Page 39 of Ride Me Cowboy

“Don’t worry. I’ve got this.”

At the house, he sees me to the door but doesn’t come in. “Caleb and I’ll take care of it,” he promises.

I nod, wishing I didn’t feel so uncertain.

Inside, Beau and Austin are cooking steak, Mackenzie’s watching TV. I contemplate going straight to my room, but I’m not really in the mood to be alone. I’m too worked up.

“You alright, Manhattan? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Beau drawls.

I shake my head, try to smile. “I’m all good.”

“Want a beer?” Austin offers.

I nod. I haven’t drunk since the night in the bar, but I could sure do with something right now. Austin pulls one from the fridge, cracks the top and hands it to me.

“Where’s Cole?” Mackenzie asks, not taking her eyes off the TV.

“I—,” I don’t know if I’m meant to say anything. He didn’t tell me not to, but would he want them to worry? “He’s gone to sort something out.”

Beau looks at Austin, who drags a hand through his hair. “Must be back.”

“What must be?”

“That damn mountain lion,” Mackenzie says. “Been prowling round the stock for weeks. Got a foal last month, too. Last thing we need.”

My heart lifts at this news. So this is a perfectly normal thing out here in these parts. Great. Cole deals with this stuff all the time. He’ll be fine.

“He’s getting Caleb,” I say, at the same time the sound of a shot rings out through the air. A single, piercing clap that seems to reverberate through time and space. I jump. I can’t help it.

I abhor violence of any kind. I thanked God every day of our marriage that Christopher didn’t have a gun.

It wasn’t his style, anyway. He liked to torment and torture, not put anyone out of their misery.

Beau sees and laughs. “You’re alright in here, Beth.”

“I’m not scared,” I say, but my fingers are trembling. I curve them harder around the beer, hold it tight in front of me, on the bench. “It’s just not what I expected to happen, that’s all.”

“We’ve tried scarin’ it off, damn thing keeps coming back,” Austin says. “We can’t have him taking the herd. Cole got a permit, just in case.”

“You need a permit?”

“Cougars are protected around here,” Austin nods. “But this one’s taken a few calves already. Cole’s been working with the authorities for months, before this. Sometimes, it’s the only solution.”

I think of those big, gentle cows, like sitting ducks for a cougar. “Do you think they killed it?”

Beau and Austin’s eyes meet. “If Cole wanted it dead, it’s dead. He’s the best shot in the county, by a country mile.”

My stomach twists and my heart flips. Pride, surprise, relief. That sense of being safe. Because it’s not something he goes around saying, or showing off with. It’s just a part of him, and he doesn’t need it emblazoned on a t-shirt to make himself feel like a big man. That’s true masculinity, right there.

“You joining us for dinner?” Beau asks, nodding toward the pan. I usually eat in my room, but I notice there’s a heap of steak on the grill anyway.

“Are you expecting company?” I ask. “Like twenty more people?”

He grins. “We got big appetites out here, honey.”

“Is there enough?”

“For a tiny thing like you? I’m sure we can rustle something up.”