Texas Free (The Tylers of Texas 5)

Garn flinched but held his ground. “Fine. I won’t miss this hellhole of a ranch, and I won’t miss you. If I ever set foot here again, it’ll be because you’re dead and gone!” He turned to go, a ludicrous figure in flowing silk nightwear. “Oh, one more thing. If you wonder how I made contact with those buyers, you can ask your girlfriend, Bonnie!”

With that he walked out the door and closed it behind him with an abrupt click. Ferg had gone pale. Evidently he hadn’t known about his lady friend’s involvement.

“Come here, McCade.” His voice was hoarse with strain. Tanner walked to the desk. “Listen. I want you to swear that you’ll forget everything you heard in this room.”

“Done,” Tanner said. “I’ll tell Clive that you decided not to press charges. The rest never happened.”

“And Bonnie—you never heard her name.”

“Got it. I’ll be going now.” Tanner turned away and left the house. He’d already stashed his personal things from the bunkhouse in his own truck. It felt good to see the Prescott ranch growing smaller in his rearview mirror. The whole experience here had left him with a

bad taste in his mouth.

Before he drove back to headquarters, just one thing remained to be done. It would be the most painful thing of all—saying good-bye to Rose.

* * *

Rose was stringing out the salvaged wire for her fence when Tanner pulled up in his truck. Even before he switched off the engine, she knew that he’d come to say good-bye. The pickup he was driving had a Wyoming license plate, which meant it was his own. And he hadn’t come the usual way, from the Prescott side of the creek. He’d driven through the Rimrock to get here. She could only conclude that he’d solved his case and was on his way out of Blanco County—and out of her life.

She stood, pulling off her gloves and putting on a brave face as he climbed out of the truck and walked toward her. She’d known this moment would come. The only surprise was that it had come so soon.

“So your work here is finished,” she said, before he could speak. “Thank you for coming to say good-bye.”

Something like pain flashed across his face, but he managed to return her smile. “We’ve got a little time, Rose,” he said. “Let’s go for a walk.”

As if it were a natural thing, he took her hand. She let him lead her down through the trees, along the creek. Her pounding heart felt as if it were about to break, but she was too proud to let that show. “I’ve known this time would come,” she said. “Where are you off to next?”

“Back to headquarters for now,” he said. “From there I could be sent off on another case—unless I get leave to go back to Wyoming and help my brother. I’ll be requesting time off, but since I’m new at my job, I’m not expecting a yes.”

“How long would you be in Wyoming?” she asked, not that it would make any difference. Gone was gone.

“A couple of weeks, maybe. My brother’s in a bad way. His wife is expecting their fifth baby, and the doctor’s ordered her to bed. And the calving season is on. The ranch isn’t a big one, but Clint can’t afford to hire much help, even with the money I send him.”

“Would you be all right, going back?” She knew about the memories waiting for him there.

“It wouldn’t be easy. But family is family.”

“You could write me in care of the Rimrock,” she said, and immediately wished she’d kept her mouth shut. “But you’ll be busy either way. And why bother? I know this is good-bye.”

They had stopped by a spot where the creek formed a dark pool, overhung with willows. It seemed the right place. She turned to face him.

“You did a good thing for me last night, Tanner McCade. And I hope I did a good thing for you. No regrets. So shall we leave it at that?”

“Rose—”

“No, not another word,” she said. “Kiss me good-bye and leave me right here. At least we’ll be ending this with a good memory.”

Without another word he gathered her in his arms. His lips were gentle, sweetly caressing, shattering her heart like hammer blows. “You’re the best, Rose,” he whispered. “You’re solid gold. Remember that.”

Rose blinked back a tear. “Be safe, Tanner,” she said.

“You too.” He released her and walked away. Just once he turned and looked back. She gave him a smile before he disappeared from sight. A moment later she heard the sound of his truck driving off.

Rose stood for a moment, looking down at the water. Then she wiped her eyes, pulled on her worn-out leather gloves, and went back to digging fence wire. At least she’d known enough to expect this. People left—they died, they went away, or they let her down, and in the end she could count on no one but herself. No expectations, no disappointments, and no regrets.

Tanner hadn’t hurt her. Showing her that sex could be tender, even thrilling, wasn’t at all a bad thing. And she’d certainly given him a good time. So call it an even exchange and move on.

She thrust her shovel into the dirt, but the next length of barbed wire wouldn’t come up. It was caught on something, probably a tree root. She pushed the blade deeper, then put her weight on the handle to pry it up. When she still couldn’t free it, she scraped the dirt away with her gloved hands, hooked the wire with her fingers, and pulled hard. The wire came loose, pitching her backward onto her rump. Her finger was bleeding where a barb had gouged her through a hole in her glove.