Page 6 of Rescued By the Mountain Man Cowboy
"Luke."
"She's running from something. I can see it on her."
"Yeah."
"And?"
He tells me the cliff notes. Portland. Office. Saw something she shouldn’t have, called the one lawyer friend she knows who happens to live on this ranch. He tells me Madison's working the legal angles. Tells me the cops aren't an option until they know who's dirty. Tells me that Madison was about to hire some private security firm out of the city, some guys in suits with earpieces who would've stood around her looking like they were guarding the president.
"And I said no." Gabe's voice is low. "I said we got somebody here."
"Gabe."
"You."
"Goddamn it."
I pull my hat off and scrub a hand through my hair. The porch boards creak under my weight as I move to the other side of it, putting distance between us, because if I stay too close, I'm gonna say something I can't take back.
"I'm a ranch hand."
"You were a Ranger-qualified Captain."
"Was."
"Doesn't stop being true just because you stopped wearing the uniform."
I turn and look at him. "I came here so I wouldn't have to be that guy anymore. You know that. You're the only one who knows that."
"I know."
"Then why."
"Because I trust you." He says it flat. "And because some slick private contractor from the city is gonna stick out on thisranch like a sore thumb, and whoever's looking for her is gonna find her twice as fast. She needs to disappear. You can make her disappear. Madi and I head out to Eden Ridge later today to help my brother, Caleb, set up for his big proposal to Harper, and I'm not leaving this girl with somebody I don't know."
I breathe out through my nose.
"How long?"
"We’ll only be gone for a day and a half. Two days max. But Madi’s going to need at least two weeks to figure this out. Maybe less. She thinks she's got a line on wrapping it faster."
"Where's she gonna stay?"
"Your cabin."
I laugh. Short. Bitter. "My cabin."
"It's the farthest from the distillery. Nobody goes out there except you. No road signs. No reason for anyone to drive that deep unless they already know it exists."
"And my brother."
"Hunter's not out here."
"Yeah, well." I rub my jaw. "That's a whole separate conversation."
Gabe's voice softens. "Luke. I wouldn't ask if there was another way. A better way."
I look out past the porch. Past the paddock and the long sweep of pasture and the pines rising up against the foothills. I picked this place because it's quiet. Because when the nightmares come, nobody hears me. Because my cabin is one bedroom and a cot in the small spare, and a stove I cook for one on, and I like it that way. I like knowing where every mug is. I like that the boots by the door are all mine. I like waking up to the sound of nothing.
