A Man Of Honor

It was as simple as that.

“SEÑOR COWBOY IS LEAVING.” Salvador put down his field glasses and looked at Rossi.

“He is guarding her.”

Salvador pulled a warm knit cap over his bald head. “She would have been upset last night when he went to her with the bad news about his brother.” He sent his companion a shrewd look. “It is all proceeding according to plan.”

“I hope so. I don’t want to freeze out here for days. Killing them both would be easier.”

“We won’t have to be cold much longer. If she is going to walk to the old woman’s house, she will be in the open and that is so easy, like—” Salvador snapped his fingers “—like that.”

“It’s daylight,” Rossi protested.

“What’s the difference? If he is out with his cows, he cannot hear her. The old woman would not be any trouble, either.”

“Could be yes, could be no.”

“Come on.” Salvador was impatient with Rossi’s lack of awe for his brilliant plan, which so far was working like a clock. Smooth, unhurried—and on time. They could snatch the girl and drag her out of the country quickly.

That would bring the enemy known as the Hunter out of hiding. Salvador smiled grimly to himself as he pulled on brown leather gloves. Or a brother for a brother would be a fair payment.

All he needed was the woman to bring the Hunter into the open again. The woman might not betray her lover willingly, but he could think of ways to make her do what he wanted.

CORD DIDN’T EVEN MAKE IT past the MP at the gate.

“I’m sorry, sir,” the regretful MP told him. “I can’t let you in without instructions.”

Cord ground his teeth. The kid was all of twenty-two, and this morning Cord was feeling every day of his thirty years. This young, crisply uniformed MP knew nothing about war while Cord had a war waging inside him. “Can’t you call someone? My brother’s old CO, Col. John West? I just want some answers. I only want to know if he’s dead or alive, for crying out loud. Is that too much to ask?”

“Try calling for an appointment, sir,” he said respectfully. But firmly.

Cord sighed, realizing he’d gotten as far as he was going to.

“I’m just doing my job, sir. I hope you find out what you need to know.”

The MP’s eyes held concern for an instant. Just doing my job. Well, Hunt had just been doing his job when he disappeared without a trace. And Cord was doing his job taking care of his brother’s pregnant girlfriend. He sighed through the pain in his heart, nodded at the MP, then circled his truck around to the exit. He couldn’t fault the MP for doing such a conscientious job. Hopefully, the military would be just as diligent in turning up his brother’s whereabouts.

All he could do was return home and place a few more phone calls. By then, he trusted he’d have figured out a way to convince Tessa that she was better off under his roof until Hunt was found.

THE TRUCK LEFT the base while the MP watched, his eyes no longer sympathetic but focused. He reached for the phone and dialed a number. When the call was answered, he recognized the voice. “Colonel?”

“John West speaking.”

“My orders are to call you if anyone should ask to see you. Civilian Cord Greer was just here. He is trying to locate his brother.”

He heard a sigh at the other end of the line. “Why?”

“Said he wanted to know if his brother is dead or alive, sir.”

“That will be all, Lieutenant. I’ll take care of this matter from here.”

THE LAST THING TESSA expected was to find herself in a salon chair under Nan’s ministering fingers.

“You need a day of pampering,” Nan told her firmly.

“I need a job,” Tessa protested as her employer gently pressed her head back into a sink.

With determination, Nan picked up the squirter and began rinsing Tessa’s hair. “Nothing like a new do to a lift a gal’s spirits.”

“My spirits are fine. It’s my purse that’s lighter than air. I really need a job, Nan.

“You’ve got a job. Relax.” Nan kneaded her scalp with soothing digs. “You’re too keyed up.” She leaned down to whisper in Tessa’s ear, “And stress isn’t good for the baby.”

Tessa gave up and closed her eyes. If she had to be a prisoner of Nan’s interference, at least it was in a beauty-salon chair.

I wonder if Cord likes my hair so long. Her eyes snapped open at the stray thought.

“All this blond hair is like sunshine in winter,” Nan told her. “Wasn’t that a poetic turn of phrase?”

Tessa closed her eyes again, unwilling to reward the woman’s romantic penchant.

“Relax,” Nan commanded her in a firm voice. She massaged the skin behind Tessa’s ears and above her neck.

Tessa could feel herself slowly succumbing. The languor was magical and enticing. What would it hurt to enjoy this for just a moment?

It would hurt. Because you like the idea of looking pretty for Cord—and that’s wrong.

“Men go crazy for long blond hair,” Nan stated blithely. “Yours has natural highlights. I bet Cord will just about drop his teeth when I get finished with you. You’re going to be sexy, gal!”

Tessa struggled not to jerk her head out of the basin and leap away from Nan’s mind reading. “It doesn’t do me much good to be sexy when the father of my child is…in another part of the world, does it?” She made her tone purposefully forbidding to force Nan onto the proper track. Away from Cord.

Nan hummed benignly as she scrubbed. Tessa wanted to snap at her to stop, to quit being so bent on seeing her fall for Cord, but she set her teeth and refused to encourage the woman any further. Any protest she offered would no doubt become ammunition for Nan’s cause.

“Now, then. You’re as clean as a fresh canvas. Let me help you,” Nan said, easing her up from the basin, “and get you over there, then I’ll get started. When I’m done with you, Tessa, no man will be able to resist you.”

Great, Tessa thought. Unfortunately, the only man who should resist her was the only one who would lay eyes on Nan’s handiwork.

“Look at these puppies!” a lady called as she came into the salon. “I wish you’d look at the puppies my Bertha is about done nursing!”

Several women peered into the basket. “Oh, they’re adorable,” someone said.

Tessa read a magazine and concentrated on Tom Cruise pushing a stroller with his wife beside him. The picture of domestic harmony made her a little envious. Would Hunt want to push their baby’s stroller? She found it difficult to imagine where Hunt was concerned.

Not so difficult to imagine it with Cord.

“Here, Tessa.” Nan’s voice in her ear suddenly alerted Tessa to the object being placed upon her gown-protected lap. “This is what you need to cheer you up!”

The black-and-white-spotted puppy went back to sleep in her lap as if it hadn’t been removed from its bed in the basket. “I can’t keep a dog,” Tessa said though she desperately wanted to pat the chubby animal. “Take it away, Nan.”

“Nonsense.” Nan ignored her. “A dog will give you some of that stability you’ve been searching for. You can start building a home with such stability.”

“With a man who isn’t mine and a dog that isn’t mine.” Tessa’s voice was wry as she relented and picked up the puppy. Its eyes were closed, but its plump body was warm and soft.

“They could be—if you take them. Sometimes we have to reach out in life to say yes to the things we want. Nobody’s going to shove security down your throat, Tessa. You have to accept that you want it before you can have it.”

The puppy sleepily opened its eyes, staring into Tessa’s gaze with absolute trust. With absolute patience.

“I wish you’d look at what a fine pup my Bertha had. You won’t find patience and calm in just any old dog. Bertha took such good care of her entire litter that they are all like that!” the owner boasted.

“I don’t think I’m up for housebreaking,” Tessa said, her tone uncertain as she tried to think of rational excuses to say no to this shaggy dog that appeared to have all the signs of becoming one big Border collie. “You’ll probably want to go out at night. I bet your owner is overly touting your serene disposition. Are you an every-hour-on-the-hour needy hound that’s going to keep me up all night?”

“Give you practice. We’ll take him,” Nan said, taking the woman by her elbow and leading her to the front of the beauty shop.

Tessa saw Nan give the woman some money. Unhappily, she looked back into the puppy’s troubled eyes. “You just cost me money I don’t have.”

The puppy yawned, its tongue pink and tiny.

“Oh, dear. You are cute.” Reluctantly, she gave herself up to the dog’s charm and held his warmth under her chin. Breathing deeply, she smelled the warm puppy fragrance. What if it was all that easy? What if the dreams of a secure future for her child were so near her grasp that all she had to do was reach out—then hold on to them the way she was holding on to this bundle of fur? She settled the puppy on her lap, and it curled itself up next to the roundness of her stomach. A baby and a puppy.

Parts of a family. But not the whole picture she had in her dreams.

SALVADOR PEERED INTO the bedroom window where the woman obviously slept. Her robe and gown were neatly laid on the bed in the sparsely furnished room.

“What if she does not stay here again?” Rossi asked.

Salvador shook his head, memorizing the location of the furniture in the room and the placement of the window. “She will. He will not let her go. He is suspicious, I think.”

Salvador enjoyed knowing he was getting to the man in the black cowboy hat. He was like one of the villains he’d seen in many American movies. The bad guys always wore black hats. Salvador was not the bad guy. The cowboy was, because his brother had gotten Salvador’s brother killed. It was a matter of honor to avenge his brother’s death.

“That could mean trouble if he is suspicious of us.”

“No,” Salvador said softly. “That’s good. It means he will keep her here where we can keep an eye on her just like he does.”

Chapter Four

Cord felt as if the rug had been jerked out from under him for the second time that day when he walked inside his house and saw Tessa.

She was beautiful. Like a model, only better, because she was real and standing in his den.

Location was a problem. He wanted to carry her to his bedroom and pull her jeans off so fast the zipper would split. Her sunshiny hair was pulled up into an elegant fall of curls that curtained her shoulders in gold. It was a stunning hairdo, but it made him think about removing whatever was holding her hair so he could run his fingers through it to his heart’s content. That was not a possibility.

The squirming black-and-white puppy in her arms was actually a surprising relief. It gave him something to focus on besides Tessa.

“Is that a stray?”

“No.” She looked down at the puppy, patting it with adoration. The puppy licked her chin, enthusiastically returning the affection.

“Nan decided I needed a dog. And a new do. She said a dog and a new do would…”

She hesitated and Cord waited. But he already knew what Nan was trying to do. In her kind way, she meant to comfort Tessa for the perceived lack of husband in her life, the lack of a father for her child. Nan didn’t know that Hunt might return if he could. If something hadn’t gone terribly wrong. Cord made himself smile, but it felt more like a grimace. “Make a new woman out of you. I know. She’s always trying to make a new man out of me.”

Her eyes watched him as she considered his words. “When did she take it upon herself to become your guardian?”

That jolted him. He’d never thought of his elderly neighbor in that way—he was the one who did the guarding. “Nan and Mom were friends. They swapped newspapers in the morning, shared a cup of coffee, talked about the things two ranch girls have in common. When Mom died, Nan continued the paper swap with me.”

“It must be hard to lose a friend,” Tessa said softly. “Perhaps she feels that to break the routine would be to say goodbye for good.”

“I can understand that.” He reached out a hand to cover the pup’s soft back, feeling the delighted wriggle of loose puppy skin. “She still has a key, so sometimes on Sunday nights I come home to a loaf of banana bread baking or a stew in the Crock-Pot. Always warms me up.” He suddenly met Tessa’s gaze over the puppy, and she hugged the dog closer to her protectively. “I got a lot of dead ends today,” he admitted.

“We knew it wouldn’t be easy to find out anything.” Her blue eyes widened with soft inquiry. “Would you please take me home?”

His heart dropped into his stomach. “I will if that’s what you want.”

“I think it’s for the best.” She swallowed, snuggling the dog to her chin. “I have my furry friend here for companionship. So…I’ll be fine.”

He knew that. Tessa would be fine no matter what. She was a survivor. “What did you name it?”

“Her name should be Spoiled Rotten. But I’ve decided to call her Eleanor.”

“Eleanor?” He choked back his startled laugh of surprise.

She peered at him narrowly. “Are you laughing at Eleanor and me?”

“Absolutely not. Wouldn’t dream of laughing at two such beautiful ladies.”

She glanced down at Eleanor. “Don’t say that,” she whispered.

“Why not?” He lifted her chin with two fingers and a thumb. “You are.”

“Cord—” she pulled away and stepped back a pace “—I know you’re sincere, and there’s nothing a woman would rather hear more than she’s beautiful. But I don’t want to complicate matters. The worst thing in the world that could happen to me at this point is if I found myself in love with you. And I could, I think, fall for you,” she added, her voice soft and haunted. “I’m afraid of what would happen if I did. I would never know if I was so vulnerable I jumped at what you’re offering. So please, don’t tell me I’m beautiful because I’m having a real tough time right now.”

Her eyes filled with sparkling tears. Cord’s heart seemed to shatter. “I understand” was all he said.

“Do you?”

“More than you can probably believe.” He closed his eyes. “But stay another night, Tessa, until I’ve got a better idea whether the coast is clear or not. The morning might bring some word of Hunt.”

“Do you really want it to?”

“Yes,” he told her definitively. “My feelings for you won’t change, but I’d have my brother back, and that’s more than I’ve got right now.”

She stared into his eyes. “You’re a good man, Cord Greer. You put everybody else first.”

“Not always,” he countered. “Not always. Tonight, I’m putting myself first. Stay,” he asked again, his voice husky.

She nodded once, almost in slow motion, as if she wanted to change her mind even before she agreed to his request. “If you promise to get some sleep tonight.”

“Deal. But you have to make me some more toast in the morning.”

“You didn’t eat it.” She refused to smile at him.

“That’s why I need a second chance.” He really needed a first chance with her, but fate apparently didn’t mean for that to happen.

“Okay,” she agreed shyly. “But I can’t rely upon your charity for much longer.”

“Tessa, the last thing I regard you as is charity.”

“It is if you’re eating my cooking with a smile on your face.”

He laughed, taking Eleanor from her hands. “Eleanor, eh? All right. Ellie.” Come on, you crazy dog, with your big brown eyes and sweet temperament. You managed to get into her life a whole lot quicker than I ever did, you lucky pooch. “Let’s see how strong you are when you’re confronted with cold snow.”

Tessa followed behind, watching the pup skid on the icy patches. It kept her from focusing on the tall man in front of her, his back turned so she could stare at the broadness of his shoulders, the dark, well-trimmed hair just showing under the cowboy hat. Hunt was every bit as handsome, just not as filled out with corded muscle from working cattle and riding every day. She forced her mind to stop the comparison. It would do no good to start dwelling on how sexy this cowboy looked.

“Nan mentioned that she likes to walk in the woods out here. I suppose that’s safe for her to do?” Tessa didn’t think she’d go very far in the densely grown forest of black and gray bare trunks and branches reaching up into the winter-white sky with gnarly fingers. Shorter skirts of pine trees fringed the taller, naked trees, obstructing the view. It somehow seemed lonely beyond the open field, the woods an overgrown encroachment.

“Safe enough. Nan’s a big fan of stargazing, and she likes to do some bird-watching.”

“I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to find my way out. Or that I’d step on a snake.”

He chuckled, shooting her a wry glance. “I’m sure there are snakes, but they’re more afraid of you than you are of them.”

“I don’t think so!”

He grinned now. “Poison ivy in season would be more likely to get you. But you’d find your way out of there soon enough. Hunt and I used to play in the woods all the time, so Dad marked the trees well. Dad even built us a tree house where we used to bring our knapsacks of lunch. Mom used to call us home by banging on the triangle.” A soft reminiscent laugh escaped him. “One night, we insisted we had to sleep in the tree house, and we carried out sleeping bags and a lantern. Hunt and I spent the whole time telling each other ghost stories, each one more fantastic and scary than the last. In the middle of the night, Dad came out, silently climbed the ladder, then jumped onto our sleeping bags roaring like a mad bear. You never heard two boys yell so loud.”

His thoughts were far away now, dwelling on a tree house only he could remember, and Tessa felt a sharp twinge of sadness for the happy memories that might be all he had left of his brother. She had known Hunt as a lover in their adult years and as a schoolmate in their younger years, but Hunt and Cord shared a special, deep bond of brotherhood. They were very close, despite the fact that they’d chosen very different life paths.

“Did you stay outside the rest of the night?” She tilted her head to look up into his eyes.

“Heck, yeah.”

She raised one eyebrow. “Very brave of you boys.”

“Not really. We made Dad sleep with us for the rest of the night. At the crack of dawn, Mom brought us biscuits to eat and our fishing poles. She said she could hear our banshee yelling clear to the next county, and if Dad was going to scare the pants off her boys, he could darn well take us fishing to make up for it.”

Tessa loved the story. It was everything about family she dreamed of but lacked. “Take me out to the tree house, Cord.”

He looked at her. “Maybe someday.”

She sensed his reluctance but wasn’t sure of the cause. Just the same, she didn’t push. They were uncomfortable enough with their situation as it was.

“You’ll want to keep an eye on Ellie, though. I wouldn’t go too far into the woods where an owl might mistake your pup for a snack.”

“Cord! Are you teasing me?”

He smiled but shook his head quite seriously. “No. There are lots of owls. They’ve been known to grab a bite during the day, so you’d best keep an eye on her.”

“I’m getting her a leash! We can start leash training today! No owl is carrying off my dog.”

Cord nodded. “That might be the best idea.”

Ellie didn’t seem inclined to do much walking in the snow. Mainly she hovered by their feet, sniffing.

“The last thing I need is a dog,” Tessa murmured. “But once I held her, I knew my heart was lost.”

Cord tightened his jaw, his eyes on Tessa.

Suddenly, Ellie looked toward the woods. She gave a sharp, interested bark. It wasn’t very loud, but it was enough to make Tessa smile with joy.

“Gosh! That’s the first time she’s made a peep!” Tessa gazed proudly at the puppy. “I didn’t even know what she sounded like.”

In the next instant, Ellie was off toward the wooded acreage, her paws scrambling to keep up with where her head wanted to go.

“Ellie!” Tessa ran after her.

Cord hollered, “Ellie!” overtaking Tessa, but he was no match for the puppy as it disappeared into the trees. Night was falling, shrouding the thicket in shadows. It was impossible to see the black-and-white puppy anymore. They could barely hear her tiny barks.

“I’ll go get her,” Cord said. “Stay here.”

“No. I’ll go with you.”

“You don’t know your way around, Tessa. You’ll definitely get lost, and that’ll be two of you I’ll have to search for.”

She stared at him stubbornly. “Cord Greer, it’s my dog. Nobody appointed you my guardian, and my dog isn’t a duty you raised your hand for. Either you take me with you, or—”

“Or what?”

“Or…I go in looking for her as soon as you’re out of sight.” She raised her chin. “She’d come to me quicker than you. She barely knows you. I’m not sure she would trust you.”

“Trust isn’t what she’s thinking about right now. She smelled a squirrel or a skunk and she’s gone investigating. But that’s no reason for you to be out in the cold, Tessa. Her curiosity will be over soon enough. Stay here.”

His tone brooked no argument. Tessa knew that all of Cord’s arguments made sense, far more sense than her running into a forest where she could easily lose her way. “All right. But I still think you need me to help you search.”

“One little puppy doesn’t need a search-and-rescue team. I can handle it. Trust me.”

“I do,” she said softly. “I’ll wait right here.”

He nodded. “If I don’t come back in ten minutes, go home and get warm. Put on a kettle of tea.”

She pulled her jacket collar more closely to her neck and tucked her hands into her cuffs so her hands joined beneath the fabric, warming each other.

“Don’t be stubborn. Go get warm.”

“I will,” she promised.

“If she comes back to the house, ring the triangle.”

“Okay. Hurry and find her before an owl—”

He touched a finger to her lips. “I’ll be right back.”

A second later, he had disappeared into the gloomy, leafless woods. Tessa held her breath, biting her lower lip, and told herself that Cord had tramped through the trees many times. Even Nan was accustomed to walking in the woods.

It was safe for a man and a lost puppy.

THE PUP GAVE A LITTLE YIP when its scruff was grasped securely. She was airborne, her paws scrambling helplessly before she was tucked inside a jacket, zipped securely against a warm chest. The smell of the man was not one she was used to, so she struggled, but there was no hope of escaping.

“Why did you do that?” Salvador demanded. “We do not need a damn dog.”

“He’s cute,” Rossi answered. “And warm. He is not hurting anything. I’ll let him go when we are finished here.” With one finger, he rubbed the soft muzzle poking out of his jacket.

“Shh!” Salvador listened intently. From somewhere, a man’s voice called urgently, followed by a whistle meant to entice a dog to return. “Señor Vaquero.”

“Sí. Guess he is looking for you.” Rossi touched the tip of the dog’s cold nose. “But you are not going anywhere.”

The crackling of leaves under heavy boots silenced Rossi and Salvador. Beneath the tree house, they could hear the big man’s steps halt.

Salvador winked at Rossi, picking up a large rock that he used to jab his cigarettes out against. But Rossi shook his head, frowning.

Salvador shrugged, letting his hand relax though he still held the rock. Rossi tended to think his actions through, while Salvador could be impulsive, sometimes to his detriment. He felt very impulsive right now. His hand twitched. Rossi ever so slightly shook his head again.

The footsteps moved on. The cowboy headed south, calling for the puppy.

When they could no longer hear him, Salvador put the rock down. “Why not? It would have made me happy.”

“Because the girl is waiting. She will send for help if he doesn’t return soon, and we will never be able to snatch her and get away before the police come.”

Salvador nodded reluctantly.