Page 17 of Some Cowgirls are Worth Protecting

“Suit yourself. But if something else happens, then I’m going to do some poking around.”

There it was again. The way Hudson could so effortlessly throw around how much this place meant to him, even when he didn’t have any ties to it. She squinted at him, wishing she could pin down what made him tick. It couldn’t be as obvious as he was trying to make it seem.

“I’m having my project manager find the best security cameras to set up so we can keep an eye on the perimeter, but they might not get installed until later in the month. So besides you, I guess there’s no one else around to help out.” She looked away, hating how awkward it became to say what she knew she needed to. “I wanted to…” Rachel cleared her throat and shifted in her seat. “Thank you. I appreciate your willingness to help. You don’t even know who bought the place, and you were bound and determined to do something to help.”

“You’re welcome,” he said with a grunt, clearly just as uncomfortable with the conversation.

“I wanted you to know that you will be getting paid. Besides the law, the owner of this property didn’t feel right letting you put in your time and risking your livelihood without compensation.”

He glanced at her but didn’t argue. Good. They had an understanding. And maybe with him staying under her roof, she might actually get some decent sleep.

They sat in that uncomfortable silence for another few minutes until she got up the courage to say her next bit. “I was wondering…”

Hudson lifted his gaze to meet hers. He stared at her with that look of expectation that she was beginning to understand was just part of who he was.

“Would you be willing to take me around the perimeter of the property tomorrow? I haven’t had a chance to take stock of everything that was damaged. I know we have some trees to remove?—”

“You just need a trailer. I cut up most of the wood and it’s been drying. I think I found all the broken fence lines. I wouldn’t be surprised if they come back though, so I would suggest making the rounds a couple times a night.”

“A couple times a night?” Her voice was higher than she’d expected it to be. It came out as more of a squeak than anything else. She shook her head in disbelief. “How are you going to do that?”

“I have a truck,” he said, a slight smirk at one corner of his lips. “We could also get a few of the horses from my ranch and set them up in the barn. If you were serious about getting a dog out here, I know a guy who trains ’em for working with cattle. He lives about an hour away. I could give him a call. They’ve got a sixth sense about things. That would probably be better than cameras anyway.”

She nodded. “That sounds good.”

“What part?”

“All of it.”

He lifted his brows. “You want a couple dogs?”

“What? You don’t think I can handle them?”

Slowly, he straightened, then shook his head. “No offense, but you don’t seem like a dog person to me.”

“So, I’m what? A cat person?”

A smile played at his lips. “Honestly, I thought of you as more of a goldfish person. Maybe beta.”

Rachel didn’t know how to respond. Those fish were beautiful, but by the way he’d said it, she knew it was meant to be a dig. “What’s wrong with beta fish?”

He chuckled. “You can feed ’em and leave them for a week and they’ll be fine. They’re like a cactus for plant-people. Hard to kill, you know?”

Her mouth fell open that time, and she gasped. “That’s so mean!”

Hudson chuckled again as he gathered his plate. “I’ll make a call in the morning. For now, I’m going to head out and check the perimeter. Then on Sunday, we can grab a couple of those horses.” He stood and gave her a short nod. Then he headed for the kitchen.

That wasn’t nearly as bad as she’d thought it would be.

9

Hudson

Hammers pounded against nails into the wooden shelters that were being erected throughout the property. They didn’t look all that natural to Hudson, but he wasn’t the one in charge. All he was supposed to do was watch the guys at work to make sure none of them were doing anything suspicious.

So far, the crews hadn’t triggered any concerns. That didn’t mean Hudson was willing to walk away. Currently, he leaned against a tree several yards away as he watched the men do their work.

The week was coming to a close and they’d managed to finish one, with the second nearing completion. There were supposedly going to be five that would be erected. With two down, Hudson didn’t see a reason why they couldn’t finish their work by the end of the month.

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