Page 13 of Deadly Evidence
“I miss Grandma a lot, too.” Anna brushed a kiss against his forehead, then settled into the chair. “I came in to see if I could get you anything. A sandwich and milk? Some ice cream? Vicente says you wouldn’t eat any supper.”
He lifted a hand in a shaky, dismissive wave. “He...tells me you have a new fella.”
“A newranch hand,yes.”
His faded blue eyes twinkled. “But one that isn’t too hard on the eyes, eh? Someone you knew when you were in college?”
Maybe she didn’t completely trust Brady, but the one true thing she knew about him was that he wasn’t hard on the eyes.
Under different circumstances, he might have caught her attention across a crowded room and made her wish she owned pretty little dresses and knew how to flirt.
But those foolish days of her youth were over. And Coleman was off-limits.
A handsome guy wasn’t worth heartbreak or the risk that her daughter might become attached to a new father figure who wouldn’t stay.
Not even if he was six feet of solid muscle, with warm, sensitive eyes and a deep, masculine voice that sent shivers dancing over her skin. The fact that he was armed, capable, and DEA made her feel safer.
But there was no chance of any future with him. In a few months he’d be gone, and she could never leave.
So how was she going to pretend that Brady and she had once had a brief “relationship”—or deal with his pretense about being interested in her now?
While he was faking it, she’d be trying to ignore her honest attraction to the most intriguing man she’d met in years.
“This guy is...just another cowhand to me,” Anna reached over and took one of Jonah’s hands in hers, regretting her false words. “I’m not looking for romance. You know that.”
“Vicente tells me that you knew this man long ago. Is that true?”
“Not really. I mean—” Here was another lie, and this one lodged in her throat. She swallowed hard. “We went out a couple times, but I didn’t know him well.”
“Maybe he will be the one.” Giving her a knowing smile, he rested his other hand on top of hers and squeezed. “That daughter of yours needs a dad, and you need someone, too. I’m not going to be around forever.”
“Iwantyou to be here forever. But I can run this ranch by myself. I’m doing fine.”
His chuckle gave way to a spasm of raspy coughing that shook his gaunt frame. “That I know,” he agreed after he caught his breath. “From that first pony, you were bent on proving yourself more capable on horseback than anyone else in the county.”
“It’s more than just the horses. I’ve got the cattle coming along well. I increased our herd by twenty percent, and have had a better weight gain on our feeders compared to last year. If the prices come up in the next three months we’ll do okay.”
None of it had been easy.
Gaining acceptance from some of the proud, patriarchal Mexican ranch hands had been a battle, and she’d finally had to let Carlos and Pedro go.
But she’d never shared with Jonah any details about the escalating dangers surrounding the drug traffickers in the area.
He levered himself up against the headboard. “This is Remington land...from fathers to sons...and now...to you. But promise me...” His voice trailed off as he coughed weakly.
Worry slid through her, as it always did when he started talking about dying. He’d always been her beloved grandfather. But he’d also been her business partner and her best friend ever since she’d left college to help run the ranch after her father died.
Life without Jonah’s love, advice, and companionship was unimaginable. “You’re not going anywhere—you’ll be stronger in a few months.”
He rested against the headboard with his eyes closed for so long that she thought he’d fallen asleep.
But then he rolled his head toward her and gave her a sad smile. “Don’t...hang on to memories. If this place goes under, don’t look back. Find something else. A new start.”
“That won’t happen. We’re going to come through this fine, and you’re going to be around to see it. Understand? You aren’t a quitter, and I’m not one either.”
The heritage of her grandfather and the generations before were all around her.
In the thick adobe walls of this old house.
