Half a Cowboy Read online

  His cane dropped to the floor with a bang, pulling his gaze away. Ben took the chance to breathe and come up with a good story.

  Chapter 2

  ASHTON WAS prepared for the lie. He could see it forming behind Ben’s eyes. “Tell me the truth. Are you on the run from the law?”

  Ben shook his head almost immediately. “No. I’ve never done anything illegal.”

  The way he stressed the I’ve suggested that he might not have, but someone else he knew probably had. Which was interesting. “Go on,” Ashton encouraged softly, and then he waited. He could see the conflict behind those gorgeous brown eyes and knew that inside Ben’s mind, a war of some kind was raging. He didn’t want to break the spell, but he knew the moment Ben made his decision by the way he looked away.

  “It’s best if you just forget you ever saw me. I should have been out of your barn and on my way long before now.”

  Ashton chuckled. “You weren’t going anywhere. A few hours ago you were so weak, you couldn’t even walk to the truck so we could bring you to the house and try to help you.” He inhaled deeply. “I think you owe me the truth about why you were on my ranch.”

  The wind picked up outside, singing as it whipped around the corners of the house. “It’s really something out there,” Ben said.

  “And it’s going to get worse,” Ashton added. “So regardless of what, in your opinion, I might have been better off doing, neither of us is going anywhere. The guys have the animals fed and bedded down, and there isn’t much else we can do until this weather passes.” He stood, using the cane—which he hated—for balance as the dogs clustered around him.

  Normally the dogs spent most of the time outside except to sleep, but when it was this cold, they were happy to stay in the house. Ashton spread out a blanket on the floor near the fireplace, and they all hurried over to lie down in a huge puppy pile. Then he puttered around the living room a little. He needed something to do to keep his mind off the answers he needed from Ben. If he wanted to find out the truth, he had to be willing to open up himself. So when Ben came in and sat on the sofa, Ashton got the ball rolling.

  “I spent five years in the Army as a military policeman. I saw plenty of action and witnessed things I wish I could unsee.” He held his breath and released it slowly, trying not to go back there.

  “I think I understand,” Ben said softly, and Ashton watched him closely, seeing in him the touch of darkness that came from seeing things that left a stain on your soul.

  “I definitely know how to keep the people in my life safe.” Ashton also knew when someone wasn’t telling the truth. His police training had taught him that. So while Ashton was fairly certain part of what Ben had told him wasn’t a lie, he knew Ben was very definitely hiding something big, and Ashton wanted to know what. His ranch and all those who worked on it were his responsibility. He didn’t need trouble showing up on their doorstep. Even if it was in the package of a young man with intense eyes and floppy, dirty-blond hair who was more adorable than anyone had a right to be.

  He didn’t mention that last part.

  Then he continued his story. After leaving the Army, Ashton had started a security company with one of the men he’d served with, one of his personal band of brothers. He’d figured he was on his way to making a successful life of his own. The company had taken off like a rocket, with a huge demand for their systems in corporate and government offices. When his father fell and broke his hip eighteen months ago and could no longer take care of himself, Ashton had come to the ranch to take care of it and his father, and had found a connection with the ranch he hadn’t expected. His dad had lasted just six more months. After that, Ashton had not been able to turn his back on the family ranch… the home he hadn’t realized he’d missed until it was nearly gone. His dad had hated every day that he hadn’t been able to get out with the horses. It didn’t matter that being thrown had been the reason for his dad’s problems in the first place. His dad needed horses to live, and riding had been his passion. Ashton had spent much of his early life on horseback as well. Just another loss that the cane represented, he thought.

  When he finished his story, he said, “Go ahead and rest. Do you need something to drink?” Ashton didn’t wait for an answer and returned to the kitchen to brew some tea. Warm drinks were perfect on a day like this.

  He carried a cup into the living room, placed it on the table near the sofa, and sat in his favorite chair, sighing softly when he was able to take his weight off his legs. He reached for his copy of Pillars of the Earth and opened the hugely thick book toward his place in the middle. Ashton loved this story and had read it a number of times, usually in the winter when there wasn’t much to do. Though if he was honest, right now he was spending more time watching and wondering about Ben and what he was running from than reading. He had no idea what it was about the man he’d found sleeping in his barn that fascinated him, but he couldn’t seem to look away for very long.

  Ben eventually fell asleep, and Ashton set his book aside, quietly got up, and left the room. The dogs watched him, but he motioned for them to stay where they were. Most of them settled down, but Whiskey, a miniature boxer mix, jumped onto the sofa and settled near Ben’s feet. Ben didn’t wake, and Ashton returned to the kitchen to figure out what he was going to do for lunch.

  The back door opened and closed, and a moment later, after taking off their winter gear in the mud room, Lucifer—Lucy—and Marcel came in.

  “Everything okay?” Ashton asked, putting on the coffee.

  “Yeah. We have the cattle sheltered, with plenty of feed. They should be okay. The horses are all bedded down and the doors closed. We ensured they all have clear water, but we’re going to have to go back out in a few hours. I’m afraid the water for the cattle will freeze over even with the circulators. It’s just so cold.” Lucy sat down, and Marcel got the coffee and brought it to the table.

  “How is your unexpected visitor?” Marcel asked quietly.

  “He’s asleep,” Ashton said and leaned over the table. “He told me his name is Ben Malvoin, but I think that’s an alias. He’s running from something. When you get back to your quarters, could you call a few of your contacts and see if they can find out anything about him? This guy is scared shitless about something, and I want to know what he’s bringing to my ranch.” Of course, nothing was going to be moving until this storm was over, and then the entire area was going to need to dig itself out.

  “I’ll see what I can come up with. I got a good look at him, so I can start with a description. Do you think Ben is his first name?”

  Ashton nodded. “It came to him too easily. It’s the last name that’s most likely fictional.” He took the mug Lucy offered and sat back down. “I’m going to start lunch soon.”

  Lucy grinned. “We were sort of hoping you would offer.”

  “He’s sick of my cooking,” Marcel said.

  Lucy smacked his arm. “I am not and you know it.” Lucy’s grin softened, and he placed his hand on top of Marcel’s. Cooking was a passion that Ashton and Marcel shared. “It’s just that you’ve been up since before six. A break is nice.”

  Marcel had been an officer’s club chef in the Army and could make dishes worthy of any Michelin-starred chef. Ashton had learned a great deal from him over the years. Before he left the ranch and went into the service, Ashton had dreamed that he might become a chef, but life had taken a turn and he’d ended up doing something completely different. Still, he was at home in the kitchen.

  “This isn’t a contest or anything,” Ashton said as he got up. “I was thinking of making some pasta. With this kind of weather, we need compact calories.” He slowly got some things out of the cupboards. It always took a while because sometimes he only had one free hand. Often when he was in the kitchen, because he could lean on the counters, he was able to set his cane aside.

  “You know, no cowboy in the rest of Wyoming would recognize the food on this ranch,” Marcel quipped.

  “Proba
bly not,” Ashton agreed. He still thought of himself as a cowboy, probably always would, though doing a lot of the things he used to do was out of the question. Hell, even getting on a horse was nearly impossible. The last time he’d tried, his leg had ached for days, and he had been danged near useless on horseback anyway. His left leg just wasn’t sturdy enough to issue the commands, and it couldn’t take the weight it needed to in order to ride effectively. That was one of the real shits about coming back to the ranch. “Maybe we should just call this a farm.”

  Lucy nearly dropped his mug, and Marcel glared at him the same way he might have if Ashton had said something nasty about his mother, who was one of the greatest ladies Ashton had ever met. “And you should stop cursing or we’ll get my mama to wash your mouth out with soap.”

  Ashton placed his hands on the counter and slowly turned around and returned to his chair to get off his leg, which had decided to ache something awful. “Maybe lunch can wait a little while.”

  Marcel and Lucy didn’t say anything, but Marcel got up and started taking things out of the refrigerator and put water on to heat. Then, without a word or a question, he got to work. Ashton knew Marcel and Lucy would never say anything about his inability to do what he wanted. They were good friends, lifelong friends who had seen some of the same horrors Ashton had.

  “Can I help?” Ben asked as he shuffled in, and Ashton introduced the men he was working with.

  Marcel shook his head, so Ben sat down, alternating his gaze between the three of them. Lucy got him a mug of coffee, and they all drank, not saying much while Marcel cooked. Ashton, Marcel, and Lucy often spent time in the same room without talking. Ashton figured they all thought that there was no use filling the quiet with chatter. Part of what they loved about life on the ranch was the hours of quiet that they got when they were working.

  Ben shifted in his chair, then leaned forward as he peered out the window that faced west, looking out over one of the pastures nearest the house. “Is that a horse?” he asked, squinting. “Isn’t it cold for them?”

  Ashton turned as Lucy jumped to his feet, and Marcel practically dropped his knife.

  “Son of a bitch,” Lucy swore. “I know all the doors and stalls were well secured.” He was already heading out the back to pull on his gear, with Marcel right behind.

  “Take the guns,” Ashton said to both of them as he too got up to pull on his gear. “Ben, stay here, please.” He had no choice but to leave him in the house.

  Lucy and Marcel were already out the back door by the time Ashton geared up and headed out the front. He checked the barn nearest the house and found it closed up tight, all occupants in their stalls, which meant the barn farther down the road, the one he’d found Ben in, was the one that had been tampered with.

  Lucy trudged to the truck and climbed in, starting the engine. “I’m on my way. We’ll locate any that got loose.”

  “I’ll be right behind you,” Ashton said, moving slower in the snow and wind, swearing under his breath the entire time. “And shoot the fuckers if you catch them!”

  He was tired of these “accidents” that kept happening often enough that someone had to be behind them. When he’d first come upon Ben in the barn, he’d thought the kid might have been part of the shit that had been occurring all too frequently lately.

  Lucy honked as he pulled out. Ashton headed for his truck, with Marcel probably on his way to locate the horse. Aston had no idea how many were loose, and in this kind of weather, who knew how many they’d be able to find?

  “Fucking Henderson!” He knew who was behind this, as well as previous incidents, but he couldn’t fucking prove it. The asshole had been after the ranch for years, pestering Ashton’s father to sell it to him more times than Ashton could count.

  He got in the truck and was about to pull out when the passenger door opened and Ben climbed inside. “Maybe I can help.” He yanked the door closed and pulled on his seat belt, and Ashton didn’t have time to tell him to get out.

  “Hold on, then.” He pulled out of the driveway and turned right toward the barn.

  The road was caked with snow, and the wind made it hard to see. Still, he knew this area like the back of his hand, and he stayed on the road, turning into the barnyard. The door was closed. Lucy came out, hurrying over.

  “Marcel is leading Marshall back. Belle and Hoover are still loose. I’m going to follow the tracks. Hopefully they aren’t far.” He set out quickly, carrying the rifle, which likely wouldn’t do much good because whoever had done this was probably long gone. Still, a little protection never hurt if things got rough.

  “Come on. Keep your back to the wind if you can and go right on into the barn. I’ve got a heater in there that we can use to warm up the place for now. All the heat would have been lost with the door standing open.” Ashton climbed out and was fucking lucky he didn’t end up on his ass.

  “You okay?” Ben asked, hurrying over and taking his arm. “It’s pretty bad out here.”

  “I’m okay. We need to get inside.” The guys would find the horses if they could. In the meantime, he had to take care of the ones in the barn.

  It was nearly as cold inside as it was outside, which was bad. He needed the temperature above freezing or the water troughs would freeze and then the horses wouldn’t have anything to drink. “What can I do?” Ben asked.

  “There’s a heater in the room over there. Go ahead and drag it out. I’ll get it going, and we can take some of the chill off in here. The horses will generate heat of their own, but we gotta give them some help.”

  Ben set off as the door opened and a blast of cold air blew through. “I got Belle,” Lucy called. “She was right beside the building.” He closed the door and got her back into her stall. “I’m going out after Hoover.” Then he turned and left.

  Once Ben got the heater out, Ashton had him sweep the area before getting it going. It ran on propane and would put out plenty of heat with an enclosed flame, but he didn’t want anything around that could catch fire, just in case. Ashton hated having to use it because of the fire hazard, but there wasn’t much choice.

  It didn’t take too long before the air in the barn warmed. Ashton checked all the water, and Ben brought over buckets so he could refill the troughs. He also carried some hay to fill mangers. “Thank you.”

  “No problem.” Ben went to the one of the windows. “Marcel is coming with a horse, and I think Lucy is too.” He opened the doors and let them in. Ashton breathed a sigh of relief that all the horses were back in the barn, safe.

  Marcel and Lucy put the animals back in their stalls and fed them, then made sure all the doors and latches were set.

  Ashton grabbed a few carrots out of a bag and handed Ben all but one. “Put them in your palm. Keep your hand flat, like this.” He fed the first carrot to show him. “They have teeth, but don’t move quickly. He’s a good horse and not snippy.” He stepped back, and Ben put a carrot in his hand and gently moved it closer. Marshall leaned forward, taking the carrot. “That’s it.” Ben was a natural.

  “His lips are so gentle and tickly,” Ben said with a smile, eyes shining, and fed another carrot before gently stroking Marshall’s neck. Marshall nudged Ben’s chest. Horses had good instincts, and Ashton had learned to trust them over the years.

  “He’s looking for more treats,” Ashton explained, and Ben smiled and stroked Marshall once more. He wasn’t sure which of the two of them was soaking up more of the attention, which Ashton found kind of sweet. When he was a kid, he always came to the horses for their unconditional affection. Ben might not be familiar with horses, but the beasts seemed to have taken a liking to him.

  “Did you see any tracks out there?”

  “They came in from the street. I saw tire tracks back on the road,” Lucy explained. “I think they parked there, walked over to open the barn doors, and then hurried away once they’d scared the horses.” He turned to Ben. “If you hadn’t seen Belle, they would have been long gone, and by morn
ing, who knows what could have happened? You did good.”

  Ashton knew that as frigid as it was and with the wind blowing as hard as it was, he would have lost some of his horses and they would have been lucky to find the bodies by spring. He would love to wring Henderson’s neck. He knew he was behind these incidents, but he didn’t have any proof.

  “Lucy and I are going to head back to the house if you don’t need anything else,” Marcel said.

  Ashton nodded. They had both been out in the cold for too long and needed to warm up. “Go on. I’m not going to be too far behind.” His leg ached even worse now, but he needed to see for himself that everything here was buttoned up. Then he was going to latch the door good. He wished he had an alarm to alert him if someone came prowling again, but with the temperatures hovering where they were and the wind picking up, anyone would be a fool to be out.

  The guys left, and Ashton sat down on a bale of hay and stretched out his leg for a few seconds. He closed his eyes, trying to will the pain away.

  He jumped at the touch on his leg.

  “It’s okay. I worked as a massage therapist before—” Ben snapped his mouth closed and gently ran his hands up Ash’s leg, his fingers working some sort of magic. The pain shot upward for a second before the knots in the muscle started to unwind, and Ashton sighed loudly. Damn, that felt good. He heaved out a ragged breath, leaning back against the wall of the stall behind him. “What else do you need done here?” Ben asked.

  Ashton tried to think, his mind a haze of relief. “The horses have hay and water. We need to turn off the heater and let it cool, then put it away. I don’t want it out, just in case the assholes who did this come back and decide to burn the place down.” He tried not to shake with rage.

  “Do you know who was responsible?” Ben asked, his movements slowing, fingers backing away.