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  Kendra made a strangled noise at his side. “Robert.”

  Another spine-tingling growl prompted Colton to raise the gun in his hand. He didn’t want to shoot the animal, but when it lunged toward them, he threw his body in front of Kendra’s and pulled the trigger.

  The mountain lion’s muscled body jolted in the air and just clipped his shoulder before crumbling to the ground less than a foot beyond them.

  He made sure the animal posed no further threat before turning back to find Kendra knelt over Robert’s body. Moonlight glinted off the tears on her cheeks. Colton dropped down beside her. Instinctively, he felt for a pulse, but the man’s throat was shredded.

  “He’s dead,” he confirmed softly.

  Kendra turned to him with a choked sob and he gathered her close. “I can’t believe it’s over. I-I feel guilty. I don’t know why, he wasn’t much of a brother…ever. But still, I didn’t wish him dead…and never this.”

  “And that’s the important difference between you and him.” Colton helped her to her feet. “Come on, let’s go. Joel can send someone up here.”

  Less than ten minutes later he found the riding trail that led to the ranch. Rounding a curve, they were blinded by a sudden flood of lights.

  “Drop your weapon—now!”

  Colton froze as he realized he still had Joel’s 45 in his hand. He stepped in front of Kendra, extended the gun off to the side and threw it away from them.

  “Keep your hands where I can see them,” one of the officers instructed. “Both of you.”

  Colton raised both hands about shoulder height, careful to keep between Kendra and the officers. “Easy man, I’m thinking we’re the ones you’re looking for.”

  A shout from further down the trail didn’t divert the deputy’s attention. He held his gun steady, maneuvering toward the weapon on the ground.

  Joel ran past the officer and pulled his sister into a fierce hug. Colton noticed the officer relax as Joel murmured, “Thank God you’re okay.”

  Kendra’s response was muffled until he let go. “Thank Colton.”

  Before he knew it, Colton felt the effects of Joel’s one armed bear hug. “Thank you.”

  “Where’s Noah?” Kendra demanded shakily.

  “Safe. In the house with Britt and the boys.”

  Her shoulders sagged. “I need to see him.”

  “Of course.” Joel kept an arm around her shoulders and steered them toward the house. “What the hell happened?”

  Colton trailed a half a step behind, fighting a jolt of unreasonable jealousy over Kendra’s instant transfer to Joel. He understood her concern for her little brother, but it didn’t lessen the sting of being so quickly forgotten. He wanted to hold her, be the one she leaned on as he led her to Noah.

  But he couldn’t push Joel aside—not unless he wanted a whole lot of extra explaining to do. Besides, sooner or later he had to accept the fact that with Robert gone, she didn’t need him anymore. She was back with her family, safe and sound, and Joel would take care of her now.

  He thrust his resentment aside to answer Joel’s question with a brief account of the cougar attack and where they could find Robert’s body. Kendra added her version of Robert’s abduction, though Colton noticed she glossed over her clever trail of clues and how she’d bravely climbed the cliff by herself. She gave all credit for her rescue to Colton.

  Her warm, thankful gaze stuttered his heart and made him feel worse at the same time. If he’d done his job as her husband and protector, the bastard never would’ve gotten near her.

  They didn’t even reach the porch before the door flew open and Noah rushed out. The impact of his little body against Kendra’s sent her back a half step, and Colton had to swallow the lump that formed in his throat as the two of them embraced.

  “I was so scared,” Noah whispered, tears running down his cheeks as they went up the porch steps.

  She clutched him tight to her side. “So was I, but it’s all okay now. This time, it really is over.”

  Inside at the kitchen table, Britt handed out mugs of coffee. Colton declined, standing back with his hands in his pockets, feeling more and more like an outsider. She was safe, with her family as she should be, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to leave.

  She’d wrapped her hands around the mug of coffee Britt placed in front of her. As she answered questions about her ordeal from around the table, Colton noted the exhaustion in her face and the droop of her small shoulders. Made him want to run her a hot bath and tuck her into bed afterward for some rest.

  His gaze lingered on the faint lines of dried blood that scored her pale cheek from the cliff-face. He was so focused on Kendra, it took a moment to realize Noah had asked him a question. A blink brought Noah’s face into focus.

  “I’m sorry, what?”

  “I asked if that was from Robert, or were you hurt?” he asked.

  Colton realized the boy was staring at his shirt and glanced down to see a crimson smear of blood on the left shoulder of his white dress shirt. His hand brushed at the stain as he flashed back to the cougar lunging at them. “I—no, I’m fine.”

  The back door opened and the sheriff walked in. His stern gaze swept the room and came to a rest on Colton. “Colton Lawe?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I need you to come with me.”

  With a slight frown, he set down his coffee and straightened.

  Joel rose to his feet. “What’s going on?”

  The sheriff didn’t look away from Colton. “It appears our victim was shot before the cougar got a hold of him.”

  So he had hit Robert with that first shot. Colton took a resigned step forward, but Kendra jumped up from the table and rushed to block his way. She faced the sheriff, shoulders squared. “Robert pushed me over a cliff—Colton was protecting me.”

  The sheriff held up a hand. “Easy, Ms. Zelner. I’m well aware of the situation, and while I’m sure everything will work out, we still have to conduct an investigation. I’ll need a statement from you, too.”

  “Does Colton need a lawyer?” Joel asked quietly as he came over to stand beside his sister.

  The sheriff looked Colton straight in the eye over her shoulder. “Do you want a lawyer?”

  He stiffened at the man’s grave tone. “Are you arresting me?”

  “No.”

  “Then I’ve got nothing to hide.”

  “Robert was still alive when the cougar attacked him,” Kendra insisted.

  Colton laid a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay,” he said softly. “I’ll be fine.”

  Joel gently pulled her aside. “Let the man do his job.”

  After a brief reassuring squeeze of his fingers for Kendra, Colton dropped his hand and accompanied the sheriff across the yard to the guest house

  Over the next couple hours, Colton sat at the kitchen table and told his side of the story to the sheriff, a voice recorder, and two other officers. He didn’t leave out a single detail, with the exception of finding Kendra’s wedding ring. He was also careful to casually keep his left hand covered, or both hands in his lap. As far as he knew, Kendra hadn’t said a word about their marriage, so he wasn’t about to open himself up to more scrutiny, be it from the law, or Joel.

  Finally, the officers exhausted their supply of questions and he was left alone. First order of business was a change of clothes.

  He stuffed the once-white dress shirt in the trash on his way to take a long, hot shower. The needle-like spray didn’t do its job and, though the last thing he needed was more caffeine, he pulled on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt and headed for the kitchen to make a pot of coffee.

  Britt and Kendra’s voices carried into the hall from the living room. “What time is your flight tomorrow?” Britt asked.

  Colton hesitated just out of sight.

  “I have to be to the airport by nine,” Kendra replied. “God, there’s so much to do—and even more now that I have to arrange for his funeral.”

  “You
can stay, you know. Take care of things from here. It’s not like you have to give the guy a heartfelt send off.”

  Hope flared in his chest and he held his breath as he waited there in the hall.

  “Noah’s thrilled to have a couple extra weeks with you guys, but I need to go.”

  She laughed softly, though it sounded oddly forced to him. Yet when next she spoke, her voice carried a sobering note of resolution.

  “Please don’t take this the wrong way—I appreciate all you and Joel have done for us, and it is beautiful here, but the sooner I get back to the life I left behind, the better. Not to mention, Noah has school, and his friends back home…”

  She trailed off and Britt’s voice filled the void. “I understand.”

  “It doesn’t mean we won’t visit—I promise we’ll visit—but…really, I—we—belong in New York…”

  Colton didn’t wait to hear more and skipped the coffee. Her leaving was for the best. Facing her every day, wanting what he knew he couldn’t have, would be pure torture. Not only that, but he easily read between the lines of her list of excuses. She didn’t need to go anywhere, she wanted to leave. Colorado could never compete with New York for someone like her.

  Better to receive her inevitable request for an annulment by mail than face to face anyway.

  ****

  She hadn’t thanked Colton for saving her life. Everything happened so fast. Then the sheriff whisked him away for his statement, and she’d had to give hers. She’d hoped to speak with him, but no more had she and Britt finished their conversation and her sister-in-law left through the front door when she’d heard the back door slam shut and watched Colton’s car drive away.

  An overwhelming sense of loss had her blinking back tears. After he’d pulled her off the cliff, he’d kissed her as if she meant something to him. Had she imagined that? Had it in fact been nothing more than a heat of the moment reaction to a terrifying situation?

  The answer stabbed into her heart. If he had felt anything for her, he wouldn’t have just left.

  The pain was worse than when she’d stood alone on the courthouse steps. What more was there to say? It didn’t take a genius to figure out that though he may have come for her, he was still angry about the way she’d handled everything since last night.

  But it wasn’t as if she could just blurt out her feelings. He was a casual guy; love didn’t exist in his vocabulary—not in that way. She didn’t need to hear him claim she was just having a post-traumatic episode, or worse, that she was practicing hero-worship and laugh in her face.

  She lay down on the bed, grabbing the extra pillow to hug tight against her stomach. No, he wouldn’t be that cruel. They’d become friends this past week, if nothing else. Or so she’d thought. A friend wouldn’t leave her all alone tonight, would he?

  Two tears tracked down her cheeks before she brushed them away and refused to cry anymore. She’d known the score when she’d asked him to marry her. His anger may have been unexpected, but the end result was not.

  Despite being utterly exhausted, sleep eluded her. Robert was dead. The danger was gone. But the house was too empty with Colton’s departure and Noah sleeping next door. She couldn’t erase the horror of all that’d happened and didn’t want to stay alone in the house. Besides, every time she managed to get her mind off Colton for even a second, her thoughts circled back to Robert’s words on the cliff.

  Lights were still on in the main house across the yard, so she slipped on a sweatshirt and pair of tennis shoes to go knock on the back door. Joel appeared in seconds.

  “Kendra? You all right?” he asked, concern lacing his words.

  “I couldn’t sleep, and it looked like you were still up, so…”

  “Come in. I’ve got a pot of coffee on. Britt went to bed a little while ago, but I’m a little too wired yet.”

  She smiled faintly. “It’s been a long night.”

  He went to the cupboard and took out two mugs. After pouring some, he set one in front of her and sat down on the opposite side of the table. He looked at her over the rim of his cup as he took a sip. “You want to talk about it?”

  She didn’t want to talk to Joel about what kept her up, but she did need to talk to him about something else. “There’s a chance we might be full brother and sister.” When his hand paused with the mug halfway to his mouth, she rushed on. “Just before he pushed me, Robert told me our mother had a DNA test done some years back. He said my dad is not my father.” She rubbed a finger up and down the handle of her coffee mug before lifting her gaze to Joel’s. “He could’ve been lying…but when I do the math between when Mom left and how old I am…it’s possible.”

  It was only a moment before Joel nodded. “Yeah, I guess it is, but why wouldn’t she have told you?”

  Something she’d asked herself a few times already. “Why would she? I’ve been thinking about it, and she probably worried I would’ve wanted to meet my real father. She would’ve had to face him again—and you. There could’ve been a custody issue and in the end she probably would’ve lost my dad. You saw the letter, you know how afraid she was of that.” She wasn’t able to keep the anger from her voice at the end.

  Joel sat forward to cover her hand with his. “Don’t let her poison you, Kendra. You’ve got to try and keep it in the past and look to the future. I learned that the hard way—besides which, Robert could’ve been lying.”

  “I hope not.” Joel looked surprised by her vehement statement and she added, “I don’t want to be related to him, and I need to know.” She hesitated, then took a deep, fortifying breath. “Could you ask Jack if he’d be willing to do a DNA test with me?”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Colton slammed the back door of the guesthouse and threw his gloves on the counter before stalking to the fridge for a beer. Taking a deep swallow from the bottle he made his way into the living room and dropped down on the couch.

  The damn bills just kept piling up. New medication, unexpected illness, emergency services. His mother had no chance in hell of keeping up with the bills and keeping her house. It was time to make the call to cash in his investments. It was only fitting, he thought with a flash of bitterness. He’d pay with his dream since his father had lost his.

  He took a long drink, downing half the contents of the bottle in an attempt to swallow his guilt. He’d been a kid, damn it. He’d done the responsible thing of calling his dad instead of driving drunk. They’d drummed it into his head countless times. So, when could he expect to even the score? When was it enough? How many sacrifices would it take to erase the blame he’d placed on himself all these years?

  Maybe part of the problem was that using his stocks would only catch them up for awhile, buy them a little breathing room. He’d need a hell of a lot more money than that to pay things off. A hell of a lot more money to buy off his guilt.

  All you have to do is cash it.

  Colton growled at the annoying voice that echoed in his mind.

  “I don’t want her damn money,” he muttered to no one but himself.

  He tried to forget her on a good day. On a bad day, he settled for not thinking about her every gol’ damned moment. All it took was working from dawn to well after dusk. Training two new full-time employees and doing any backbreaking physical work that assured he’d fall into bed too tired to dream about her warm, honey-brown eyes, kissable lips, sexy navel and desirable body.

  Every morning he had to admit he’d failed. Miserably.

  Man, he missed her. He couldn’t believe she’d been gone almost three weeks already. It seemed like yesterday and felt like years.

  ‘Absence makes the heart grow fonder.’

  His father’s voice echoed in his head. Fitting, but definitely not what he wanted to hear at this moment.

  ‘Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.’

  Are you friggin’ kidding me?

  Lifting his beer again, the flash of gold on his left ring finger halted his movements.
Nothing like self-defeating behavior. He knew he should remove it, it was only a matter of time before someone saw him without gloves and noticed the ring, but he couldn’t help himself.

  He mocked himself with a snort. He sure was a sorry son-of-a-bitch. Here he sat pining for her while she was in New York, laughing all the way to the bank.

  So could you—cash it.

  Colton pulled the check from his pocket, where it’d been for the past two weeks. And that was another foolish thing, carrying around a million-dollar cashier’s check. Never mind the risk, but it was a constant reminder of her real motives for marrying him. The check had been delivered by a personal courier, accompanied by a note. The impersonal words had sliced through him and burned into his heart like a brand.

  Sorry for the delay, paperwork for the trust had to be finalized. Best of luck with your future.

  If that wasn’t ‘Have a nice life.’ he didn’t know what was. She hadn’t even signed her name. The icing on the cake would’ve been the annulment papers—where the hell were those?

  He had just raised his beer to drain the bottle when Joel walked in. Colton swallowed then smiled as best he could, knowing it was anything but welcoming, especially when all he wanted to do was scowl. “Got any more of those?” Joel asked.

  He motioned toward the kitchen without bothering to get up. “Bring two.”

  Joel handed Colton a bottle on his return, then sat on the couch and propped his feet on the coffee table. He examined the label on his bottle and commented, “Been a long couple weeks.”

  “Yep.”

  “You’ve certainly been working long hours.”

  Colton lifted a shoulder. “There’s a lot to do.”

  “Not that much. Marty and Neil have started asking Britt if there’s anything she needs done, just for something to do because you get to everything before they can.” When Colton cast him a sharp glance, Joel added, “You realize you haven’t had a vacation since last year?”