Rancher's Covert Christmas Read online

  “Told you!” another male voice said, and Zane angled his head to see their ranch hand coming out of the stable with an extension cord looped over his arm. Zane introduced Erin to the hand, Dave Giblan, and Dave gave her a smile and a nod of greeting, adding, “We went through this last year, too. But Mr. The-Order-Doesn’t-Make-A-Difference didn’t remember the hassle we had with the lights last time.”

  “I don’t mean to butt in. I’ve just learned from experience,” Erin said and grinned brightly at Dave.

  He was not jealous of the spark of attraction he saw in her eyes as she replied to the ranch hand, Zane told himself, despite the niggle of irritation in his gut.

  Brady grunted and cast Dave a hooded side glance. “Whatever.”

  As Brady began plucking the glass decorations off the tree, the ranch foreman joined the crowd, as well. Roy Summers, Brady’s father and long-time ranch employee, frowned at the group. “Is this like a lightbulb riddle? How many ranchers does it take to decorate a Christmas tree?” He cast a startled glance at Erin. “Oh, hello, young lady. You must be the writer.”

  More introductions were made, and Roy put a hand on Brady’s shoulder. “Come on, son. Someone’s got to do the real business of the ranch. Give me a hand tending the abscessed hoof on that calf I brought in earlier.”

  “Be there in a minute,” Brady said, and Roy firmed his mouth in displeasure.

  “I’d say a hurting calf takes priority over some baubles on a tree, son.” He nudged Brady more insistently. “Let’s go.”

  “Fine,” Brady replied grudgingly, and he handed off the glass balls he’d gathered to Dave. “Okay, Santa Claus. I’m out. You have the conn.”

  Dave responded with a snort and an eye-roll that made Erin chuckle. He repositioned the ladder, which rattled and creaked as he settled it closer to the tree.

  “I can’t wait to see it all decorated and the lights glowing.” She turned to Zane, her face lit with enthusiasm, her cheeks and nose pink from the cold. “I love Christmas. Even more than spring. And my birthday’s in spring, so that’s saying something, because I really love celebrating my birthday.”

  His chest tightened as he gazed at her. Her eyes reflected a childlike glee that reminded him of Christmases past, rising before the sun with his brother and sister, filled with exuberance and anticipation. As she stood in the winter sun, gazing up at the spruce tree, her breath clouding in the chilled air, Zane finished his earlier interrupted thought. Spruce green. Erin’s eyes were the same color as a Christmas tree, he decided as a he felt a small hiccup in his pulse.

  He gave himself a mental finger-thump to the forehead. Don’t go all hearts and flowers over her in the first five minutes, dork. Such an impetuous reaction to a woman was more his flirtatious brother’s style than his own. Zane preferred time to build an opinion based on his interaction with a person.

  Pragmatic. Reasoned. Grounded. He prided himself on being everything an oldest sibling should be, even if his age advantage was only five minutes. So why did Erin evoke such a visceral reaction from him?

  He cleared his throat and tipped his head toward the guesthouse. “I’ll just put your luggage inside. Then, whenever you’re ready, I can—”

  A loud snap crackled through the winter air like a gunshot. In the next instant, the tall step ladder where Dave perched buckled and collapsed. He toppled to the ground, landing with a thud and a feral cry of pain.

  Chapter 3

  Erin gasped her shock and concern as the handsome ranch hand crashed to the frozen ground. If his guttural shout left any doubt to his injury, the odd angle of his leg did not.

  She clapped a hand over her mouth as a wave of nausea roiled through her at the gruesome sight. Zane abandoned her bags and brushed past her as he rushed to aid his friend.

  “Call 9-1-1!” he yelled to no one in particular.

  Pulling her glove off with her teeth, Erin fumbled her cell phone from her purse and tapped in her security code with a trembling finger. She squinted at the screen, trying to make out the image against the glare of the winter sun. Her signal reception was weak at best.

  Josh hustled past her. “Landline’s more reliable. I’m on it.”

  As Zane’s brother ran toward the main house, Erin faced Zane and Dave again, her heart in her throat. Surely she could do something to help. Yanking her knit scarf from under the collar of her coat, she balled the scarf as she dropped to her knees across from Zane. “Here,” she said, handing him the messily folded neckwear. “Put this under his head.”

  A pillow may be a small thing under the circumstances, but she had little else to offer at the moment. And standing idly by while the cowboy suffered was not her style. Action was her go-to mode, and her brain was ticking through more options for the crisis, even as Zane tucked the knit scarf under Dave’s head.

  As if sensing something was amiss, the dogs barked and paced the yard. When the black-and-white dog tried to nose in next to him, Zane pushed the dog back. “No, Ace. Lie down.”

  The foreman and Brady appeared at the door of the barn across the yard.

  “What happened?” Brady called as he trotted toward them.

  “Ladder collapsed. Dave broke his leg, maybe more,” Zane returned in a clipped, efficient tone, despite his obvious worry. With a wave of his hand, he directed the father and son to, respectively, fetch someone named Helen and to go to the end of the driveway to flag down the ambulance when it arrived.

  Zane’s take-charge leadership impressed Erin, as well as the way that the other men followed his directives without demurring. Zane’s father had indicated as much, as well. Though the McCall siblings and Brady Summers were equal partners in McCall Adventure Ranch, Zane was the gatekeeper, it seemed.

  Zane held one of the injured man’s hands, letting Dave squeeze his fingers as he writhed and groaned. “Stay still, buddy. I know it hurts. Help’s coming.”

  Seeing Dave’s other hand at his side, his fingers clenched in a tight ball, Erin lifted his fist into her lap. Cupping his fist between her palms, she stroked his taut knuckles with her thumb and muttered, “Hang in there, cowboy.”

  Zane’s gaze darted to her, then dropped to her comforting gesture as Dave loosened his balled fingers to grip her hand.

  “Thanks,” Dave rasped, casting a quick side glance to her before scrunching his eyes closed in pain. His breathing was shallow and rapid, and she didn’t need to be a nurse to know hyperventilating was not what Dave needed.

  “Hey, Dave,” she said, jostling his hand to get his attention. “Will you try something with me?”

  Both Zane and Dave peered at her with curious looks.

  “You need to calm your breathing, so I thought we could do some yoga breathing together. Will you do it with me?”

  The injured cowboy furrowed his brow and stared at her with shock in his eyes. “Yoga?”

  Though Zane’s expression was equally leery, she could see his concern for his friend outweighed his skepticism. “What do you have in mind?”

  She fixed her gaze on Zane and his stunning blue eyes sent a tremor through her. With her host’s penetrating gaze on her, she needed the relaxation technique as much as Dave. “Calming breaths. You do it with us.”

  Dave scoffed quietly between gasps and grunts.

  Patting his hand firmly, she directed him to inhale with her as she counted two beats in her head. “Now exhale slowly for four seconds.”

  The cowboys both blew their breaths out through their mouths.

  “Through your nose, gentlemen. You’re not having a baby, you’re trying to relax.”

  Her comment earned her odd looks from both men, but they followed her example as she inhaled again and let her exhale draw out twice as long. “Now inhale for three seconds and exhale for six.”

  Dave’s demeanor calmed, his hyperventilating quieted, and Erin’s pulse slowed, too...so l
ong as she didn’t look into Zane’s piercing eyes. Meeting his celestial-blue gaze was a bit like staring at the sun. Doing so for too long was risky, as if he could sear something deep inside her with his laser-bright stare.

  She continued walking them through the one-to-two breathing ratio for a couple of minutes until Josh ran back across the ranch yard and skidded to a stop beside them.

  “Ambulance is on the way,” Josh said as he spread a heavy blanket that he’d brought out over Dave. Josh was panting from exertion and stress, and his tense energy and ragged breaths distracted her students.

  Erin felt the tension reenter Dave’s grip as his eyes darted to Josh, and she saw the muscles in the injured man’s jaw flex as he gritted his teeth. She snapped her fingers in front of Dave’s eyes and, with a nudge of his chin, brought his attention back to her. “Right here, cowboy. Focus on me.”

  He gave her a pained grin and rasped, “My pleasure. You’re a...heap prettier than either of these...chumps.”

  “Thank you. Now, less talking and more slow breathing, friend.” She flashed him a bright smile, and from her peripheral vision, she noticed the frown that Zane divided between them.

  Dave followed her directions for a couple more breaths, then with another thin grin that reflected his agony, he added hoarsely, “Any chance I could...repay you for your kindness?” He paused to drag in another breath. “Dinner sometime maybe?”

  Now Zane’s whole body tensed, his brow forming a deep V as he sent the hand a hard look.

  “Why, you flirt!” She sent the injured man a wink. Anything that helped distract him from his pain was acceptable in her book. “I just might have to take you up on that.”

  “What about Helen?” Josh said, and Zane arched a raven eyebrow and cocked his head as if to say, Yeah, what he asked.

  “Helen?” She gave him a scolding pout.

  The ranch hand grimaced, clearly from his excruciating pain rather than the shame of being caught out. He gulped a couple shallow breaths. “It wouldn’t be...a date, so what’s...wrong with it?”

  She gave him a disapproving grunt, then tapped his nose with her finger. “Through your nose. Let’s start again. Three-second inhale...”

  Her coaching was interrupted again as a woman’s distress cry reached them through the chill air. Erin and the men all turned to look toward the back of the main house where the foreman appeared with a young woman wearing a stained apron and no coat. She ran toward them, calling, “Dave! Oh, my God, Dave!”

  Erin scooted aside to allow the sobbing woman access to the ranch hand, though she hated the fact that the woman was clearly upsetting Dave again. She glanced at Zane, meaning to send him a silent message with her facial expression.

  As if sensing her attention, Zane raised his head, his gaze clashing with hers. She indicated her concern over the woman’s effect on the patient with a twitch of her brow and quick side glance. Zane gave her the merest of nods, then put a hand on the woman’s shoulder. “Helen, calm down. Help is coming. Right now, we have to keep him comfortable and breathing deeply.”

  “Dave,” Erin said, gaining the hand’s attention again. “With me. Inhale...” She demonstrated the technique again while Helen watched. “Can you keep him going?” she asked Helen and the young woman nodded, though her eyes spoke for her distress. Then to Dave, Erin said, “No hyperventilating, cowboy. Concentrate on your breathing.”

  Dave gave a nod, his jaw clenched and his complexion a worrisome gray.

  Having passed the distraction and deep breathing reins to Helen, Erin pushed to her feet and backed away from the huddle of bodies around Dave. She considered taking her luggage inside, but since she’d not yet officially been shown in to her accommodations at the guesthouse, that seemed presumptuous.

  Besides, her curiosity was sparking.

  The ranch has had a string of incidents, with evidence of sabotage that have hamstrung our operations, crippled us financially.

  Her client’s words replayed in her head and his word choice stirred a disquiet in her gut as she glanced back at Dave. Though Josh’s back currently blocked her view of the ranch hand’s broken leg, the grisly image of Dave’s twisted shin was burned on her brain.

  With a furtive glance toward the ranchers, she sidled over to the collapsed stepladder and studied the rails, the spreader, the bolts. What had happened to the ladder? A simple slip by the hand or something more sinister? She toed a bent piece of aluminum and searched the ground for the screws that should have attached the loose support bar to the legs of the ladder. Casting her gaze around her feet, she searched the ground for the failed bit of hardware. Finding a rusted screw lying in two pieces beneath the branches of the spruce tree, she stooped to gather the bits. Then hesitated.

  If this did prove to be sabotage and not just the failure of an ancient screw, she should leave the evidence untainted for the police. She straightened and backed away from the ladder, but slid her phone back out of her pocket.

  With another glance behind her to make sure her actions were not being watched, she quickly snapped a few pictures of the fallen ladder and the rusty pieces of the broken screw. Repocketing her phone, she edged back toward the injured cowboy, making mental notes about who was present and their reactions to the incident. She would be having a private meeting with her client tonight, and she already had something to report.

  Seeing that she’d left the cluster, Zane stood and approached her.

  “Hardly the welcome to the ranch I’d have planned.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and drew his mouth into a grim line.

  “And not one I’d have expected. I’m sure this isn’t the kind of excitement McCall Adventure Ranch had in mind for customers.” She placed a hand over her chest. “My heart is still thumping.” And it bumped even harder when Zane stepped closer, his gaze intense.

  “Thank you for your help. I’m not sure I’d have known what to do if he’d passed out or...” He waved a hand, his thought unfinished as he cut a glance back toward the injured man. A frown dented his brow and he started unbuttoning his coat. He shrugged out of the fleece-lined jacket and walked over to drape it around Helen’s shoulders. Helen turned a pixie-like, tearstained face up to his and gave him a brief smile of thanks. Zane’s gentlemanly gesture touched Erin.

  “So chivalry isn’t dead,” she said to him as he returned.

  He gave her a brief puzzled look, then shrugged his actions off. “She needed a coat. I gave her mine. No biggie.”

  But to Erin his thoughtfulness was telling, as was his modesty. She’d learned through her work, through her life-changing moments, that people can say who they are until they are blue in the face. But actions were the real evidence of character. This was why she typically avoided pre-researching people. She didn’t want preconceived notions to jade her observations of people in action. Body language. How they reacted to questions and events...

  Zane divided a concerned look between her and the fallen hand. Clearly he was torn between his duty as host and his friend’s well-being. Rubbing his hands on his jeans, he started toward her suitcases. “Anyway...let me get you settled—”

  The distant wail of a siren reached them, yanking his attention toward the highway and the Double M’s long gravel driveway.

  She put a hand on his arm. “You go meet the ambulance. I can see myself in.”

  “I—”

  “Zane.” She squeezed harder on his wrist and could feel the steady thump of his pulse under her fingers. A jolt of something hot and unnerving skittered from his skin through her fingers and throughout her body when his eyes connected with hers. She’d have to get over her unsettling fascination with his breathtaking eyes if she was going to keep her head as she worked with him in the coming days. She paused a beat, regaining her composure, before she slanted a half grin toward him and bent to gather her luggage for herself. “Go on. I’ve got this.”

&n
bsp; She turned and headed for the guesthouse door.

  “Erin.” The sexy timbre of his voice slid over her like a lover’s caress. She stopped. Faced him, trying to pretend his voice didn’t weaken her knees.

  He reached into his pocket, then extended his hand to her. As he walked closer, gravel and ice crunched under his boots. “You’ll need this.”

  A silver key winked in the sunlight at her. “Oh,” she muttered as she lifted it from his callused palm. “Thanks.” The metal was still warm from being nestled in his pocket near his body heat.

  He ducked his head in a nod, and the corner of his mouth tugged in a strained smile. “Let me know if I can do anything to help you get settled.”

  With an appreciative nod, Erin let herself in the guesthouse and left her bags in the first bedroom down the hall. Moving to the front window, she parted the curtains, allowing her to keep watch for the arrival of the emergency vehicles. Would the police come? Or was the incident being viewed as accidental by the ranch staff?

  If she made too much of an issue about the broken ladder, she’d call unwanted attention to herself, raise questions. Instead she pulled out her phone and texted her client, Zane’s father. He needed to know what had happened and that she advised he have the police look at the scene before it was disturbed. Within seconds of her text, her phone chimed with Michael McCall’s reply that he was on his way to the scene.

  Erin pocketed her phone and returned to her suitcases to hang up a few clothes, set out her toiletries and plug her laptop in to charge, all the while wishing she were still out in the yard helping, observing. She needed to maintain her cover, but for such a tragic incident to happen within minutes of her arrival...

  She just couldn’t believe it was coincidence. Her gut told her it was no accident. She thought hard about exactly what had happened prior to the ladder collapse. Who had been present? What had transpired? She’d met Brady Summers, Zane’s brother-in-law. And the foreman, also last name Summers. Some relation to Brady? Zane hadn’t said, but she’d wager so. Hadn’t he called Brady “son” when he’d requested his help with the sick calf?