The Consummate Cowboy. Sara Orwig

week ago Saturday night.”

      The tenseness left his shoulders, but pinpoints of anger still danced in his eyes.

      “Are you carrying a gun?”

      “No,” she answered.

      He inhaled, his broad chest expanding. Then he stepped away. “Why didn’t you just call me? We’re not complete strangers.”

      “To all practical purposes, we are. One brief dinner together doesn’t constitute family ties. Besides, your number is unlisted. Zach, I need to find my sister, and I was willing to do anything to get the answers.”

      “I could have shot you for trespassing.”

      He sounded disgusted and moved away from her, turning to stare at her with his hands on his hips. It was difficult to keep her gaze on his face; his bare chest was impossible to ignore. She realized it must have been a long time since she had seen a man’s chest. It had definitely been a long time since she had seen muscles like his.

      “I don’t know where your sister is. We parted ways a long time ago and haven’t kept in touch. She doesn’t come to see her children or write to them or call them.” The last was said with bitterness and a hint of accusation, as if Emily, too, were guilty of neglecting them.

      “She was here and talked to you a week ago.”

      “She came into the bar while I was there. I didn’t know she was in the state. I talked to her, but I didn’t leave with her. I didn’t even see her leave. We just talked, that’s all. And when I asked her if she would see the children, she said she might the next day.”

      Something thumped above them, and Emily looked up.

      “That’s my daughter or son.”

      “My niece or nephew.”

      “Give me a break,” he said with unmistakable disgust. “You’ve never seen them or talked to them or written them.”

      “I did write when they were born, and Amber never answered. You and Amber divorced when they were babies. You know Amber and I weren’t close. She never invited me to see them and neither have you!”

      He waved his hand to stop her excuses. Her gaze wavered and flicked down over him. The knees of his jeans were wet and had smudges of damp earth from their encounter outside.

      “Where’s your car?” he asked.

      “Up on the road.”

      “That was damn foolhardy.”

      “Amber called me a week ago and she sounded terrified of someone.”

      “So you decided it was me?” he asked, arching a dark eyebrow, disgust returning to his voice.

      “She was in this area—why else would she be here?”

      “Your sister is totally unpredictable. I saw her only briefly and she didn’t tell me about any plans. And she didn’t act afraid of anything. Far from it. She was flirting and having her usual good time.”

      Zach knew he sounded bitter. Amber was a tall, dropdead gorgeous blonde and he had fallen for her, marrying her within a month of meeting her. They had married in Las Vegas, spent two nights there, flown to New York and spent a week there. On the way home they had stopped in Chicago and had had dinner with the sister. He barely remembered Emily because at the time he only had eyes for Amber. The honeymoon had lasted until she discovered she was pregnant and then she had thrown a screaming fit, telling him she was getting an abortion. He had talked her out of it. Zach drew a deep breath. Every thought about Amber stung. Anger burned, flickering between fury at himself for being so blind, and rage at Amber for her attitude toward her children.

      And he only half believed the sister. He didn’t know what she was up to. When Amber had sashayed into the bar last week, she hadn’t acted frightened. He remembered her sitting next to him, flirting as her hand played over his thigh. Even though she wore Husband Number Three’s wedding ring, Zach knew he could have brought her home to his bed. She would have stayed a while, grown restless again, especially with the children, and gone on her way. He didn’t intend to fall into that trap again, or to let her get the children’s hopes up—only to disappoint them again.

      “Did she tell you anything about another man?” Emily asked, bringing his thoughts back to her.

      Zach shook his head, knowing he was being uncooperative. But he had been badly hurt by Amber. And he blamed himself for being such a fool over her and letting his body rule his mind and heart. The woman was shallow and selfish, and he should have seen it clearly.

      He didn’t want to deal with her sister, either. He wanted to get her out of his house and send her on her way. He wasn’t concerned with this woman’s problems. Let her search for her sister. Never again did he want to be involved with Amber.

      And all the time he was angrily deciding to get rid of her, Emily’s big green eyes tugged at him. In spite of the pull, he intended to stay out of it—even though it was obvious she didn’t know the first thing about searching for a missing person.

      “Did you see her with any other man?”

      “She talked to other guys. That’s the last I remember.”

      Feeling defeated and frustrated, Emily stared at Zach. Something didn’t seem right about him. He was a rancher, yet he kept to himself. She had always thought ranchers were friendly people. But Zach kept the road to his house fenced and locked.

      “I tackled you pretty hard,” he said, interrupting her thoughts. “In the dark, I thought you were a man.”

      “That comes from being almost six feet tall,” she remarked dryly.

      “Are you all right?”

      She nodded, touching ribs that ached badly. “A little sore.”

      “I’ll get the kids, and we’ll drive you back to your car. You shouldn’t have left it on the highway.”

      “Don’t wake them at this hour. I can walk back.”

      “No, you can’t. I think they’re awake, anyway. I’ll go see.”

      “Isn’t it late for little children to be awake?”

      “They went to bed a long time ago. They woke up and wanted drinks of water. Since my divorce, they don’t sleep well. If they’re asleep again, I’ll carry them down.”

      “May I come see them?”

      He glanced at her, seeing the uncertainty in her expression. He knew Amber’s moods and the chronic liar and actress that she was. He suspected the sister was the same, and wondered if she was trying to soften him up. She couldn’t give a damn about the children because she knew nothing about them.

      “I suppose.” He leveled a look at her that made her draw a shaky breath.

      Emily felt anger and dislike radiate from him like heat from a wood stove. “You don’t even know me, yet you dislike me.”

      He had started toward the hall. He stopped and swung around. “I know you’re Amber’s sister. You’re blood kin. Your sister is coldhearted, completely wrapped up in herself. There are two little children upstairs that have been hurt damnably by her.”

      He left the room and Emily trailed behind him, watching the play of muscles in his back. She was stunned by his anger. She couldn’t argue with him. And she suspected that this man had been as badly hurt as the two children.

      As she walked beside him into the hall, she was aware of his height. She was nearly six feet tall, yet he was taller than she by a good seven or eight inches.

      “Why aren’t the police searching for Amber?” he asked as they climbed the stairs.

      “They have started searching,” she replied. “Last weekend they found her car abandoned and burned.”

      Zach frowned. “I