Leaving Liberty, a Western Romance (Book 5) (Texas Hearts) (6 page)

“Animals break out from inside. This break was made from the outside, Libby. Your father and Cole had to know that. There were three sections that were broken into. Someone was doing this on purpose.”

She shifted uncomfortably. “We live close to the Mexican border. Someone might have wandered over.”

“Might have? Do you know who this is?”

It took her a few seconds to weigh how much to tell Jackson. “My father spotted some teenagers on the property during a ride. They might have been a little older.”

“When?”

“A few days before he died.”

“Is that why he was carrying two rifles with him?”

“He wasn’t. Cole was using the other one.” She swallowed hard, fearing she’d just gone too far.

The look of surprise on his face made her turn cold. “Why didn’t you tell me Cole was with him?”

“Because he wasn’t with him. He found him.”

Jackson shook his head. “You’re not making any sense.”

“Because it doesn’t make any sense.”

Her outburst boomed inside the confines of the barn, spooking the big gray quarter horse they called Skittish. It hadn’t always been his name. But as he grew and it became clear he was easily startled, he grew into it. “Cole was riding Skittish,” she said calmly, stroking the horse’s nose and face. Skittish quickly recovered from Libby’s outburst. “Skittish threw Cole off the saddle and took off on a run when he heard something in the mesquite bushes. Cole went to check it out, but didn’t find anything. Then went to look for Skittish. That’s when he found my father.”

“Was he dead when he got there?”

She shook her head. “Cole saw it from the distance. Skittish was still spooked when he ran into my father. He reared up again. Cole didn’t see the rifle fall from the saddle, but he heard the shot. When he got there, my father was dead.”

Tears spilled over her eyelids and fell down her warm cheeks.

“Why didn’t you tell me any of this?”

“Cole feels responsible.”

“Why? As you say, it was an accident. That being the case, why did he leave town? And why did you show up at the police station with bail money?”

“Oh, come on, Jackson. What was he supposed to think? What was I supposed to think for that matter when you come down here asking all kinds of questions? Do you really blame him for leaving?”

“Yes. He left you with this ranch to deal with on your own. Why kind of man does that?”

“The way you came at him, interrogating him like he purposely killed a man he’d spent years working with, a man who treated him like the father he never had, well, you just about killed him, too. He loved my father.”

“Does he love you, too?”

She blinked hard, thrown by the question. “What?”

“It’s a simple question, Libby. Do you really need me to spell it out?”

“You’re out of line.”

“That’s what I thought, too. Until Cole disappeared.”

Libby stalked to the faucet on the other end of the barn, yanked a clean bucket from the stack by the door and started filling it with water. When she turned off the water, she straightened up and turned to him, pushing an errant stand of hair away from her face with back of her hand.

“Tell me the real reason you went after him the way you did.”

“I told you. The accident details didn’t add up.” He gave her a hard look, but kept his eyes fixed on hers. “Tell me the truth. You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”

# # #

He’d done it again. Libby didn’t owe Jackson an explanation of her relationship with Cole Rivers outside of the investigation he was charged to do. And yet, that burning desire to know her answer coiled in his stomach as he waited for her to respond.

She laughed so loud Skittish bobbed his head.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” she said. “He’s practically my brother.”

“That’s not exactly an answer, is it? Besides, he wasn’t too happy having me around you either.”

“Do you blame him?”

Libby walked over to Spirit and began to undo the straps of her saddle. When the straps were free, she slid the saddle off Spirit’s back. It wasn’t the weight in her arms that Jackson noticed most. It was the way Libby winced when she lifted her arms.

“Give that to me,” he said, taking the saddle from her hands. He carried the saddle to the tack room and laid it on the makeshift sawhorse where she’d retrieved it earlier. She followed with the blanket.

“It’s been over a month since my father died. I’ve got to move on. I can’t keep having this hashed out. My father died from a stupid accident. I wish to God it hadn’t happened, but it did.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Does the answer really matter? It doesn’t change your investigation. It doesn’t change the fact that there is more work here than I can handle. I just want to move on.”

The tears in her eyes broke his heart. “It matters to me.”

“Why?”

“Because I like you. And if you weren’t so damned stubborn, you’d admit that you like me, too.”

She heaved a heavy sigh. “I won’t start what I can’t finish. I don’t have time to like anyone. And by the way, don’t you have family and a life somewhere else? You’ve been stuck in Liberty for weeks. When is this investigation going to end?”

“I’m not comfortable with the fact that someone has been breaking through your fences.”

“That’s my problem. Not yours.”

“I’m making it mine until you can get Deputy Bancroft involved. The local law should be aware of this. And you shouldn’t be here alone. But…”

“But what?”

“Unless there are any new developments, the investigation into your father’s accident is closed.”

“Really?”

“Based on what you just told me, the explanation of how Buck was shot with a rifle that was fifteen feet away from him is plausible. I don’t know why Cole didn’t mention any of this to me when I questioned him.”

“Because he feels responsible.”

“If I can get Cole to submit a statement to what happened, that should be enough to close the case.”

“That means you’ll be leaving town?”

“Cole can send his statement to me in the Austin office so…yeah, there’s no need for me to stay. Make sure you let him know.”

“I can’t.”

“What do you mean?”

She was quiet a moment. “He left because of me.”

“Why?”

Libby hesitated a moment. “He told me a few weeks ago he didn’t want to stand in the way of my happiness. He thought by being here… But it doesn’t matter now. You’re leaving. Will you be going back to Steerage Rock?”

“No. If I do that, my brother Cody will think I’m back to take over the ranch now that Dad has retired and is spending so much time in Houston. No, I'll go to visit and for special occasions. Except for that period of time when Cody didn’t have his eyesight, I’m mostly on the road. Eventually I’ll probably settle down and work at the Silverado Ranch again. But…”

“No. Don’t stop there. Finish what you were going to say.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It does to me.”

“My mother always hoped her boys would one day run the ranch together. Now that she’s gone it’s been hard to be around the ranch.”

“I know the feeling,” she admitted. “But this is home. I don’t know where else I’d go. I guess I just can’t imagine it. My dad hoped it would be my brother John who’d take over the ranch when he was gone. After he was killed…I don’t think he thought anyone would. And then Cole came here.”

“You were always here. I’ll bet you surprised him with what you could do on your own.”

A bittersweet smiled tugged at her lips. “Yeah, I guess I did. But my father was very old fashioned. I think he thought I’d marry one day and my husband would run the ranch. That’s not going to happen.”

“The running of the ranch or the getting married?”

“I have no intention of letting a husband of mine run this show alone.”

“Does that mean you’ll share?”

“Marriage is a partnership, if nothing else.”

Jackson smiled wickedly. “Well, I hope it’s a whole lot more than that. At least in the bedroom.”

She flushed. “I have work to do.”

“No, don’t blush.”

She waved him off as she walked away.

“And don’t run away.”

Jackson looked around. There was a whole lot of work that was still left to do. Libby had made a dent while he was out checking the fences, but it was a small one.

“Have you eaten?”

Libby kept walking until she was outside the barn. “I will after the animals have.”

“They’re not going to be, if you collapse from exhaustion."

“I’m fine,” she said, picking up the pitchfork that had been propped against the barn. She started poking at the bales of hay that was stacked neatly next to the paddock and added some hay to the hay box.

Jackson grabbed the pitchfork from her hand.

“Let’s eat,” he said, his tone firm. “When we’re done eating, we can both finish up and make sure the animals have what they need.”

Anger surged through her. Her chin lifted the heat in her eyes was unmistakable, like a viper about to strike out at him. Jackson almost wished she would. He wanted to see just how much fire there was in her. She was full of passion, full of spirit.

But Libby didn’t strike out. Instead, her shoulders slumped. “I can do this, Jackson. I can.”

“I didn’t say you couldn’t. But I’ve been out in that pasture all afternoon and quite frankly, I want to spend a little time with you without talking about investigations or ranches. I’d like a few minutes with you all to myself. Don’t worry. I won’t kiss you. Unless of course, you want me to.”

The glare she leveled him with had him laughing.

“Why don’t you hold that steam for later when we’re mucking stalls?”

* * *

Jackson was leaving. What should have given Libby a sigh of relief only made her ache inside more than the pain of the surgeries she’d had. It was just as well, she’d told herself all morning while working. She was getting stronger every day. Her body reminded her of its limitations less and less each day. Pretty soon she wouldn’t be reminded at all of the ordeal she’d been through over the past few months. As soon as word got around that Jackson had left Liberty, Cole would return. At least, Libby hoped he did. In the meantime, she’d keep working.

It had been ages since she’d taken Spirit for a ride around the ranch. She decided it was time to give them both a treat after her morning chores were done. Jackson had mentioned the three breaks in the fences. She’d only known about one of them. Jackson had only been able to use a felled tree to close up the opening in one of the breaks. That left two others where her livestock was getting loose. The sun was hot on her back as she rode along the trail that led to the pond she and John used to swim in when they were kids. Sweat was dripping down her back and settling in the seat of her jeans. Her skin felt like it was flaming beneath the fabric of her shirt. All the sweat and manure that had smeared on her jeans now stunk. And her bones were aching more than she’d ever remembered.

Despite all that, Libby was a country girl, through and through. She wasn’t going to let the heat get to her. Sitting in the saddle, her backside protested with each sway of her horses stride, so when she got to the pond, she decided she’d had enough.

“Whoa, Spirit,” she said soothingly. When Spirit stopped at the bank of the pond, Libby climbed out of the saddle and arched her back to get the kinks out. She let go of Spirit’s reins and Spirit walked over to the water, bending her head for a much-needed drink of water.

Pulling off her cowboy hat, Libby pushed her sweat off her forehead and glanced around. It wasn’t unusual for her to ride out to the property line alone. This was one of her favorite spots to come to get some clarity. Months before making her decision for surgery, she’d spent a lot of time sitting on the boulder just looking at the sunlight on the water. Spirit had been her quiet but loyal companion, listening to her as she talked. Sometimes Cole would find her. Oh, he tried not to make his presence known, but she’d always known he was there, hiding behind a swell in the land or pretending to come out just to check on the cattle.

But Cole was gone. And as Libby looked around, she realized Jackson wasn’t coming today either. She was truly alone.

She loved this spot because of the privacy it afforded. The temperature was inching higher as the sun passed over the sky. Cool water drops hit her face, causing her to glance over at Spirit, who was bobbing her head up and down spraying drops of water at Libby.

“Feels good, girl, huh?” she said, chuckling. “I think you’re on to something there. No one but you is going to see me, right?”

Spirit neighed as if she were answering. But Libby didn’t need much of a push to strip down and get cooled off. She dropped her hat on the ground and pulled off her boots, laying them next to the hat. She quickly stripped the rest of her clothes off and placed them on top of her boots.

The cool water shocked her hot skin as she dipped into the water. She’d never gone skinny dipping because she knew her father would never approve. But she was only going to stay in the water long enough to cool off her skin so she could tolerate the heat on the ride back to the house. Spirit was a good distance away, so Libby decided to dunk herself completely and swim out to the middle of the pond and then make her way back to shore floating on her back. But as she flipped over, feeling the sun against her wet face, she footsteps.

“Well, look what we have here!”

# # #

“Underneath all that sass, I knew there was a hot woman who loved to let loose.”

Libby’s hands flew to cover her breasts. “What are you doing here?”

“I came back to finish fixing the broken fencing. When you weren’t at the house I thought I’d come and investigate.”

“Again? I thought the investigation was over.”

“I don’t mean that investigation. I mean looking for you. Your truck was still at the house so I got worried.” She splashed some water at him and turned away, covering her chest with her arms. “Go away!”