Home on the Ranch: Oklahoma: Defending the Rancher's Daughter / The Rancher Bodyguard. Carla Cassidy
never found the person who killed your mother, did they?”
“No. She left one night to get groceries in town and several hours later was found strangled along the side of the road.” He turned his head and gave her a quick look. “But don’t worry. We’ll find the bastard that killed Gray.”
She should have found comfort in his words, but she didn’t. Although she desperately wanted to know who had killed her father and why, she knew discovering those answers wouldn’t heal the hole left in her heart.
“How did you get through it? When you lost your mother? How did you get through the pain?”
“I was young. The only thing I really remember about that time was that it upset me because my father cried a lot.” He glanced at her again and this time the green of his eyes appeared darker, slightly haunted. “I think loss is more difficult to handle when you’re older and less resilient.” His fingers tightened on the steering wheel, turning his knuckles white as he directed his attention back out the truck’s front window.
They didn’t speak again until they reached the ranch. “I’ll take you to the bunkhouse and get you settled in,” she said as he parked the truck and they got out.
“Almost everyone in town knows I’m no longer working for Wild West Protective Services, so as far as anyone is concerned, I’ve just signed on here temporarily to help you out with the ranch work until you can hire new help.”
“That’s fine with me,” she agreed.
He reached behind the seats and grabbed a large duffel bag, then they began the long walk toward the bunkhouse in the distance.
As they walked she thought again of that look she’d seen for a brief moment in his eyes. She had the feeling that he knew intimately about loss as an adult and that made her curious.
It had been years since she and Zack had interacted in any way. She certainly liked to think she’d changed in that interval of time and wondered how he might have changed. What might have happened that had caused the darkness she’d seen in his eyes?
She knew that for several years he had dated Jaime Coffer, a gorgeous blonde who had one day simply up and left Cotter Creek. Somehow she didn’t think that had caused the dark shadows. He’d seemed fine after Jaime had left and had never lacked for female companionship.
“Did you enjoy all the traveling you did for the business?” she asked.
“It was all right.”
“I’ll bet you’ve met a lot of interesting people.”
“Interesting enough.”
“Are you always so chatty?” she asked dryly.
He stopped walking and turned to face her, his features once again partially shadowed by the brim of his hat. “I’m not here to socialize. I’m here to catch a killer.”
She felt the blush that warmed her cheeks. Nothing had changed. In the blink of an eye, in the tone of his voice, he’d managed to make her feel like the nuisance she’d been as a child.
Once again she was aware of the throb of her ankle. She was eager to get back to the house, prop up her foot and get away from him.
He continued to walk and she followed behind, remembering all the times as a young girl he’d made her feel like an interloper in her own life.
She reminded herself once again that she didn’t have to like him to need his expertise. She didn’t have to enjoy his company to use his investigative skills. But, perversely, she couldn’t help the fact that she wouldn’t have minded his arms around her one more time.
Chapter 4
Zack was relieved when Katie left him alone in the bunkhouse. He’d felt off balance since that moment out in the pasture when she’d turned into his arms and wept for her father.
Even though he’d known Katie since she’d been a child, it was only the second time he’d ever seen her cry. The first time had been tears of rage and embarrassment when he’d picked her up and carried her away from a party she should have never attended. This time her tears had been ones of sorrow, of grief.
But it hadn’t been her tears that had disconcerted him. It had been the warmth of her body against his, the press of her full breasts against his chest, the sweet, feminine scent of her that had so rattled him.
At that moment his body had reacted powerfully, like a man’s to a woman’s, and it had stunned him. The last thing he’d expected was to feel any kind of physical desire for Katie. Hell, he hadn’t liked her as a kid and the verdict was still out on whether he would find her tolerable as an adult.
He shoved thoughts of her away as he placed his personal items in the footlocker at the end of the single bed that would be his sleep arrangement for as long as he was here.
The bunkhouse had at one time been an integral part of every ranch, but in recent years had become less important as ranch hands had transportation and often lived off the ranch where they worked.
Just before Katie had left, she’d told him that he’d be sharing the space with four other men. His bunk mates would be Brett Cook and Jake Merridan, whom he’d already met, and Mike Wilton and George Cochran, whom he had yet to meet. Katie had also told him that ranch manager, Sonny Williams, lived in a small cottage near the main house. The rest of the ranch hands lived off the ranch.
Besides the beds, the large open building boasted a small kitchen area, complete with refrigerator, microwave and a two-burner stovetop, and table and chairs.
A sofa and a couple of chairs formed a living room, the central piece, a midsize television. Gray had always believed in a bit of comfort for his men. “Happy men make happy workers,” he’d often say.
The bathroom was built for more than one man and had two shower stalls.
Zack finished storing his items in the trunk, then eyed the other trunks that sat at the end of each bed. He was alone. It would be easy to take a moment to sneak a peak into the personal items of the others, but a glance at his watch made him put that particular action on hold.
It was nearly noon and at any moment the men would be coming in for lunch. The last thing he wanted was to be caught snooping. Besides, at this moment he wasn’t sure what he’d be looking for.
He walked to the door and stepped outside, looking over the land, and for a moment he felt as if Gray stood beside him.
Gray had always considered this land his little piece of heaven on earth. Bent Tree Ranch had pastures of sweet green grass, groves of thick trees that provided shelter to herds and all the outbuildings a ranch needed to help it be successful.
A little piece of heaven, but what Gray hadn’t known was that there was a serpent loose in the garden. Zack was determined to find out just who that serpent was and why he’d wanted Gray dead.
* * *
Lunch with the men was interesting. Mike Wilton and George Cochran seemed friendly but reserved. Brett Cook was sullen but tolerable and Jake exuded a friendly enthusiasm that Zack didn’t trust.
Zack had always relied on his instincts when it came to people, but the lunch was too brief for him to form any real impressions.
He knew the best way to learn about a man was to work beside him and so after lunch he went with Brett and Jake to work on the fence that had been destroyed by the stampede the day before.
“Katie told me you worked on the Wainfield ranch before coming here,” Zack said to Jake as the two worked to unload the lumber he’d bought in town.
“Yeah. I was there for two years. Then Joe had that tractor accident and his kids sold off the place.” Jake shook his head. “Damned shame. He was a good man.” He slid Zack a curious glance. “So, are you and Kate old friends?”
“Something