Page 9 of The Unbuttoned Ranger (Texas Heat: The Heart of a Texas Ranger #1)

Sharp stomped back to his truck and hauled himself into the driver ’ s seat, fuming because he was late for the meeting with the team.

He swiped up his phone and checked the network as if something might have changed. He laid his hand on the gear shift, his foot on the brake, and paused. He saw the woman bent back under the hood. There was nothing she could do to fix it without the proper parts.

She stepped out from under the hood and he saw her swipe at her cheeks. She ’ d been crying. He never could stand to see a woman cry.

He ’ d call Skeeter and the mechanic would make sure the lady and her son would be okay. But what if he was busy?

The kid was looking through the back window of the car.

Something in Sharp pinged.

Maybe he ’ d come on a little too strong.

In his defense he ’ d almost run over her. He ’ d looked down for one second and when he looked back up, he saw her.

He leaned back into the seat. The call with his team was important. And he was wasting time.

The Texas heat wasn ’ t for everyone. Especially someone from Chicago, which he saw from her license plate.

What the hell was she doing clear out in Fin ’ s Creek?

There were only five houses on the stretch of lonely road, and the only strangers who made it out this far were those who were lost or no-good corporates.

He let his foot off the brake pedal.

The kid had his face pressed against the window. His eyes were on Sharp in a way that dug deep inside.

Damn.

What if this were his wife and child stuck on the side of the road? Would he want them left alone to wait?

He dropped his hand from the gearshift. There would be other meetings.

Laying his hand on the door, he sighed. He couldn ’ t live with himself if he ditched the mother and son. His father had always taught him to be kind and help others.

Sliding out, his boots hit the gravel, and he strode back to the lady. She spun around, surprise lighting her green eyes. She ’ d been crying and the evidence was abundantly clear in the moist trails on her cheeks.

She kneaded her brow as if to ease the tension. “ Did you forget something?”

“ You won ’ t find any phone service this far out and you can ’ t fix the car without the parts and tools,” he repeated himself, feeling awkward knowing she’d been crying.

One tear slowly slid to her cheek, then a second, followed by too many to count.

She mumbled something inaudible as she swiped clumsily at the wetness.

“ What ’ s that?”

“ Have you ever had one of those days? Weeks? Months?” She threw up her hands in defeat, which he guessed didn ’ t happen often. It took a lot of guts for a woman to drive across multiple states with a kid and dog, but for what? She wasn ’ t a corporate like he ’ d first suspected.

“ Yeah,” he said.

The dog was sitting at her feet giving the stink eye like he believed Sharp was the cause for the woman ’ s stress.

“ I keep making mistake after mistake. Why can ’ t the universe give me a break?”

He tucked his thumbs into his front pockets. “ I guess it depends on the break you ’ re wanting.”

She lifted her gaze, meeting his in a probing hold. She sniffed loudly. “ You wouldn ’ t understand. I should have known this was just another mistake on a long list of screw ups.”

He groped with the right thing to say. He certainly didn ’ t want to make things worse. “ What exactly is the mistake?”

“ Coming here. Texas.” She threw up her hands again. “ What was I thinking. I ’ ve always believed I should never make a permanent decision on temporary emotions.”

“ Do you know where you are? Are you lost?” Maybe that was a good place to start.

“ I ’ m here for a job.” She heaved a disgruntled sigh.

“ Wait here.” He hurried back to his truck, grabbed three bottles of water from the cooler in the back, and brought them to her. “ One for each of you.”

She stared for a long moment as if he was offering her a two-headed snake.

She finally took them. While she popped the lid to one, he finally got the chance to look at her.

Shoulder-length dark hair framed her expressive green eyes.

She was a bit too thin, possibly enhanced by the baggy T-shirt and jeans she wore.

She wore no rings—and the only jewelry was a nose ring.

Inside one wrist she had ink, and bruises, but he ’ d be rude to glare too long.

She took the water to her son, poured the dog some in a paper cup, then she drank thirstily. She recapped the bottle then read off an address. “ According to my GPS when it was working a few miles ago, Piper Loveland ’ s farm is on this road.”

“ She hired you?”

“Yes. No. It ’ s a long story. I ’ m a friend of her nephew ’ s. Albert. He got me the job.” Shoving her phone into her back pocket, she looked up at him and the rays of the sun caught the wetness remaining on the tips of her thick lashes. “ I ’ m going to help out on the farm.”

He should have watched his reaction, but he couldn ’ t help himself. His chuckle made her frown. “ You serious? You ’ re helping with the livestock?”

“ Yes.”

“ Milking goats?”

“ Yes,” she said less confidently.

He readjusted his Stetson and shifted in his dusty boots. “ Good news is, you ’ re not too far from the farm. A couple of miles will land you right on her doorstep.”

She craned her neck as if she could see that far away. Her bottom lip trembled slightly.

Please don ’ t cry again. Please don ’ t cry, he repeated the mantra in his head.

“ A couple of miles as in two?”

“ Probably three to be more accurate.”

He saw the last bit of confidence wring out of her. “ I-I guess we can walk.”

“ Lady, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but in this heat that wouldn ’ t be safe for any of you.”

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked from the road to the car and back as if mentally estimating the risks involved. “ Right.”

“ I ’ ll give you a lift,” he offered.

“ But you were heading in the opposite direction?”

“ The time for my meeting has passed.” He cleared his throat. “ It just so happens that I planned on stopping over at Piper ’ s today and there ’ s no time like the present.”

“ What about the car? Will it be safe here?”

He had a hankering to laugh again, but he managed to control himself. What she didn ’ t understand was that no one traveled along the long lane unless they lived on it.

“ It ’ ll be fine. I ’ ll call Skeeter and have him come and get it.

” He saw several worried expressions fly across her face.

Then he realized after a trip coming from Chicago, she probably didn ’ t have a lot of extra money.

“ He ’ s fair and won ’ t doing anything until you give him the approval. ”

Concern etched lines around her eyes. “ I don ’ t even know your name.”

“ Sharp Creed, ma ’ am.” He touched the brim of his hat. When she didn ’ t respond right away, he asked, “ Yours?”

He could see the discomfort.

“ CaDee. And that ’ s my son, Carsen. Please tell me that cell service works better at Loveland Farm.”

He scanned the distance then settled his gaze back on her. “ Last I knew Piper had a landline, but I can ’ t promise anything about the cell service.” Sweat coated his forehead as the sun became hotter.

“ Could you drive where you have cell service and call the mechanic?”

Back to square one.

“ With all due respect, you and your son could be out here in this heat for a while. Skeeter doesn ’ t work real fast.”

He was starting to realize she didn ’ t trust him, maybe no one.

He didn ’ t want her to be uncomfortable. You ever driven a truck before?”

One brow lifted. “ No.”

“ Well, I think you can manage for three miles. You take the driver ’ s seat, and I ’ ll take the back. Deal?”

“Are you sure?”

“ Sure that I ’ m going to melt like a stick of butter out in the sun if we don ’ t get moving, One-hundred percent sure.”

“ You ’ d really let me drive your truck?”

He chuckled. “ Look at it, ma ’ am. There ’ s not much you could do to Old Faithful that hasn ’ t already been done.”

“ I ’ ll go grab our things and lock up the car,” she said.

“ Best to not lock it up in case Skeeter will need to get inside. Leave the key too.”

There was that look again. The one that said she hadn ’ t trusted someone in a long time. “ I-I don ’ t know…”

“ You want your car fixed, right?”

“ Yes, but…”

“ This road is about six miles long. There are five houses, and I know every single one of the neighbors and they ’ d good people.

Tuck the key under the mat if it makes you feel better.

” He winked, headed for the truck and hauled himself into the back.

He almost fried by the time she had gathered up her kid and a small plastic bag.

That wasn ’ t much for someone traveling with a kid, or someone planning to stay a while.

He watched her settle into the driver ’ s seat, the dog in the middle and the kid in the passenger seat. She adjusted it and the mirror, peered out the dash, then they were off.

The breeze helped, although she drove about as slow as a new driver.

Finally, the swinging sign announcing the arrival to Loveland Farm came into view. He knocked on the back window, pointing at the driveway.

The ten-acre property had once been prosperous but was now reduced to a handful of livestock, chickens, and three dilapidated barns. Sharp hadn’t realized how much it had declined.

She shut the engine off, and he jumped out and walked around to open the driver ’ s door for her.

“ Thank you,” she said modestly.

“ Yes, ma ’ am,” he said politely.

The kid slid across the seat, both hands overflowing with tiny plastic dinosaurs, the kind that Sharp used to play with too when he was a kid.

One fell onto the ground and Sharp swiped it up. “ I had one just like this once upon a time.”

“ Do you like dinosaurs?” Carsen asked.

“ I think dinosaurs are cool.”

“ Come on, Carsen.” CaDee motioned for him.

He jumped out.

“ Don ’ t forget this one.” Sharp handed Carsen the toy.

“ I appreciate your help,” CaDee said as she grabbed her bag from the seat.

The dog didn ’ t budge.

“ What ’ s his name?” Sharp asked. She didn ’ t answer. “ He does have a name, right?”

“ Of course. His name is Milo.”

“ Come on, Milo. You ’ re home.” Sharp clicked his tongue. The dog continued to stare.

“ Milo, come,” CaDee called. He jumped out. “ He can be stubborn.”

“ Hello!” came the greeting from the porch.

Sharp waved at the rail-thin, silver-haired woman whose leather, wrinkled skin told a story of all the years of working her farm.

The sadness in her eyes told another story.

The one of a woman who lost both her husband and son in a tractor accident.

Sharp remembered the funeral and how devastated Piper was.

It had triggered his own memory of losing his mother when he was ten.

“ You must be CaDee.” Piper pulled her hands out of the front pockets of her bibs to give CaDee a firm handshake.

Sharp watched the exchange seeing her guarded expression.

He felt a bit protective and wasn ’ t sure where that emotion came from.

He ’ d known CaDee less than thirty minutes, but he knew a woman like her wouldn ’ t last long there.

He ’ d give her two weeks at the most. Fin ’ s Creek was a small town that consisted of the basic shops.

Although, a coffee shop opened last year, and he heard rumor that Nellie Smalls moved home from Florida and started renovating a downtown building to open up a women ’ s clothing store.

Fin ’ s Creek was going places but probably not where someone like CaDee wanted to go.

“ You an Uber driver now, Sharp?” Piper said jokingly.

“ Your guests’ ’ car broke down up the road. I just happened to be driving by.”

“ I ’ m sorry to hear about that. Sure glad Sharp happened along when he did,” Piper said.

“ I was heading out here anyway.” Sharp was anxious to get his day started. “Do you have a moment?”

Piper nodded then said to CaDee, “ Why don ’ t you two run on up to the porch where it ’ s cooler. I have a pitcher of lemonade on the table.”

“ Again, thanks for the help,” CaDee said to Sharp. He could see the worry in her eyes, and he had a hankering to tell her everything would be okay. Piper would look out for them. Far as he saw it, Piper needed the company as much as CaDee needed a job.

“ How ’ s your pa, son?” Piper drew his attention off the lady as she headed up the porch.

“ He gets more stubborn every day.”

She laughed. “ Have some patience. He ’ s earned being a bit stubborn.”

“ I guess you ’ re right.” He leaned a hip against the side of the beat-up truck. “ What are we going to do about your cattle, Piper? Your cows have been wandering over into Pa ’ s yard and getting into trouble.”

“ I ’ m sorry, Sharp. They break the old fence faster than I can repair it. That ’ s why I hired the girl to help me keep up with things around here.”

He narrowed his gaze on CaDee and her son who were sitting in the porch rockers sipping lemonade. He ’ d caught her staring at him, but she quickly turned away. “ I ’ m not one to put my nose where it doesn ’ t belong, but I don ’ t think she ’ s probably going to mend fences.”

Piper ’ s shoulders slumped some as if she already knew that. “ I ’ m doing my nephew a favor. He said she needs a job in a bad way. Ain’t like I was getting any interests in any takers for the position.”

“ What ’ s her story? Did he tell you?”

“ No, just that she ’ s a good friend of his and can be trusted.”

He scraped his fingers down his whiskered jaw. “ I ’ ll take care of the fence. That ’ ll keep the cattle from meandering where they got no business. I ’ ll also stop over and ask Skeeter to tend to her car.” He pushed off the truck and headed to the driver ’ s door.

“ You ’ re a good man, Sharp. How are you feeling? Your pa said you were coming along.”

“ As chirpy as a newborn bird.”

“ Do me a favor?”

“ What do you need?”

“ You still remember how to milk the goats?”

“ I believe so.”

“ Come over bright and early in the morning and show her around. I have an appointment and I ’ ll need her to do the chores for me.”

His first instinct was to make up an excuse why he couldn ’ t come over, but he ’ d already told Piper he ’ d build a fence. “ Make sure your guest is ready, and wearing something else besides those fancy shoes. We wouldn ’ t want her losing a toe.”

Piper ’ s laughter followed him into the truck.

He drove away from the farm and watched through the rearview mirror until he pulled onto the road.

Instead of going right toward home, he took a left back toward town. He had a good idea…