Wyoming Cowboy Ranger. Nicole Helm
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for pictures, too. I was using film out here because the ambiance seemed to call for it. I was over at the saloon. I hear the swinging doors are original.”
“So they claim,” Jen muttered, irritably thinking of Ty.
“Amazing.” He meandered over to a row of candy, studied the offerings. “I took way too many pictures. And the boardwalks. The signs. It’s like stepping back in time. I’ve been mostly sticking to ghost towns but the mix of past and present here... It’s irresistible.”
“So you were out at Cain, then?” she asked, referencing a popular ghost town destination for photographers and adventurers.
He nodded, still keeping his head tilted away from her. “That’s what brought me out this way.”
“From where?”
He chuckled. “You ask every stranger where they’re from?”
She had to work to keep the pleasant smile on her face. She couldn’t blow this. “Tend to. We don’t get many outsiders.”
“Ah. Outsiders. Must be nice to live in a community that protects itself against outsiders. You’d feel...safe. Protected and cared for.”
She hadn’t felt particularly safe after the craziness of the past year, but she decided to agree anyway. “Very.”
He swayed on his feet, trying to brace himself on the shelf and upending some candy before he fell backward onto the floor.
Stunned, Jen rushed forward, but he was already struggling to sit up.
“I’m all right,” he said, holding out a hand to keep her back. “Just haven’t eaten since breakfast. Got caught up, and I suppose the lack of food caught up with me. I’ll be all right.”
She grabbed one of the candy bars that had fallen to the ground and ripped it open before she handed it to him. She didn’t think he’d gotten caught up. She was starting to think he didn’t have any money. She almost felt sorry for him. “Here. Don’t worry about paying for it. Just eat.”
He took the candy, and then a bite. “You’re too kind.” He looked up for a second.
Blue eyes. A vibrant blue. Blond hair, wispy and nearly white really. Not with age, just a very, very light shade of blond. His nose was crooked. To the left.
“Didn’t expect to run across someone so young and pretty in a tiny little Wyoming town.”
“Uh—”
“Sorry.” He looked back down at the candy bar, the brim of his hat hiding everything again. “That’s awkward and uncomfortable. Let’s blame it on the lack of food. Do you think I could trouble you for a small sip of water?”
Jen jumped to her feet and hurried for the cooler that boasted rows of water bottles. She grabbed one of the larger ones and twisted it open. “Here,” she said, returning to his side. “You just take this.”
He took a sip and then nodded, using the back of his arm to wipe the water droplets off his mouth. He kept his head down.
Was it purposeful? Was he trying to make sure she couldn’t identify him? Was he planning something awful? But she’d seen his eyes and the color of his hair—she only had to remember the details.
He took another bite of the candy bar, then a drink of the water. She racked her brain trying to figure out what to do. How to defend herself if he lunged at her. This could all be an act. A ploy. Weaken her defenses, catch her off guard.
Carefully, Jen leaned slightly away and got to her feet, keeping her eyes on him and her body tense and ready to react.
“Thank you for the kindness,” he said, sounding exhausted. But it could be acting. “I should be out of your way.” He struggled to his feet, swayed again, but righted himself.
He seemed so genuinely thankful and feeble. The man was a mess, and maybe he was Ty’s threatening stranger, but he wasn’t doing anything to put her in danger at the moment.
And why would he? He was probably just after Ty. How could she blame anyone on that front?
“Can I get you anything else? Maybe a sandwich? A bag of chips?” His clear weakness ate at her. A man shouldn’t go hungry. Though, she supposed, he could sell that nice camera if he was really that bad off.
“No. No, I’ll be fine.” He kept his head tilted away, but the corner of his smile was soft and kind as he lifted the water bottle in salute. “I appreciate it, ma’am. Your kindness won’t be forgotten.” And with that, he walked out of the store. No trouble. No danger.
Leaving Jen unsure about what to do.
* * *
TY DIDN’T OFTEN find himself uncomfortable. He’d learned early to roll with whatever punches life threw at him. There’d been quite a few.
But nothing could have prepared him for a baby shower. A Carson-Delaney baby shower. Laurel and Vanessa were laughing over their baby bumps, pastel pink and blue decorations everywhere, and Carsons and Delaneys mingled like there’d never been a feud.
Jen was in a corner talking to Addie and Noah, Addie’s toddler trying to crawl up Noah and laughing hysterically when he fell. Noah watched with the patience of a happy man.
Ty had never particularly understood his brother, though he loved him with a fierceness that meant he’d lay down his life for the man. What he did know about Noah was that having Addie and Seth in his life and on his ranch made him happy, and that was all Ty really cared about.
“Delaney Delirium getting to you?”
Ty gave Grady a cool look. “Just trying to understand all this baby business,” he said, nodding toward Noah and the way he held Seth easily on his hip.
Grady patted him on the back. Hard. “Sure, buddy.”
“You really want to be a dad after the way we grew up?” Ty asked, unable to stop himself. He didn’t get it. The way Noah had taken to Addie’s nephew that she was guardian and mother to, as if it were easy to step into the role of guardian and father. The way Vanessa and Grady seemed calm and even happy about their impending parenthood.
The Carson generation before theirs had not been a particular parental one. More fists and threats than nurturing happiness.
“Figure I got a pretty good example of what not to do,” Grady said with a shrug. “And a woman to knock some sense into me when I make mistakes. Besides, we turned out okay in spite of it all.”
“And Delaney senior ain’t got a problem with his grandchild being raised by a cop and saloon owner?”
“Laurel’s father doesn’t get a say.”
Ty knew it was different for Grady. Ty had been eighteen when Mr. Delaney had flexed his parental and town muscles to make sure Ty got the hell away from his daughter. Grady wasn’t a dumb teenager, and neither was Laurel. They could refuse a parent’s interference.
Couldn’t you have?
He shook his head. Ancient history. No amount of Carson and Delaney comingling was reason to go back there.
Laurel called Grady over and he left Ty in the middle of all this goodwill and pastel baby nonsense. He was somewhere in no-man’s land. He almost wished a sniper would take him out.
There were toasts and cake and presents of tiny clothes and board books. No matter that their families had been enemies for over a century, no matter that people in town still whispered about curses and the inevitable terrible ends they would all meet, Carsons and Delaneys sat together celebrating new lives.
Some unknown ache spread through him. He couldn’t name it, and he couldn’t seem to force it away. It sat in his gut, throbbing out to all his limbs.
Faking his best smile, he went to Vanessa and Grady and made his half-hearted excuses