Tall, Dark, Texas Ranger / Once Upon A Christmas Eve: Tall, Dark, Texas Ranger

“I can’t ask you to do that. It’s my mother’s choice to rent to you.” She put down her fork. “You’re right, Mr. Cooper, you haven’t done anything to cause my rude behavior. Please accept my apology.”

“I’ll accept it under one condition.”

She waited.

“You better start calling me Coop, or I’ll have to call you Principal Perry.”

She fought a smile and lost. “Okay, Coop. What brought you to Kerry Springs?”

“Plain and simple, a job.”

He watched as Lilly began to eat and that helped him relax a little. “I’m from El Paso, Texas. Born and raised there.”

“Any family?”

He shook his head. “Not much. My mother took off years ago. My father left long before that, before my birth. I had a half brother, but he was killed a few years back. He left a wife and a baby daughter behind.” They were the reason why he wanted Delgado. And he was going to get the bastard. “I keep in touch with them.”

She looked concerned. “I’m sorry. How did your brother die?”

“He was a police officer shot in the line of duty.”

He pushed his plate away and began to stand. “I should get back to work.”

Lilly reached across the table and touched his arm, causing him to pause. The warmth and softness caused a reaction. His throat grew dry and his gut knotted in need. Something he hadn’t felt in a long time.

“Is there anything I can do to help you?”

A dozen different pictures shot through his mind. He never thought of a school principal being sexy, but that was until he ran into Lilly Perry.

“I wouldn’t mind if you’d keep some iced tea handy.”

“That’s all I can do for you?”

She didn’t want to know what he wanted her to do for him. She’d throw him off the property.

“That’s all for now.”

Two hours later, Coop moved his work area to the shaded porch. It wasn’t much cooler, but at least the sun wasn’t frying his back.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

Coop glanced down to see Robbie behind him. “I’m trying to get your grandmother’s house ready to paint.”

“Oh,” the boy said. “Did she say you can do it?”

“Yes, and she’s happy about it.”

The kid kicked the floor with the toe of his shoe. “Can I help?”

Coop got off the stepladder. “Well, that depends on how hard you want to work. I don’t like quitters.”

“I’m not a quitter.”

“Good, ‘cause I pay a good wage and I want the best workers.”

Those big eyes widened. “You’re gonna pay me?”

“Sure.” He looked around. “I could use someone to sweep up all the paint chips.”

“I can do that,” he announced.

“Okay, you’ll need a broom and dustpan. And I have a trash can at the side of the house.”

Robbie took off, calling out, “Be right back.”

Smiling, Coop went back to work, but was quickly distracted when a work truck pulling a trailer stopped at the curb. The vehicle had the lettering Perry’s Landscaping on the side door.

Coop felt the rush of adrenaline. “Okay, it’s time to do my real job,” he murmured and climbed off the ladder.

Two Hispanic men got out of the truck and took the mower from the back of the trailer. It looked like they were here for the yard service. Then he spotted the driver as he climbed out.

Also Hispanic, he was above average height with a slender build and thick coal-black hair. He might have been dressed in a work uniform, but Coop doubted he was a day laborer.

He took a closer look at the man. Since he’d studied Delgado’s actions for a few years, he recognized this man’s familiar features. And this guy could be his twin.

And it looked like he was going to get the opportunity to speak with him as the worker walked to the porch.

“Hey, man, are you painting the house?”

“You could say that.”

“Good.” He studied Coop for a second or two. “Rey Santos.”

Coop didn’t offer his hand. “Noah Cooper.”

“Where’s your crew?”

“You’re lookin’ at it.”

Santos frowned. “You need men? I can get you some workers. At a good price, too.”

He bet he could. “No, thanks, I work solo.”

The two studied each other when Robbie came back with the broom and pan. He stopped on seeing Santos.

“This guy here is all the help I need,” Coop said.

Santos nodded. “Is Mrs. Perry around?”

“No!” Robbie said. “She had to leave.”

Coop could see the boy’s fear. Why? Had Santos been bothering the family?

“I’ll catch her later.”

Robbie waited until the guy left the porch, then went to Coop. “What is he doing here?”

“Doesn’t he work for the lawn service?” He knelt down in front of the boy. “Is something wrong, Robbie? Did that man do something to you?”

The boy shook his head. “No, he yelled at my mom once. She told him to go away. And a long time ago he worked with my dad. He got mad when I was there with my dad.”

Coop hated to pump the boy for information, but he didn’t have a choice. “Is it a secret?”

“Kinda. I promised my dad I wouldn’t tell anyone.”

“Tell anyone what?”

Robbie was silent, but fear showed on his face. “It’s okay, Robbie.” He needed to know if Santos had threatened him. “You can’t get into trouble now.”

“One day I was supposed to stay with Kasey, but she got mad at me and made me stay in my room. I sneaked out and went to see my dad at work.”

Bingo.

The kid looked frightened. “Don’t tell my mom. She’ll be sad again.”

Coop gripped the boy’s shoulders. “We don’t want to make her sad. Just tell me one thing. Did Santos see you with your dad?”

Robbie shook his head rapidly. “No, Dad made me hide when the man came in his office. They were yelling and I got scared. After that man left, my dad said it wasn’t a good idea for me to come back. Then he … died.”

The boy’s tears tore at Coop. “I know it’s hard to lose someone you love. I lost my brother.”

The boy’s lip trembled. “Did you cry?”

Coop didn’t even hesitate. “Yeah, I cried a lot. He was my only family.”

“My sister says boys aren’t supposed to cry.”

“She’s wrong. Everyone cries when they’re sad. It helps to heal your heart. And you know what else helps?”

The boy wiped his nose with the back of his hand and Coop gave him his bandanna to use. “No, what?”

“To remember good things about that person.”

The kid looked thoughtful. “You mean like how much my dad liked peanuts. He used to hide a jar, but he’d share with me.”

Coop’s chest tightened. Mike Perry sounded like a decent guy. So what the hell happened?

“That’s a good one,” he said. “I remember that my brother used to get into my baseball cards. I yelled at him because he used to get them dirty and bend them. A few years ago for my birthday, Devin found me a rookie Nolan Ryan baseball card.”

The boy grinned. “Dad liked him, too.”

“Well, maybe … we can go to a game sometime.” Coop stood, knowing this conversation was getting far too personal. “Right now, we better get to work.”

Lilly walked down the hall to close the front door to block out the noise from the mower, and keep Santos away. That was when she heard her son’s and Coop’s voices.

She hadn’t planned to eavesdrop, but she couldn’t stop when Robbie started talking about his father. Since her ex-husband’s death, both children had clammed up and refused to say anything. So to discover that Robbie had gone to see Mike was a shock. She also learned what she’d suspected—that Mike had been involved with Santos. She didn’t want to think about that. Mike was gone, and she and the kids had to deal with the aftermath.

Lilly’s focus turned back to the man who seemed to be getting through to her son. She liked how Coop handled the situation by telling his own stories. She’d known from their breakfast conversation that Noah’s brother had died. Maybe that was what he and her son had in common.

She felt her chest tighten. She wasn’t the only one who had lost. She might have misjudged Noah Cooper. Over the past couple of years, she had a lot of anger to deal with and she’d been lousy at it. She hated the fact that the entire town knew her business. Thanks to Mike, aspects of their divorce were made public. Yet that didn’t make it right to take it out on every man who came into her life.

She pushed open the screen door and stepped out on the porch.

“Hi, Mom,” Robbie called. “I’m working for Coop. And guess what, he’s paying me, too.” He returned to sweeping paint chips as if proving he could do the job.

“That’s good, son. Since you’re working so hard, why don’t you go and get you and your boss some bottles of water?”

“Okay.” He dropped the broom and ran into the house as Lilly turned to Coop.

“Thank you for working with Robbie. He hasn’t had much chance to be with many men.”

“It’s easy. He’s a great kid. I take it that he didn’t have much time with his father.”

She didn’t want to go into it, so she just shook her head.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to pry.”

“It’s true. Robbie and Kasey hadn’t had much time with their father the past few years.” She swallowed hard. “I made it nearly impossible.”

Coop took a step toward her, but she raised a hand. “I was too demanding after he’d left us. I made all kinds of rules and stipulations about his visitation. Finally Mike stopped showing up at all.”

She heard Coop curse. “Did the custody agreement give him a fair amount of time with the kids?”

She nodded unable to speak.

“Well, then, if he loved his kids, he would have found a way.”

Suddenly they weren’t alone. Rey Santos walked out from beside the house. She shivered as the man smiled at her.

He turned in her direction and came up the steps. “Mrs. Perry. I would like to speak with you.”

“I’m afraid I don’t have the time right now.”

“This will only take a moment. Stephanie wants to know if you have gathered up the rest of Mike’s things.”

Lilly’s sigh was audible. “Tell my sister-in-law that there is nothing left of Mike’s in this house. I left anything that was his behind.”

Rey Santos didn’t look happy as he took a step closer. “If you are keeping any paperwork about the business, Stephanie has the right to them.”

Lilly felt Coop’s presence. She hated the fact that she liked having him close. “I suggest you tell Stephanie to talk to the sheriff. He took all I had in for evidence.” She made that up.

“I will relay the message,” Santos said.

“And tell her I no longer need the lawn service,” Lilly said. “The cost is too high.”

Something flashed in the man’s deep-set eyes. It was almost threatening. “Si, sigñora, I’ll relay the message to her.”

He spoke in Spanish to his crew and they climbed into the truck and drove off.

Lilly released a breath as her body sagged against Coop’s. For a second she let herself feel safe and cared for. And a whole lot of things she shouldn’t be feeling. Reality quickly returned and she moved away.

“Want to talk about it?” Coop asked.

Lilly shook her head. She couldn’t let this man get in. To make her feel again. “Anything you want to know is public record. Ask anyone in town.”

His dark gaze met hers. “Maybe I only want to hear your side of the story.”

“I wish I had one, but it’s still all a mystery to me.”

CHAPTER FOUR

LATER that afternoon, Lilly tried to control her anger, but then her worry took over.

“Where are you, Kasey Elizabeth Perry?” She punched in her daughter’s cell phone number again. It went straight to voice mail. She left another message. “Kasey, it’s Mom, you better call me.”

She tossed the phone on the kitchen counter as Robbie came in the back door.

“Hey, Mom, look.” He held up a five dollar bill. “Coop paid me for helping him. He said I did a good job.”

“That’s great, son.” She forgot her worry for a moment and hugged him. “I’m so proud of you.”

He pulled back. “And I’m going to work tomorrow, too.”

Was her son bothering Noah? “Are you sure Mr. Cooper needs you tomorrow?”

Robbie bobbed his head up and down. “Yeah, Mom, he said he needs me to help mix the cement. So I hafta be at work at eight sharp. I’m going to put this in my bank.”

Her son shot down the hall and Lilly started to call him back to go help look for Kasey when there was a knock on the kitchen door.

Noah Cooper stuck his head in. “Could I speak to you a minute?”

“Of course. Is there a problem? Is Robbie too much? You don’t have be his babysitter.”

He smiled at her. “No! No, the boy’s been great. A hard worker, too. I just wanted to check with you to make sure it’s okay for him to help tomorrow. I won’t let him get overheated, or go over more than a few hours.”

She didn’t want this man to be so considerate. It would be safer if she could stay indifferent, but he was slowly winning her over. “I’m surprised Robbie has stayed interested this long. But since he’s so eager, I don’t have a problem with tomorrow.”

He frowned at her. “Is something wrong?”

Her first reaction was to deny it, but she found herself saying, “My daughter isn’t home yet, and she’s not answering her cell phone.”

He stepped into the kitchen. “Do you know where she went?”

“Supposedly with her friend, Jody. I called her mother, and no one’s home.” Lilly sighed in frustration. “I’d be really angry if I wasn’t so worried.”

Noah walked to her, looking so big, strong and reassuring. “It’s going to be okay, Lilly. We’ll find her.”

She knew she shouldn’t take his help, but it felt good not to have to do this on her own for a change. She’d deal with the regrets later.

For the next thirty minutes, they looked for Kasey. Coop had loaded Lilly and Robbie in his truck, drove around the neighborhood, then stopped at Kasey friend’s house. No one was home. Next came the park and a pizza place. Still no sign of the girl.

“Mom, is Kasey in trouble?” Robbie asked from the backseat.

“Yes. She didn’t call me to say she was going to be late.”

“Is she gonna be on ‘striction?”

Coop could hear a mother’s fear in Lilly’s voice. “It’s restriction, and that’s between Kasey and me. Right now, I just want to find her.”

They parked on Main Street and checked the ice cream parlor. The kid behind the counter told Lilly that both girls had been in, about an hour ago.

After thanking him, they walked outside. “What about the quilt shop?” Coop suggested. “Would she go to see her grandmother?”

“I didn’t want to worry her.” Lilly frowned. “But I guess we better go tell her. Maybe Kasey told her something, since my daughter doesn’t talk to me these days.”

Coop knew the girl had an attitude. Didn’t most teenagers? Of course, a lot had happened in the girl’s life lately.

He opened the door to the Blind Stitch and allowed Lilly and Robbie to go in ahead of him. The shop had a few customers milling around, but Beth walked over immediately to greet them.

“Hi, Robbie.” She hugged her grandson and smiled at her daughter. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“We can’t find Kasey,” Robbie blurted out. “She’s in trouble, too.”

Beth looked from Coop to her daughter. “She hasn’t called you, either?”

“No, Mom, she hasn’t.”

“She stopped by here because her friend had to go home. I told her she could help me here, but Kasey didn’t want to. She left about thirty minutes ago. I’m sorry, I should have called you to let you know she was headed home.”

“No, Mom. Kasey is thirteen, she’s old enough to take responsibility.”

“I’ll keep looking,” Coop said. “Give me your cell number,” he told Lilly. After putting it in his phone, he added, “I’ll check the video arcade across the street. Is that one of her hangouts?”

Lilly shook her head. “Absolutely not. We’ve tried to close the place down because there have been rumors of drug activity there. But my daughter has been doing a lot of things I never thought she’d do.”

She looked up at him with those baby blue eyes. “I’ve got to find her, Noah.”

He gripped her hand. “We will, Lilly. You stay here, I’ll be back.” He’d searched for many kids over his years in law enforcement, some cases turned out good and some bad. He prayed this would be a good reunion.

He headed out the door and jaywalked across the street to the Dark Moon.

It definitely wasn’t a family friendly place. Dim and dingy, with black walls and eighties strobe lights. The crowd was older. Teenagers and adults seemed to be wasting away the day, pouring money into machines. Maybe wanting more, like drugs.

He walked around the numerous video machines, the rhythmic sounds and the flashing lights stimulated his senses as he searched the arcade’s customers. He was about to give up the search when he spotted a blonde girl. She was dressed in a short skirt and a fitted T-shirt, revealing far too much.

He tensed, seeing her companions, two teenage boys who looked to be about sixteen and very interested in the pretty blonde. One kid had his hand on her arm. This wasn’t good.

He walked to the group. “Kasey Perry,” he called over the noise. “What a surprise to find you here.”

The girl’s smile disappeared as he approached them. “Huh, Mr. Cooper,” Kasey said. “What are you doing here?”

He looked at the two high-school-aged boys. They had lanky builds, but were nearly as tall as he was. “Oh, I don’t know.” He gave them a warning look. “I thought I’d soak up some of the local atmosphere. Are these boys friends of yours?”

Coop got a little pleasure watching the kids frown at his description.

“Yeah, Randy and Jake, this is Mr. Cooper. He rents the cottage from my grandmother.”

Coop reached out his hand. “Nice to meet you both. So you’re both just hangin’ out for the summer?”

“We’re waiting for football camp,” Jake said. “We’re gonna play varsity this year.”

“Heh, that’s cool,” Coop told them, folding his arms across his chest. “I was a quarterback in high school. We went to state.” He glanced around the arcade. “If you find you’re getting bored they could use some strong backs at AC Construction. If you can swing a hammer, look me up there, Noah Cooper. Everyone calls me Coop.”

Their eyes lit up. “Uh, thanks.” The boys wandered off, seeming to decide hanging around wasn’t leading anywhere.

Coop turned back to the girl. “I think you better call your mother.” He handed her his phone. “Now.”

She didn’t move. “What if I don’t want to?”

“You know, Kasey, I took you for a smart girl, but I think I’m mistaken. I get that you’re angry, but acting like this isn’t helping. If you wanted to punish your mom, okay, you won. She’s been worried about you. Now, call her.”

“I’ll get grounded.”

“No kidding. Even if you don’t call you’ll get that. You did this, not her.”

“She’s too strict. I can’t go anywhere.”

“You have to earn trust for that,” he explained. “And doing something like this stunt shows poor judgment and immaturity.”

She gave him a defiant look. “This isn’t your business.”

“Okay, let me tell you some hard, cold facts. Those older boys you think are so cute, they wanted to do more than play video games with you. You could have been in big trouble. And it’s my business because your mother needed my help today.”

He nodded to the phone. “Now, it’s time to take your medicine and call her.”

It was after ten by the time Lilly got the kids settled for the night. She’d tried to calmly talk with Kasey, telling her the importance of staying in touch by phone. The scary thing was her child wasn’t listening to a word she said. In the end, Lilly had grounded her daughter for a week, no phone or computer.

In reality, who was being punished? Exhausted, she walked out on the side porch with her glass of wine. She sat down on the railing and took a sip, hoping the alcohol would soothe away all her fears, the feelings of inadequacy and loneliness.

It had only been a few months since Mike’s death, but the past two years had been hell. That was how long she’d carried the guilt about failing as a wife. Now, she was failing as a mother, too.

She heard a door shut and looked around to see Noah coming out of the cottage. He walked along the lighted path toward the porch. She didn’t want to talk to anyone, but she knew she owed him more than just a brief thank-you for today.

With a bottle of beer in hand, he stopped at the steps. “Would you mind some company?”

Okay, so the man was considerate. “Sure.”

He came up the steps, wearing a clean pair of jeans and a dark T-shirt. His cowboy boots made a tapping sound against the wood floor. She caught a whiff of his soap as he walked by her.

He leaned against the post. “Did your daughter survive your wrath?”

“Barely. Remember, I’m a trained professional. A school principal knows the right buttons to push. According to my daughter, I committed a crime taking away her social life, her phone and computer.”

In the shadows, she could see his nod. “With me, I hated when my mom wouldn’t let me leave the house. But now everything is done through texting, or the internet.”

He looked at her for what seemed like an eternity. “How are you doing, Lilly? It had to be rough not knowing where your daughter might be.”

There he went, being nice again.

“No, it wasn’t easy and I owe you a big thanks. And it’s not bound to get any easier for a long time. Mike was the one who could deal with Kasey’s moods. Now she blames me for him being gone.”

“She has to blame someone. You’re the closest and the one she feels most safe with.”

Lilly looked at him. The night’s darkness was an intimate setting. “Were you a psychologist in a previous life?” She took a sip of wine. She didn’t need it; this man could quickly go to her head—if she let him.

“No, I just made my mother’s life difficult too many times to remember.”

“For how long?” she asked hopefully.

“Too long. She’s gone now.” He sighed. “I wish I’d been a better son.”

She was curious. “What about your father?”

“He wasn’t in the picture.” He shrugged. “So I don’t remember him much.”

“So with your brother gone, you’re all alone.”

Coop didn’t want her to see that much of himself. “I have a sister-in-law and a niece. I should stay in touch more.” Just not when he was working undercover.

“You should. But you shouldn’t have to subject yourself to listening to a woman crying in her wine.”

“No one is forcing me to do anything. And I doubt you complain much, Lilly.” He took a drink of his beer. Mainly because he was fighting the urge not to get too personal. “I wish I could tell you that everything will turn out all right, but I can’t. You’ve got good kids, just hang in there.”

The moonlight illuminated the area as she looked at him with those big eyes. Man, she was stirring feelings in him, and that was dangerous for both of them. He needed to redirect his thoughts, to business. “Do you get any help from their aunt?”

“Stephanie? She’s been trouble from the get-go. She’s a lot younger than Mike. He even helped raise her. Then he trained her in the family business after their parents passed away.”

“So she has the business now,” he coaxed for more information.

Lilly turned and looked at him. “It might be a coincidence, but a lot of the trouble between Mike and me started when she got more involved with the company.”

Go easy, he told himself. “Didn’t your husband run things then?”

“He did the books, but the day-to-day scheduling of the work crews was Stephanie’s job. And for a while they were doing great, the money was rolling in. The only problem was Mike was working more and more hours as the business expanded. Then Rey Santos came in as a manager for the crews. And I thought that would free Mike up and he could cut back on his hours. But Stephanie and Rey started dating.” She shivered. “Nothing changed. Then our marriage started … falling apart and finally Mike moved out.”