Jake (12 page)

“Do you think he’s been conditioned to expect the worst from adults?”

Seeing her concern, Jake touched a finger to the tip of her nose. “I think you’re reading entirely too much into his reaction. The kid’s scared. Give him a reason to trust you.”

“Thank you, Dr. Conway.” Despite the sarcasm, she didn’t move or pull back, and it occurred to Jake that it would be an easy matter to lower his face to hers and kiss her again.

He wanted to. Intended to. And yet, he didn’t. Instead, very deliberately he lowered his hand to his side and took a step back.

Meg took the towel from his hand and draped it over the edge of the sink. “Okay. Time to shower. I won’t be long.”

Alone in the kitchen, Jake stared into space. All he’d done was touch a finger to Meg’s nose, but the reaction had been the same as before. Heat had spread all the way up his arm, along with this incredible urge to ravish her.

If he’d hoped that kissing her would quench the fire, he’d been dead wrong. All that the kiss had done was whet his appetite for more. He could still taste her, all sweet and tart at the same time, and sexy as sin. And feel the way she’d melted into him, with that little purr of pleasure. That had been his undoing. Maybe if she’d resisted, even a bit, he could have at least tried to do the noble thing. But the way she’d returned his kiss, with such reckless, what-the-hell abandon, he couldn’t have held back if he’d wanted to.

Not that he was complaining. The trouble was, now that he knew just how willing she was, he couldn’t wait to get her alone and kiss her again. Not a hurried, quick-on-the-trigger kiss, but the slow, leisurely kind that could open up all sorts of possibilities.

After that, he’d just see where it led them.

He pulled out his cell phone and called the chief before alerting Ela and Phoebe that they would be welcoming three guests for breakfast. Then he turned to the window as morning light spilled across the Tetons. It was a sight that never failed to stir his senses.

A smile touched the corners of his mouth. Not that his senses needed stirring at the moment. They’d already been heightened by what he’d shared with the intriguing Meg Stanford.

The taste of her was still on his lips. And the thought of her all warm and willing had his fingertips tingling and his blood surging.

Needing to be busy, he picked up his rifle and made a slow turn around the property, circling the barns and the corrals until he spied Meg and Cory on the porch. By the time he’d walked to his truck they were both settled inside.

He stashed his rifle before turning the key in the ignition. Taking note of the drops of water in Cory’s shaggy hair, as well as the clean shirt and jeans, he shot the boy a wide grin. “You clean up good.”

The boy flushed.

He looked beyond Cory to wink at Meg. “Same goes.”

“Gee. Thanks.”

“No. Thank you. You smell good.”

Like Cory, she flushed. “Lavender body wash.”

Jake nudged the boy. “Your sister smells like a city girl, don’t you think?”

“Yeah.” Cory ducked his head, giving Jake the perfect opportunity to stare at Meg over the boy’s head.

She was wearing another pair of new denims and a sheer blouse that had a row of buttons clear down the front. It would have looked all prim and proper except that it was tied at the midriff, exposing a tiny bit of pale, smooth flesh.

Jake had to swallow hard and struggle to keep his eyes on the road.

Maybe it was a good thing that Cory was sitting between them. If they’d been alone, there was no telling just what he might have done.

One thing was certain. Come hell or high water, he was going to taste Meg Stanford’s lips again. And next time, there would be a whole lot more than a stingy kiss.

Right now, with the windows down and the cool morning breeze filling the cab of his truck, he was so hot just thinking about her he could set off fireworks without even lighting a fuse.

There hadn’t been a female to cause this sort of spontaneous combustion since Cammi Stillwater, and that didn’t count since they’d only been thirteen, and he’d cut his lip on her braces, and his brothers had teased him mercilessly for weeks afterward.

Cammi was just a distant memory, but the woman causing all the high drama this morning was right here in the flesh. He shot Meg a sideways glance. And so far, the flesh he’d seen was enough to sweep the memory of every other female from his mind forever.

Chapter Nine

Well, boyo.” Big Jim looked up from his coffee as Jake led Meg and Cory into the kitchen. “You’re up and out early this morning, aren’t you?”

The entire family had already gathered for breakfast after morning chores and were busy helping themselves to juice and coffee while Phoebe and Ela filled platters with eggs, sausage, and steaming stacks of flapjacks.

Jake kissed old Ela’s cheek before responding. “Actually, I spent the night at the Stanford ranch.”

That had everyone looking up in sudden silence.

It was Meg who added, “Cory called Jake when he heard someone trying to break in.”

“Again?” Cole Conway set aside his coffee to look from Meg to his son. “I hope you caught the son of a…gun,” he added lamely with a glance toward Cory.

“He got away in the woods.”

Big Jim frowned. “Did you get a good look at him?”

“Too dark.” Jake handed glasses of orange juice to Cory and Meg before snagging one for himself. “But he had to be young and healthy to run that fast.”

“Did he get anything?” Quinn asked.

“He didn’t have time. It looks like he tried to break into the barn first. There were pry marks around the door.”

Meg turned to Big Jim. “Thanks to your advice, I’d padlocked my car inside.”

“Good girl,” the old man muttered.

“By the time I got there, he was on the porch and trying to force the back door. I killed my headlights, but he heard me coming and stayed one step ahead of me. A few more minutes, though, he’d have been inside the house and free to do whatever he came there to do.”

Big Jim studied Cory, who had drained his juice in one long swallow. “And you had the presence of mind to call Jake. That was quick thinking, boyo.”

Cory flushed and bowed his head. “Jake told me to have his number on speed dial in case I needed him. When I saw someone moving outside that was the first thing I thought of.”

Meg picked up the thread of the story. “I was sound asleep, and I never heard a thing until Cory came rushing into my room and told me there was an intruder, that Jake was on his way and we had to barricade the door to my room. In truth, without Cory there, I’d have probably done something foolish. My first impulse was to rush down the stairs and confront him.”

“Your first impulse could have gotten you killed,” Josh said with a glance toward his wife, Sierra. “Especially if the intruder was armed.”

“Exactly.” Big Jim pounded a fist on the countertop for emphasis. “You always have to figure the other guy has the advantage, since he has the element of surprise on his side. Even without a weapon, he’d hear you coming and be prepared.”

“Thank heaven I didn’t have to deal with any of that.” Meg let out a long sigh. “Cory and I just stayed locked in my room until Jake called out to us.” She shook her head. “That was the longest wait of my life.”

Cole looked at his youngest son. “I thought I heard you come in around midnight.”

Jake gave a short laugh. “I had a laundry list of patients last night, ending with Flora’s cat.”

Cole eyed him. “Did you get any sleep at all?”

Jake shrugged. “Don’t worry, Pa. I’ll catch up tonight.” He glanced out the window in time to see the police chief’s car pulling up. “Here’s Everett now. I asked him to join us here.”

Jake walked through the mudroom and held the door open for the chief. “Just in time. We’re about to eat.”

Everett Fletcher was grinning as he greeted the others. “I’m always on time when I’m invited to share a meal with the Conways.”

While he was greeting the others as they took their places around the table, Jake tugged on a lock of Cory’s hair. “Did you see those flapjacks?”

The boy nodded.

“See that big old gravy boat?” Jake pointed to the serving bowl in the middle of the lazy Susan. “That’s Ela’s warm maple syrup. You don’t want to miss that.”

When the platter of pancakes was passed to Cory, the boy helped himself to two before dousing them with syrup.

After that, while the conversation swirled around him, the boy busied himself devouring every crumb. A short time later Ela paused beside him and held out the platter again. After a moment’s hesitation, he helped himself to one more, which he washed down with a tall glass of ice-cold milk.

Jake glanced over and winked, and Cory shot him a grin before lowering his head. With a full stomach, he was content to allow the grown-ups around the table to talk among themselves.

“Can you think of anything at all that he could be after?” Long after they had finished with breakfast, the family lingered at the table, while Chief Fletcher took notes.

Meg shook her head. “I’m just not familiar enough with the house. It’s been too many years. Nothing is the way it was all those years ago when I left.”

“We know this is no random act of vandalism.” Everett glanced around the table, directing his comments as much to the others as to Meg. “The rental car. The pry marks on the barn and back door of the house. And the earlier attempt to take Porter’s files from his office.”

Jake stretched out his long legs and set aside his coffee. “That’s what has me puzzled. If an intruder was after something in Porter’s files, why vandalize Meg’s car?”

The chief shrugged. “I suppose, if he’s mad at Porter, and he can’t take it out on him now that he’s dead, he just decided to take it out on his next of kin.”

“Maybe.” Jake furrowed his brow. “Another thing. If he wanted to steal Porter’s files, why didn’t he?”

“It sure looked like he tried,” Everett said. “There were papers spilled all over that office.”

“Yeah. But the glass doors were still locked from the inside. If he had an armload of files, it seems to me he’d have used the nearest, easiest exit.”

“Maybe he wanted to go out the same way he came in,” Everett said logically.

“Carrying an armload of loose papers? Do you think he’d have carried files all the way down the hall and out the kitchen door? And if he did, why wasn’t there any trace of paper in the hallway? Not even one. Especially since there were papers strewn all over the office.”

The chief’s puzzled frown turned into a smile. “Damned if you wouldn’t make a great investigator, Jake. Why didn’t I think of that? So—” he sat back in his chair “—are you taking this where I think you’re taking it?”

“It’s just a thought. And I could be dead wrong.” Jake glanced at Meg before saying, “What if the intruder isn’t after anything tangible? What if our guy is sneaking around at night hoping to scare the person he considers an outsider so she’ll leave as quickly as possible?”

“For what reason?” she asked.

Jake shrugged. “That’s the part I haven’t figured out yet. But the vandalism on your car just doesn’t make any sense, unless someone wanted to send a message to the one who’s driving it. The same with last night’s attempted break-in. He wanted to get into the barn. I doubt there’s anything of value in there right now, except your rental car. The herds are up in the high country. The tools and vehicles are stored in the other, bigger barn, which wasn’t touched. He wanted to get at that rental car. A rental car that’s insured, so it doesn’t really hurt anyone but the insurance company. Again, all of this seems to point to the fact that he wants to scare the driver.”

Meg gave a wry smile. “He succeeded.”

That relieved some of the tension, and had everyone around the table chuckling.

She leaned forward, her hands folded on the tabletop. “So, if he frightens me, and manages to scare me into leaving town, what does he gain? My father is still dead. His ranch and holdings will no doubt still belong to me. To me and to Cory,” she added, glancing at the boy beside her.

He stared hard at the table, clearly uncomfortable with the nature of the conversation swirling around him.

As if sensing his discomfort, old Ela paused beside his chair and lay a gnarled hand on his shoulder.

His head jerked up. Seeing her, he lowered his gaze, but not before he managed to give her a weak smile.

The chief began musing aloud. “All right. Let’s say our intruder wants Miss Stanford gone. And he gets what he wants. Then what? What does he hope to gain by having her out of the picture?”

Around the table, everyone fell silent.

Cheyenne glanced at Quinn. “A possible chance to buy the ranch?”

Meg shook her head. “I’m already in contact with several auction houses. He would still have to bid along with every other potential buyer.”

“Could there have been some kind of verbal agreement between this intruder and Porter that wasn’t honored? A debt of some sort?” Josh asked.

The chief shook his head. “Without proper documentation, he wouldn’t have a leg to stand on now.”

There was a collective sigh among those seated at the table as they began to run out of suggestions.

Jake looked around at his family. “What if we give him what he’s hoping for?” At their puzzled expressions he added, “What if the chief should happen to mention to Flora that Meg and Cory have moved in here for a while because they don’t feel safe at their place?”

“Why not take out an ad on the front page of the
Paintbrush Gazette
?” Quinn said with a laugh.

“That’s too obvious. But telling Flora is the same as taking out an ad. We know our intruder will hear it loud and clear.”

“And then what?” Sierra, who had been watching and listening with rapt attention, looped her arm through Josh’s, as caught up in the intrigue as the others.

“Then the Conway family does what it does best.” Big Jim smiled at his grandson. “It’s a grand idea, boyo. If this guy’s after Meg, he’ll have to bring his dirty tricks here. And we’ll be ready for him.”

“Exactly.” Jake nodded.