Soul Deep (10 page)

“We’re keeping the horses indoors and
exercising them in the riding barn. I’m not taking any
chances.”

“How’s Luke working out?”

“He is rising to the challenge. He seems very
eager to prove his worth.”

“A bit too eager sometimes. It can be
annoying.”

Jack laughed. “He’ll get the hang of things
soon enough. I’m having a video surveillance system installed in
the barns next Monday. In the meantime, he and Chuck are taking
turns sleeping outside Chinook’s stall.”

“A video surveillance system? That will be
expensive.”

“Losing Chinook would be a lot more
expensive.”

“True enough.”

“I need to get to the kitchen. The biscuits
won’t make themselves.”

“Before you go, I have some news.”

“Yeah?”

“Megan’s pregnant.” Nate didn’t sound happy
about it.

Jack found himself smiling, but he bit back
his congratulations. He knew the two of them had agreed to wait
until after Megan finished law school. She was only halfway through
her first semester. “I take it this came as a surprise. When did
you get the news?”

“This morning. We haven’t told Emily
yet.”

“How does Megan feel about it?”

“She’s excited but worried about how
pregnancy and a new baby will affect her ability to get through law
school.”

“Understandable. You can reassure her, of
course, that we will do all we can to make sure she gets the
support she needs.”

“This is my fault.”

Jack chuckled. “Now, son, I thought we had
that talk. You knew going into this how it all works.”

“She forgot to take a couple pills, and she
warned me. I thought there was no way a couple of pills could make
a difference, so I didn’t take extra precautions.”

“Well, there’s only one thing to say now.
Congratulations. I’ll admit it. I’m excited. A new baby in the
house? That’s great.”

Children brought chaos, but Jack did all
right with chaos. He loved being a grandfather as much as he’d
loved being a father, except that he was wiser now, more patient.
He probably made a better grandpa than he had a dad.

“Thanks. I appreciate the support. Keep me
posted on the situation with Chinook.”

“I will. Pass my congratulations and love to
Megan, and give Miss Emily a hug. We can celebrate your news when
you get home next weekend.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

Jack ended the call, then got to work in the
kitchen mixing up a batch of buttermilk biscuits, a big smile on
his face. He’d just pulled them from the oven when Janet appeared,
freshly showered, her hair glossy from having been blown dry.

She’d put on a bit of makeup—just enough to
highlight her beautiful eyes—and a lavender turtleneck with a pair
of Levis. Damned if she didn’t fill out both the shirt and her
jeans to perfection.

She smiled. “It smells delicious.”

“The stew was made with beef raised here on
the ranch. I tossed in potatoes, carrots, onions, green beans, and
my own special ingredient—hard cider brewed in Scarlet
Springs.”

“If I lived here, I’d get fat.” Janet took
the basket of rolls from him and set it on the table, then found
the butter crock and did the same with it.

“If you lived here, I’d keep you too busy for
you to get fat.”

“Is that so?”

“You better believe it.”

Only when Jack saw the blush in Janet’s
cheeks did he realize how she’d taken his words. He’d been thinking
of her working with the horses. He wondered for a moment whether he
should correct her impression, then decided against it. He didn’t
want to embarrass her or hurt her feelings, and if her mind had
immediately gone to sex, he was okay with that.

He served the stew and the salad, then got
two bottles of hard cider out of the fridge, poured them into mugs,
and set one at each plate. “Help yourself.”

“Tell me about Nate and Megan and your
granddaughter—Emily is her name?”

Jack told her about the news he’d just
gotten, then bragged about Nate’s accomplishments and how proud
he’d been when Nate had made the cut to serve as a special operator
with a Marines special ops team that worked with Navy SEALs.

“That’s how he met Javier Corbray, isn’t
it?”

“Yes, it is.” Jack told her how Nate had
courageously faced his burns, how hard he’d fought to live. Then he
told her how Nate had met Megan when she’d been volunteering at one
of the homeless shelters to which the Cimarron donated ground beef.
He told her how Megan hadn’t been repulsed by Nate’s scars, but had
helped him accept himself and heal. “I thank God every day for
Megan.”

“She sounds like a special person.”

“That she is. Emily was Megan’s daughter by a
previous relationship. The man is dead, and we don’t talk about
him. Nate adopted Emily when he and Megan got married.”

Jack didn’t tell her about Megan’s scars—her
long battle with heroin addiction, her time in prison, the sexual
abuse she’d suffered there, the baby daddy who’d terrorized her. He
also didn’t mention the fact that Nate had been the one to kill
Emily’s biological father, saving both mother and daughter. Megan’s
past was hers to share if and when she felt comfortable doing
so.

If Janet stuck around, she would eventually
get the whole story. If she didn’t, she had no need to know.

“I love happy endings.” Janet dabbed her lips
with her napkin. “I bet Emily has you wrapped around her little
finger.”

“I wouldn’t say that.” That was a bald-faced
lie, and Jack knew it. “Okay, yes, she does. What can I say? I love
that kid.”

“You’re a very nurturing man.”

“Thank you.” He knew some men wouldn’t like
being described that way. Hell, it might have rubbed him the wrong
way thirty years ago. But now, he appreciated it. “I wasn’t always.
I married a woman, then signed up to fight in a war on the other
side of the world, leaving her with my parents. But I’ve learned a
thing or two since then.”

Janet took a sip of her cider, smiled. “I bet
you have.”

And damned if it wasn’t his turn to
blush.

# # #

Janet searched through the Cimarron’s library
of DVDs and Blu-Rays. Jack had left it up to her to pick the movie.
She didn’t think she could handle anything with violence. Detective
dramas and procedurals made her feel like she was at work, when
their inaccuracies and Hollywoodisms didn’t drive her crazy.

“Oh!” She took
The Sound of Music
off
the shelf. “I haven’t seen this in ages. Is it too much of a kids’
movie for you?”

Jack, who was finishing making popcorn at the
little bar at the back of the theater room, glanced up. “That’s
fine with me.”

She carried the DVD over to him.

He handed her a big bowl of popcorn. “Go pick
a seat.”

She sat in the center of the theater’s front
row, the bowl of popcorn on her lap, the buttery scent of the corn
making her mouth water. How she could possibly have room for this
after Jack’s delicious stew, she couldn’t say.

He came and sat beside her. “Have you figured
out how to work the seats?”

“I guess not.” She wasn’t even sure what he
meant.

He reached across her, pushed a button on the
arm of her chair. Her seat began to recline, and a footrest came
up.

“Wow. This is better than a real
theater.”

“Damned straight.” He raised a remote, and
the lights dimmed.

Janet lost herself in the film, forgetting
the real world, aware only of the story taking shape on the screen
and the man beside her. She glanced over at him, the rugged
features of his face softened by the blue light from the
screen.

She must be crazy even thinking of starting a
relationship with him. Then again, what was crazy about it? They
were both unattached. They both had successful careers. Despite her
first impression of him, he was a good man, not the kind who’d bolt
when life got hard. He was tough, but there was a gentleness inside
him she’d rarely seen in a man. He’d been faithful to his wife.
He’d stood by his critically injured son. And because he was
already a father and grandfather, he wouldn’t care that she
couldn’t have kids. She hadn’t had a period in months, after
all.

Of course, she would have to tell him
everything. Before things went too far, she would have to tell him
that she might not be able to have sex with him, at least not in
the usual way. It was that thought more than anything that held her
back.

No, it was the fear of finding out the truth,
of trying to be close with a man, only to discover that it hurt or
that she couldn’t come. She’d always loved sex, loved getting close
with a man, body and soul. The possibility that she
might
not be able to enjoy sex was far easier to live with than the
certainty that she definitely could not.

Up on the screen, kids dressed in repurposed
drapes were running all over Salzburg singing “Do-Re-Mi.”

She glanced over at Jack again, felt a tug in
her chest. “By the way, you can put your arm around my shoulders if
you’d like.”

“I would like.” Jack raised the armrest that
divided their two seats, reached over, and drew her closer.

She rested her head against his chest, heard
the steady beating of his heart, and felt her blood warm as his
fingers caressed her shoulder. She was contemplating the wisdom of
turning in her seat and kissing him when his cell phone rang.

“Sorry.” He drew it out of his pocket,
glanced down. “It’s Chuck.”

Janet got a bad feeling.

Jack answered. “What’s up?”

His body went tense. He withdrew his arm and
pushed the button to bring his seat upright. “Is he okay? Have you
called for an ambulance or the sheriff? I’m on my way.”

“What is it?” Janet fumbled for the button on
her seat.

He raised the remote control, brought the
lights up, and stopped the movie. “An intruder entered the
stallion’s barn. Luke has been shot.”

“Oh, my God.” She’d been afraid something
like this would happen.

Jack looked furious. “It’s not serious. Luke
fired back, but whoever it was has run off. Chinook wasn’t hurt,
but he’s gone berserk and is kicking the hell out of his
stall.”

She reached for her cane, got to her feet.
“What can I do to help?”

“Stay inside and out of danger.” He started
to move around her.

She blocked his path. “I’m not letting you go
out there alone.”

He cupped her face in his hands, and his gaze
softened. “An armed man is loose on my land somewhere, and I don’t
want you coming into the line of fire. My men and I can handle
it.”

She stepped back, glared up at him. “I’m
better trained than most of your men. Give me a weapon.”

He frowned, a muscle clenching in his jaw.
“All right, but you stick with me. I’m
not
putting a firearm
in your hands, not because I don’t trust you, but because you
haven’t fired one since the day you were shot. Your having a gun
won’t help any of us if you’re not ready to use it.”

His words stung, but she knew what he said
was true. “Fair enough.”

“I’ll meet you in the mudroom.” He walked out
of the theater and headed down the hallway toward his office.

She hurried to the mudroom, picking up a
notepad and pen from the kitchen counter along the way. By the time
she had her boots on, he was there, looking grim-faced, a Colt
M1911 in a shoulder holster. He put on his boots, grabbed a barn
jacket. “Someone just bought himself a world of trouble.”

“He sure has.” She followed Jack outside,
took his arm when he offered it. She could hear the stallion’s
frenzied whinnies and wished she could run, because surely that’s
what Jack wanted to do. “He must be terrified. You should go on
without me.”

“I’m
not
leaving you out here in the
dark by yourself with a gunman around.”

This is why he’d wanted her to stay in the
house. He’d known this would happen, and yet he still refused to
leave her without protection.

“Sorry. I’m slowing you down. I’m just not
used to sitting on the sidelines.”

“I know. We’re almost there.”

Inside the stables, they found chaos. Chuck
stood outside Chinook’s stall trying to calm him, but the stallion
bucked, reared, and lunged, his hooves chipping wood, denting the
walls of his stall, his teeth bared. Luke sat shirtless on a cot,
Burt pressing gauze to his shoulder with gloved hands. A half dozen
of the other men stood around watching, some of them holding
firearms.

Janet lowered her voice to a whisper. “This
is a crime scene. We need to get everyone out of here and lock it
down.”

“We certainly do.” Jack walked over to the
men who were milling about. “There’s nothing you can do here, men.
Head back to the bunkhouse, and get some sleep. The sheriff’s
investigators will probably have some questions for you later. If
we need your help in the meantime, we’ll let you know.”

The respect the men had for Jack was evident.
He projected a calm that seemed to settle everyone. Janet knew that
quality for what it was—leadership.

“You got it, boss.”

“We’ll find this son of a bitch.”

“We’re here for you, Mr. West.”

Jack walked over to Luke. “Burt, why don’t
you walk Luke up to the house and get ready to take him to the
hospital in Scarlet?”

“It was Kip, boss.” Luke looked like he was
fighting not to cry. “I guess he came to finish what he started,
but I stopped him.”

There was stippling on Luke’s face and
chest.

“Who’s Kip?” Janet went to stand beside
Luke.

“He’s a guy who got himself fired a few weeks
back,” Burt said.

A disgruntled employee. A man with a
possible motive.

“Can you tell me what happened?” Janet
asked.

Luke was shaking now, the aftermath of
adrenaline. “I was sleeping, when I heard the door. I looked up and
saw a man standing just inside the barn. I asked who he was and
what he was doing. He walked closer, said his name was Kip. I could
see he was holding a gun. I reached for my pistol, and he shot me.
I fired back, but I guess I missed. He took off running.”