Wyoming Cowboy Ranger. Nicole Helm

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СКАЧАТЬ away and got to her feet, keeping her eyes on him and her body tense and ready to react.

      “Thank you for the kindness,” he said, sounding exhausted. But it could be acting. “I should be out of your way.” He struggled to his feet, swayed again, but righted himself.

      He seemed so genuinely thankful and feeble. The man was a mess, and maybe he was Ty’s threatening stranger, but he wasn’t doing anything to put her in danger at the moment.

      And why would he? He was probably just after Ty. How could she blame anyone on that front?

      “Can I get you anything else? Maybe a sandwich? A bag of chips?” His clear weakness ate at her. A man shouldn’t go hungry. Though, she supposed, he could sell that nice camera if he was really that bad off.

      “No. No, I’ll be fine.” He kept his head tilted away, but the corner of his smile was soft and kind as he lifted the water bottle in salute. “I appreciate it, ma’am. Your kindness won’t be forgotten.” And with that, he walked out of the store. No trouble. No danger.

      Leaving Jen unsure about what to do.

      * * *

      TY DIDN’T OFTEN find himself uncomfortable. He’d learned early to roll with whatever punches life threw at him. There’d been quite a few.

      But nothing could have prepared him for a baby shower. A Carson-Delaney baby shower. Laurel and Vanessa were laughing over their baby bumps, pastel pink and blue decorations everywhere, and Carsons and Delaneys mingled like there’d never been a feud.

      Jen was in a corner talking to Addie and Noah, Addie’s toddler trying to crawl up Noah and laughing hysterically when he fell. Noah watched with the patience of a happy man.

      Ty had never particularly understood his brother, though he loved him with a fierceness that meant he’d lay down his life for the man. What he did know about Noah was that having Addie and Seth in his life and on his ranch made him happy, and that was all Ty really cared about.

      “Delaney Delirium getting to you?”

      Ty gave Grady a cool look. “Just trying to understand all this baby business,” he said, nodding toward Noah and the way he held Seth easily on his hip.

      Grady patted him on the back. Hard. “Sure, buddy.”

      “You really want to be a dad after the way we grew up?” Ty asked, unable to stop himself. He didn’t get it. The way Noah had taken to Addie’s nephew that she was guardian and mother to, as if it were easy to step into the role of guardian and father. The way Vanessa and Grady seemed calm and even happy about their impending parenthood.

      The Carson generation before theirs had not been a particular parental one. More fists and threats than nurturing happiness.

      “Figure I got a pretty good example of what not to do,” Grady said with a shrug. “And a woman to knock some sense into me when I make mistakes. Besides, we turned out okay in spite of it all.”

      “And Delaney senior ain’t got a problem with his grandchild being raised by a cop and saloon owner?”

      “Laurel’s father doesn’t get a say.”

      Ty knew it was different for Grady. Ty had been eighteen when Mr. Delaney had flexed his parental and town muscles to make sure Ty got the hell away from his daughter. Grady wasn’t a dumb teenager, and neither was Laurel. They could refuse a parent’s interference.

       Couldn’t you have?

      He shook his head. Ancient history. No amount of Carson and Delaney comingling was reason to go back there.

      Laurel called Grady over and he left Ty in the middle of all this goodwill and pastel baby nonsense. He was somewhere in no-man’s land. He almost wished a sniper would take him out.

      There were toasts and cake and presents of tiny clothes and board books. No matter that their families had been enemies for over a century, no matter that people in town still whispered about curses and the inevitable terrible ends they would all meet, Carsons and Delaneys sat together celebrating new lives.

      Some unknown ache spread through him. He couldn’t name it, and he couldn’t seem to force it away. It sat in his gut, throbbing out to all his limbs.

      Faking his best smile, he went to Vanessa and Grady and made his half-hearted excuses to leave early. No one stopped him, but his family sure watched him slip out the front door. He could feel their eyes, their questions. And worst of all, their pity.

      As if being alone was the worst fate a person could face. He’d seen a lot worse. This was fine. And good. Right for him. Alone suited—

      “Ty.”

      There was something his gut did when she said his name. No matter the years, he couldn’t seem to control that intrinsic physical reaction to his name forming on her lips. A softening. A longing.

      He took a minute to brace himself before he turned around. Jen stood on the porch of Grady and Laurel’s cabin. She looked like cotton candy in some lacy, frothy pink thing.

      And all too viscerally he could remember what she looked like completely unclothed. No matter that he assured himself time changed things—bodies, minds, hearts. It was hard to remember as she approached him with a face that wasn’t shooting daggers at him for the first time since he’d arrived home.

      “Listen.” She looked back at the open door, then took a few more steps toward him on the walk. “I wanted to let you know I had a stranger come in the store last night.”

      “What?” he demanded, fury easily taking over the ache inside him. Last night? “Why didn’t you call me? I told you—”

      She lifted her chin, her eyes cold as ice. “You told me to let you know. Here I am, letting you know. I don’t think he’s whatever you’re looking for. He was perfectly nice. He just asked to take pictures of the store, and then he—”

      “What time did he come in?”

      “Well, seven but—”

      “He was going to take pictures when it was pitch-black?”

      She frowned at that, a line forming between her brows that once upon a time he’d loved tracing with his thumb. Where had that memory come from?

      “He was hungry. He fainted. He was out of it. Confused maybe. And totally polite and harmless.”

      “Damn it, Jen. I told you to call me. I could have—”

      “He didn’t do anything. I know you’re paranoid, but—”

      “I am not paranoid. You think a man who gets a letter with no postage delivered to where he lives and works is paranoid?”

      She tilted her head, studying him, and he realized with a start he’d said too much.

      He never said too much.

      “What was in the letter?” she asked, her voice calm and her eyes on him.

      It СКАЧАТЬ