The Cowboy's Lady. Carolyne Aarsen

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      Zach Clayton eased himself out of the car, and when he saw Gabe toting the suitcases, he frowned.

      “Who’s going on safari?” he said, sauntering toward them.

      “If I have to hear one more comment about how many suitcases I’ve packed or doubts about how I’ll survive on that ranch, I’m hitting somebody,” Vivienne muttered, her suitcase bumping over the sidewalk to the waiting car.

      “No hitting,” A.J. cried out, sounding alarmed.

      Brooke patted his back soothingly. “Aunty Vivienne was just teasing, honey.” She shot her a questioning glance. “Weren’t you?”

      “Barely.”

      “So, my little sis is going to be a ranch cook,” Zach said as he helped Gabe heave one of her heavier suitcases into the trunk of her car. “Great advertisement for that fancy cooking school you went to.”

      Vivienne ignored him as she opened the back door of her car and laid her smaller suitcases inside. “I like how everyone is so confident of my abilities and so supportive of my decision to actually make some money while I’m waiting for Grandpa’s money to come through,” she snapped as she slammed the car door shut. “I’d like to think it shouldn’t be hard to feed a bunch of cowboys. I’m not the prima donna everyone seems to think I am.”

      She spun around and faced a sheepish-looking Zach and equally embarrassed Gabe.

      “Sorry, sis,” Zach said, with a light shrug. “Just having some fun with you. We know you’re an amazing cook, and that’s why it seems like a stretch to see you working out there.”

      Vivienne knew that and she knew she was being touchy. She also knew her lack of confidence was tied up in the reason she was fired from her previous job.

      “Well, I could be working at the resorts—”

      Zach held up a hand. “Not a chance, girl. That pass over the mountains to get there is too dangerous.”

      In spite of her pique with her family, Vivienne felt a flush of affection at her brother’s protectiveness. She knew it was because he cared, and it had been a while since she’d had that.

      “Anyhow, this is what I chose to do,” she said, tempering her stern tone with a smile. “And I’m sure I’ll be seeing you all again.”

      Zach pushed his hat back on his head and heaved out a sigh. “That’s one of the other reasons I came here. I still haven’t heard anything more from that private investigator I hired to find out what’s happening with Lucas. He said he would let me know if I should send in help, but nothing. I wish I knew what to do.”

      “Our mother would say that we should pray,” Vivienne said with a melancholy tone, leaning back against the car. She hadn’t prayed in years. Not since she left Clayton. As far as she was concerned, God had died when her mother had. She hadn’t talked to Him since.

      “I have been,” Brooke said, cuddling A.J. close as if to protect him from the trouble Lucas was involved in. The information the family had received so far was that their cousin was trying to rescue a child orphaned by a drug gang deep in the Everglades. The bits of information were confusing and frightening and no one knew what they could or should do. Lucas wasn’t in direct contact with any of them.

      “If I don’t hear anything in the next week or so, I’ll have to make a decision about getting the police in Florida involved,” Zach said, heaving a heavy sigh.

      Vivienne wished she knew what to do to help her brother and Lucas. Zach had always been the one to take care of her and Brooke. Their father, distracted by work and the ongoing feud with his uncle Samuel’s side of the family, was an absent father. And when he died in a car accident that also killed his brother—their uncle Vern—Zach had taken the role of protector to Vivienne and Brooke. It had made him older than his years, but it had also brought the three very close.

      “Should I take this job then?” she asked, suddenly concerned. “Or should I stay around to help find Lucas?”

      Zach gave her a tight smile and shook his head. “There’s not much any of us can do, sis. So just go and work. We’ll keep you informed.”

      “I can come back whenever you need me,” she said. She suspected that Cody Jameson might not mind if she decided to quit. He seemed reluctant enough to hire her.

      Zach patted her shoulder. “We’ll keep in touch. Cook good at that ranch and make us Claytons proud,” he said, giving her a quick, hard hug.

      The various paraphernalia of his police belt dug into her waist as she hugged him back, its heft and weight a grim reminder of Zach’s ongoing responsibilities as deputy sheriff of the town.

      Then he strode back to his car and was gone.

      Vivienne watched him go, then turned to her sister and Gabe. “I should leave, as well.” She hugged her sister and gave A.J.’s cheek a quick stroke. “Love you, little guy.”

      “You’ll stay in touch?” Brooke asked, shifting A.J. to her other hip like a seasoned mother. She had grown up quickly in the past few months, Vivienne thought. Her little sister no longer.

      “I’ll be back for groceries sometime or other,” Vivienne assured her. “I’ll contact you then. Find out what’s happening with Mei and Lucas.”

      Brooke gave her another hug, Gabe flashed her a quick smile, and then Vivienne was in her car and pulling away from the curb. In her rearview mirror, she saw Gabe drop his arm around Brooke’s shoulder and pull her close. The domestic scene tugged at her heart, and again Vivienne felt a surge of envy blended with joy for her sister’s happiness.

      Would she ever find what Brooke and Gabe seemed to have?

       Chapter Three

      “Where are you going?” Cody called out to his newest hired hand, Bryce, as he walked toward the cookhouse. “Your horse needs to be brushed yet.”

      The young boy turned and then dropped his gloved hands on his narrow hips, brown hair hanging in his eyes. “I’m beat. I’m hungry and tired from riding all day. My horse is fine.”

      And with that he spun around, skinny arms pumping as he ran off.

      Cody pressed his lips together, sending up a quick prayer for patience, which was immediately followed by guilt. Lately his prayers were the “Help me, help me” kind sent up in a rush between getting the horses ready for the roundup, getting the last batches of hay hauled and trying to keep his sister from driving him crazy. He hadn’t had time for proper devotions in weeks. He just prayed God understood.

      Cody sighed as he dismounted, his own legs stiff from riding all day. He should insist the boy do things the right way, but he was new and Cody didn’t have the energy to follow through.

      Not after spending almost twelve hours in the saddle sorting through the first batch of cows and calves and getting them ready to move in a couple of weeks.

      “Why’s Bryce heading for grub?” Ted grunted as he swung his leg over the saddle. “Didn’t see him brush his horse down.”

      “He says he’s tired.”

      “Aren’t we all? And you’ve been working since five o’clock. Kid needs an attitude adjustment.”

      “He’s willing to live out here for ten days at a time, so I put up with him.” Cody led his and Bryce’s horse to the tack shed, the slow thud of the horses’ hooves telegraphing their own weariness.

      “And hang out with spineless Les Clayton and that no-account Billy Dean Harris when he’s not working.”

      Which made Cody think of another Clayton now inhabiting the place. Vivienne had come to the ranch last night, dragging enough suitcases to outfit every woman in town. But he hadn’t had time to talk to her. Instead he got Cade, her cousin