Page 16 of A Curse On Black Lake (Black Lake Gothic Cowboys #1)

Chapter twelve

Killian

She looks up from her hands, and I lean back on my heels.

Tiny runs up to her, and she smiles, scratching at his ears as he wags his tail. Her white hair blows in the wind, and her floral honey color skin makes my mouth water. She probably tastes sweet too.

I walk up to her on the stairs, and she gives me a small smile.

“What’s his name?” she asks.

“Tiny. What are you doing here?” I ask her.

She laughs. “He’s definitely not a tiny dog.”

“That’s what makes it funny,” I mumble, and my dad named him.

He’s a White Swiss shepherd and incredibly smart.

Dad wanted one because our other dog was getting older and couldn’t keep up.

She didn’t die long after he did. Grief slices through my chest, and I have to take a deep breath to let the ache pass.

She crosses her bare legs, and her calf-length cowboy boots rasp against the wood stairs. I wait for her answer, afraid to get too close to her. I might be shocked again.

Eliana stares at me, unbothered by my rude attitude.

“I’m here to help you,” she says and runs a hand through her hair.

“I don’t know what you could possibly help me with,” I mutter, still staring at her hair. My eyes finally drift from the moonlit strands to her face as the sun peaks through the grey clouds and she tilts her head back, as if she’s trying to absorb the light.

“There is no way you are successfully running this ranch on your own. You have to be drowning,” she says, her eyes still closed.

My tongue skims the edge of my teeth, and I look away. It doesn’t matter if she’s right. I don’t want help, and I won’t have a ranch if I don’t protect myself from the inevitable murder charge coming my way.

“How’s your leg and your head?” I ask her.

“Oh, fine,” she says.

I rub my chin and glance at her. “I’m sorry, you know … I should have taken you home.”

“I didn’t ask,” she says.

I smile down at my boots, and we sit there for a moment.

“Okey-dokey, clearly you’re busy. I came to tell you I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You didn’t scare me,” I snap, sitting down on the wood stairs.

She huffs and levels me with a silver-blue stare. “You had me fooled.”

My mouth moves before my brain shuts it down because I have to know. “What did you mean? Who’s coming, or already here?”

She smiles sadly and kicks dirt off the step. “If you remember correctly, I told you I don’t know. All I know is that … he’s coming, and I’m supposed to help you with all of it,” she says, gesturing out.

I lean forward on my knees and process her words because I’m pretty sure they make absolutely no sense, but maybe I’m missing something.

“See? Scared,” she sighs.

How does someone respond to that other than; Are you crazy? She doesn’t seem crazy. She seems … overwhelmed, and her body language might say differently, but I can sense the desperation rolling off of her.

I know grief. It’s an old, constant companion slowly draining me of life. Grief can kill if you let it, and I have been.

“Look, I know you need help on this ranch. I don’t know how you’re even alive right now. You’re probably working yourself to the bone. I will be your ranch hand if you help me too.”

Tilting my head, I study her carefully. She doesn’t look like she could lift a bale of hay. She’s beautiful — I’ll give her that. Anywhere else, I’m sure men would be drooling after her. But I need someone strong, someone who knows what they’re doing.

“What kind of help do you need?” I shouldn’t be considering this at all.

“I own Greer’s Apothecary now. It’s just me.

I grow and make everything that’s sold. I have livestock, a massive garden, and a greenhouse to maintain.

I’ve been doing it by myself since…” she trails off and takes a long deep breath to steady herself.

“I’ve been doing it myself for too long.

The only way it worked with my Grams was because she made all the products we sold.

I can’t do both, and even if I tried to hire someone, no one would apply. ”

I take my hat off, dragging my hand through my sweaty hair and rest it on my knee.

“What makes you think I know how to do any of that?”

She rolls her eyes and groans. “Are you always so … combative?” she snaps.

“Are you always so catty?” I ask her.

“Yes,” she snaps.

“You’ve made that blatantly undeniable,” I drawl.

“Why was the Sheriff here? An old friend of yours?” she asks. Her expression tells me she knows it wasn’t, but she wants me to explain.

“I’m not sure how you don’t already know. Gossip spreads like wildfire in this town.”

“I don’t pay attention to what people say; there’s too much going on in my own head. I’m surprised you didn’t leave me in the ditch. I don’t exactly have a stellar reputation in Black Lake either,” she mutters.

“Why wouldn’t I help you out of a ditch?” I ask her.

“Because I’m crazy and a witch,” she says with attitude.

“I mean, you can’t blame me for being a little weirded out, but I don’t see how that constitutes you as crazy or a … witch.”

“Yeah, well, you would be the only one in this town who believes that now.”

“Who gives a shit what people think about you?” I ask her.

“I’d like to say I don’t, but…” she trails off and shakes her head. “Back to the question, why was the Sheriff here, and why did you mention a warrant?”

“You really don’t know, do you?” I ask.

“I’d rather hear it from you,” she says.

Ahh, so she heard most of the conversation.

“I uh…” I pause, not sure if I should tell her any of this. The investigator in me says I can’t, rather, shouldn’t trust her. But that’s my brain talking. My gut tells me she can be trusted with everything.

Another gust of wind cools the sweat on my forehead, and I get a whiff of flowers from her.

It’s light, like she had her hands in them and they caressed their fragrant petals on her skin.

Puffing out my cheeks, I look out across the hills of my land, and Moonbeam, Lucky, and Tex are running around in the grass.

“I found — well actually, Tiny, found a woman on my property, and it’s the same, well no I think it’s the same perp that’s killed before.”

“Bodies always show up in this town, and no one has ever seen any of them before,” Eliana says.

“I thought you said you don’t listen to what the town says,” I say.

She sighs and reaches for Tiny, who’s resting against her leg. He never does that. In fact, he doesn’t really like to be cuddled at all. Her thin fingers rub his ears, and he looks at her. “I don’t. My Grams told me that.”

I glance at her ,and she’s staring at me, waiting for me to continue.

“This time … I probably shouldn’t be telling you this,” I mutter.

“Why?” she asks.

I stare at her white hair, and my brain does this funny thing when instinct kicks in, only I don’t know what it’s telling me.

She blinks a few times and looks away, muttering something under her breath.

“What?” I ask her.

“Nothing. What shouldn’t you be telling me?” Eliana asks.

She blinks and pets Tiny more as if he’s calming to her. The dog hasn’t moved an inch, sensing she needs him.

I glare at him, and he looks up at her like she holds the moon.

Eliana whispers something again.

Weird. “Are you talking to yourself?”

“Sure, let’s call it that,” she says, and takes a breath. “Give it to me straight.”

My breath hitches and my pulse jumps. It feels like there’s something much larger going on here, and I’ve strangely earned the right to be privy to it.

“Please say it,” she whispers. Her fingers clutch Tiny’s fur now, attempting to conceal her fear.

“The woman I found … her hair was dyed blonde. And on her back was the letter K, carved into her skin. Wyatt, the Sheriff, thinks the K is for me, even though it could be for anything. The person who killed her obviously has a plan. He’s escalating.

The other women we found have never been mutilated like this before.

Nor has their hair ever been dyed. It’s always been their natural color. ”

Eliana blinks at me rapidly, still clutching Tiny, and looks away. This time I keep my eyes on her and watch her lips move as she whispers something again. It’s so quiet I can’t hear her.

“That’s disturbing, but I think I’m supposed to help you with … that,” she says, her voice not nearly as confident as it was when she got here.

What I revealed scared her, and at face value I understand why. But there is more, and she’s not telling me, or I haven’t found it yet.

Pulling the two baggies out of my back pocket, I hold the one with the lavender in it up to her.

“Do you recognize this?” I ask her.

She leans forward and tilts her head, inspecting the baggie. “It’s lavender. Looks like it’s been dried.”

I didn’t consider that. I thought maybe it was like that because it had been detached from the plant.

“You see how the leaves curl up? It’s been dried intentionally, I’d assume.”

Her hand releases Tiny, but he stays put. “Can I?” she asks, holding her hand out for the baggie.

I hand it to her, and she holds it up to the light.

“Well, it was harvested at the best time for someone who is trying to distill oil from it. You want to cut it right before it blooms. Obviously, I don’t know this for sure, but it looks like a bloom is missing here because all the other buds are intact.”

She hands the bag back to me. “I thought that lavender had to be intentionally grown here. It wasn’t wild.”

She nods and goes back to petting Tiny. “It does, but anything can grow wild, Killian. Given the things it needs, it doesn’t require permission.”

“You’re the only one who grows lavender, right?”

She shrugs. “I grow it in large quantities, but that doesn’t mean someone doesn’t grow it in their garden or a pot in their backyard.”

I sigh and set the bag down. A dead end. This could have come from anywhere. It could have blown in the wind and got stuck next to that rock. There’s no way this could be traced to the killer. Dammit.

“Where did you find it?” she asks.

“Um, I found it in the same area I found the woman.”

“What was her name?” Eliana asks.

I sigh and drag my hand through my hair. “I don’t know.”

“They won’t tell you?”

I puff out a breath, trying to untwist my chest. “No, it’s possible they don’t know themselves. A body is dumped in this way every year, and I guess my land seemed to be an appealing place this time.”

“I see,” she says.

My eyes drag to hers, and she surprises me, leaning forward, placing her hand on mine resting on the step between us.

Another shock runs through me into her. I swear, her hair rises as if lightning struck.

Her tongue dips out over her lips, and she holds my eyes with her stormy ones.

“I will help you however I can. I know you didn’t do this. ”

My head drops, and there’s no reason for me to feel so relieved. I hardly know this woman, but someone believes me. “I would never, I could never do something like that to someone.”

“I know,” she says, her hand still on mine.

“How?” I ask her. She’s a strange bird.

“I just do. You’re not a predator. You’re a protector, like a sheepdog,” she says, and pats Tiny’s head. I swear the dog smiles at her.

“You don’t know me, Eliana,” I say as my heart pounds.

She huffs. “I know you better than you might believe.”

“Even though we’ve lived in the same town our whole lives, it doesn’t mean you know anything about me,” I say.

“No, it doesn’t, and if anyone understands that, I do,” she says and gives me a knowing stare.

Her hand twitches on mine, and I fight the urge to clasp it within my own. My skin burns with her touch, and my body wars within itself to drag it away or hold tighter even if it hurts. She sees me.

Something deep, and I mean deep, in my body shifts.

It’s an odd feeling, one I’ve never felt before.

My first thought is attraction. It’s been a long time since I’ve been with any woman.

But it’s not lust, it’s … the spirit. It’s confirmation to a question you’ve been searching the Earth to answer.

It’s validation that she’s supposed to be right here in this moment with me.

“How is that possible?” I whisper to myself.

She pulls away, and I hate how my hand feels so empty and oddly cold. “Because Killian, our paths are designed to cross. I don’t know why, and I’m not going to waste anymore time trying to figure it out because I need to move forward.”

“Okay,” I tell her. This is one of the dumbest things I’ve done in a while.

“Okay, what?” she prods.

“I’ll help you with your apothecary, and you help me with the ranch, and … maybe I can clear my name in the process.”

Her shoulders drop.

“Are you relieved?” I ask her, starting to see that this is more than a mutual agreement to help with workload.

The corner of her mouth tips up, and instead of answering me, the clouds part again. The sun beams down on her, and she soaks it up like a sunflower.

“How do you know all of this?” I ask her.

“So many questions,” she drawls.

She tips her chin down and looks at me. “Can we save that conversation for another day?” Sadness passes over her eyes, and she looks away.

“Yeah.” I cough. “Sure.”

“Good.” She stands and Tiny hops to his feet, watching her expectantly.

I drop my hat back on my head and trail my eyes up her legs to the curve of her hips.

“What time should I be here tomorrow?” she asks.

“I usually start at five, but I’ll pick you up at 6.”

“No, five is fine. I’ll be here.”

“Hell no, riding your bike in the dark is asking to get hit again. I’ll be there at six.”

“I’ll see you then.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to take you home?” I ask her.

She shakes her head and gets her bike. “I’ll be fine.” She pauses. “And yes, I am relieved,” she says, looking me in the eye.

I nod my head, reluctant to let her go, purely out of fear that the psycho who hit her will come back, and she won’t get out of the ditch alive.

Eliana swings her leg over to sit on her bike, and Tiny happily follows behind her. “What if he follows me home?” She reaches down, scratching between his eyes.

“Make sure he doesn’t get hit and keep him inside with you.”

She smiles and pets his ears. “Thank you.”

I dip my head. That dog has never paid much attention to anyone except my dad and his job as a shepherd, to protect and herd the cattle.

The fact he’s watching her like a hawk makes me think that whatever is brewing around here has something to do with her, and maybe having him isn’t so bad because animals know things we don’t and I’m going to trust the dog on this one.