Page 9 of Steers and Stowaways
“I’m sorry we didn’t get him.”
She was silent for so long that he feared she’d hung up on him. “Me, too.”
He wanted to tell her what a close call it had been, but stirring her sympathy wasn’t part of the plan. She needed to stay angry at him so she’d be able to walk away from him when the time came. Just not yet. Not today.
“I’m gonna come up with a new plan and go after him again.”
“Okay.” There was no anger in her voice. No accusation. And that worried him. The sad, defeated version of Mallory made his blood boil at the thugs who’d put her in this position. It made him double down on his determination to do whatever it took to get the sassy, snarky version of her back. Preferably before she lost any more cattle. She cared about every head of livestock she owned. It was part of what made her so special.
“Who’d you tell about where I was going?” He knew the question would make her angry, but he had to know.
“Don’t.” Again, there was no emotion in her voice.
“It was Martina Silva, wasn’t it?” Her chilly silence told him he was pressing a very raw nerve. “Come on, Mal. Work with me. This was what I warned you about when you first tried to hire me, remember? I told you that you wouldn’t like my methods.” But they would pay off like they always did. Eventually.
“The Silvas are like family to me. If you can’t get that through your thick skull…”
“I get it,” he growled. “I do. I just happen to think you deserve better than everything that’s happened to you.” And everyone she was currently surrounding herself with.
“Better than family?” She drew a shaky breath. “Nobody deserves better than that, Tucker.”
“If you say so,” he muttered. The conclusion she’d drawn from his impassioned declaration wasn’t what he’d intended, but he let it slide. Keeping her angry was the best way to prevent her from getting too close to him.
“My life isn’t perfect, Tucker,” she continued in a voice that was fast gaining steam, “but I wouldn’t take back one minute of the joy or the pain. All the bends in the road arewhat make us who we are. If you can’t see that, I don’t know what else to tell you.”
It was at that moment that he fell in love with her. He always knew what she was thinking, always knew where he stood with her, because she never failed to tell him. Their constant bickering was like their private little love language.
She was beautiful inside and out. He adored everything about her—the way she embraced life, the way she trusted so quickly and wholly and without reservation. She held nothing back. It amazed and inspired him. It also terrified him. It made him ache to protect her from all the ugliness in the world, and he would’ve gladly spent the rest of his days doing exactly that.
But he couldn’t. As perfect as she was for him, she would never be his. Whoever succeeded in winning her heart someday would be the luckiest man alive, but it wouldn’t be him.
While he was slogging through emotions he had no right to be slogging through, Mallory started talking again. “Listen, I’ve got a shipment of cattle I need in El Paso by mid-week next week. If they don’t arrive there safely, it could be the end of Evans Ranch, you hear? The money from the sale of my land won’t make it in time to save us.”
His thoughts slammed back into all-business mode. “Who all knows about the shipment?”
“Right now, you and I are the only two people.” She made a snarling sound in the back of her throat. “I handled every part of the sale myself, from the initial negotiation to the final invoice. To be honest, I did it out of an overwhelming need to prove you wrong about the Silvas.”
It took his brain a moment to process where she was going with this. When he got there, hope leaped inside hischest.Good girl!“I’m glad to hear it,” he drawled, forcing himself to keep a normal voice. Unless he was mistaken, she was finally doing her due diligence on the Silva family. By keeping them out of the loop, she was attempting to eliminate them from her list of suspects. This was good. No, it was better than good. It was great!
She wasn’t going to succeed in her newest endeavor, but he didn’t want to make her madder by saying it aloud. She’d find out soon enough just how wrong she’d been about inviting Martina and Dexter Silva to join her staff before properly vetting them. He was guessing she’d allowed her grief to cloud her judgment where they were concerned.
“The company I hired to transport the steers will be the only other party privy to what’s going on,” she informed him flatly. “I’m gonna make a call to Western Overland Trucking as soon as we hang up.”
“Sounds like a plan.” He suddenly knew what his next move was going to be. It would probably require Lonestar Security to get involved, but he had every intention of being on her cattle transport. In disguise, of course. As an extra ranch hand or whatever else he could finagle.
“I’m not looking for your approval, Tucker.” Mallory’s voice was testy. “In case you missed that part, I’m on a mission to prove you wrong.”
“I heard you loud and clear, Miss Evans.”Game on!He never shied away from a challenge.
“And after I prove you wrong, our business relationship will officially be on the rocks.”
“Got it.” He was honestly surprised she hadn’t already given him the ax. He’d certainly given her every reason to. She had no idea how much money he’d spent on making sure the land she’d just sold off hadn’t ended up in thewrong hands. Or how close he’d come to having his lights snuffed out on her behalf today. Technically, on behalf of her missing bull, but same difference. Or how many other risks he’d undoubtedly be taking for her in the coming days.
Come to think of it, he ought to have Dave draw up one more document for him—an updated last will and testament in the event he didn’t survive the next leg of the investigation. Though Dave would call him a nutcase for naming a woman Tucker wasn’t even dating as his primary beneficiary, it wasn’t like he had anyone else to leave his stuff to after he was gone.
He had no family and few friends. Other than his dog, Mallory was the only living creature he truly cared about.
He smirked as he pictured the furry face of his German Shepherd, Braveheart. If anything happened to Tucker in the line of duty, his retired police dog would need a good home to go to as well. Fortunately, he knew a woman who wouldn’t be able to say no to him.
