Glynna Kaye - Mountain Country Cowboy

When Cash turned to Rio, he caught her eyes narrowed on him in speculation—and a hint of female interest that caught him off guard. If it wasn’t for the sudden flush on her cheeks when his eyes met hers, he’d think he imagined it. Princesses didn’t usually look at Herreras with interest.

He shifted uncomfortably as they openly sized each other up. This situation had the makings of a complicated employer-employee relationship for more reasons than one. “I’ll be in touch as soon I get the childcare arranged. But right now I need to—”

“Look, Dad! He likes me!”

* * *

To Rio’s relief, their locked gazes released as they turned to the now-giggling, black-haired boy who’d earlier made a mad dash out the door. He hopped up on the low porch, a German shepherd at his side licking him every inch of the way.

“See, Dad?”

The gleam in his dark brown eyes reminded her of the boy his father had once been. Cashton Herrera a dad. Unbelievable.

Cash joined them on the porch, crouching to playfully tug on the bill of the boy’s baseball cap before roughing up the dog’s glossy coat. The excited canine made a tongue swipe in his direction, but a laughing Cash dodged it, then stood. Rio watched the lively exchange with mixed emotions, finding it difficult to reconcile that the gentle hand on the boy and dog had once fisted in anger against an ex-wife...

Joey looked at his father with a sweetly dimpled smile, eyes bright with hope. “Can I keep him?”

“I imagine he has a home.” Cash glanced at Rio for confirmation.

“He does. His name is Rags, and he belongs to my brother Luke and his family. But you’ll be seeing him, Joey, if Luke’s daughter Anna babysits you.”

A cloud descended over the boy’s expression as he eyed Cash accusingly.

“I don’t want a babysitter. I want to hang out with you, Dad.” He looped an arm around the dog’s neck. “And Rags.”

Cash’s gaze flickered momentarily to Rio, then back to his son. “We’ll hang out together. But I’m here to work with the horses, so we can’t be together all the time.”

“But—” The anxious-eyed boy glimpsed Rio watching him and self-consciously halted, giving the dog a hearty squeeze.

Sensing his distress, she offered an encouraging smile. “Do you like horses as much as your dad does, Joey?”

She’d noticed he wore tennis shoes and shorts. A Phoenix Suns tank top. Not a miniature of Cash in that respect.

The boy shrugged, not meeting her gaze. “Dunno.”

“You don’t?” Rio cast a doubtful look at his father.

“There hasn’t been much opportunity,” Cash responded as he looked thoughtfully at his son. “But we’re going to make a horseman of you yet, aren’t we champ?”

Joey nodded, but without much enthusiasm, his grip further tightening on the dog so that it struggled to pull free. It was hard to imagine a child of Cash Herrera not being exposed to horses from the crib onward. Most kids liked horses, though, didn’t they? If not, it might make for a long summer for the little guy.

And his dad.

At that moment she sensed Cash stiffen. Curious, she glanced in the direction his attention had focused, then she stifled a groan. Braxton and Luke were still standing by the deputy’s vehicle and now looking their way.

So what did the deputy want this time? To ask her out for coffee or to the library book sale? Or was he here to pester her again to train that new horse of his? Why couldn’t he get it through his head that she wasn’t interested in him?

“Cash!” Luke called over, then said something to the deputy at his side before motioning Cash to join them.

Puzzled, she glanced at the man standing rigidly beside her. Eyes alert. Jaw tight. Pulse thrumming at the base of his throat. Then abruptly he stepped off the porch and halted on the other side of his son in an almost protective move.

What was...?

Deputy sheriff Braxton Turner’s voice rose authoritatively. “I need a few minutes with you, Mr. Herrera.”

Chapter Two

Lorilee hadn’t wasted any time.

Muscles tensed, Cash stood between Joey and the two men facing him across the parking lot, his instincts at peak alert. Like the last time, would he be arrested? What would happen to Joey? Would they haul his boy off to social services or deliver him to his irresponsible mama’s doorstep—wherever that might be?

Please God, this can’t be happening. Not again.

And not here, not smack in the same place where his father’s sorry behavior had gotten the whole family kicked off the Hunter property. Cash had taken a big risk accepting a position where people would remember his dad and judge him by that long-cast shadow. But this was by far the best job offer he’d gotten. Did the deputy, not much older than Cash, come from around here and recall the legacy of Hodgson Herrera?

Heat coursing up the back of his neck, aware that Rio and his son were watching curiously, he forced himself to take a calming breath as he strode across the parking lot to where the men stood.

As he cautiously neared, a grin suddenly appeared on the red-haired deputy sheriff’s face. The man thrust out his right hand.

“I’m Braxton Turner, friend of your buddy Will Lamar.”

Cash’s gaze flicked from one man to the other. Both the deputy and Luke Hunter were smiling, with no undercurrent of anything that might threaten him or his boy. He shook the man’s hand with a firm grip that didn’t acknowledge a need to show deference to the badge.

“I was chattin’ with Will last night,” the deputy continued, “and he mentioned you’d be in my neck of the woods. That I should come on over and introduce myself.”

This was a social call?

Or was Deputy Lamar—his friend and ally since that last arrest—having second thoughts concerning him moving so far from his oversight? Was he passing the baton, so to speak, to another officer of the law?

“Will roped you into checking up on me?”

The deputy laughed. “Actually, I was bemoaning to him the bad habits of a mare I recently picked up at a bargain price. Wild Card’s living up to her name, a real handful. Rio won’t touch her with a ten-foot pole, but Will said you’d be the man to see.”

Was that the truth? That’s all this was?

The tension in his shoulders eased slightly. He scuffed a toe in the dusty gravel, anchoring his mind to the present, reining it in from alarmist excursions. The man wasn’t here to arrest him for child abduction. To take Joey away.

Cash offered what he hoped was a relaxed smile. “Bargain price, was she?”

The other man chuckled. “For good reason, I soon found out. Think you could give my new nag deportment lessons?”

Cash rubbed the back of his neck, kneading still-tight muscles. Always enjoying an equine challenge, he’d love to get his hands on the ornery horse. Success there might further enhance his growing reputation as a horse trainer, as well. But first things first. He got the distinct impression his primary mission would be proving himself to Rio Hunter. “I arrived this morning, so my time’s not yet my own. You probably should talk to Rio about my availability if the horse needs attention right away.”

The deputy glanced in her direction and, if Cash wasn’t mistaken, there was a glimmer of interest in the lawman’s eyes he didn’t much care for. Not that it was his business, but an unexpected protectiveness welled up for the sassy little girl he’d once known. He didn’t know her now, though. And, like Lorilee, it appeared she might have a string of love-struck males queued up awaiting her beck and call.

The man’s smile widened. “I just may have a word with her, then.”

Cash, too, glanced back to where Rio now crouched next to his son. Having gotten the German shepherd settled down between them, she was talking quietly to the boy as they patted the animal, effectively distracting Joey from what was going on with the deputy and his dad. His heart swelled with gratitude.