The Ranger's Texas Proposal. Jessica Keller

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СКАЧАТЬ the ranch had escalated last night. A female volunteer by the name of Josie Markham had witnessed someone running out of the barn, calves following in the person’s wake. No one knew how the perpetrator broke into the barn. But they had a firsthand account from a witness, so at least there was a starting point.

      More than Heath had to go on about his father.

      Was the mischief at the boys ranch a coincidence? Doubtful. At the moment, Heath would guess everything amounted to pranks or the frustrated acting out of a disgruntled resident. It was a home for troubled boys after all. But Heath wasn’t a guessing sort of man. He believed in hard facts and logic. Everything had an answer if a person was willing to dig far enough to find it.

      He’d built his life on information and facts, and currently Josie Markham was in possession of both those things.

      * * *

      Josie Markham took a deep breath as she stopped for a moment to lean against her late-model truck. Morning sunlight traced through the unkempt field behind her home. Next year she’d plant something there. This little patch of land would be a working ranch with crops, too. She clenched her fists. No matter what, she was determined to see her dream through.

      “I can do this.” She rubbed her hands over her arms, trying to warm up.

      Even in Texas, early November mornings carried a chill. A shiver raced down her spine, but it could have more to do with exhaustion than the weather. Josie sighed.

      There wouldn’t be time to relax today.

      The animals needed to be cared for, she had to make something to eat, and by the time those things were done, she’d have to head to the boys ranch across town for her volunteer shift. Bea—the director at the boys ranch—had already urged Josie to begin cutting down her hours serving there, but she didn’t want to. As a new member of The Lone Star Cowboy League, the organization that ran the boys ranch, Josie felt a responsibility to be there whenever she could. But it was more than that; Josie loved working at the boys ranch. She thrived on the animal-husbandry classes she taught and the hours she spent in her role as mother’s helper inside the large home on the property.

      Chores. She needed to finish her chores before she could think about anything else.

      Josie started to move, but then decided to allow herself the small luxury of one more minute watching the sunrise before heading into the barn. Fingertips of sunlight outlined the stable and a fenced-in pasture area. Golden and pink light sketched into the fleeing night sky, making the world glow with possibility.

      If Josie lived to be a hundred, she’d never get over the beauty that was the rise and fall of the sun each day. A reminder that everything had a beginning and an end—a marked-out time—that she had no control over. But God did. He knew and nothing happened outside of His care. Didn’t the Bible say there was a time for everything? A time to cry, to laugh, to rejoice. God was in control.

      Some days she almost believed that.

      Josie traced her fingers over the large dent and scratches along the side of her truck; most of the bronze paint had started to peel off in that area. It didn’t look pretty, but she wasn’t going to waste money fixing it. Not that she would have had the money even if it desperately did need to be fixed.

      When they’d purchased the truck as newlyweds, Dale had often kidded her that the bronze clashed with her auburn hair. Foolish man. He never did understand what the word clash meant in a fashion sense. She shook her head, suppressing the smile that pulled on her lips whenever she thought about their early days together. The good times.

      Don’t think about Dale. Don’t cry.

      Her throat clamped and she blinked back the burn in her eyes. Texas dust. That was all it was. The dust.

      After paying off the gambling debts and back taxes she’d discovered after Dale’s funeral, she’d had to sell their home and most of their married belongings. All but the truck—she got to keep it because it was paid off. The vehicle was all she had left of her and Dale’s life together.

      Her hands automatically dropped to her expanding midsection.

      The little person growing and moving inside of her begged to differ about the truck being the only piece of their marriage left. Tears found their way to her chin. The irony of her situation—almost six months pregnant and a husband buried just less than that—tore at her heart. The week before he was gunned down on the job, Dale had started packing to leave her. He’d wanted a son—a child—and in ten years of marriage, Josie hadn’t gotten pregnant.

      She hadn’t been enough to keep Dale happy.

      Now none of that mattered. He was gone and they were having a child. A child she’d raise on nothing. With no husband, no man to help with chores or bring in a paycheck or hold her when she wanted to fall apart and cry.

      For the rest of her life...alone.

      “We’re going to be okay, lima bean.” Her voice broke on the nickname. “Hear that?” She rubbed her belly. “Don’t mind your mama’s tears here and there. The doctor tells me that’s all part of being pregnant. Emotions. Lots of ’em. So don’t let them worry you at all. They don’t mean anything. You and me are going to be just fine.”

      If she kept repeating that, maybe it’d be true.

      * * *

      Heath glanced at the screen on his GPS. Almost there.

      Over the phone, Flint had given him the name Josie Markham along with her address and sent Heath off to “go along, now, and do your investigating.” Knowing Flint, Heath was fairly certain the man hadn’t given Ms. Markham a heads-up that a Ranger was on his way over. No matter. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d shown up at someone’s home unannounced, and it sure wouldn’t be the last. It went with the job.

      Wind whipped through his windows, carrying the scent of dirt and cattle and something musty—stale water. Decay. A low river. They’d had a dry summer and not much more rain so far that fall, either. Later in the day, the high would sit in the upper sixties. Cold by Texan standards, but Heath liked the fresh air. He’d always choose fresh air over the vented stuff.

      Heath pulled onto a small dirt road, dust swirling behind his truck. At the end of the road, the ranch that greeted him left something to be desired. Could it even be called a ranch? A small cabin perched on the edge of a meandering river. Cattails encircled the opposite side of the water from the cabin and there was a tiny dock, good for launching a rowboat or canoe. It would also make an ideal fishing spot. Too bad Heath wasn’t much of a fisherman.

      There was a large SUV-type truck parked beside the cabin. It sported a dent almost big enough for a person to hide in along the passenger side. No way that door opened anymore. Recent crash? The lack of rust said so. Was someone still driving around in that thing? It couldn’t be safe.

      Behind the cabin was a barn that had seen better days. Heath parked his truck, stepped out and ducked past the cabin to get a better view of the rest of the land. Scratch his original thought—the barn had seen much better days. The thing looked liable to fall down in any stiff wind, probably smashing whatever poor animals called that place home in the process.

      Right when Heath was about to turn toward the cabin, he spotted a petite woman coming out of the barn, struggling as she huffed and puffed behind a creaking wheelbarrow.

      His СКАЧАТЬ