She shrugged. “My cousins watch out for me and I watch out for them.”
Jinx studied the young woman whom she estimated to be in her late twenties, early thirties—about her own age and that of her cousins. They were all young when what she needed was seasoned help. Unfortunately, there was none to be had right now because of her almost-ex-husband. It was why she couldn’t afford to be picky and yet…
“Why aren’t you all working on your family ranch?” she asked, concerned about their ages and lack of experience. Also their possible safety, given what was going on.
“I will someday, but in the meantime, we wanted to see more of the country and experience life before we settled down,” Angus said.
Brick chuckled. “Just sowing some wild oats, ma’am.”
That was what she was afraid of. “There won’t be any of that on this cattle drive. We have to get my herd up into the mountains for the summer and I’m already running late. If you’re looking for fun, you’ve come to the wrong place.”
“We’re good hands and we aren’t afraid of hard work, ma’am,” Angus said, giving his brother’s boot next to him a kick. “Don’t mind my brother. He likes to joke, ma’am.”
She’d had more than enough of this ma’am stuff. “Call me Jinx,” she said as she moved to the next two wranglers who’d answered her help-wanted ad.
“Royce Richards,” said the fourth cowboy. At least he was older. “Cash and me here used to wrangle for—”
“Huck Chambers,” Jinx said, nodding as she eyed the men more closely. She’d seen them around Jackson Hole. Cash looked to be in his early forties, much like Royce. He removed his hat and said, “Cash Andrews.” While Royce was tall and wiry-thin with a narrow, pinched face and deep-set dark eyes, Cash was larger with a broad face as plain as a prairie. But when her eyes met his pale brown ones she felt something unsettling behind them.
She tried to remember what she’d heard about the men and why they were no longer with Huck. She thought about calling Huck, but told herself if they didn’t work out, she’d pay them off and send them packing. She only needed them for a few days, a week at most, depending on the weather and how long it would take them to move the cattle.
Looking the lot of them over, she reminded herself that she was desperate, but was she this desperate? She hesitated. She could use all of them, but hiring a young woman wrangler? That seemed like a recipe for disaster on a cattle drive. She thought of the spirit she’d seen in the young woman’s eyes, a spirit that reminded her of herself.
“All right,” she said with a sigh, hoping she wasn’t making a mistake—not just with the Cardwell bunch but with Royce and maybe especially Cash. What was that she’d seen in his gaze? Just a flicker of something she couldn’t put her finger on. A lot of cowboys didn’t like taking orders from a woman. She hoped that was all she’d seen.
“See your way to the bunkhouse. We ride out at first light in the morning. I notice that you brought your own stock,” she said, glancing at the two pickups parked in her yard and the horse trailers behind them. “You can bed them down for the night in the barn or that corral. Cook will rustle up something for you to eat. I wouldn’t suggest going into Jackson Hole tonight.” Or any other night, she thought. But since they would ride into the mountains early tomorrow, they’d have little chance to get into trouble.
At least that was what she told herself as she headed inside the ranch house to talk to Max about feeding them. She found him in the kitchen finishing up washing some pots and pans, his back to her. The cook was short and stocky as a fat thumb with a personality as surprising as what he often cooked. He’d been with Jinx’s family for years. She didn’t know what she would do without him. Or vice versa if she sold the ranch.
But as she studied the man from behind, she realized Max was getting old. He wouldn’t be able to handle a cattle drive much longer. For him, her selling the ranch might be a relief. He could retire since she knew her father had left him well-off.
The moment he turned around and she saw Max’s face, she knew he’d seen her wranglers. “They might not be as bad as they look,” she said defensively.
“Didn’t say a word.”
“You didn’t have to.” She leaned on the counter. “Can you rustle up something for them to eat?”
He nodded and began digging in the refrigerator. He came out with a chunk of roast beef. She watched him slice it and said, “They’re young, I’ll admit.”
“Unless my eyes are going, that one looked distinctly female.”
She sighed. “I like her.”
Max laughed, shaking his head. “Bet she reminds you of yourself.”
“Is that so bad?” He said nothing, letting that be his answer. “You hear anything about Royce Richards and Cash Andrews?” she asked, changing the subject. “They used to work for Huck Chambers.”
He looked up from the beef he was slicing. “If you have any misgivings, send them on down the road.”
“I can’t. I have to take a chance with them. I need the help and at least they’re older and probably more experienced.” She looked toward the window and wondered what her father would have done. In the twilight, the pine trees were etched black against the graying sky. Beyond that, the dark outline of the mountains beckoned.
She told herself that she had to follow her instincts. First, she would get the herd up to the high country to graze for the summer. It would buy her time. Then she would decide what to do. She couldn’t think about the future right now.
But of course that was all that was on her mind. “Once this cattle drive is over…” She didn’t finish because she didn’t know what she would do. Just the thought of ever leaving this ranch brought her to tears.
“I’ll run sandwiches over to the bunkhouse,” Max said. “You should get some sleep. You worry too much. You have five wranglers. With a little luck—”
“My luck’s been running pretty thin lately.” If the wranglers had heard what was going on at her ranch, they wouldn’t have wanted anything to do with the Flying J Bar MC and she’d really be out of luck.
“I have a feeling your luck is about to change for the better,” Max said as he picked up the plate of sandwiches and started for the door. “You’re due. You want one of these sandwiches? I don’t remember you eating much for dinner earlier.”
She shook her head. “I’m not hungry, but thanks. Max,” she called, stopping him at the door. “You didn’t have anything to do with those three showing up from Cardwell Ranch, right? You didn’t call Dana Savage, did you?”
He didn’t turn as he said, “Go behind your back? I know better than to do something like that. I’m no fool.” With that he left.
Jinx sighed, still suspicious. Her mother had been friends with Dana and it would be just like Max to try to help any way he could. She let it go, telling herself not to look a gift horse in the mouth. She had five wranglers, and tomorrow they would head up into the high country. Maybe Max was right and her luck was changing.
Still, she stood for a long time in the kitchen, remembering how things had been when both of her parents were alive. This house had been filled with laughter. But it had been a long time ago, she thought as she heard Max leave the bunkhouse and head out to his cabin. Her father’s recent illness and death had left a pall over the ranch even before she’d finally had it with T.D.
You need a change. Don’t stay here and try to run this ranch by yourself. I don’t want that for you. Her father’s words still haunted her. Did he really think it would be that easy just to sell this place, something he and his father had built with their blood, sweat and tears?
She shook her head and was about to head up to bed when she heard the roar of a vehicle engine. Through the kitchen window, she spotted headlights headed her way—and coming fast. “T.D.” She said his name like a curse.
Chapter Two
After they took care of their horses, Angus could tell that something was bothering his cousin and wasn’t surprised when Ella pulled the two of them aside.
“Maybe we should have told her the truth about why we’re here,” she said, keeping her voice down. The other two wranglers were still inside the bunkhouse.
“I thought the plan wasn’t to say anything unless she didn’t hire us,” Brick reminded her. “She hired us, so what’s the problem?”
“It doesn’t feel right keeping the truth from her,” Ella said more to Angus than Brick. She knew how Brick felt. He’d found them a job up by the Canadian border where one of his old girlfriends lived on the ranch. The last thing he’d wanted to do was come to Wyoming instead. Especially knowing the circumstances.
“We don’t want to stomp on the woman’s pride,” Angus said. He knew firsthand where that could get a person. “Jinx needs three good wranglers and that’s what we’re doing here. Once it’s done you can go anywhere you want to go.”
Brick sighed as they reached their pickup and unloaded their gear before continuing on to the bunkhouse. Angus found himself looking out into the growing darkness. He’d felt it the moment they’d driven into the ranch yard. He wondered if the others had, as well, but wasn’t about to ask. Trouble had a feel to it that hung in the air. An anticipation. A dread. A sense of growing danger. It was thick as the scent of pines on this ranch.
He understood why his brother hadn’t wanted to come—and not just because of that cowgirl up by the Canadian border. “Don’t see any reason to buy trouble,” Brick had argued. “I know this woman’s mother was a good friend of our mother’s, but Wyoming?” Brick had never seen any reason to leave Montana. Angus felt much the same way.
But Jinx McCallahan was in trouble and their mother had asked them to help her—but to keep in mind that she was a strong, independent woman who wouldn’t take well to charity. She just needed some wranglers to get her cattle up to summer range, Dana had said.
While Brick had been dragging his feet, none of them was apt to turn down Dana Cardwell Savage. But what his brother and cousin didn’t know was that he would have come even if their mother hadn’t asked them. The moment he heard that JoRay “Jinx” McCallahan needed wranglers, he’d been on board.
“Once she can get her cattle up to summer range, things should get better for her,” their mother had said. News among ranch families traveled like wildfire, but Angus had the feeling Dana had heard from someone close to Jinx. “The trouble is her ex-husband. He’s got all the local ranchers riled up. She can’t get anyone to work for her other than Max, the ranch cook, and while he’s like family, he’s getting up in age.”
Angus had talked Brick into it. All it had taken was the promise that when the cattle were in their summer grazing area, they’d hightail it back to Montana.
Ella hadn’t needed any talking into it. “The woman just buried her father? She’s running the family ranch single-handedly and now the ex-husband is keeping her from getting her cattle to summer pasture? Of course we’ll go help.”
Dana hadn’t been so sure that her niece should go, but Ella wasn’t having any of that. She’d been riding with her cousins since college. She wasn’t sitting this one out. So the three of them had packed up and headed for a small community south of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Angus had been looking forward to seeing Jinx again. He remembered her red hair and her temper and was intrigued to find out what had happened to that girl. That girl, he’d seen tonight, had grown into a beautiful woman. Her hair wasn’t quite as red, but her brown eyes still reminded him of warm honey. And those freckles… He smiled to himself. She didn’t try to hide them, any more than she tried to hide the fact that she was a woman you didn’t want to mess with.
For a moment earlier he’d thought that she had remembered him. But why would she? They’d just been kids, thrown together for a few hours because of their mothers.
He’d seen her looking at the scar on his chin. If anything could have jogged her memory, the scar should have, he thought as they entered the bunkhouse.
“It’s more than Jinx needing wranglers to get her cattle up to summer range,” Ella said quietly beside him.
He nodded, having felt it since they’d reached the ranch. Jinx had more trouble than a lack of hired help.
Back in the bunkhouse, he’d just tossed his bedroll onto the top bunk when he heard a revved engine growing louder as a vehicle approached the ranch.
“Stay here,” he said to Ella, signaling to his brother to stay with her.
He picked up his weapon from the bed, strapped it on and stepped out of the bunkhouse into the darkness to see the glow of headlights headed straight for them.
JINX PICKED UP the shotgun by the front door on her way out to the porch. The moment she’d heard the engine, she’d known it was T.D. and that he was going to be a problem. By now he would have had a snoot full of beer and have worked himself up. She didn’t need to see her ex-husband’s pickup come to a dust-boiling stop just short of the house to know that he was in one of his moods.
The driver’s-side door was flung open almost before he’d killed the engine. Drunk again, she thought with a silent curse. Tucker David “T.D.” Sharp stumbled out of the pickup, looking nothing like the handsome, charming cowboy who’d lassoed her heart and sweet-talked her all the way to the altar.
“You get out here, JoRay!” he yelled as he stumbled toward the house. “We need to talk.”
“I’m right here,” she said as she stepped from the dark shadows of the porch. She saw his eyes widen in surprise—first seeing her waiting for him and then when he spotted the shotgun in her hands. “You need to leave, T.D. I’ve already called the sheriff.”
He smirked at that. “Even if you did call him, it will take Harvey at least twenty minutes to get out here.”
“That’s what the loaded shotgun is for,” she said calmly, even though her heart was racing. Just seeing him in this state set her on alert. She knew firsthand what he was capable of when he got like this. He’d torn up the kitchen, breaking dishes and some of her mother’s collectibles during one of his tantrums.
“Come on, JoRay. I just want to talk to you,” he whined as he took another step closer. “Remember what it was like? You and me? You loved me. I still love you.” He took another step. “I deserve another chance. I swear I can change.”
“That’s close enough.” She raised the shotgun, pointing the business end of the barrel at the center of his chest.
He stopped, clearly not sure she wouldn’t use it on him. She saw his expression change. “You had no business kicking me off this ranch,” he said, his tone going from wheedling to angry in a heartbeat. He spat on the ground. “I got me a lawyer. Half this ranch is mine and I intend to take what’s mine. This ranch and you, if I want it. You’re still my wife. I can take it all.” He started toward her when a voice out of the darkness stopped him.
“Not tonight you aren’t.”
A wrangler stepped from the shadows into the ranch-yard light by the bunkhouse. She saw the faint gleam of the scar on his chin. She also saw that Angus was armed. He hadn’t pulled his gun, but it was in sight and T.D. saw it, too.
“Who the hell are you?” her almost-ex-husband demanded.
“The lady asked you to leave,” Angus said, his voice low, but forceful.
T.D. scoffed. “You going to make me?”
“If it comes to that, yes.” The cowhand still hadn’t moved, hadn’t touched the gun at his hip, but there was something like steel in his tone.
She could see T.D. making up his mind. He’d come out here looking for a fight even if he hadn’t realized it. But with T.D., like most bullies, he preferred better odds.
He swore and shot Jinx a lethal look. “This isn’t over. You might have hired yourself some…cowboys,” he said as some of the other wranglers came out of the bunkhouse and watched from a distance, “but when they’re gone…” She heard the promised threat, saw it in his gaze. He’d be back for more than the ranch.
Jinx felt a shudder. How could she have not seen the mean side of this man before she stupidly married him? Because he’d kept it well hidden. Drunk, he was even worse, filled with an unexplained rage. She’d felt the brunt of that anger. He’d never hit her. He wasn’t that stupid. But he’d beat her down with his angry words every time he drank until she’d had enough and sent him packing at gunpoint.
Her father, Ray, had been in the hospital then. Once he died, T.D. got it into his head that he deserved a second chance. When that didn’t work, he’d decided the ranch should be his. And so should Jinx. He’d refused to sign the divorce papers until she settled up with him.
The problem with the man was that he never took no for an answer. Egged on by his friends he drank with and some of the other ranchers he’d grown up with who’d tried to buy her out the moment her father had died, T.D. felt both the ranch and she were his legal right.
Legally, he might have some right to the ranch, unfortunately, because they were still husband and wife technically. She hadn’t had the sense to get a prenuptial agreement signed before they’d married. She’d been in love and stupid. But no matter how much of a fight T.D. put up, she was divorcing him. And while he might get his hands on half the proceeds from the ranch, he would never get his hands on her again if she could help it.
T.D. started toward his truck, stopped and tilted his head as if listening. With a smirk, he turned back to say, “If you called the sheriff, he’s sure taking his time getting here.” His gaze locked with hers for a moment. “Liar, liar, pants on fire, all Miss High-and-Mighty. You didn’t even call the sheriff.”
“If I’d called the sheriff,” she said quietly, “he would have stopped me from shooting you, if you’d taken another step in my direction.”
The words seemed to hit T.D. like a strong wind. He wavered, his gaze locking with hers. “So why’d you bother with a restraining order, then?” he snapped, thinking he was smarter than she was.
“Because it will look better in court after I kill you. ‘I tried to keep him away, but he just wouldn’t listen.’”
“Best keep it loaded and beside your bed, then,” he said, smirking at her. “Because I’ll be back.”
She didn’t doubt that. He would come back when it was just her and Max alone on the ranch. “And I’ll kill you before I let you touch me again.”
Her words inflamed him—just as she knew they would. But he wasn’t the only one with a temper. She’d put up with all she was going to from this man. She didn’t want him to doubt that she would pull the trigger on both barrels when he came back.
T.D. slammed his fist down on the hood of his pickup as he stumbled to the driver’s-side door and jerked it open. He shot her a hateful look before climbing behind the wheel. The engine revved. He threw the truck in Reverse and tore off down the road, throwing dirt and gravel.
Jinx let out the breath she’d been holding. Moments before, she’d half expected T.D. to turn and charge her like a raging bull, forcing her to shoot him or pay the price for even a moment’s hesitation. She figured the only reason he hadn’t was because of Angus.
As she turned to thank him, she saw that the spot where he’d been standing was empty. Like the others, he must have gone back inside the bunkhouse. Apparently, he hadn’t wanted or needed thanks. But now he’d put himself in the line of fire. T.D. wouldn’t forget.
ANGUS STEPPED AROUND the side of the bunkhouse, listening to the sound of T.D.’s pickup engine fading in the distance. He hoped the man had enough sense not to come back, but he wouldn’t bet on that.
He thought of the way that Jinx had handled the situation and he smiled. Angus had come down here believing that it was to save not just Jinx’s cattle—but the woman herself.
After seeing her with that shotgun tonight, staring down her husband, Angus realized Jinx McCallahan could take care of herself. It didn’t surprise him. He thought of the girl he’d met just that once. She’d made an impression on him all those years ago. She’d done it again tonight.
Her almost-ex-husband thought he could bully her. Well, T. D. Sharp had picked the wrong woman to try to intimidate. Angus could have told him that just based on knowing her a few hours years before. You didn’t want to mess with that redhead, he thought, smiling to himself.
So as he stood in the dark, pretty sure T.D. wasn’t headed back this way—at least not yet, he reevaluated what he was doing here. Helping Jinx get her cattle to summer range, but after that…he wasn’t so sure.
