Stone Cold Cowboy (4 page)

“Nothing to figure out. We need to find her brother and whoever else did this to her.”

“The cops can't even find that fuck.” Colt wiped his mouth with a paper napkin. “Asshole's been running around for years doing anything he damn well pleases.”

“She always pays the price,” Ford said.

“What do you mean?” Rory asked, eyeing his brother.

“It's no secret she's the one who cleans up that guy's messes. That fight with Colt isn't the only time he went into that bar and started some trouble. She's paid off bar tabs, gambling debts, lawyer bills when Connor actually got caught, and settled up with folks when her brother stole their shit.”

“No way she can come up with the cash for the herd. Fuck. Those were some prime beef cattle.” Colt might be the youngest and the most reckless of them, but he understood that he was just as responsible for the success of the ranch as any of them. Oh, he'd skipped out on work plenty of times, but when he was really needed and the chips were down, Colt came through.

“Since when did you two start keeping tabs on Sadie's family?” The last thing Rory wanted to find out was that either one of them was dating her, or had in the past. They were brothers. There was an unwritten, unspoken code to follow. Why Rory was even thinking about dating her, he didn't know. Nothing had changed.
Based on the few times they'd run into each other, she had no interest in him.

“If you spent any amount of time off the ranch, you'd know all this,” Ford scolded. “Everyone in town knows that everything at the Higgins place went to shit when Sadie's mother died. She's been mother, maid, and caretaker of her brother and father since she was sixteen.”

“She missed all the fun in high school,” Colt added. “She kept her head in her books, after-school work at the diner and gas station, and tending to her daddy's ranch the best she could. Guys would hit on her in school, ask her to bonfires and dances, but she never accepted.”

“Ah, little brother, is there a woman out there who actually turned you down?” Ford teased Colt.

“She was damn pretty then, even more beautiful now.” His eyes held a gleam of sadness when he glanced at her and took in all her injuries. “I never asked her out, but I wanted to. She doesn't smile very much. I always thought she needed a break.”

Rory understood exactly what Colt meant. Sadie had been running hard her whole life just to keep up, but no matter how hard she ran, she just kept falling behind, her brother putting one obstacle after another in her path, keeping her from getting ahead.

“Her daddy used to run some pretty nice horses,” Colt went on. “The ones I saw today are the last of his stock. Looks like she's sold them off over the years.”

“Yeah, to pay off her brother's debts.”

“I wouldn't mind having a few of those horses to breed,” Colt said. “Her place is falling into disrepair. Looks like her father's health is declining fast.”

“Do you know what's wrong with him?” Rory asked.

“I didn't ask. He didn't say.”

Sadie began to stir in the bed. Whether disturbed by their voices or another nightmare, she flinched and shook.

“What's wrong with her?” Colt asked.

“Bell said she'd probably do this off and on through the night due to the trauma she suffered.” Rory slid his fingers up her arm and down, trying to soothe her.

“Rory,” she whispered, tensing under his hand. “Dev-vil,” she mumbled.

Ford and Colt both turned to him. Colt busted out laughing. “She thinks you're the devil, man.” He tipped his head. “You two know each other? Did you actually leave your monastery and we don't know about it, monk?”

Rory hated that nickname. The glare he sent his brothers only made them smile more. “I don't know her.”

“In the biblical sense,” Colt prodded. He never knew when to quit.

Rory leaned forward in his chair and bit out, “You want to live, you'll shut the fuck up.”

Ford planted his hand on Colt's chest to stop him from sputtering another smart-ass remark. “Let it go, little brother, or you'll be laid out on the floor.”

“Rory. Devil,” Sadie muttered again. “Get him.” She thrashed about in the bed.

Rory stood and pressed lightly on her shoulders to hold her down so she didn't hurt herself more. “Shh. You're okay.” He gently ran his fingers down her hair again and again. “Shh.” She settled back into a deep sleep and his fisted gut let loose again, but the band around his chest remained tight. He didn't understand
why she called his name and thought him some kind of devil. He'd helped her. He'd never done anything to her. So why did she fear him this way?

“Hey, man, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it. The way you looked when I got to the two of you. I can't imagine what you saw and felt seeing her strung up like that.” Colt hung his head and shook it. “I see you want to—”

“Doesn't matter what I want,” Rory cut him off. “I found her. I'll see she gets home safe. That's all there is to this.”

Ford laid a hand on Rory's shoulder. “If there's more—”

“There's nothing.” Rory shook off his brother's hand, hoping those two didn't start spouting all kinds of assumption, thinking they knew anything. There would never be anything between him and Sadie. Right? What the hell would she want from a guy like him? A man who'd turned hard and shut off everything inside himself except his drive to get the job done, keep the ranch surviving and thriving, and see his brothers find their way out of their grief after losing their parents and become the men they were today. Happy. Making their own way in the world. Just what his parents would have wanted for them. Exactly what he'd promised them the day he put them in the ground. He'd take care of Ford and Colt. He'd make sure they always had a home and they stayed together. Granddad helped hold them together when they were kids, but as the oldest, Rory took on the responsibility of parent and big brother.

Rory fell back into his chair and avoided looking at his brothers, knowing the cold, hard truth. “I don't
know her. She doesn't want to know me. You heard her. She thinks I'm the devil.” Rory shook his head, trying to ignore the tightening of his gut and the hurt that settled in his heart that she'd think such a thing about him. Had he become so closed off from other people that they feared him because he'd never let anyone really get to know him?

Sadie twitched and moaned again, clamping her hand down on his arm and holding tight, her nails digging into his arm. “Rory. Get them.”

“You might consider that she knew those cattle belonged to us and told her brother and his friends that you were going to go after them.”

Rory wanted to believe Ford's words. He really did. He covered Sadie's hand with his and she relaxed. He tried to pull his arm free, but she clamped down tight again. For whatever reason, she didn't want to let him go. He didn't want to let go of her. He stared at her face, hoping for any sign that she knew it was him sitting beside her. When he turned back to tell his brothers to go on home, he found they'd already gathered the empty pizza box, plates, napkins, and empty beer bottles and left without so much as a goodbye. Not that he'd have heard them; he was so focused on Sadie and the colliding thoughts in his head.

One side of himself told him he was crazy for thinking she'd wake up and be happy to see him. The other side told him to walk away now before she woke up and called him the devil to his face and ordered him out.

Neither side won; they just kept up the verbal war in his head. He talked himself out of getting to know her better and into staying right here beside her. Funny, no
one talked him into anything. He wanted to stay. He wanted to convince her she didn't know him, but he wanted her to. The why and how of it eluded him, but he didn't get up and walk out the door. This was where he wanted to be. Right beside her.

S
adie felt the bite of the wire cinch around her wrists, ankles, and body like a vise. She screamed and fought to get free, but nothing worked and the cold froze her down to her bones. The devil dude came after her with the knife raised over his head, slashing it down. She screamed again and his image turned into a much larger, darker man, then shifted back to the devil dude again. “Rory. Devil,” she gasped, thrashing to get away.

Someone grabbed her shoulders, shooting pain through her arms and up her neck. Her eyes flew open and she stared into a pair of golden-green hazel eyes. “Stop. You're hurting me.”

Rory pulled his hands away from her and held them up in front of him like he was being stopped by the cops. “I'm trying to stop you from hurting yourself. Calm down. Take a breath.”

For the first time she realized she was nearly hyperventilating. She tried to put her hand on her heaving chest, but something clanked and tugged sharply on her arm. She stared down at her aching hand and saw the handcuffs. She panicked, which didn't help her breathing situation.

“Hey, now. Look, this hand is free.” Rory picked up her hand and held it softly in his big one, which set off a new round of fear. Why was he here? Where was here? Was she under arrest?

“I didn't steal them. I tried to stop them. You have to believe me. I'd n-n-never . . .” She couldn't get any air. Flashes of light sparkled in her vision.

“Sadie, damnit, breathe.”

She couldn't. Everything went dark.

R
ory wanted to
shake her awake. Bell rushed into the room along with a nurse and a dark-haired woman. Luna, if he remembered her name right, who worked at the diner with Sadie. He stood over Sadie feeling like he'd just been kicked in the chest by a horse.

“Rory, what happened?” Bell asked.

“She was having another nightmare, thrashing around in the bed. I touched her shoulders to steady her and keep her from hurting herself. She woke up, saw me, and I don't know . . . She freaked out.”

“What did you do to her?” Luna demanded.

“Nothing,” Rory bit out.

“Panic attack.” Bell tapped the monitor by the bed. “Her heart rate is coming down. She passed out. She'll wake up soon.”

Sadie's heart rate might be slowing down, but his stopped when her eyes rolled back in her head and she went limp. He fell back into the chair he'd sat in all night and raked his hands through both sides of his hair and tried to hold it together. He'd barely slept. His back ached from the uncomfortable seat. He needed a huge dose of caffeine and a chance to set the record straight
with Sadie. If she called him the devil one more time, he might lose it. He hated that she thought he'd hurt her.

Bell's hand settled on his shoulder. “Don't worry. She's okay.”

“Do you think these nightmares and stuff will last long?”

“I don't know. It depends on her and how well she's able to cope with what happened.”

“Sadie's tough.” Luna touched her hand softly to Sadie's leg, staring down at her friend. “She'll get through this.”

“She needs time to heal both her body and her mind. What she went through out there?” Bell frowned and her eyes went soft with sadness. “I can't imagine it, Rory.”

“Me either. I just want this to be over for her.”

Luna stared across Sadie at him. “Dr. Bowden told me you found her. Thank you for saving my friend.” Tears welled in her eyes.

Rory nodded, unable to say or do anything else.

The nurse finished checking the IV line and monitors and slipped out the door.

“Do you need anything?” Bell asked.

“I'm good.”

“You should go home and get some sleep.”

“I can stay with her for a little while,” Luna offered.

“Later. I need to talk to her.”

“About the cattle?” Bell asked.

“Fuck the cattle,” he spat out, then realized he'd let his anger override his good sense. “Sorry, Doc. I didn't mean to snap at you.”

She smiled. “It's okay. I get it. You're worried about her.”

“How long does she have to stay here?” Luna asked.

“Depends on how she feels when she wakes up. If the cops decide to take her in—”

“She didn't do anything,” Rory snapped.

Bell's hand contracted on his shoulder. “If they don't see it your way, I'll make up an excuse to keep her here another day if you'd like.”

“That might give me enough time to find her brother and make him answer for this instead of her.”

“I hope you do. Someone needs to teach him a lesson.” The determined look in Luna's eyes said she'd like to see Connor pay for hurting her friend.

“So you think he's involved with this, too?” Rory asked.

“Not think. Know. If Sadie is in the middle of it, it's because she rushed in to help him.” Luna frowned down at Sadie. “In this case, it's probably more accurate to say she tried to stop him. I wish I'd known what happened yesterday. I didn't find out until I went in to work this morning. Everyone is talking about it.”

“I'll see what I can do to keep her here if it comes to that. I'll keep the deputy waiting outside until she's up to talking to him. I have another patient to check on before Dane and I leave to go to breakfast. Your favorite girl is outside waiting to see you.”

He smiled, thinking of the little blond angel who'd stolen his heart. “Send her in.” He pressed his hands on the chair arms, making his hand sting again. He caught Bell before she walked out the door. “Hey, Doc, can I have some antiseptic and ointment for this?” He held up his hand, showing her the wound.

“Did the barbed wire get you?”

“Not nearly as bad as it got her.”

“When's the last time you got a tetanus shot?”

“About four years ago. I'm good.”

“Be right back.”

Rory eyed Luna eyeing him. “What?”

“You've been here all night?”

“Yeah. So?”

“Because you want your cattle back or compensation for them? Or some other reason?”

“No. And yes.”

“Always a man of few words. Wanna tell me why you're still here?”

“No.” Truthfully, he had a hundred reasons and none. Nothing really made sense, except he couldn't leave her.

“Have anything to do with you staring at her at the diner all the time?”

He didn't answer, just stared at Sadie's face, waiting for her to wake up again.

“I guess that answers my question.”

Rory glanced at Luna and followed her gaze to his hand over Sadie's. He hadn't realized he'd held hers again to keep her calm and reassure her she was safe.

Luna gave him a nod, pulled out her chirping cell phone, and checked her messages. Rory went back to his vigil, waiting for Sadie to wake up and talk to him. What he'd say to her, he didn't really know.

S
adie woke up
to the chatter of a little girl and slowly opened her eyes. She stared through her lashes at the last image she ever thought she'd see. Rory sat in the chair beside her, a beautiful little blond girl in his lap.

“This not good. Mommy says clean first.” The little
girl dabbed the cotton ball on the top of the bottle she held in her other hand, then pressed it in the middle of the big hand Rory held up for the little girl.

Rory hissed with the sting of the antiseptic. The little girl pulled the cotton ball away. “Blow make it butter.” She blew on Rory's hand with short little puffs of air. Rory smiled at the top of the little girl's head as she bent over his hand. Everything about him changed. His face and eyes softened. His shoulders eased. She'd never seen the man look anything but intense. But when he smiled . . . Wow.

“Butter?” the little girl asked.

“All better. Thank you, angel baby. Now what?”

“Mommy says goo.”

Rory's smile grew and he let out a soft chuckle that made Sadie's stomach flutter. The deep rich sound made her insides warm.

“That's right, the goo.”

The little girl unscrewed the cap, pressed with both hands to push some of the ointment out of the tube, and then swiped her finger over the top to grab it. Rory held his hand open for her. She smeared it in place, a look of utter concentration on her sweet face.

“And aid.” She looked around her, searching.

“Here it is.” Rory held up the princess bandage. “You sure this is the one we want?”

“Oh yes.”

“Okay,” he conceded, letting the girl put the pink bandage on his hand. He held it up so she could see her handiwork. “Great job, baby. I'm all better.”

“Not yet. Kiss make it butter.” She leaned in and kissed Rory's hand. “Der. All butter.”

“Yes, I am.” Rory hugged the girl close, noticing Sadie staring at him for the first time. “Hi.”

“Hi,” she said back.

“You're awake.” Her best friend, Luna, leaned over from her other side and hugged her close. Sadie let out a heavy sigh and leaned into her friend, trying not to move too much. Everything ached. But she needed the warmth and reassurance of a good friend.

Choked up Luna came, Sadie asked, “When did you get here?”

“About twenty minutes ago. I'm so sorry, Sadie, if I'd known what happened I'd have been here sooner.”

“It's fine. I'm fine,” she said automatically.

Luna released her far too soon and stood beside the bed. “You are, thanks to him.” Luna cocked her head toward Rory.

Avoiding him and what his presence meant, she changed the subject. “Aren't you supposed to be at work?”

“I had to see you, but yes. They can't survive with both of us out.”

“Go. I'm fine.”

“Oh for God's sake, stop saying that. You're not fine. Look at you.” The tremble in her friend's voice upset Sadie even more. She hated to make her friend sad.

Sadie tried to clear her fuzzy head, but couldn't bring herself to look at the damage. The images in her mind were enough to make her cringe. Luna's steady gaze grew even more worried, drawing lines across her friend's forehead.

“Please, go to work. I'll be okay. But come back and see me after your shift if I'm still here.”

“Count on it. In the meantime, call me if you need anything.” Luna leaned down and hugged her again, whispering in her ear, “I want to know what happened, and where I can find that brother of yours so I can kill him. Also, I want to know more about the hot and very intense cowboy.” Luna stood and brushed Sadie's hair back from her face. “You need me to stay, I'll stay.”

She eyed Rory still sitting quietly with the little girl, watching her. “I'm fine.”

Unconvinced, Luna's mouth dipped down on one side. “I will call you later, unless you call me first.” Luna eyed Rory. “I take it you're staying, making sure she gets what she needs.”

“Count on it,” Rory said.

Luna tilted her head in acknowledgment, patted Sadie's hand, then left, leaving Sadie wondering why her friend believed Rory meant those stern words and didn't mean to take out his anger on her over what her brother did.

She must have missed something. Right?

“Who's your friend?” Sadie asked, stalling as long as possible the confrontation about her brother that Rory no doubt wanted to have.

“Kaley,” the girl announced. She turned back to Rory. “Uncle Rory, can I goo on her? She need lots.”

“I don't know, she's hurt real bad.”

Sadie couldn't resist the little girl. “Come here. I need some of your magic medicine.”

Kaley beamed a smile at her. Rory held her close and stood, setting the little girl on the bed. “Be very careful not to bump her leg. She's got a bad cut,” he warned.

“I see.” Kaley tried to pull down the blanket.

Rory gently pulled her hand away. “No, you stick with the small cuts on her upper arm.”

Kaley pointed to the handcuffs. “Bad guy.”

Sadie sucked in a breath. She opened her mouth to explain, but Rory held her gaze and answered for her. “She's not a bad guy. Once the cops talk to her, they'll take them off.” The reassurance was for the little girl, but also for Sadie.

“I can explain.”

“He's the devil,” Kaley announced, smudging more goo on her arm than needed.

Sadie's eyes went wide.

“You keep calling me that in your sleep,” Rory explained.

“No I didn't.”

“Did too.” Kaley singsonged the words.

Heat rushed up her chest, neck, and face. “Rory, I didn't mean—”

Dane walked in the door and smiled at her. “This is a hell of a way to get some attention, honey.”

“Dane.” The sigh she let out wasn't enough to emphasize the relief she felt seeing her old friend. She'd known Dane since kindergarten.

Another reprieve from the confrontation Rory wanted. Damn her brother for getting mixed up with the likes of Rory Kendrick. She'd warned him. Since Connor wasn't here to answer for his misdeeds, it was left to her to answer to the big, forbidding man.

“Does it have to be every blonde in the state?” Rory snapped.

Dane's gaze shot from her to Rory. The mischievous grin reminded her so much of the boy she knew and the young man who'd loved, and never turned down,
a good time, which accounted for his reputation with the ladies.

“What? Just because I've seen her naked—”

Yeah, when they were little kids, stripping down and jumping in a swimming hole.

“Excuse me,” a woman in a white doctor's coat said from the door, glaring at Dane.

“Now, Bell, didn't you say something about getting pancakes?” Dane tried to weasel his way out of that loaded statement.

“I get to play the pregnancy craving card, not you.”

“Um, so I see you've met Sadie.” Dane tried to get things back on track. “Sadie, my wife, Dr. Bell Bowden. Most just call her Bell.”