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.

      But what was she finding to talk to the boy about? With prompting, kids could be blabbermouths. He didn’t need the whole world knowing that up until now he hadn’t played as much of a role in his son’s life as he’d have liked. Even now he was clueless as to where to start.

      “So what do you think of mountain country, Cash?” Drawing his attention from the woman and the boy on the porch, the deputy folded his arms and leaned back against the door of his SUV. “Quite a contrast to the Valley of the Sun where you hail from.”

      Cash’s law-enforcement friend obviously hadn’t filled Braxton in that he wasn’t entirely a stranger to this more-than-mile-high forested territory well north of Phoenix, and Cash breathed easier. Horse business. This visit from a deputy amounted to nothing more. But he’d touch base with Will as soon as he could. Let him know of the potential legal hot potato of Joey’s arrival. He should have done that sooner. But he’d been reluctant to risk being advised not to relocate until the custody transfer was finalized.

      “Pine country,” Cash agreed, “sure beats the one hundred degrees the Valley hit yesterday.”

      Through the rolled-down window of the county vehicle the deputy’s radio crackled to life. Braxton jerked open the door, slid in behind the wheel, then buckled his seat belt. “Duty calls, gentlemen. Good meeting you, Cash. I’ll be in touch. See you around, Luke.”

      As the SUV pulled away, Rio’s older brother again welcomed Cash to the Hideaway, then headed off in the direction of a crew-cab pickup. Still wound tight, Cash nevertheless gratefully returned to the main Hideaway building.

      Talk about a close call.

      It underlined the importance of getting legal custody. He couldn’t live like this on a daily basis, never knowing when Lorilee might rethink things and turn on him. Nor did he want his heart knotting every time Deputy Turner’s vehicle pulled in at the Hideaway. And from the man’s expression when he looked in Rio’s direction, he’d be back often.

      Rio rose to her feet as he approached, her gaze cautious. “Everything okay?”

      She would have been out of earshot of the conversation, left in the dark. How much her grandmother had shared with her regarding his past run-ins with the law, he didn’t know. But probably at least some of it, which would account for the look of concern at the deputy’s need to see him. And maybe, too, why she didn’t seem overly thrilled with his acceptance of the job.

      Despite what his record showed, though, he’d never struck a woman. And he’d never hit a man who hadn’t swung at him first. But that was behind him. He was a changed man from the inside out, although it might take time for others to recognize and accept that.

      “As you know, the deputy has a horse needing work. A friend of mine who knew I was signing on here pointed him my way. I told him he’d need to speak with you before I could take that on.”

      Rio rolled her eyes in apparent exasperation. “It’s fine with me if you want to give it a shot, but you’re at least the fourth person he’s asked to tackle that horse, me included. The mare is beyond beautiful, but Brax won’t admit he needs to divest himself of a bad investment and move on.”

      “What seems to be the animal’s problem?”

      “You name it, she specializes in it.” She ticked off the offenses on the fingers of one hand. “Biting. Kicking. Balking. Bolting. Talk about headstrong.”