Lindsay McKenna (20 page)

Surprise flared in her eyes. “But...you’re so worldly compared to me.”

Talon grinned. “In some ways, yes, but in other ways, no, Cat.” And if she knew he was wrestling with all these new, vibrant feelings deep within his crazy heart, it would only serve to confuse her more. Until Talon could understand what was going on within him, he couldn’t give it adequate words. “What we need to do is be patient with one another. And honest.”

She shrugged. “I don’t know how to be otherwise.”

“One of the many qualities I like about you, babe.”

* * *

C
AT
FINISHED
WRITING
up her report and handed it to Cade Garner. They sat in his office at the sheriff’s department. She felt better because Talon was there beside her.

“Just so you know,” Cade told her, taking her signed report, “someone hired an expensive attorney out of San Francisco for Magee.”

“What does that mean?”

Cade grimaced. “The guy is already making noises about getting him released until the trial.”

“No way,” Talon growled. “He’d start stalking Cat again.”

“You and I know that,” Cade said. “Cat’s statement will help the judge decide.”

Fear bolted through Cat. “But...he can’t be freed.”

Talon reached out, gripping her hand for a moment. “Let’s take this a day at a time, Cat. Cade doesn’t know what the judge will decide.”

Cade stood. “Yeah, I’m hoping the judge assigned to Magee’s case will slam the bastard’s ass in jail and set the bail so damned high no one will pay it.”

Frowning, Cat stood. “Okay, but you’ll let us know?”

Cade held her worried gaze. “I’ll give you a call as soon as I know, Cat. In the meantime, just relax. It’s sunny outside. Go enjoy your day.”

“Okay,” she said. “Thank you for everything, Cade.”

As she walked with Talon out to her truck, she was glad he held her hand. The morning sky was a medium blue, the sun bright, and she slid on her sunglasses. “This thing with Magee scares me,” she confided to Talon.

He nodded and opened the truck door for Cat. “Let it go. There’s no way a judge will let that bastard loose before trial.”

Cat grimaced and said nothing. She fished the keys out of her vest pocket. Once Talon climbed in, they left for Mo’s to pick up lunch for the three of them, although Cat had lost her appetite.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

C
AT
WANTED
TO
visit Gus and the McPhersons after they left Sandy’s apartment. She wanted to at least let them know she was all right. Talon had nodded and given her a look of pride over her decision but said nothing. Gus was in the kitchen preparing dinner for the evening when they walked in.

“Well, look who the cat dragged in,” Gus crowed, grinning.

Cat couldn’t help but smile and walked over and carefully hugged the small woman. “I just wanted to show you that I’m alive and well,” she joked.

Talon walked to the counter and pulled down three cups and filled them with coffee. While the two women hugged and talked, he placed the mugs on the table and sat down. Pretty soon, they came over. Gus was looking spiffy in a pair of bright red slacks and a white blouse. The dark green apron reminded Talon of Christmas, not spring. Her silver hair looked like a halo beneath the lamps suspended above the table.

Gus rubbed her pointed chin. “I was over at your old homestead last week.” She gave him a one-eyebrow raised look.

“Oh?” And then Talon remembered that the place was up for sale and Gus had been interested in buying it, according to his mother.

“Yep. Still got that white picket fence around the house, Talon. Needs a coat of paint, for sure, but it’s still there. Sandy says, from the pictures I took with my cell phone, it’s pretty much what it looked like when you were there as a family. Just more run-down.”

A lump started to form in his throat. He couldn’t even speak. Talon could only imagine how much hurt, the memories, had been plowed up by seeing them.

Gus continued, “I told her the place was up for sale. You know, your ranch has gone through about five buyers since you left for the Navy?”

“No, I didn’t know it.”

“Anyone who bought the Triple H was an Easterner thinking they were gonna play Westerner.” She snorted. “None of them had a clue how to run a ranch or take care of it. I watched it being bought and sold over and over again. Every once in a while, I’d drive over and see what was happening.”

His heart wrung with pain. Talon remembered riding fence line with his father so many times. Gardner Holt had shown him how to repair downed barbed wire. He’d taught him everything he could up until the day before he died of the massive heart attack out in the barn. He missed his father. Wished many times he’d stayed alive. Gardner was an easy man to talk with, never judged anyone, always was a good listener and always had a smile for everyone. How his mother must have missed him. Glancing over at Cat, knowing how he felt about her, Talon now could understand the depth of devastation his mother suffered when his father had suddenly died. He couldn’t even begin to imagine if Cat was suddenly torn out of his life. The loss was unimaginable to Talon.

“I’ve never been over to the Triple H,” Cat admitted quietly, seeing the emotions in Talon’s eyes. He was gripping the mug a little more tightly than usual. Judging from the look on Talon’s face, the grief registering in his eyes, he must have had a wonderful relationship with his father. And she ached for his loss.

“Well, I make it my business to always be a good neighbor,” Gus told them. “Every time it changed hands, I’d go over and introduce myself, tell them the Bar H butted up against their property. I’d always offer help or advice if they needed it. That way, I got to see what shape the ranch is in.”

“How is it now?” Talon asked, almost afraid to hear her answer.

Gus grumbled, “It has fallen into a state of terrible disrepair, Talon. And of course all the previous owners thought they knew how to run a ranch.” Gus snorted. “Not one of ’em called me and asked for advice or help. You can’t just walk in, buy a ranch and expect it to run itself. You have to invest your heart and soul in it.”

Pain rifled through Talon’s heart. He frowned and stared down at his coffee cup, wrestling with dark emotions. “Does my mom know this?”

“She knows some from the pictures,” Gus said. “But she had her album of photos when the place looked beautiful. I think she wanted to keep those dreams. I encouraged her to remember the property as it used to be.”

Relief tunneled through Talon. “Thank you.”

She patted his arm. “I wouldn’t ever do anything to hurt Sandy. She needs every reason she can grasp hold of to fight and stay alive.”

Cat thought she saw moisture in Talon’s eyes for a split second. And then the look was gone. His mouth tightened up. She could tell he was holding back a lot of feelings he couldn’t express. “Sandy told us the Triple H was up for sale and that you were looking at it?”

“Yep,” Gus said. She sipped her coffee and grinned. “I was over there with the Realtor yesterday. The last owners have already run back East and the place is sittin’ empty.”

“Any cattle on it?” Talon asked.

“Nah, nothin’ on it, son. Pretty much abandoned.”

“Sandy said you were considering buying it?” Cat asked.

“I am.” Gus took a deep breath and studied Talon. “I’ve been waitin’ to see if the Triple H would come back on the market. And I was hoping like the devil it would, because your mother was really goin’ downhill after her cancer came back. I wanted to buy the Triple H and give her something to hold on to, Talon. But the ranch didn’t come up for sale when I wished it had and she was already slipping away from us with this second battle with cancer. And you were gone and no one knew where you were.” She shrugged and stared off in the distance for a moment, the kitchen growing silent.

“Miss Gus, I couldn’t tell anyone my whereabouts when I was deployed.” Talon felt the gnawing pain grow wider in his heart. When his mother, who had lost two men she loved, was falling ill a second time, he was over in Afghanistan.
Again.
Always.

Gus patted his arm. “It’s okay, son. I understand. So did Sandy. That’s why I was holdin’ my breath hopin’ like the dickens that the ranch would come up for sale. But it never did, and she slid far and fast.” She gave Talon a gentle look. “Call it what you want, but you getting wounded and sent back here to us was a godsend for Sandy. You fed her hope. Just by being near, you did that for her. I’m not wishing you got wounded, mind you, but in another way, you are giving your mother hope again. And she’s respondin’.”

Talon avoided her gaze. He didn’t want to remember anything about his wounding, but it was impossible. Turning the mug around in his hands, he muttered, “At least something good came out of it.”

Cat felt Talon withdraw. Felt his agony even though he wasn’t showing it physically. There was an invisible tie between them, something profoundly beautiful and it made her grateful that she could pick up on it, because Talon rarely gave words to his feelings. Except in bed, loving her. And her body glowed warmly in the memory of last night.

“Listen, son, I’ve lived eighty-five years and seen it all. I can tell you that most often, the darkest night of our soul is a blessing in disguise. But it will take you a decade or longer to realize it.” She gave him a kind look. “You and your mother have been through many rough times. And now you’re on an upswing. She’s gettin’ better and so are you.”

Talon smiled briefly. “You’re an eternal optimist, Miss Gus.”

“Well, I really don’t like the other choice. Do you?” She drilled a hard look into his eyes. “What? Depression? Giving up? Hopelessness? Nah, not for me.” She poked his arm with her index finger. “And not for you, either. You’re Wyoming bred. Wyoming tough.”

That drew a sour smile from Talon. “You’re truly a force of nature, Miss Gus.”

“Humph.”

Cat laughed and shook her head. “Miss Gus, you should be doing YouTube videos on positive thinking.”

“Not interested.” She sipped her coffee. “Now, I dunno if Sandy told you, but I’m puttin’ in a bid on the Triple H, Talon.”

“She said you were looking at the possibility.” He couldn’t keep his heart from pounding a little harder in his chest. His home. He had been born in that ranch house. The memories were as sharp and clear as when he’d lived them. “Yep, I called my Realtor and put in an offer.” She smiled slyly. “They’re wantin’ five million for that place. And it does have five hundred acres of good land but they’ve let the place go. It’s in dire need of a lot of work to bring it back. The house, the barn, the corrals and outbuildings are in terrible shape. If they think I’m gonna pay for a run-down, shambles of a place, they got another think comin’.”

Talon felt hope. If Miss Gus bought the Triple H, maybe he might be able to help fix it up. Get it back to the way it used to be when he grew up there. “If you get it, what are your plans?”

Gus scratched her chin. “Well, my first reason for buying it, Talon, was to get your mother installed back there. My feelin’ is that if she can return home, she’ll stay well. People don’t know how important home is to their well-bein’, but I do.” She jabbed her finger down on the table. “Sandy’s heart was broken, Talon. And folks with a broken heart need their home to recoup themselves, pull themselves up by the bootstraps, but she had her home torn out from under her.”

Talon felt moisture in his eyes. He swallowed against a lump a couple of times before he could speak. His voice came out thick with barely veiled feelings. “If you could do that for her, Miss Gus, I know it would help her.” He felt shame that he couldn’t do it for her. The Navy never paid anyone that much, not even SEALs.

Patting his arm, she said, “Tut-tut, Talon. I may look old, gray-haired and wrinkled as all get-out, but I’m pretty smart when it comes to sizin’ up people. This town has pulled together to help Sandy. But your comin’ home is makin’ the biggest difference. And it just so happened that months after you came back to us, that ranch suddenly comes up for sale again.” She grinned and rubbed her hands together. “And I jumped at the chance like a duck jumps on a June bug. I want Sandy home. It will help heal her broken heart.”

“Do you think you’ll get the ranch?” Cat asked, hoping more than anything she would. She understood how much Sandy loved the ranch she’d been forced to give up. The best days of her life were spent there. Cat glanced over at Talon, and his eyes were suspiciously bright. The need to put her arms around his shoulders nearly tore her apart. Right now Talon needed a little TLC. She knew he was hurting, was disappointed in himself that he couldn’t do as much for his mother.

“I’m hopin’,” Gus said, finishing off her coffee. “When I find out, I’ll let you two birds know.”

“What do Val and Griff think about it?” Cat asked.

Pushing her chair away from the table, Gus smiled. “Griff is the one who’s been doin’ all the background investigation on the ranch and its state of disrepair. He’s got an MBA from Harvard and I’m usin’ it. Griff’s the one who told me what to offer for it. And he’s going to handle the negotiations.” She slowly stood up, rubbing her hip. Casting a look over at Talon, she smiled down at him. “And if I get your ranch, Talon, I’m going to make sure that you and Griff spend a whole lotta time over there fixin’ it up for Sandy. I don’t want her movin’ in until that place is spiffy lookin’ again.”

Talon could barely believe it. “I hope you get it, Miss Gus. I really do.” For his mother. She would rally if she was home again, Talon realized. Who wouldn’t? Grateful to the old woman, he rasped, “You really are a guardian angel, Miss Gus. I’ve heard others in town refer to you as that, but it’s true. I know my mother would be happy. And I’m grateful to you.”

“Yep,” Gus said, patting his shoulder. “I’ve got a plan in motion. And just remember, you and Sandy are worth it.”

* * *

“W
HAT
A
DAY
,”
Cat said as she cut up some tomatoes for their dinner salad in the kitchen. The western sun was low on the horizon and they’d just driven back to the condo. Talon had been quiet on the ride in. She could feel many emotions going through him. The hope burning in his eyes nearly undid her. Hope for Sandy to have her home returned to her through Gus’s goodness and kindness.

Talon pulled out a head of lettuce from the fridge and set it next to the cutting board where she was working. “Mind-blowing, to say the least,” he muttered. Half the chicken breasts and rice were left from last night and he was going to warm them up in the oven. Cat stood with a red apron wrapped around her waist. As he walked by, he moved her hair aside and placed a quick kiss on her slender neck. “It’s been a good day in lots of ways.”

Her skin tingled in the wake of his mouth grazing her. Cat liked his ability to show how he felt toward her. “I imagine you’re kind of shaken up by all of it?”

Talon opened the oven door. “Shocked,” he said. Sliding the Pyrex into the oven, he shut the door and straightened. “When Mom told us about the Triple H and Miss Gus considering buying it, I didn’t put much stock into it.”

He came over and stood near to watch as she cut up the tomatoes. “Gus is wily, Talon. I’ll bet you anything she’s a lot further into this sale than she’s letting on. She never does anything without studying it and getting the facts. Griff has done some smaller land acquisitions for her in the past. And he’s always gotten what she wanted to buy.” Smiling a little at him, feeling her body respond hotly to his nearness, she added, “I wouldn’t even be surprised if she’d already bought the Triple H and is just waiting on the bank to clear the deal. Then I think she’ll announce it to everyone.”

“Why do you say that?” Talon pushed her hair away from the nape of her neck and moved his lips against her warm skin, inhaling her sweet, spicy scent. He wanted to love her. Right now. He felt her tense and then relax, a sigh issuing from her lips. She’d stopped what she was doing, focused on his mouth sliding across her neck, kissing her.

“Mmm,” Cat murmured, feeling his arm slide around her waist, pulling her close to his body. She allowed the knife and tomato to sit on the cutting board. “You make it hard for me to think,” she said, breathless. “Gus is a poker player, Talon. She keeps her cards close to her chest until a deal is done. That’s why I said it.”

“I think you’re right. There was a glint in her eye when she was telling us about it. My gut tells me it’s a done deal, too.”