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Things slowed down in the fall. Not a lot, but they could sleep later. They spent less time working cattle and more time waiting for the cattle trucks to show up. Zack worked on his dissertation and picked up a lot of the finer points of running a profitable ranch. The work continued to be exhausting, but he was proud to note that his forearms were now giving Sam’s a run for her money.
He started thinking about buying a ring for Sam. He’d never considered buying a ring before but things with Sam were so good...
He could ask her to marry him for Christmas. It was only a few months away, and he’d saved up enough money to at least get her a band. He didn’t think she’d like a big rock on her finger for the simple reason that it’d get in the way. But an engraved band—platinum, maybe—that might suit her just right.
He looked at rings online, but he couldn’t find anything that said Sam to him.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t afford a band, though. The thing that stopped him the most was the fact that even though he’d earned the money, he’d still be buying a ring with Sam’s money.
He kept in touch with his advisor and his old colleagues back at the University. There hadn’t been any openings yet, but there was a chance a position would open up for the winter semester. There wouldn’t be that much to do on the ranch until the spring thaw—he could pick up a couple of classes. It’d put him in a good position for a tenure-track job once his dissertation was complete.
He wanted to be able to buy Sam a ring with money he’d earned teaching. It was a point of personal pride.
So he kept working—cattle in the mornings, foxes at night—but always with Sam by his side.
One dry afternoon in early September, they had just gotten the horses unsaddled when the distinct sound of two car doors slamming shut echoed throughout the barn.
Immediately, Sam was on edge. “Andy.”
“On it.” Moving with a quiet grace Zack wasn’t sure he’d ever noticed before, Andy crept up to the doorway. “Shit,” she whispered. “Gundersons.”
At the mention of the name, everything changed. That unreadable look slammed down over Sam’s face. “I left the rifle in the house.”
“Son-of-a—” Heaven spat in the sawdust and turned to Andy. “Both of them, or just that asshole?”
“Both.”
“Both?” Royal—that asshole—he knew about. There was another Gunderson?
“Duke,” Andy explained. “Royal’s younger brother.”
“Half-brother,” Heaven said, sounding almost defensive.
Sam could have bored through steel with the look on her face. His beautiful woman was gone, and in her place was a cowgirl with an axe to grind. “Was Royal packing?”
“I don’t think so.” But the look on Andy’s face said she wasn’t sure.
Adrenaline dumped into Zack’s blood stream. He should have known this day would come. Although he hadn’t asked Sam to marry him yet, this was his home. Now was the time to stand with Sam and defend it.
“Okay. Andy, you and me, just like normal. When we draw their attention, Zack, you get Heaven into the house.” Sam barked out the order.
He was supposed to run for the house with Heaven? “And leave you? Not happening.”
That blush would have been a lot prettier under different circumstances. “But—”
Although it probably wasn’t the smartest thing he’d ever done, Zack grabbed Sam by the arm and hauled her off to one side. “I’m not going to cower in the house while you’re out there dealing with however many Gundersons there are.” Her eyes flashed in defiance. “I’m not leaving you, babe,” he added, keeping his voice low so the others couldn’t hear him. “And that’s final.”
A look of gratitude flashed across her face before it was swallowed by the unreadable contempt again. She looked at Andy and nodded.
“Fine,” Andy said. “But don’t get any funny ideas. Heaven, can you get past him without starting shit?”
Heaven spat again. “Sure. I won’t start anything.” Her tone of voice made it clear that she’d love to finish it, though.
Something was going on here, something beyond Sam putting a hole in a truck door. “Would someone tell me what’s going on?”
The women shared a look before Heaven turned to him. “Zack, you know what I used to be?”
Awkward. “Sam mentioned something about your previous line of work.”
“You can say it. I was a hooker.” Her voice didn’t waver. “Royal Gunderson used to be one of my regulars. He’s a first-class freak who never tipped.”
“The problem is that he doesn’t understand the ‘used to’ part,” Andy added.
Zack’s head officially hurt. “Let me get this straight. The jerk who shot at my feet is your sworn enemy,” he said to Sam before he turned to Heaven, “and your former john?”
Both women nodded.
“Anything else I should know about him?”
“Anybody home?” A gruff voice yelled from outside.
“Hell,” Sam said.
Zack knew she was thinking of the rifle. She hadn’t been carrying it since he’d moved into the house. He’d taken it as a compliment that she felt safe with him. Now? Nothing about this felt particularly safe. He’d seen Royal Gunderson with his finger on the trigger. He didn’t have a doubt in his mind that the man would take a shot at a woman.
Andy was the one to break the silence. “We’ve handled him before—we can do it again. Just stick to the plan. Sam does the talking. Zack, we back her up. Heaven, get into the house and get Katydid and the gun—just in case.”
“Oh, I’ll get that gun,” Heaven said.
“You will not start anything,” Sam hissed. “Got it?”
Heaven seethed. “Yeah, yeah. I got it.”
“You better.” Sam turned to Zack. “Don’t let him suck you down to his level. I need you to be calm.”
What he wanted to do was pull her into his arms and tell her she didn’t have to go out there and face an asshole with a stupid name, that he’d take care of it for her. He knew the part of her that lay in his arms every night, talking about her hopes and fears, wanted him to do that.
But that wasn’t the part of her that had run this ranch for ten years. She was the boss. What she said, went. “I will, babe.”
“Hello?” Royal was getting closer. “Anyone?”
“Go.” Sam grabbed her rope and headed out. Zack fell into step beside Andy, following Sam.
The bright sunlight blinded him for a second. By the time his eyes cleared, Sam had come to a stop twenty feet away from Royal Gunderson.
The man was just ugly—uglier than Zack remembered from their brief encounter. Royal Gunderson had a pencil mustache and a huge beer gut that hung down over chicken legs.
Zack remembered that sneer, though. That sneer said this man was a whole lot of crazy topped off with a good helping of dangerous. Zack blinked. He didn’t see a weapon, but that didn’t mean Royal didn’t have one tucked in the back of his belt.
“I’m certain I told you I’d shoot you on sight the next time you set foot on my land,” Sam began with no other introduction.
“Now, now, Samantha, is that any way to talk to your oldest neighbor?” Royal clucked. “A pretty young thing like you ought to be a little freer with the welcome wagon, if you catch my meaning.”
Something clamped down on Zack’s arm. He looked down to see Andy was holding him back.
“What do you want, Royal?”
The hairs on the back of Zack’s neck stood up. Sam stood in front of him, her jaw dropped low, coiling and uncoiling the rope in her hands. She’d kill Royal if she got the chance, Zack realized.
Royal sniffed in Zack’s direction. “Heard you brought a stud in to keep all you fillies busy. Had to come see that for myself.”
“Dammit, Royal, you gave me your word you were going to keep your trap shut for once.”
For the first time, Zack noticed a younger man leaning against the truck. He looked a little like Royal, but everything that was cartoonishly comical about Royal looked fleshed out on this guy.
“Sam,” he said with a nod of his head as he stepped around Royal. “Andy.” He turned to Zack and stuck out his hand. “Duke Gunderson.”
Zack kept his eyes fastened on Sam. She tilted her head in Duke’s direction, just enough to be an acknowledgement.
“Zack Baker.” He gave the man his best shake and got a pretty damn good one in return.
“Royal says someone cut our fence and about 100 head are missing,” Duke explained, scratching his goatee. He didn’t sound like he believed it.
Sam let the silence stretch for a second as she looked from brother to brother. Yeah, she’d told Zack that she’d put a hole in Royal’s truck. But watching her face him down with ice running through her veins was a whole different matter. She didn’t back down and she sure as hell didn’t cower. She was the strongest, toughest woman he’d ever seen, hands down. The part of him that wasn’t primed for a fight—which, to be honest, was the dick part—was kind of turned on by an intimidating Sam.
Finally, she spoke, her voice low like it’d been when she’d first spoken to him. “I rode that line yesterday. No holes.”
Royal snorted something fierce. “Maybe your little boy-toy over there cut it last night? Or are his hands too weak?”
“Dammit, Royal,” Duke shot over his shoulder. “Sam, my apologies.”
“Get him off my land, Duke.” Her voice dropped in volume. She sounded less threatening. “You know the rules.”
“Wait a minute,” Royal said, taking a closer look at Zack. “Baker? Are you that pussy that asked about foxes?” Royal let out a tinny laugh and actually bent over and slapped his knee. “Samantha Kenady is fucking you? Oh, that’s rich.”
Zack tried to lunge for Royal, but Andy jerked him back at the same time Duke pushed against his chest. “Get your hands off me,” he snarled at Duke.
“He fights dirty,” Duke said under his breath. “You won’t win.” Then he shoved Zack hard enough that he fell back two steps.
Before Zack could do anything, Royal started talking real loud. “Why, is that my favorite baby girl trying to sneak past me without even giving me a kiss?”
“I’d tell you to go fuck yourself, Royal, but we both know your dick isn’t that big.”
Zack regained his balance in time to see Sam’s shoulders slump down a fraction of an inch. That was Heaven not starting shit? They were all doomed.
“You had her yet, boy?” Royal whistled through his teeth. “Seven minutes in Heaven—you’ll never forget it. Best hundred dollars I ever spent. I’ll double it, baby girl. Two hundred dollars for a little bit of Heaven.”
“Shut up, Royal.” Duke spun on his heels and began to advance on his older brother. “You’re not to say a thing about her. Not one damn thing.”
“You couldn’t make it seven minutes with that nub you call a cock if you tried.” Zack heard Heaven spit. Again.
Royal leered in the direction of the other women before he turned back to Zack. “Nothing but tweakers, whores, and dykes. Which one are you?”
That did it. “Sam told you to leave.”
“Aw, you gonna let a stone-cold bitch like her lead you around by your dick?” Royal tsk’ed him. “That is, assuming you even have one.”
Somehow, even though Andy was holding him back and Duke stood between them, Zack and Royal were getting closer.
“You seem awfully concerned with the state of my dick.” Zack had the distinct feeling Royal Gunderson was actively dragging him down several levels, but he would not let this man treat Sam or Heaven—or any of them—like this. This wasn’t seventh grade gym class. He had ways of dealing with bullies. “Are your insecurities leading you to displace your latent fears onto other people?”
The look of confusion Zack got from Royal was a small victory in and of itself. “What?”
Yeah, he was being an academic geek—but he was throwing Royal off balance. That had to count for something. Who knew Psych 110 would have such real world applications? “Or is your behavior a manifestation of subconscious desires that your conscious self can’t actuate?”
Duke snorted in what Zack hoped was amusement. “I think it’s the second one.” Then he stepped out of the way. The green light, Zack thought.
“Wait just a Goddamn minute.” Royal was thinking hard—Zack wouldn’t be surprised if steam didn’t start pouring out of his ears. “Did you just call me gay?”
“No.” Royal started to smile, but Zack added, “I wouldn’t want to insult gay people like that.”
With a snort, Andy let go of his arm. Nothing was holding him back now.
Except Sam. “Zack,” she hissed under her breath as she stepped back into him. “Don’t.”
Royal’s confusion disappeared behind the meanest sneer Zack had ever seen as Royal’s hands dropped to his sides and began to swing. “You making fun of me, pussy?”
He didn’t care if Royal fought dirty. As long as Zack was the one doing the fighting, Sam would be in the clear. That was all that mattered. He stepped around Sam. “Why would I do that when you’re doing such a fine job all by yourself?”
Time slowed down as things sped up. Zack saw Royal’s muscles tense up as he began to swing. He heard shouting in the background, but he was too busy ducking from the backhand to make any sense of it.
He got out of the way of the first blow, but the second—Royal just kept on swinging—caught him above the ear. He managed to grab Royal’s shirt and pulled him off balance, but that gross beer gut slammed into Zack and knocked him on his ass. The next thing he knew, the two of them were rolling around in the dirt.
“You’re gonna pay—oof!” That was all Royal got out as Zack’s fist connected with the side of his head.
Someone screamed as Zack caught a blow in the jaw. His head snapped back. Sam, he thought as he grabbed hold of something meaty and drove his knee up. Don’t worry, Sam.
Royal howled in pain. Then Zack felt teeth ripping through the skin on his upper arm. Shit, he thought, flailing in the direction of the pain.
The screaming was louder now—he was pretty sure he was screaming, too. He connected with something solid, and the feeling of flesh being ripped from bone lessened, so he hit it again. Suddenly, in the middle of his third strike, an explosion shattered the air.
“That’s just about enough of that!” Granny shouted over Katydid’s barking.
Then Royal’s weight was off him, and someone had Zack under the arms and was hauling him to his feet. “Granny!” Sam shouted.
No, Zack moaned to himself. She’s scared. Terrified. Don’t be scared, Sam.
“Say something,” Andy said, way too loudly in his ear. “Granny, careful with that!”
Zack shook his head until his eyes focused on the same spot. Granny was standing on the porch, the rifle swinging around.
Heaven was on the ground, right next to Zack, screaming. Duke called her name. He dropped Royal like a sack of potatoes, scooped her up off the ground, and shielded her with his body. The rifle swung away from them. It wavered between Royal, on his knees in the dirt, and Zack.
“Granny,” he croaked out, surprised by how much the words burned in his throat.
“You rat bastard!” Royal struggled to his feet at the same moment the rifle settled on him. His face was a mess. Zack noted with pride that he might have busted the man’s nose, and his left eye was already swelling shut.
Zack had done some damage protecting his woman and, in a primal sort of way, that made him feel good.
“Royal Gunderson, I’m calling you out!” Granny jerked the rifle a foot to the right and fired again before she had Royal back in her sights—so to speak. The side of his truck bed crumpled under the shot.
“Granny!” Sam took two steps toward the porch. “What are you doing?”
“Stay put, girl. I’ve got to speak my piece.” She turned her sightless eyes back to Royal. “I’ve had it with you. You cut our fences, you steal our cattle, and you think you can just walk around our land like you own the place. Well get it through your thick head. This is Kenady land. I was here before you, and I’ll be here long after you’re gone.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” Royal said, spitting blood into the dirt.
The tip of the rifle followed the blood down to the ground. Zack saw Granny smile in the split second before the ground exploded at Royal’s feet.
Smiling? Hell. Granny was openly laughing as Royal scrambled toward his truck. “Not so fun when you ain’t behind the gun, is it?”
“You nearly killed me!”
“And what a shame that would be,” Granny said, almost sounding sad about it—but not quite.
“I’ll have you arrested!” Which just proved how stupid Royal really was. Anyone with a lick of sense in his head would realize he was in no position to be making threats.
Granny took aim again.
“Three inches down, two over!” Heaven shouted from behind Duke.
Granny followed the directions—taking aim square at Royal’s nuts. He squawked and took another step toward his vehicle.
“I’m just a blind old woman,” she said in the same tone of voice she might use on a simpleton. “What jury would convict me—especially if there’s no body?”
Katydid came ten feet off the porch in a single leap, her teeth bared. No leash, Zack realized. Nothing to remind her who was in charge. A wolf could take an unarmed man down in minutes. Seconds.
Snarling, Katydid advanced on Royal one step at a time until he was backed up against the truck and fumbling for the handle.
“Duke!” Granny kept the rifle pointed in Royal’s general direction, but she turned her face to where Duke was standing in front of Heaven, arms spread wide to protect her. “I got no quarrel with you. Your momma was a good woman, and she raised you up right. But you knew the rules, and you let him come anyway. I won’t stand for that.”
“Ma’am.” Duke took a step away from Heaven. “My apologies. It won’t happen again.”
“You see to it, or next time, I won’t be so forgiving.”
“Granny,” Sam said, taking another step toward the porch, “give me the rifle.”
Granny turned her face to Sam’s voice. Zack held his breath. “You going to kill him?”
“Not today.”
The two women stared at each other for a moment until the sound of the truck door slamming turned everyone back to where Royal was cowering in his truck.
“He doesn’t have a weapon,” Duke volunteered, taking another step away from Heaven. “I made sure of that.”
“Good.” Granny set the rifle down and turned back to Sam. “Couldn’t bear it if you had to go away, sweetie.”
Sam rushed the porch, picked up her rifle, and clicked the safety on. Relief rushed through Zack, and he wobbled on unsteady knees. His head was pounding, but Andy held him up.
“Baker.” Duke turned to face him. “Not quite a pleasure, but good to meet you.”
“Likewise,” was all Zack could figure out to say.
That seemed to work, because Duke went on, “Sam, Andy. Again, my apologies. Won’t happen again.”
“Best not,” was all Sam said.
The way her voice wavered caught Zack’s attention. Don’t be scared, babe. He couldn’t bear the thought of her being afraid.
Duke turned until he was face to face with Heaven. He whipped off his hat. “Miss Heaven.”
Had Zack ever seen Heaven blush before? She’d never struck him as the blushing kind. “Duke.”
They stared at each other for a weird second before Duke clapped his hat back on his head, spun on his heels, and strode to the holey truck. Sam whistled, and Katydid sat on her haunches, letting Duke open the driver-side door. He shoved Royal out of his seat, fired up the engine, and took off. Katydid loped after them.
Zack and the women stood in silence for a moment, which was just long enough for him to take stock. He was going to have a black eye, he might have cracked a tooth, and his arm—he looked down to see blood oozing from his biceps. “Damn,” he muttered. “That hurts.”
Andy bent over the wound and whistled. “The bastard bit you? Gonna need some stitches.”
“Come on,” Granny said, sounding resigned to clean-up duty. The anger was gone from her voice, as was the reckless smile. Instead, regular old Granny stood up on the porch. She called out to Katydid and went inside. After a long moment, the wolf trotted back around the corner and in after her.
“Fighting the good fight!” Whatever timidness might have been in Heaven’s voice when she’d said Duke’s name was gone, and the brazen girl was back. “Man, you know how to throw down! I am impressed. High five!”
Taking one shaky step after another, Zack just looked at her. “I thought you weren’t supposed to start any shit.”
“Hey, I waited until you two were rolling like pigs in the mud before I got in my kicks. The shit was already started. Man!” She threw back her head and laughed. “I kicked his ass—it felt so good!”
“You’re pushing your luck,” Andy said, grabbing Zack’s good arm and slinging it over her shoulder. “Sam told you not to start anything, and you just egged that man on.”
Heaven scowled as she helped balance Zack out against Andy’s height. “What’s she going to do—fire me? We’ve got a hell of a lot of cattle left to ship.”
They took the porch one iffy step at a time. The longer Zack stood, the harder standing got. His head had moved way past throbbing and was on its way over into splitting territory, and his face wasn’t far behind that. However, that wasn’t what bothered him the most. When they got to the top of the steps, he paused and looked around.
“Where’s Sam?”