A young girl rushed down the steps yelling, “It’s them. Real cowboys.”
Zane muttered under his breath to Chase, who had joined them. “You’ve got little kids involved in this mess?”
Behind her, a small boy and their parents disembarked. The parents seemed to be in their early forties, while the kids were both under twelve. Phoebe found herself playing hostess. She wasn’t surprised by Zane’s reticence, but Chase could usually be counted on to be a charmer. Maybe the reality of what he’d done was sinking in.
“Thad and C. J. Swanson,” the tall blond man introduced himself. “This is Lucy and her brother, Tommy.”
The kids didn’t look anything like their fair-haired parents. Tommy was painfully thin, with long legs and dark, shaggy hair. Lucy shared her brother’s coloring, but instead of being long legged, she was petite and delicate-looking, with a full, rosebud mouth. Both kids had skin that was the most beautiful shade of caramel.
“You two must be excited that your parents brought you on a cattle drive,” Phoebe said.
The girl, Lucy, shook her head. “They’re not our parents. We don’t have parents. Are we going to eat soon? Tommy and I didn’t have breakfast or lunch today.”
Phoebe glanced at her watch. It was after two. Involuntarily she turned to the Swansons, who looked as surprised as she felt.
“We picked them up at ten to catch the shuttle plane,” C.J. said uneasily. “They never said anything about not having breakfast. We only have them for this week. The people who were supposed to bring them on this cattle drive backed out at the last minute. Death in the family. There were pretzels on the flight...” Her voice trailed off.
Phoebe returned her attention to the children. Lucy’s matter-of-fact statement “we don’t have parents” brought back too many memories. She’d lost her folks when she’d been about Lucy’s age. With no relatives to take her in, she’d been placed in a series of foster homes. While nothing bad had happened in any of them, she’d never forgotten what it was like to be all alone in the world.
“Do you want to get something to eat?” she asked.
Lucy and Tommy looked at each other, then at her. They both nodded.
Zane said, “Chase, take them to the kitchen.”
The party of four trailed after Chase, leaving Phoebe momentarily alone with Zane. Sudden nervousness made her want to wipe her palms on her jeans. Instead she cleared her throat and tried for neutral.
“They seem nice.”
Zane raised his eyebrows. “Sure. Skinny, starving kids. I can hardly wait for the rest of the folks to turn up. Maybe we’ll have a rock star next. Or some business executive who wants to bring his laptop along so he can work while riding.”
She wasn’t sure what to say to that, so she ignored his comments. “Thanks for letting the kids go get something to eat.”
His gaze narrowed. “What has Maya told you about me?”
The only thing she could think of was her friend’s claim that Zane looked like Adam Levine. “Ah, what do you mean?”
“You’re surprised that I wouldn’t want kids to starve. I figured she’d claimed I was a jerk, but it sounds like she’s also telling you that I’m mean to children.”
“No, nothing like that.” She took a step back. “Maya thinks you’re a little, you know, uptight maybe.”
His expression hardened, and she wanted to suck back the words.
“But not in a bad way.”
“Right.”
Zane turned his attention to the bus. Phoebe got a bad feeling when she caught sight of the worn sandals, tie-dyed T-shirts and woven hats on the next couple to disembark.
“Hey,” the man said. “I’m Martin Lagarde and this is my wife, Andrea.”
The woman, a thirtysomething brunette with freckles and glasses, shook hands with Zane.
“We’re so excited to be here. Martin and I just love being in the outdoors. We’ve hiked all over, and last year we did a week at a meditation retreat in Hawaii, but we’ve never done anything like this.” She continued to pump his hand as her expression turned earnest. “We really want this opportunity to be one with the land. To experience a different kind of life. The Old West.” She finally released Zane’s hand. “We’re vegetarians. I hope that won’t be a problem.”
Zane considered them for a moment, then said, “Not for me.” He jerked his head toward the compartment beneath the bus that the driver had opened. “Collect your gear and head inside. Chase will show you where you’ll bunk tonight.”
“Sure thing,” Martin said.
He held up his hand for a high five. When Zane simply stared at him, Martin grabbed Zane’s wrist and pulled it until it was level with his shoulder, then slapped his hand against Zane’s.
When he walked away, Zane turned to look at her. “Two starving kids and tree-hugging vegetarians. I’m going to kill Chase.”
Phoebe almost didn’t blame him. Despite her lack of experience in the cattle-drive department, even she could see the potential for trouble. Then a familiar figure standing beside the driver caught her attention, and she waved. Maya grinned and waved back.
“It’s Maya,” Phoebe said.
Zane turned and followed her gaze. “Just perfect,” he muttered as his ex-stepsister walked toward them.
“You’re looking grim, Zane,” Maya said cheerfully when she joined them. “Who died?” She smiled. “Oh, I forgot. You’re just being your usual charming self.” She squeezed his arm. “You’ve missed me, I know.”