Last Chance Reunion

“There’s no need.” June held a tentative hand out toward him. “I can do them later. Just leave the mess.”

Colt sidestepped so she couldn’t touch his arm. “It’s the least I can do after ruining your good dinner.”

Gathering up the dirty dishes and utensils and dumping them in the sink, he moved like a man on an urgent mission.

Lacie went to June’s side and slid her arm around the other woman’s waist. “Let him do it. It’ll make him feel better. Why don’t you and I go into the front room and talk?”

June looked numb but agreed.

After they settled on the sofa, June said, “Do you think he’s in pain? Is that why he’s so touchy?”

“Maybe. But he’ll never say so.”

“When he was a kid, he was always the one with the questions.” June folded her hands in her lap. “But he was so good otherwise, we just seemed to ignore him. Like he wasn’t there. Maybe that’s why he says he hates it here.”

Lacie wanted to say that she never ignored Colt. To her, he was impossible to ignore—then and now. But she didn’t say anything and only nodded her head to let June talk it out.

The two of them spent the next quarter of an hour talking about who, of the many citizens of Chance, might be considered the biggest gossips in town. Both of them were much calmer by the time Colt ambled out of the kitchen, rolling down his long sleeves.

“All done. You ready to go, Lacie?”

She and June stood. Lacie found her coat on a peg behind the door.

June cleared her throat. “Thank you for cleaning the kitchen. But really, it wasn’t...”

“No problem,” he mumbled. “I didn’t mind.”

“Son,” June began as she took his arm, “you know how happy your brothers and I are that you came to us for help. We’ve never stopped hoping you’d come home for good. We love you, Colt. Your family will always be here for you.”

Colt’s cheeks turned slightly pink as he straightened his shoulders. “Yeah. I know. I love you back and I’m sorry for being an ass. But I can’t stay in Chance for good, so don’t get your hopes up.”

Lacie stood back as the two of them hugged and June wished them good luck with their investigation. “You’ll get to the truth,” she said as they walked toward Colt’s truck. “I have faith in you—both.”

After they climbed in and Colt turned the engine over, he put his foot on the brake and turned to her. “You want me to drive you home? Your car is still at my place, but it’s late and...”

“I can’t go home without my car. I have to go to work early tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Turning his gaze out the windshield, he put his foot on the gas.

They drove through the quiet town of Chance in total silence. It wasn’t that late but she knew the town. Knew that people had to be up before daybreak for work, so they retired earlier than in the city. Did that bother Colt? Would he rather have the hustle and bustle of a bigger place?

He turned on the radio to fill the silence and she was surprised to hear country tunes. Listening to country radio didn’t seem very “big city” to her. It seemed more like the Colt Chance she remembered from high school.

As she hummed along and kept her gaze on his profile, she went over what had happened at June’s house. He said he still hated it here. Did that include her?

An ache developed in the vicinity of her heart and she absently rubbed at the pain. What was wrong with her? Why was she doing this to herself?

She’d always believed they were meant to be together. But that was ridiculous. Just because he’d been her first love did not mean he was somehow destined to be the only love of her life.

She was only twenty-eight. There would be other men.

But as she thought that, her stomach clenched. No other man could ever take his place in her life. That was as sure as tomorrow’s rising sun.

Still, she shouldn’t be sticking her chin out like this, just begging him to knock her down and leave her flat when he left town. Helping him, being with him, meant her job was probably on the line—and she liked this job. A lot. But if her stepfather ever decided she should leave town, she would have to go. No question, if Sheriff McCord wanted someone gone, they would be gone before the next daybreak.

Well, tomorrow she would give Colt her thoughts on who he should seek out to question, and then she would just become too busy to go along. After a few days of not seeing him again, and not assisting his investigation, he would forget about her. And she would forget how badly she’d wanted him.

Oh, God. The mere thought of that hurt a lot worse than she’d expected.

“Hey,” Colt said as he interrupted her thoughts. “Something’s not right.”

“What?” She looked around and discovered they were almost to the turnoff for the Bar-C. Everything around them seemed as dark and quiet as usual on the open range.

“Take a look out the back window and see if you think we’re being followed.” He picked up his speed. “Whoever it is has their headlights turned off. But I keep getting flashes of metal in the moonlight.”

She swiveled to check and stared out at the lonely highway behind them. The sliver of moon hung precariously in the night sky above them like a big question mark. But it sent just enough light to make out a shape in the road.

“Yes, I think I see someone. What do you think they’re doing on the highway without lights?”

“Following us?” His voice was dark and rough. “This isn’t good. If we make it to my place, I don’t think it’d be smart for you to travel back to town by yourself. You’ll have to stay over.”

“I have a weapon in my car, Colt. I can take care of myself.”

“Still,” he argued. “We need to find out what’s going on before I’ll feel safe. Stay.” The tone of his voice got to her.

At that moment she knew things had gone too far. She couldn’t stop helping him. Or doing anything else he asked.

No matter what it cost her in the end.

Chapter 5

By the time they reached his mobile home, Colt was reasonably sure they hadn’t been followed across Bar-C land. But he still wanted Lacie to stay over. He would gladly take any extra hours with her that he could get.

“It’s late,” he began as they climbed out of the truck. “Will you stay?”

She turned to him, and he would swear the answer he wanted to hear was in her eyes. “There’s no danger,” she said instead. “And it’s not really that late. I don’t think it’s such a good idea for me to stay.”

“Stay anyway.”

She took him by the hand and the electrical impulses between them ran up his arm. “Please, Colt. We hardly know each other anymore. And I’m pretty sure you are not the same young man who danced with me under the moonlight when we were kids.”

He’d forgotten. And at one time, he couldn’t imagine ever forgetting that crazy night and their dance. No music. No dance floor. Just him humming some Western song, slow and easy, and holding on to her under the stars like she might disappear if he let go.

But that was just the thing. He’d had to let her go.

Pulling her close now, he murmured into her hair. “We haven’t changed so much. I still remember. Dance with me again, Lace.”

Actually, he couldn’t remember which song he’d been humming back then. He thought of the slow one they’d just heard on the radio and began singing it under his breath. She slumped against him, and he wasn’t sure what that meant. But when he slipped his arm around her waist, she let him narrow the distance between them to less than a whisper of air.

Laying her head against his shoulder when he began to sway, she followed right along as he took the first step. She smelled so good he forgot all about his game leg. He hadn’t thought of gardenias once in the whole time they’d been apart. Now that scent surrounded him and took him back.

Back to their youth and the promise of a forever love. She’d been his best friend since the day his mother died. The one person he could confide in and count on. By the time they’d had their dance a few years later, he was sure the two of them would be together for the rest of their lives. He’d confessed as much to her that very night.

How young he was then. How terribly young and stupid. He should’ve known better. People didn’t stay together forever. Something always happened to come between them.

His eyes clouded over and he felt a drop of regret as it dripped down his cheek. Holding her again this way, kissing her again, might be too hard. He wasn’t sure he was up to it.

Rearing back, he glanced down at her beautiful face in the moonlight but refused to let her go. She opened her eyes and looked up at him and he found himself gazing in amazement at tearstained cheeks. She was crying? Over a memory? Or over him?

“Lacie...” He was too choked up to say another word.

Instead he lowered his mouth and placed a gentle kiss against the satin of her lips. Salty kisses. Another memory to add to the rest. Whether he had the nerve or not for anything more, kissing her now was an imperative.

But a moment later, he got lost in the feelings and deepened the kiss. When he nudged her lips open with his tongue, she seemed eager to go along. Heat began rocketing between them, a drop of sweat appeared at his temple and his skin hummed with the blood bubbling in his veins.

When he slid his mouth along the edge of her jaw and headed for the sweet spot on her neck, she moaned and trembled in his arms. He struggled not to rush ahead, fought with the sudden and overpowering erotic urges. She’d said it was too soon.

Too soon. Too soon?

Dragging himself into the present and concentrating hard on the woman in his arms, he leaned back again and studied her face.

This time when she opened her eyes, she had a glazed, unfocused expression. But her eyes cleared and the swirling questions he saw in them pushed aside the desperate hunger that had been there only moments before.

“Um...” She cleared her throat. “Yeah, that makes it definite. I have to go home.”

“Don’t tell me you didn’t feel the same thing I did. It would be a lie and you know it.” A war was going on inside him, but he let his arms drop to his side and stepped back.

“I...” She coughed and started again. “You’ll be okay for tonight. And I’ll come out right after work tomorrow so we can begin our investigation. Maybe we should see old Mrs. Murphy first. She knows everything that goes on in Chance.”

He figured she was babbling, and maybe at a loss for real words the same as him.

So he grinned and nodded. “Sounds good. At least what I got out of all that sounded good.”

“I was rushing my speech a little, wasn’t I?” She choked back a laugh.

“Maybe a little.”

Her eyes went dead serious. “Can we talk about us another time?”

He took her hand in his. “Sure thing. As long as there will be another time.”

“I’ll be here tomorrow.” She turned and went to her car. “Good night, Colt. Thank you for the dance.”

Standing like some damned statue, he watched her start the car and drive away. Our time will come, my love.

He felt her temporary loss acutely, as though someone had died.

And that time will be coming soon. Count on it.

* * *

Colt came out of his nightmare soaked in sweat, once again. But the nightmare had changed. This time when he’d raced down that barrio street, it was Lacie that he’d been running to save. The idea of her in danger made his usual dream all the more terrible.

“You awake now, bro?” Travis tightened the grip on his shoulder.

“Jeez,” Colt said as he straightened up in the old rocker. “There’s one too many Chance brothers on this ranch. What the hell are you doing here at this hour, Travis?”

He’d fallen asleep sitting on the front porch again. The streaks of rose coming from the east were just breaking over the horizon.

“It’s not that early. Not on a ranch,” Travis replied. “I’ve been up for hours. You’ve just forgotten what it’s like to live in the country.

“And I’m here to check up on you,” he went on. “I heard you went to see Aunt June last night and that you and Lacie McCord are planning on taking a fresh look at Dad’s murder conviction. That right?”

Travis ran the Bar-C for the family—and did a damned good job of it, too. But that didn’t mean he could run Colt.

“Yeah, what about it?”

Travis eased his six-two body down on the porch’s top step, the same as their older brother Sam had done a few days ago, and twisted to face Colt. “Good. If I’d had the time, I would’ve done something about it years ago. I’ve tried a couple of times to talk Gage into checking into the murder. But until he found his wife again, he was spending every spare moment trying to find Cami.”

Gage, yet another brother, was the private investigator in the family. And Cami was their lost little sister.

“Now that Gage is getting remarried,” Colt began, “I’m guessing he’ll have less time than ever to do anything extra for the family. And I’ve got nothing but extra time for now.”

Travis scrunched up his mouth and looked as though he’d swallowed a lemon. “You have any suspects in mind? Any places to start looking?”

“If you’re talking about Sheriff McCord, yes, I imagine in the end we’ll find he either committed the murder himself or knows for sure it wasn’t Dad who did it. But I intend to locate proof before I go around accusing him of killing Mom. I’m an attorney, remember?”

Travis nodded but then asked, “What about Lacie? He’s not only her stepfather, he’s her boss.”

“She says it’s not a problem. I’ll keep an eye on her—make sure she’s not caught in the middle.”

Colt immediately thought of a question he’d had for a while and stood to ask it. “Say, how’d McCord get the job of sheriff anyhow? He’s been the county sheriff for as long as I can remember.”

“He’s been sheriff longer than any of us has been alive. In Texas the job of county sheriff is an elected position. But Dad brought McCord to Chance County close to forty years ago and backed him for the job.”

“So someone else could possibly run against him now?”

Travis’s eyebrows went up. “Suppose so. You want the job?”

“Not even a little.” Colt choked back a laugh and walked down the steps to face his brother. “But maybe someone like Lacie would be a better choice than what we’ve got now.”

“That reminds me of the other thing I wanted to talk to you about this morning.” Travis stood, too, shook out his pants’ leg and walked to his SUV.

When he came back, he was carrying a 12 gauge pump shotgun and big box of shells. “There’re rumors of illegal weapons coming through Chance County. And we’ve seen new evidence of illegal activity, possibly undocumented migrants but more likely gunrunners, inside the boundaries of the Bar-C.”

“Have you talked to the sheriff?”

Travis gave him a sharp nod. “Of course, but he didn’t appear too concerned. We can take care of our own problems on the Bar-C. But I’m concerned about the townspeople and the other ranchers.”

Colt silently agreed with his brother. The citizens of Chance County were for the most part decent and hardworking. The reason they had a sheriff’s department in the first place was to keep things peaceful and safe from outsiders.

“I brought this for you.” Travis held out the shotgun. “Still remember how to shoot one of these? You used to be a sharpshooter in high school, but I haven’t seen you with any weapons since you’ve been home.”

“Don’t like the things. Being shot in the back will do that to a man.”

“Right. But do you think you could still use one if you had to?” Travis shoved the gun at him.

Colt took the shotgun, but just stared at it, feeling as though the weapon might burn right through his hand if he moved. “Maybe. But I’d rather not.”

“Keep it handy.” Travis held out the box of shells. “I’m not happy about you staying this far out on the range, all alone and without protection. You sure you wouldn’t rather move into the main house with us?”

Colt had to chuckle at that one. “What I’m sure about is that your new wife and two little ones would not enjoy having their beaten-up old uncle moving in and cramping their style.”

Travis gave his injured leg a pointed look. “You’re walking better every time I see you. And Summer and the kids would love to have you. You sure...?”

Colt waved off the rest of his sentence. “I’m positive. Sam invited me to move in with him, too.” He took the box of shells. “I’ll keep the 12 gauge and stay put, thanks.”

The thought of that car on the highway without its lights last night gave Colt another reason to keep a gun around. The shotgun would be going in the rack in his pickup as soon as his brother left.

It took a few more minutes to convince Travis he would be okay. But finally his brother climbed back in his SUV and headed off to work.

Colt wasn’t worried for himself. He could handle anything that came up. But he still hoped to convince Lacie to stay with him. And though she was probably perfectly competent with her own weapon, he wouldn’t be taking any chances. Not with the only woman who had ever meant anything to him.

* * *

“I don’t remember old Mrs. Murphy,” Colt said from behind the wheel of his pickup. “How long has she been in Chance?”

It was late afternoon and the sun hung low behind a spring haze as they drove through town. Lacie had been surprised to see a shotgun hanging in the rack behind Colt’s front seat when he picked her up. But she hadn’t made mention of it, hoping he would talk about it first. No such luck. So she kept her mouth closed on the subject and answered his question.

“You do remember her. She was the middle school teacher for forty years.”

“That Mrs. Murphy? She’s not teaching anymore? I always figured the principal would have to pry the chalk out of her cold dead hands.”

Lacie couldn’t stop the smile but she tsked at him. “Colt, really. She retired about five years ago. Lives in the same house as always, on a little pension and her social security. She knows everyone in town. Taught most of them. And she knows nearly everybody’s business, too. I think she’ll be a good place to start.”

“She has to be well over eighty. She knows we’re coming?”

“I called her. She was surprised but willing to talk to us.” Lacie figured the old lady would probably talk their ears off. The problem would be keeping her on track.

By the time they pulled up in Mrs. Murphy’s front yard, a deep madras-blue sky was greeting both the North Star and the first tip of a waning moon. The older woman must have heard their approach because she came out on her porch to wait for them to climb from the pickup.

“Good evening, Mrs. Murphy.” Colt tipped his hat as she led them through her front door. “It’s been a long time.”

“Colt, isn’t it? You look just like your father did at your age. Jacob Chance was one fine-looking man.”

They all sat down in her tiny front room. Colt looked uncomfortable perched on an antique straight-backed chair with his hat in his hands. But he’d plastered a grin on his face and never let on that he was anything but glad to be sitting right where was.

“May I offer you two a glass of sweet tea? I just made chocolate chip cookies.”

“No, thank you, ma’am. We’re fine. We just thought you might remember some things from years back in Chance history and hoped you’d be able to help us.”

“My memory is fine, young man. Sharp as ever.” She straightened her skirt along with her slightly stooped shoulders. “I know, for instance, that you were in a big ruckus in California and came home all banged up.”

Mrs. Murphy rolled her eyes and stared over the top of her glasses. “What is it that’s so danged important to you now about the past?”

Lacie rushed to start the conversation, hoping Colt would not say anything to stir Mrs. Murphy’s curiosity. “Since Colt has come home temporarily, we’ve been reminiscing about our childhoods. You know how that goes. We both remember things differently and we were hoping you could straighten us out.”

Mrs. Murphy glanced over to Colt and frowned, but then returned an interested gaze toward Lacie. “Certainly. What do you need to know, dear?”

“It’s about that time right before and after Colt’s mother was murdered.”

“I remember those days very well. It would be hard to forget something like that.”

“Um...” Lacie wasn’t sure how to ask. “Colt’s aunt June said rumors were flying then, but she didn’t remember any in particular because she lived in Boston at the time. We were hoping you might tell us what you remember.”

Mrs. Murphy’s watery eyes darted to Colt. “Are you looking into who else might’ve killed your mother? I remember you never believed Jacob could’ve done the deed.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Colt sat a little straighter. “I still don’t believe it. But Lacie and I were too young to...”

“You might not want to hear what I have to say, Colt Chance. Some of the goings-on back then were...not for innocent ears.”

Lacie leaned over and touched her hand. “We’re not young anymore, Mrs. Murphy. And not particularly innocent either. Please tell us what you remember.”

The old woman huffed out a breath. “Very well. I remember the year before the murder like it was yesterday. All the students I’d taught during my first year in Chance had grown up and had children of their own. Your mom and dad, Colt, were two of those that had produced several new students for my classes. I saw them frequently that year.”

Her watery eyes glazed over slightly as she seemed to be lost in the past. “The two of them always looked like they were so happy. But rumors told a different story. Some of the more nasty whisperings painted Jacob out to be a real ladies’ man. With secret girlfriends in at least two counties. It was hard to believe when I saw your parents together. But the rumors wouldn’t stop.”

Colt cleared his throat. “Is it possible those rumors had anything to do with the murder?”

“After the murder,” Mrs. Murphy began instead of replying directly to his question, “the rumors got worse. The one I heard most often was that your mother had finally confronted Jacob about his infidelities and a fight ensued. Jacob killed her out of anger.”

Lacie was afraid for Colt’s sake to ask another question, but thought she’d better do it while the old woman was delving into the past. “Were there any other rumors flying after the murder that you might remember?”

Mrs. Murphy’s expression changed as her eyes moved between Lacie and Colt. “One that was even worse. I refused to listen to it.”

“But you do remember and can tell us?” Lacie knew the old woman had probably committed the offending rumor to memory years ago.

“Yes. I vaguely remember.” Mrs. Murphy looked uncomfortable but went right on talking. “That was the rumor about Colt’s mother having learned of her husband’s affairs and deciding to get even by having an affair of her own. Then supposedly the afternoon of the murder, Jacob must’ve learned about her cheating on him and killed her in a jealous rage.”

Colt’s mouth dropped open. “No way.”

“I didn’t say I believed any of the lies people told. But you asked me to tell what I remembered. Back in those days rumors of affairs and adultery were rampant in Chance County. I was glad to be a widow and well out of it.”

Lacie popped up from her chair. It was time to get Colt away from here.

“Well, thanks for thinking back to those days.” She dragged at Colt’s arm and he rose to stand beside her. “And thank you so much for spending an hour with us. We really appreciate it.”

Colt’s expression was dark, brooding. He hadn’t said a word as she pulled him toward the old lady’s front door.

None of these rumors might be true. Or the truth might lie somewhere in between. But if Colt couldn’t stand to hear rumors, how would he ever be able to continue their investigation?

That question made Lacie’s stomach hurt. If he stopped the investigation, he would probably leave town at the first opportunity. And losing her second chance might be much worse than anything else she’d gone through.