Kitabı oku: «Westin's Wyoming»
Analise came to as a heavy weight lifted from her chest.
A scream died on her lips as the shadowy figure looming over her turned into a familiar one.
“Pierce!”
“I thought you were dead,” he said, and then she was in his arms, tears she’d fought for so long running freely down her face.
He held on to her as though she was a mirage and he was afraid if he let go she’d disappear.
And then he was leaning back and she knew he was trying to see her through the dim light and she knew it didn’t matter if they were blurs to each other. In the next instant, he’d pulled her back against him and, cupping her face in his hands, kissed her lips.
His face was rough with stubble and cold from the snow and it felt wonderful against her skin. He felt real, and his kiss was the fabric of fantasy. Happiness welled inside her like an untamed artisanal well, tickling her from the inside out with the delirious feeling of safety she’d thought she’d never again experience.
Westin’s Wyoming
Alice Sharpe
MILLS & BOON
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This book is dedicated to my daughter-in-law,
Becky Braun, with much love.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alice Sharpe met her husband-to-be on a cold, foggy beach in Northern California. One year later they were married. Their union has survived the rearing of two children, a handful of earthquakes registering over 6.5, numerous cats and a few special dogs, the latest of which is a yellow Lab named Annie Rose. Alice and her husband now live in a small rural town in Oregon, where she devotes the majority of her time to pursuing her second love, writing.
Alice loves to hear from readers. You can write her at P.O. Box 755, Brownsville, OR 97327. SASE for reply is appreciated.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Pierce Westin —When he left the Open Sky Ranch, Pierce was a troublemaker who’d had a falling-out with his father. Fifteen years have gone by and he’s back to mind the homestead for a while and maybe mend more than one kind of fence.
Princess Analise Elsbeth Emille —Raised in the small monarchy of Chatioux, this engaged to be married beauty never questioned her destiny—until now.
General Kaare —The king’s closest advisor and protocol expert, this old soldier is determined to monitor the princess’s behavior and safety whether she likes it or not.
Brad Harley —The princess’s new bodyguard, hired after an attack on the original. Is he part of the solution or part of the problem?
Mr. Vaughn —Traveling with the princess, is he more than the meek little man he seems?
Bierta Gulden —The mousy maid seems content to stay in the princess’s shadow, but that won’t protect her from a killer….
Lucas Garvey —This ranch hand is sworn in to act as a backup bodyguard.
Darrell Cox —Another ranch hand who signs on to help protect Princess Analise—and soon regrets it.
Cody Westin —Pierce’s brother who calls him home to fill in for him. He leaves in such a mysterious hurry that no one on the ranch even knows visitors are expected.
Birch Westin —Pierce and Cody’s father.
Toby (aka Tex) —A little boy who gets a whole lot more Wild West than he ever bargained for.
Jamie Dirk —Two generations of Westin ranchers have depended on Jamie’s knowledge and common sense, but never more than now.
Contents
Prologue
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
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Epilogue
Prologue
February
Cody Westin gripped the receiver in his left hand as he sat down at his desk.
“Tell me exactly where you found her,” he said, pausing to listen as the detective rattled off rapid-fire details.
“Yes, I’ll come,” Cody said at length, his dark gaze moving to the big window that overlooked the uncompromising Wyoming peaks. He glanced at the clock on the wall. “I’ll leave within the hour. I’ll meet you there.” Brow furrowing, he added, “Smyth? Don’t lose her, okay?”
He clicked off the phone and stood for a moment. Then he walked to the sideboard and poured himself a finger of whiskey, tossing it back in one swallow, closing his eyes as the liquor burned its way down his throat.
His brother Adam, who worked the ranch with Cody and their father, was off on a backcountry hike in Hawaii, unreachable by phone. That meant Cody would need to contact his other brother, Pierce. The detective’s call couldn’t have come at a worse time—the ranch was gearing up for calving season, which was coming in a month or so.
“Family comes first,” he muttered. It was an uneasy point in ranching life. The herd came first, too. Made things a juggling act.
Pierce was half owner of a business currently operating overseas. He could take time off for an emergency if he wanted to. That was the rub. Would he want to?
He had to. Someone had to be in charge since their father was laid up. The place couldn’t run itself.
Clicking nails on the hardwood floor and a wet nose thrust against his arm announced Bonnie had come into the office. Cody ran a hand along the pale yellow Lab’s smooth head, then set the empty glass on the sideboard. Back at the desk he didn’t even bother to review his planner—whatever was on the books for the next few days would just have to happen without him. He had to go. This might be his last chance.
He moved aside the painting of the old hunting lodge that hung behind the desk and worked the combination on the safe hidden under it. Reaching inside, his fingers closed on a small box. He stared at it a moment, then slowly tucked it in his jeans pocket as the dog watched him with deep brown eyes, tail gently wagging.
“You can’t go with me, Bonnie,” he murmured. “Not this time.”
He would pack a bag, drive to Woodwind and catch a plane. Somehow, someway, he had to find the right words, say the right thing, end this nightmare.
But first he’d call Pierce home.
Chapter One
Pierce Westin stared down at the cattle gate for a long time. Was his brain frozen, were aching muscles clouding his vision or had someone cut the chain and wrapped it back around the steel railings to make it appear it was still secure?
He swung himself off his horse, waded through the snow that had backed up against the gate and grabbed the metal with gloved hands. The last links on either end dangled loose when shaken. It had been cut, all right.
Well, maybe the winter policy had changed since he’d lived and worked on the ranch. Maybe it was always kept this way now. He’d only been back a few days—how did he know?
Except the cuts looked new. He studied the snow, both on his side of the gate and on the Bureau of Land Management side where the ranch had grazing rights. He couldn’t see any fresh tracks besides his own.
His horse, a tidy pinto named Sam, bumped Pierce’s hat off his head and whinnied softly against his neck, his exhalations forming a cloud of vapor in the cold air. Pierce caught the hat before it hit the ground and pulled it back on. Okay, okay, no time to worry about this now, he had a chopper to meet and Sam was apparently on duty to remind him of it. Back in the saddle, Pierce moved off down the canyon.
He’d been away from the ranch for most of fifteen years, hence the protesting muscles in the saddle. He wouldn’t be here now except for Cody’s call, and for a second he flashed on the situation he’d left behind in Italy. He immediately pushed aside those concerns—no use stewing about something he couldn’t change from thousands of miles away.
An hour later, Pierce reached the airfield in time to witness a huge helicopter descending from the turbulent skies—there was a storm predicted for late the next day. No point in muttering curses at Cody for leaving nothing but cryptic notes about who was arriving on the chopper, but man, it would have been nice to have a name or a reason for the visit. Even a contact number so he could cancel would have been nice.
The blades were still whirling when Pierce pulled his horse to a halt beside Jamie Dirk. Two generations of Westin men had depended on Jamie’s common sense and work ethic to keep the Open Sky running, but the old guy hadn’t changed much in the past fifteen years.
Jamie stood beside his bay mare. Pierce knew the preferred mode of transportation had shifted from horseback to ATVs over the years. He was riding the pinto for old time’s sake. He suspected Jamie was riding the mare because that was what a ranch hand was “supposed” to ride and there was little doubt that a horse was better with a cow than a machine or even a man if it came to that.
Jamie looked up at Pierce from beneath the brim of his disreputable brown hat, shifted the ever-present toothpick from one side of his mouth to the other and grumbled, “’Bout time you showed up.”
“You know anything about the gate over past Saddleback?” Pierce asked as he dismounted. His boots landed on a thin layer of day-old crunchy snow, a far cry from the three-foot drifts he’d steered clear of at higher elevations.
“The one leading to the BLM land? What were you doing all the way out there?”
“Just looking around, getting a feel for things again. It’s been a while, you know.”
“What about the gate?”
“The chain’s cut.”
Jamie’s brow wrinkled. “That’s odd.”
“I thought so, too.” Pierce tried to catch a glimpse of who might be inside the chopper. “I wish I knew who the hell we were standing here to greet.”
“Maybe I should take off and see about that gate.” The old guy was happier in a saddle than on the ground.
“Stick around,” Pierce said, handing Jamie the pinto’s reins. “These people won’t be here long, not when I explain about the storm.”
“Speaking of that storm, I sent a few of the men to the higher pastures to bring the heifers closer to the ranch. Those first-time mothers need help now and again.”
Pierce nodded. He understood Jamie was keeping him in the loop and he appreciated it, but except for that chain being cut, there wasn’t a thing he could tell Jamie that Jamie didn’t already know.
Pierce had taken a dozen steps onto the field when he heard another engine and turned to see the arrival of a ranch vehicle. The young driver looked sullen as though being asked to transport visitors was beneath him.
The sound of the helicopter door opening reclaimed Pierce’s attention and he turned in time to see a man jump out of the chopper. Dressed in black from the sunglasses plastered on an expressionless face to the leather coat strained across burly shoulders, he scanned the field like a vulture, shaved bald head reflecting what little light fought its way through the gloom. Other than the old hangar, which housed the ranch helicopter, and a wind sock whipping around as the weather picked up, there wasn’t a heck of a lot to see.
Which begged the question in Pierce’s head: What was he doing standing out here in the frickin’ cold, waiting for a bad version of Mr. T to give the place a once-over? He took a deep breath of icy air. “Welcome to—”
“Stop right there,” the man growled.
Pierce felt his forehead furrow. “Excuse me?”
“I said stop. Let me see some ID.”
The corners of Pierce’s lips lifted. “You’re kidding, right? You land on private property and then go ordering me around? Who are you?”
At that moment, a child appeared in the open door of the chopper. Hands from inside reached as if to detain him, but the boy slipped away easily, hitting the ground with a thud and taking off at a sprint, his face split with a big old grin.
All things considered, he was an astonishing-looking kid. About eight or so, bright red hair, decked out in a buckskin jacket, cowboy boots, spurs and two tin six-shooters that banged against his skinny legs as he ran. A blue cowboy hat flew out behind him, tethered by a cord around his neck.
The bald man tried a full body block, but the kid was wily and darted away until he all but slammed into Pierce’s legs.
“Whoa, partner,” Pierce said, catching the small shoulders in his hands, ignoring the twinge in his heart. Eight. That’s about how old Patrick would have been.
The child looked up at him with silver dollar eyes. “Are you a real cowboy?” he said.
Behind them, Jamie snickered and Pierce threw him a dirty look. To the boy, he said, “Of course I’m a real cowboy.” He looked the kid over and added, “From the size of those spurs, so are you.”
He glanced up from the child in time to see an older man with deep lines running down pale, gaunt cheeks standing at the chopper door. He wore a fur cap and military-looking wool coat over what appeared to be a uniform and stood like a conquering hero awaiting a ticker-tape parade. Upon making eye contact with Pierce, he nodded curtly, but when he hit the ground, he made his way toward the bald man who was in the process of slipping a very small derringer into his jacket pocket.
Pierce smiled. Not exactly the kind of weapon he would have pegged the big guy to carry. Soon the men were deep in conversation, smoke from the bodyguard’s burning cigarette wreathing their heads.
“I have six-shooters, too,” the boy said, looking up at Pierce.
Was it possible Cody had set him up for some elaborate joke? “What in the daylights is going on?” he grumbled.
“Beats me,” Jamie murmured from behind him.
“Cody didn’t tell you anything about this?”
“Like I keep telling you, he said nothing.”
Movement at the chopper door signaled another newcomer. This was beginning to remind Pierce of a clown car at the circus where characters kept popping out, each more bizarre than the one before.
That comparison flew out the window as a woman wearing a white hooded jacket nipped in at the waist stepped onto the field. As she pushed back the hood, shiny ebony hair cascaded to her shoulders.
The woman paused as if to assess the situation and then immediately began walking toward Pierce and the boy.
At first he was just mesmerized by her long, slender legs and the curves the tight jacket couldn’t conceal. But the closer she got the more his gaze zeroed in on her face. Damn near aqua eyes, the color of an alpine lake and just as clear. Lips full, beautifully curved, painted red. Skin that wasn’t really skin; it couldn’t be. It had to be satin or silk.
There was something about her that seemed familiar. Had he seen her on the cover of a magazine near a supermarket checkout lane? It had been a while since he’d been in a movie theater, but if she was an actress and these people were in the movie business, it might explain things.
“You must be Cody,” she said, extending a cashmere-covered hand. Her accented voice held the tiniest trace of an edge as though she was exerting a lot of effort into sounding casual.
“No,” he said, taking her hand, “my brother was called away. I’m Pierce Westin. And you are—”
“Hold it!” the older man called and immediately strode across the field toward them. The hulk stayed behind. “I thought we agreed you would wait inside the chopper until we establish security. I’m informed this man will not show his ID.”
“Why the hell should I show you my ID?” Pierce said evenly. “Seems to me it ought to be the other way around.”
“You don’t expect trouble here, do you?” the woman asked, glancing left and right, those beautiful eyes suddenly flooded with anxiety. She withdrew her hand from Pierce’s grasp and anchored it in front of her chest with the other.
“After Seattle, I expect trouble everywhere which is why I made sure you have a new bodyguard.” The older man nodded at the bald guy. Then, with thin lips pressed together, he shifted his hooded gaze to Pierce.
Beautiful woman and interesting undercurrents aside, this was all just too bizarre. “Listen, folks,” Pierce said calmly, “this has been…well, interesting, anyway, but there’s a storm approaching. I don’t know what kind of deal you made with Cody, but I don’t have time to—”
“There isn’t a doubt in my mind you’re one of Melissa Browning’s sons,” the woman said. “You look just like her. Same dark hair, same gray eyes.”
“You know my mother?”
“No, not exactly, but I do see you bear a striking resemblance.”
She had dazzled him with her looks, aroused his curiosity with a couple of telltale signs of apprehension, but to hear her accented voice speak his mother’s name—her maiden name at that—just kicked it all into overdrive. “How in the world do you know what my mother looks like?”
“I’ve upset you,” she said softly.
“Nothing about her can upset me,” he said as his gut clenched. Liar…
“I’m so relieved. Actually, I saw a photograph of her taken when she was young.”
He stepped back a few inches. “Who are you? What are you and all these other people doing here?”
She rested her hands on the boy’s shoulders. “This is my cousin, Toby.”
“No, Analise,” the child protested, looking up at her. “You promised you’d call me Tex.”
She smiled down at him. “My mistake, Tex. And this gentleman—” here she nodded at the older man “—is General Kaare. I am Analise Emille.” She frowned, her forehead wrinkling just a little, her luscious lips slightly puckered. “You weren’t expecting us?”
“Not exactly,” he admitted. “See, Cody didn’t say much before he…left.”
The aqua eyes widened. For a second he wondered if she and his brother were fooling around, then he remembered she hadn’t known Pierce wasn’t Cody until he’d announced it. Besides, Cody was still married and he wasn’t the kind of man to get involved with another woman even if he and his wife were estranged.
“Princess Analise,” the general said smoothly. “Let’s at least get you out of the open.”
“Princess?” Pierce said softly as the woman reacted to the general’s warning by flinching.
When she met Pierce’s gaze again, she tried a smile but it looked forced. “You didn’t know that, either, did you?”
Chapter Two
“Princess of what exactly?” For the moment, Pierce let the “out of the open” comment slide.
“Of Chatioux, of course,” the general growled. “Surely you recognize King Thomas’s youngest child, Analise Elsbeth Emille.”
So that explained the accent. He’d heard of Chatioux—it was one of those little countries tucked somewhere in Northern Europe. As he tried to make sense of a genuine princess visiting the Open Sky Ranch, another man and a middle-aged woman stepped out of the helicopter. They both threw curious glances toward the princess but scurried to the waiting truck, hunkered inside their coats as if freezing. The ranch hand opened doors for them and they climbed inside. Meanwhile, the helicopter pilot began emptying the external luggage bins, piling trunks and cases on the field.
Pierce turned around and caught Jamie’s eyes. Jamie shrugged and shook his head. Even the horses looked confused.
“Your brother requested we keep our group small,” the general announced. “The princess and her cousin, one bodyguard, the princess’s attendant, Mr. Vaughn and myself. Six, that is all. We left double that number behind at the hotel in Jackson Hole.”
Pierce ran a gloved hand over his jaw. What the hell was he supposed to do with royalty in March on a cattle ranch? This was insane and he found himself itching to ask his usually predictable brother what in the world he’d been thinking.
Maybe the ranch was losing money and had started taking paying guests… Maybe Adam’s push into organic beef wasn’t panning out the way everyone hoped it would…
Man, if that was true, did his dad know? Impossible to wrap his brain around the old man agreeing to turn the Open Sky into a damn dude ranch.
“Let me explain something,” Pierce began. “If you get caught in the weather system that’s coming, you might end up in Wyoming for days. Considering the fact Cody isn’t here as planned and I wasn’t expecting people of your stature, it would be best to reschedule your visit. I’ll see about a refund—”
“I don’t understand,” the princess said. “Refund of what?”
“If you paid something up front—”
“Paid!” the general barked. “We do not pay!”
Okay, so there was no money involved. That wasn’t it. “Sorry,” Pierce said. “I just assumed—”
“It seems your brother kept his word to say nothing of our identity,” the general added. “That kind of honor is admirable. I should liked to have met him.”
“Exactly,” Pierce said. “And that’s why it would be best all around if you people leave now and reschedule a visit for after Cody gets home. We’ll just get your stuff back in the chopper and—”
“But I want to stay,” the boy cried in panic. He looked longingly toward Jamie who with his bowed legs and ancient chaps did look the part of a real cowboy. “Look how big the brown horse is and it has a white star on its forehead just like the one in my book. Can we have a campfire with real grub?”
“It’s twenty-three degrees out here,” Pierce said.
The princess touched his arm and turned her back to the others. He turned with her. She took a few steps and he followed. “I understand your reservations about hosting us, Mr. Westin, I really do,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper but it sure traveled through his body like a hot tornado. “I can’t explain right now why it’s so important for us to stay for just a day, but will you trust me that it is? Please? And, well, it means so much to my cousin.”
Pierce took a deep breath as he gazed into her eyes. Not a movie star, not a paying guest, just a beautiful princess with a quiver in her voice as if denying her would crush her. He glanced back at the little boy who appeared damn close to crying.
Cripes.
“If it’s money—” she began.
“No, no,” he said. “It’s not money.” It was on the tip of his tongue to ask her what she was afraid of and if that’s why she needed to stay on the ranch but he didn’t. For now it would suffice that it was important to her—hell, be honest, what else did he have to do for the next twenty-four hours that was any more important than giving aid and, dare he hope, comfort to a gorgeous woman? “We have an indoor arena,” he said at last. “I guess we could build a campfire in there.”
“Oh, thank you,” Princess Analise said with an exhaled breath.
“Could we bring a cow inside?” the child asked hopefully. He’d obviously been eavesdropping.
“Why not?” Pierce said, lips twitching.
“Can we also visit the very small house we flew over?”
“The very small house?”
“Over there,” he said, pointing east.
“The ice-fishing shanty,” Jamie volunteered. He’d apparently moved closer when the child had the good sense to compliment Jamie’s favorite mare. “Adam painted it yellow last fall. You folks must have seen that.”
“Adam?”
“My other brother.”
“That’s right, I forgot. There are three of you, right?”
And how did she know that? “Yeah. Three.”
“The fishing shanty did look interesting from the air,” she said, adding, “though it’s very remote. I would love to see what it’s like inside. At home, ours are sometimes quite charming.”
“I doubt this one would qualify as charming,” Pierce said.
“I’ll show it to you, ma’am,” Jamie offered, a slight blush creeping up his wrinkled neck. “And as far as a campfire, we built a big old covered pavilion a couple of years ago for Cody’s wedding. It’s got gas heaters and everything.”
“That sounds perfect,” Princess Analise said.
Seeing the ranch hand had started piling their luggage in the back of the truck, Pierce strode over and hefted a couple of suitcases. The sooner they got going, the sooner he’d find out what was really going on. Being back in Wyoming was not his idea of a great time. Being with a very attractive woman who just happened to be a little scared and a little nervous and needed his shoulder to cry on—well, that was right up his alley.
“I am going to have an adventure!” the boy cried. “You, too, Cousin Analise.”
“The kid is just like you were, Pierce,” Jamie called. “Always ready for action. Hell’s bells, I’d wager you’re still like that.”
Pierce shook his head as he dumped the last of the luggage in the truck. By now the helicopter engines had once again engaged. The general tried herding the princess and the boy to the idling vehicle but they both hung back near Jamie as the chopper rose into the air and the horses danced around a little but not much. They were used to the ranch aircraft.
How had a princess from a small country half a world away become familiar with a photograph of Pierce’s long missing mother? Was it possible Princess Analise knew where Melissa Browning Westin was now? Is that why Cody had agreed to this visit?
If so, why had his older brother left almost on the eve of her arrival and without so much as a word hinting at who was coming and why?
Pierce pushed his hat back on his head. “The truck only seats six, and what with the driver, I guess someone will have to ride back with Jamie or me.” Looking over at the bald man dressed in black, he raised his voice and added, “I guess you’re it, buddy.”
But Toby had already run over to Jamie and put a hand on the mare’s glistening brown neck. “I want to ride this one. Is her name Star? May I, please?”
Jamie chuckled. “I can take the little fella,” he said. “Come on, son, up you go.”
“And I will ride with you,” Princess Analise announced, looking Pierce straight in the eye. He smiled at her. Fine by him but her announcement seemed to have galvanized the bodyguard who approached like a belligerent bull.
The general sputtered. “But, Princess. It is hardly necessary or appropriate for you to ride with this man. Nor is it safe—”
“Nevertheless, I will ride with him,” she said, and there was a change in the timbre of her voice that stopped the bodyguard dead in his tracks and shut down the general.
The corner of Pierce’s upper lip lifted. Nice to see the princess square her shoulders and jut her chin. He climbed back in the saddle and, freeing a stirrup for her use, extended a hand and pulled her up behind him, smiling to himself as her hands landed on his waist.
“You will be cautious,” the general said, gaze darting between Pierce and the princess.
“Sure,” Pierce said.
Before he could turn the horse, the general caught the bridle. “Once we have suitable accommodations, you will explain what precautions you’ve taken to protect the princess.”
There it was—the dead fish in the punch bowl, the issue everyone had been skirting around since they landed. The pushy bodyguard, the flustered general, a princess looking over her shoulder…
“You know, maybe it’s about time someone tells me exactly what she needs protection from,” Pierce said.
The general raised gray eyebrows. “From whoever is intent on killing her, of course.”
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