"Taken care of, why don't you call him and see where he's at? I have to get up early tomorrow."
"Caleb, don't worry. He'll be here." Ally smiled, flattered at his concern. "Oh, see? He just drove up. No, wait a moment. It's the man from Verizon. What is he doing here so late? Caleb?" The line went dead. Ally turned as the doorbell rang and decided not to answer it. Living in New York had given her a sixth sense and this didn't feel right. Talk about a day from hell.
"What are you doing here?" Caleb asked the service man.
"I forgot one of my tools and I couldn't find it at my last job, so I figured I had left it here."
"Did you call first?" demanded Caleb.
"Uh, no." The man started to squirm.
"Tell me what it is and I'll go look for it." Caleb turned to the door and yelled. "Ally, it's me, Caleb. Open the door."
"Caleb?" Ally slowly opened the door thinking maybe this person had a gun trained on Caleb, but no. Angry, yes, but that didn't surprise her.
"He says he left one of his tools here by the television upstairs." Caleb pointed to the repairman. "Keep the door closed while I look for it."
Ally nodded mutely as she watched him go upstairs. She really didn't mean to cause so much trouble and probably by now, Caleb would chase her out of town. Caleb came down with a wrench in his hand, muttering the whole time.
"Oldest trick in the book," he said in passing to Ally. "Oh, I forgot my tools so I have to come back. God knows what he planned on doing with you." He wrenched open the door and handed it to the waiting repairman. "Next time, call first." He slammed the door shut while Ally looked on speechless.
"What?"
"He wanted you, that's what. Tomorrow, I want you to call Verizon and report him. Now where is the gas company?"
"Obviously, not here, Caleb, I feel so badly all of this has happened. Here you're staying up late; you haven't done your work today and now this."
"You're right. I am nuts, Ally. What is about you that drives a man crazy?" He took off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. "Is there any more of that whiskey?"
"What do you mean I drive you crazy?" asked Ally.
"There is never a dull moment with you. That's all." Caleb smiled. "Now, about that drink?"
Sure." Ally went and fixed a drink for him. "I'll call and see where he's at." She made the call and did not like the answer. "He said since I have the gas turned off, I'm the lowest priority. Another leak had been reported and he had to tend to. He's on his way now."
"Why wouldn't it surprise me with you?" He sat down on the couch and just stared at Ally.
"Can I get you anything else? I have chips." Caleb's stare made Ally uneasy.
"Tomorrow?" asked Caleb. "No more problems? I have work to do on the ranch."
"Nope, I promise. After today, you won't see me again," swore Ally.
"Damn straight, I won't." He studied Ally again. "A man would have a heart attack being married to you."
"Why, what do you mean? My father survived and look how long he's worried about me. He taught me how to handle controversy." said Ally.
"No. I'm sorry I said that." Caleb got up and sat next to Ally on the couch feeling badly. "You've had a bad day."
"He's here," said Ally as she jumped up from the couch. Sitting too close to Caleb made her so aware of his masculinity and he thought she caused nothing but trouble.
"Sorry this has taken so long," said the agent as he walked in the door. "Where are the leaks?"
"I'll show you," said Caleb, setting down his drink. Ally walked through the house behind Caleb taking notes of everything that was discussed. It lasted only minutes. Thrilled to have the house back to normal again, Ally smiled at Caleb, who finished off his drink and once again his gaze lingered on Ally. "Now, this is it, right?"
"You won't hear from me again, I swear." Ally made the sign of the cross.
"I find that hard to believe," laughed Caleb. He walked over to Ally, took her face between his hands and kissed her forehead. "Goodnight."
Stunned, Ally slid down the door as Caleb closed it. Why did Caleb kiss her? Oh, Lord.
She stumbled off to bed and cracked open her window for some fresh air. Ally fell into an exhausted sleep thinking that nothing could wake her up.
Wrong. At four-thirty in the morning still dark outside, Ally heard the strangest noise. She sat up in bed in disbelief. A rooster? What in the world? She sank back into her bed an put her pillow over her head to deafen the sound. It didn't work. As she lay there, thoughts of what Caleb's kisses would do to her kept her awake longer than she wanted.
****
"Something ain't right with the cattle." Jeb, Caleb's right-hand man, informed him. "They're moving slow and some of them won't get up. I'm calling Doc Smith to come over and take a look at them. I just noticed it yesterday."
"I'll ride over there and check," said Caleb, feeling guilty he had spent all day over at Ally's not paying any attention to his chores.
"I can show you," said Jeb as he saddled his horse. Caleb waited impatiently. He barely glanced at Ally's way as he went riding past her place, his mind on his cattle. He pulled up and saw what Jeb meant. Whipping out his cell phone, he called the vet.
"There's some missing, too," commented Caleb as he looked at the herd. The two of them got off their horses and walked around the pasture looking for any signs of trouble.
"Caleb, come here and look at this." Jeb showed Caleb the fence where it had been cut. They then smelled a strange sickly sweet odor on the ground. Jeb looked up at Caleb with a pained look. "Antifreeze. Someone poisoned our cattle."
"Damn." Caleb felt as if someone had kicked him in the gut. "Jeb, do me a favor and check the other pastures while I wait for the authorities." This had never happened to him before. Determined to find this low-down son-of-a-bitch, Caleb jumped on his horse to track them down and kill them.
****
True to her word, Ally did not bother Caleb at all since she had taken up his time yesterday. Granted, she needed some help, but she would wait until Kat came over this afternoon. The man had come to put the fence in for Tank, who wasn't too pleased with his new collar. The yard looked unusual with the brightly colored flags reminding Tank where he couldn't go.
Ally checked up on him periodically and one time she noticed Caleb and another man riding in the pasture at breakneck speed, with the dust billowing behind them. She hoped things were all right. Being inquisitive, she went upstairs to the bedroom which overlooked the pasture. Ally thought it odd she saw several teenagers in the field. It looked like they were holding beer cans. Did Caleb have any children? She didn't know. It didn't look right, though.
Ally ran downstairs to get her phone to take some pictures. When she got back upstairs, she saw them not only drinking but smoking a joint. They were coming closer to her property and eyeing her house. For a moment, she didn't know what to do. Then her New York persona, kicked in. She took their picture and called nine-one-one. Fortunately, Tank smelled trouble as one of the teens tried to climb over the fence. Tank's one-hundred and ten pounds of pure dog lunged for the boy's leg with snarling teeth. Frightened, the boy fell over backwards into the pasture and he ran off with the others.
Ally watched as the squad cars showed up on Caleb's property and she ran down to talk to them. Only problem appeared to be scaling the fence. Thinking quickly, she ran into her garage and got a step ladder and ran back outside to the fence while Tank barked incessantly. Caleb rode up and joined the police as he spotted Ally.
"Ally, what happened?" Caleb picked her up with one fell swoop and brought her down to the other side of the fence holding her tightly against his body. Hesitant to let him go, Ally sighed with pleasure. She could get used to this.
Startled, she tried to gain her balance after Caleb had let go. Oh, did that ever feel good. Caleb definitely ranked a twelve on a scale of one to ten. "I saw you riding really fast and I wondered what happened. So I went upstairs to get a better view and that's when I saw these teenagers." She stopped and looked at Caleb."Do you have teenage sons?"
"No, I don't have any children. Ally, where were they?" Caleb studied her intensely.
"They were back here." She pointed to the left of her property. "They were drinking beer and smoking a joint. One of them tried to climb over my fence, but Tank scared them away. Look, I even took their picture." Ally handed Caleb her phone.
"Do you recognize any of them?" Caleb asked the officers. "My fence has been cut and my herd poisoned. If these kids did it, there's hell to pay."
"Oh, Caleb." gasped Ally as the realization hit her. "That's terrible."
"I think we do," responded the officer as he looked at Ally. "We need your phone."
"It's the least I could do," murmured Ally, touched by the tender way in which Caleb looked at her. Ally waited while they uploaded the pictures from her phone.
"What's going to happen with Caleb's cattle?" asked Ally.
"The vet has to determine the damage and will put down the ones who are really sick." The officer shook his head. "Then they'll have to clean out that pasture before he can let any more in. We're talking a lot of money. You were really thinking when you took their picture. It would be something kids would do."
Chapter Six
"Tell me what happened," asked Kat as she sat at Ally's kitchen table. "My God, Ally. You've only been here three days and look at all the excitement you've caused."
"Poor Caleb, I wish I could do something for him. The officer told me Caleb will lose animals and money. How could those kids be so irresponsible?" Ally shook her head in disgust.
"Kids don't think. Probably, the best thing you could do is to lay low and don't bother Caleb."
"I tried not to," protested Ally. "I've decided to get a security system. What if those kids come back? I mean I'm glad I have Tank, but Kat, they just hopped over the fence. I thought being out in the middle of nowhere, I'd be safe, but I was wrong."
"Why don't I have any trouble? People leave their cars and houses unlocked all the time. I swear, Ally. Trouble follows you."