Montana Hearts (15 page)

Her father had said he would
like
her to stay in at night but it hadn't been a direct order, and besides, at twenty-­seven years old, she could do as she pleased without her father's permission. It's just sometimes . . . he disagreed with that line of thought. To him, she was still his little girl. Which was another reason, besides being lonely, that she wished she wasn't an only child. His expectations wouldn't be nearly so high if she had a ­couple extra brothers or sisters like Bree, Luke, and Delaney.

“Sammy Jo.”

He didn't want her to spend time with Luke; that's why he was calling her at this hour of the night. But then, why didn't he come into her bedroom and face her outright?

“Sammy Jo!”

He called her name louder this time, with more force, and she stiffened with alarm. Something about his voice didn't sound right.

“Dad?” She went out into the hallway and glanced into his bedroom but his bed was empty.

“Here.”

She spun around toward the bathroom . . . and saw him kneeling on the floor in front of the toilet. “Are you sick?”

Turning on the light, she caught sight of his pale face as he nodded.

“What do you want me to do? Get you some towels? An antacid? A can of ginger ale?”

He grimaced and bent over, pressing his hand against his stomach. Then he looked up at her with a pleading expression and asked, “Take me to the emergency room?”

 

Chapter Twelve

L
UKE DISMISSED
D
ELANEY
and Zach Tanner and took their position in the shadows outside the hay barn. With the cows locked up tight inside and the added security cameras, he didn't see how the rustlers could possibly steal any more of their cows without getting caught. But he did look forward to spending some private time with Sammy Jo.

His gaze kept drifting toward the property line and he wondered what was taking her so long. Had she overslept? He should have gone to her house to escort her across the field. He didn't like the idea of her coming over alone in the middle of the night. What if the rustlers caught up with her again?

His gut wrenched tight as his mind tormented him with images of the possible things they could do to her. He couldn't let them touch her. Not
his
gal. For if they hurt her, they hurt him. And he'd hunt them down and give them a new legend they wouldn't soon forget.

A soft shuffle sounded behind him and he blew out a sigh of relief and spun around, planning to remind her of the danger these men posed.

Except it wasn't Sammy Jo. A masked figure with a strong arm punched him in the face, knocking him backward. Luke tried to recover his balance to return the blow, but his bad knee buckled under the unexpected shift in weight. He landed on the ground and the impact set his leg on fire with a pain far worse than any he'd experienced with the rehab horse.

For a moment he couldn't see, the pain was so intense. And when his vision cleared it was only to witness a fist coming at him a second time.

“Andy Macpherson has a message for ya,” his attacker wearing the black ski mask taunted. “Stay away from Sammy Jo or you'll lose a lot more than cattle.”

Another dark figure appeared from out of the trees and Luke groaned, realizing he was in trouble. But when the one who spoke raised his fist to punch him a third time, the newcomer intervened by grabbing his attacker's arm.

Luke squinted through the darkness and realized the guy who saved him was the new kid they'd hired to work on the cabins. Devin punched his opponent and pulled off the guy's mask.

“Harley Bennett,” Luke growled, rolling over. He reached for his cane, which had fallen from his hand and landed several feet away.

Harley gave Devin a violent shove against the barn wall and ran off the same way he'd come.

Devin bounced off the wall and rubbed the back of his head. “Do you want me to go after him?”

Luke shook his head. “Nah. It won't matter now—­we know who he is.”

The sound of running feet made them both look toward the new men approaching. Luke hoisted himself up with his cane, and calculated the odds of two against four.

You need to get your knee fixed.
The words repeated themselves in his mind, urging him to call the doctor for an appointment. He didn't look forward to his upcoming operation, but the surgery couldn't be as bad as getting his body smashed by a band of half-­wit rustlers like Harley Bennett.

Then a voice called out, “Luke?”

It was Ryan. Which meant the other three figures must be his brothers—­Dean, Josh, and Zach.

“Glad to see ya,” Luke assured them, “but what are you all doing out here? I thought we were doing shifts?”

“Not tonight,” Ryan said, laying a hand on his shoulder. “Bree got a frantic call from Sammy Jo a half hour ago saying she couldn't make it.”

“Couldn't make it?” Luke repeated. “Why not?”

Ryan shrugged. “She didn't say, but Bree thought something suspicious might be going on and didn't want you out here alone.”

“Why didn't Sammy Jo call me?” Luke demanded.

“She did,” Josh answered, “but you're in the dead cell zone.”

“Who's this?” Dean asked, gesturing toward Devin.

“New hire to help me with the cabins,” Luke explained. “He helped chase off Harley Bennett, too.”

“What are you doing out here?” Zach asked the kid. “Did Bree call you, too?”

Devin shook his head. “No. I was camping out in one of the unfinished cabins so I could get an early start on the roof tomorrow—­I mean,
this morning
—­before it gets too hot. But I couldn't sleep with everyone walking around all over the place.”

Luke gave him a nod. “Glad you're a light sleeper. And, Devin—­thanks.”

The kid shrugged. “No problem.”

A scream from the direction of the house turned their attention.

“Sounded like Delaney,” Luke said, alarm coursing up his spine anew.

The Tanner brothers ran toward the Collinses' house, and when Luke caught up with them, the rest of his family was already assembled outside on the front porch.

“What happened?” Luke demanded.

“I went to the kitchen for a glass of water, and one of the rustlers ran right past me and out the door!” Delaney said, her voice choked with emotion.

“Somehow they
knew
we'd all be outside looking for you,” Bree told him. “Even Ma, Dad, and Grandma were outside the house when it happened.”

“Luke, your . . . your face is bleeding,” Ma said, her voice rising higher with each word. “Did they hurt you?”

He ignored the pain still throbbing in his knee and gave his mother a half grin so she wouldn't worry. “No, but they tried.”

“I think this time they used Luke as a distraction instead of a fire,” Ryan warned.

Luke's father frowned. “But they didn't steal any cows.”

Bree scowled. “No, but they stole a fistful of cash from the office.”

“And my bingo money from the cookie jar,” Grandma added.

Luke's ma broke down in tears.
“And my purse!”

S
AMMY
J
O STOOD
by her father in the hospital room awaiting his prognosis. He'd complained his stomach ached, and when he'd arrived in the emergency room, he'd actually emptied the contents of his stomach in a bucket the nurses shoved under his chin. He looked better since that episode, but her father still appeared pale and weak.

“I'd say he has a case of mushroom intolerance,” the doctor announced, coming through the door to join them.

Her father shook his head. “I didn't eat any mushrooms.”

Sammy Jo frowned. “Dad, what did you have for dinner?”

“Winona brought over some homemade beef stew.”

“She must have put some mushrooms in with the other ingredients,” the doctor surmised.

Sammy Jo's dad shook his head. “No.
Impossible
. It must be something else. Winona
knows
I have bad reactions to mushrooms.”

“Andy,” the doctor said in a calm, gentle voice. “There were mushrooms in the bucket you got sick in.”

After the doctor went back out, Sammy Jo got a text on her cell phone from Bree.

Rustlers returned. One came after Luke. Knew he'd be alone. How would they know that?

Sammy Jo glanced at her father and back at Bree's text.
Winona!
The old, crabby banker woman must have given her father the stew on purpose . . . knowing that she would have to take him to the doctor . . . and wouldn't be able to go over to the Collinses' to protect her man!

Sammy Jo's fingers furiously typed the keypad.
Is he okay?

Bruised ego. Bruised jaw. Knee not so good.

Oh, no!
Sammy Jo's chest tightened.
Not his knee!

L
UKE JOLTED AWAKE,
sprang off his bed, and assumed a guarded position off to the side of his interior window. He'd barely slept, but he couldn't have imagined the scuffling sound.

Nope. He didn't. There it was again. Something was climbing
up
the same drainpipe he slid down when using one of his escape routes. And it wasn't an animal. Had Harley Bennett come back? Did he think to finish him off for good this time?

Luke stepped forward to peer out the window, but jumped back when he realized the climber was almost up to the ledge. A second later, a gloved hand raised the window screen and grabbed hold of the inside sill.

Not wasting a second, Luke lunged forward on his good leg, grabbed the intruder, and hauled him through the window and pinned him on the floor.

“Luke!”

He froze and glanced at the long locks of curly dark hair. “Sammy Jo? What do you think you're doing?”

She rolled over and sat up. “I heard you were hurt and I had to see you.”

“Yeah, but you could have used the front door.”

“I didn't want to wake anyone up. I know it's been a rough night. I haven't even slept yet and it's almost dawn.”

“If you had fallen,” Luke said, glancing out his second-­story window, “you could have been hurt.”

Sammy Jo waved her hand as if to brush off his concern. “We used to climb that drainpipe all the time when we were kids.”

“But you're not—­” He glanced down at her chest and then his gaze dropped lower to her nicely curved hips. “You're not . . . a kid anymore.”

“I haven't changed
that
much. Besides, you're the one I'm concerned about,” she said, reaching up and tracing each one of the bruises on his face with her fingers. “It's all my fault. I never should have left you alone.”

“Why did you?”

“My father was sick and needed me to drive him to the hospital.”

“Tonight, of all nights?” Luke asked. “He must have been faking.”

“No, he wasn't. The doctor said he had a reaction to the mushrooms Winona Lane put in his stew. She knew he can't eat mushrooms and she had access to the key to the gate the rustlers drove through. I think she's one of them.”

“That's the woman who's always pestering my ma at the bank,” Luke said, taking Sammy Jo in his arms. “And you said she and your dad are dating, right?”

Sammy Jo nodded.

“Your father has had a lifetime feud with my parents and even went so far as to delay filing our permits. And he, too, had access to the key to the gate.”

Sammy Jo sucked in her breath. “My father is innocent. He wouldn't intentionally make himself sick.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

Luke tightened his arms around her. “Then why did Harley give me a punch from your father and warn me to stay away from you?”

“Harley made that up!” Sammy Jo exclaimed in a sharp whisper. “He made that up because
he
wants me to stay away from you. When he saw us together at the Owens ranch, he must have got jealous because
he
wants to date me.”

“I'm not going to let him near you,” Luke promised.

Sammy Jo kissed the top of his chin. “And how are you going to do that?”

Luke bent his head and kissed her warm, inviting mouth. “I'm going to keep you here in my arms 24/7.”

“And never let me go?” Sammy Jo teased.

Luke grinned. “Not ever.”

Sammy Jo leaned back and smiled up at him. “Why, Luke Collins, if my ears didn't deceive me, that
almost
sounds like a marriage proposal!”

Marry Sammy Jo?
They hadn't even officially dated, but as he leaned in to kiss her again, the thought took root. Who knew? Maybe someday . . . he
would
ask her.

D
ESPITE THE SWEE
T-
­
TALK
and a multitude of kisses that sent her head spinning, Sammy Jo convinced Luke he really did have to let her go home so she could check on her father. The sun's rays peeping over the horizon brightened the fields and, when she arrived at her door, illuminated the face of the woman walking toward her.

Sammy Jo tensed. “Winona, what are you doing here?”

“One of my friends who is a nurse at the hospital called to tell me she saw Andy in the emergency room and I was so upset I had to come over right away to see if he was all right.”

“He will be now, no thanks to you,” Sammy Jo said, narrowing her gaze. “You put mushrooms in his stew!”

“No, I didn't,” Winona protested, her eyes wide. “I know how sensitive he is to those things. Please let me in to see him?”

Sammy Jo shook her head. “No, I think it's best you leave.”

“Haven't
you
ever made a mistake?” Winona pleaded.

Yeah. The biggest mistake she'd made was leaving Luke alone. She should have called someone over at the Collinses' to come take her father to the emergency room. Luke's family might be feuding with her father, but she could trust they'd help out in an emergency and never do anything to put him in danger.

“I have to explain,” Winona cried. “I have to tell him it wasn't my fault. I didn't know there were mushrooms in the stew.”

Sammy Jo frowned. “Weren't you the one who made it?”

Winona shook her head. “No, it was Loretta Collins. She brought over some stew to thank me for helping her access her safe deposit box.”

Luke's ma made the stew? Sammy Jo eyed the woman in front of her with suspicion. “Go home, Mrs. Lane. If my father wants to speak to you, he'll call you later after he wakes.”

Once the woman saw Sammy Jo was not going to let her inside, she turned and left, a deep scowl etched upon her face.

“Who was that?” Sammy Jo's father called as she passed his bedroom on the way to her own.

“Winona.”

“Here? Now? What did she want?”

“She wanted to see you,” Sammy Jo informed him. “But I said no. She also claims Loretta Collins made the stew.”

Her father raised his head off the pillow. “She's lying.”

“I think so, too,” Sammy Jo admitted. “But how do you know for sure?”

He motioned her to step into the room and sit on the edge of his bed. “Our junior year of high school, Loretta and I both ended up in the local doctor's office the same day. It was the first time we really got to know each other.” He paused and a faint smile touched his lips. “Apparently we'd eaten the pizza in the school cafeteria and hadn't realized there had been mushrooms hidden beneath the cheese and other toppings.”