Page 42 of Cowboy Peril

A glance at the clock spurred him into action. A cool shower helped him wake up and wash away the sweat, but it did little to dispel the fear rising in his throat. He thought he’d had a good grip on things until finding out about Darryl’s idiocy—a man Colt had hired during Dylan’s trip overseas. He tried to tell himself that everyone made mistakes. The man’s references had been impeccable, and he’d met all the ranch requirements of needing a place to heal, but Colt’s decision to hire the man could have resulted in something terrible happening to Parker.

With a sigh, he gave himself a mental shake. He needed to trust in himself and no one else. Colt had what it took to keep Parker safe. Right. Maybe if he said it enough, he’d start to believe it.

Dressed, he headed to the barn to move the female dog and her puppies to a place where they’d be safe from excited twelve-year-olds. Since the forecast called for rain, all survival-skill training would take place in the barn and under a tarp outside. The noon meal would be served in the main-house dining room.

If Colt had his way, he’d cancel the whole thing, but Dylan didn’t see the need. If they were camping or horseback riding instead of fire building, water purifying, and cooking, he’d have rescheduled.

“Come on, girl. Let’s move you into a back stall.” He placed the puppies on a clean blanket and carried them to the farthest stall, knowing the mother would follow. Once he’d moved them safely out of harm’s way, he led the horses to pasture before heading to breakfast. “You keep a good eye out, Monster.” He patted the dog’s head. The mutt probably missed the two security jobs Dylan had rented a few months back. Maybe if they still had them, Mark wouldn’t have been able to slip onto the ranch as easily with or without help.

Yep, he’d make sure he had at least two dogs when he started his ranch.

“Good morning.” Parker rushed down her porch steps and fell into step beside him. “I’d ask how you slept, but the dark circles under your eyes say it all. Bad dreams?”

“Yep.”

“The same one you used to have?”

“Pretty much.” He opened the kitchen door for her. “Ready for our group?”

“As ready as I can be knowing absolutely nothing about what you’ll be teaching them.”

He grinned. “Good thing you’ll be there to learn.”

“Right.” She laughed. “I’ll do my best to make sure none of the kiddos wander off. I am basically going to be a babysitter, right? That and a sous-chef.”

“Yep, but they’ll be preparing their own food.”

They filled their plates with eggs and bacon before choosing their seats at the table. Colt went over the daily chore list with the other men as they ate. “Willy, stay close by in case I need your help with the skill class. The rest of you are on patrol and regular daily chores.”

“We have a schedule,” Maverick said, lowering his voice as he glanced at the twins sitting at the far end of the table. “Theranch is big, but we’ve come up with a grid that will work at covering the expanse.”

“Be vigilant. We don’t want a repeat of Bill.” The man had been killed while on patrol trying to keep Dani’s assailant from getting too close.

“As long as things go smoothly with everything else, there will be more than one of us patrolling on horseback.” Maverick dug into his eggs.

Good. The men had everything under control. Still, the idea that Mark could still find a way to get to Parker ate at him. There was always a way if someone wanted something bad enough. And this man was obsessed with Parker—according to his threatening notes anyway. Colt reassured himself that the ranch was as safe as they could make it. Now he just had to believe it.

~

Parker cleared the table then stepped onto the front porch to wait for their guests. By the time she finished working at the ranch, once Mark was behind bars, she’d feel a lot more comfortable around kids than she had before arriving at the ranch to ask for Colt’s help.

She leaned her elbows on the railing and stared down the long drive. White fences lined the dirt drive; horses grazed in corrals on each side of it. Such a marvelously beautiful place. If someone would have told her last year that she’d be living in a house the size of her bedroom and working on a ranch, she’d have told them they were insane. But she loved her new life—minus the danger, that is.

A dust plume let her know the bus carrying the days guests had turned onto the path. She knocked on the kitchen window to let the other two women know.

The twins barged outside, insistent they be there to greet the other kiddos. “After all, we’re doing some of the training,” Eric said, crossing his arms.

“Settle down, cowboy. Nobody said you couldn’t be out here.” Parker shook her head, then smiled as Colt strolled around the corner of the house as a fine mist fell from the dark clouds overhead.

He wiped his hands on the legs of his jeans. “Ready?”

“Yep!” Both boys yelled, their arms held high.

“Then, let’s go.” Colt led them to where six twelve-year-olds scampered from the bus.

Their teacher/chaperone for the day, Susan Snodgrass, shook Colt’s hand. “Here we are again.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

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