Chapter Thirty
Colton had been in an amazing mood all day. Like he won first prize at a bull riding competition. He’d never ridden a bull before, but according to his buddies who had—one a national bull riding champion—the high he was feeling came pretty damn close.
No, it’s better.
The woman he loved had agreed to move in with him. True, she hadn’t said those three little words back to him yet, but he was confident she would. She just needed to get there. Get over her fear. She loved him…
He hoped.
After dropping Maggie off at her place, he came back to the ranch to find Thunder, their prize-winning stud, had escaped his pen and run up into the hills. Trekking his ass all over the mountainside looking for a wayward horse was not the way he wanted to spend his day. He’d rather spend it with Maggie, but since he was a responsible adult—most of the time—and had a business to run, he put thoughts of the woman he loved to the back of his mind and concentrated on finding the wayward horse.
Molly and Thunder had a thing going on lately. The mare’s cold had gotten better, so he saddled up the cream colored Palomino and headed out.
The horse’s coloring reminded him of the panties he peeled off Maggie last night. He smiled as he thought of those undergarments soon joining his in his dressers. He still couldn’t believe she said yes. This morning, he’d wanted to toss everything of hers into his truck and drive back to the ranch. Get her moved in before she had a chance to change her mind. But he held off, knowing this evening was soon enough. Patience. He couldn’t push her or she might run scared. It was why he didn’t force the whole “I love you” issue. Though, he desperately wanted to hear those words.
The first fissures of doubt began to creep in. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe she didn’t feel as deeply for him as he felt for her.
Wouldn’t that be ironic?
He finally got serious about a woman, and she wanted to keep it casual.
Life could be a cruel bitch sometimes.
Molly paused, raising her head; her ears flicked back and forth. Most people didn’t know horses had an excellent sense of smell. Colton did.
“What do you smell girl? Is it Thunder?”
That or a mountain lion.
He moved his right hand from the saddle horn to his rifle, tucked away in its hanging scabbard. He wasn’t a big hunter, but a loud shot in the air would scare away any wild beast. Unfortunately, it would also scare his horse. Bringing the rifle to his lap he sat and waited.
Movement stirred in the tree branches a dozen feet away. Colton tightened his grip on the gun, but didn’t raise it yet. The branches cracked as something moved through them. Something big, something dark, something that was not a mountain lion.
“Thunder, you great big pain in the ass!” He swore at the horse as the large animal came into view.
Thunder pranced up to Molly, as if he hadn’t wasted Colton’s entire morning, and touched his nose to the other horse’s. They did their sniffing routine, nuzzling necks before moving to smell each other’s flanks.
“All right, all right. You guys can sniff butts later. Whatever turns you on, I’m not gonna judge. But right now, we have to get back to the ranch.”
The horses were so close together it was easy for him to slip the extra halter onto Thunder. He kept a firm grip on the lead rope and gave Molly a little kick, turning her back toward the ranch. Thunder followed.
It was well past noon when Colton got back with the horses. He wasn’t particularly hungry, so he opted to skip lunch. After he got Thunder and Molly settled back in their pens, he went in search of his brother, but Dade was nowhere to be found. Eventually, he did find Juan. The ranch foreman told him that his brother was inside on the phone in his office. Talking with some lawyer.
A rider had fallen from a mount a few weeks back. It was the rider’s fault. Colton had told the guy not to kick his horse, but the balding, self-important jerk had fancied himself a Wild West cowboy. The guy kicked, the horse bucked, wannabe cowboy fell flat on his ass. The only thing he hurt was his pride, but he’d been ranting and raving about contacting his lawyer and suing them into the ground.
The guy had no case. Safety was top priority at the ranch, but accidents happened. They had every rider sign a waiver before they could even come within ten feet of a horse. Still, he was glad his brother—with his even temper—handled situations like this. He’d probably threaten to throw the lawyer and his asshat client in the pen with Thunder and let the stallion use them as a tap dancing mat.
Dade emerged from his office just as the sun was going down. It must have been some call, because his cool-headed sibling looked livid. Being the little brother, he had to take the opportunity to tease.
“Have a nice chat with the attorney?”
“Don’t start with me, Colt.” His brother stalked toward him. “I’ve been on the phone all afternoon with that guy explaining to him about the waiver his client signed. He’s trying to bring up all these chump charges against us, but he has no case. His lawyer knows it, but the guy is a big cash cow so the law firm is trying to find anything to bring us down.”
Dade removed his Stetson, running a hand through his short, dark hair.
Colton held up his hand in surrender, knowing when to stop. “Hey, I gotta talk to you about something.”
His brother raised a brow. “This have anything to do with the goofy grins you and Maggie were wearing this morning before you drove her home?”
Said grin tugged at his lips. “Maybe.”
“Congratulations.”
“You don’t even know what you’re congratulating me on.”
His brother slapped his hat back on his head. “No, but judging by the stupid expression on your face, I’d wager it’s good news.”
He resisted the urge to flip his brother the bird. “My expression is not stupid, and yes, it is good news. Maggie agreed to move in.”
Only now did it occur to him that he probably should’ve discussed it with his brother first, considering Dade lived there, too.
“That’s great, Colt.” His brother’s strong hand slapped him on the back. “So, you told her you love her?”
“Yup.”
“And she loves you, too?”
He rubbed the back of his neck, wincing. “Uh, well, she didn’t exactly say it, but she did agree to move in.”
Dark brows furrowed before blue eyes went soft. “Don’t worry. She does. Love you, I mean. I think she’s loved you since we were kids. Sometimes…women have their reasons for holding things back.” Dade slapped him on the back once again. “She’ll say it, little brother, don’t worr—”
The sound of a phone interrupted his brother.
“I think your pants are ringing.”
Startled, Colton pulled his cell out of the front pocket of his jeans. No one called his cell except for his brother or Maggie, and since his brother was standing right here…
Elation turned to disappointment followed by confusion as he realized the call wasn’t from Maggie. It was an area code he didn’t recognize. Solicitor? He didn’t think they had access to cell phone numbers. If it was someone trying to sell him something, they were in for a rude awaking. He was in no mood to be polite to someone who wanted him to buy crap he didn’t need.
“Yeah?” Rude right off the bat, that ought to deter them.
There was a beat of silence, then. “Is this Colton, Colton Denning?”
It was a soft feminine voice. She didn’t sound like a solicitor. In fact, she sounded scared.
“Who wants to know?”
“My name is Elizabeth Hayworth. I’m a friend of Maggie’s.”
“Lizzy?”
“Yes.” This time her voice held a note of relief. “She gave me your number in case of emergencies—”
“What’s wrong?” He cut her off, concern superseding suspicion in a heartbeat. “Is Maggie okay?”
“That’s the thing,” Lizzy said, voice shaky. “I was talking to her on the phone. She was in her shop, and then someone came to the door, I think. I kept screaming her name, trying to get her to tell me what was going on, but she just hung up on me.”
He could hear tears in the woman’s voice.
“Maggie would never hang up on me. Never.” She sniffed loudly. “And there’s more. I’m pretty sure I heard someone else there with her. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but it didn’t sound friendly.”
Shit, shit, shit!
“I’m really worried. I would have called the cops, but I don’t have the local number. Please, can you go check on her?”
“Dade, call the sheriff. Send him over to Maggie’s shop. Right now!”
Bless his brother. He didn’t ask what was going on or who was on the phone, just whipped out his cell and dialed Sheriff Ryder.
“Lizzy, I’m heading to Maggie’s right now. My brother called the sheriff.”
He ran, full sprint, to his truck. The ranch hands glanced at him, jaws wide open, but he didn’t care. He had to get to Maggie. That was his only concern.
Had Natalie been let out of jail? No, Ryder wouldn’t do that. Unless she made bail…or she wasn’t the attacker. He’d thought something was off when his ex clammed up in the interrogation room.
“Hurry, Colton. Please, she means the world to me.”
“Me, too,” he said, ending the call.
He put pedal to the metal as he hauled ass out of the driveway. This would be the fastest he ever made it into town. He wasn’t slowing down for anything, because Maggie didn’t just mean the world to him.
She was his world.