Cattenach Ranch

Chapter 6

At the cemetery fence, he paused. "He's buried here?"

"Yes, along with four generations of Cattenachs." She faced him, watching the hard edges of his profile. "Our parents died in a car wreck when we were eight. I didn't sleep well for a long time afterward and I refused to get in a vehicle for a year, thinking I'd die, too. I won't pretend to understand what you're going through, but what helped me was coming here, talking to them."

He turned his head and looked at her, gaze sweeping over her face like a caress. Understanding and respect shone in his eyes before he broke the connection and glanced at the cemetery again.

Bones nudged his hand and, with a blink of surprise, Nate looked at the dog.

"I think he senses what troubles you. Maybe you should let him sleep in your bed, see how it works out." She opened the gate and walked to Justin's grave.

Nate's quiet footsteps padded behind her, but he said nothing. He spoke very little, actually, but his eyes gave a lot of him away. Guilt and regret collided with turmoil and indecision. After only a day, she didn't have enough fingers and toes to count the number of times she'd seen the wide array of his emotions. None of them good.

"You have company, Justin. Look who's here." She knelt and picked a couple weeds from around the stone. Shielding the sun with her hand, she looked up at Nate. "I come here every morning to tell him stuff. I bother him as much now as I did when he was alive. It's a sister's right."

After a slow shake of his head, he stared at her with furrowed brows and a hint of amusement like he didn't know what to make of her. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but shut it again.

She glanced at her brother's grave, and for the first time since dirt had been dumped over his casket, her throat didn't close. She blathered about ranch duties and let him know she'd gotten his letter. After a few minutes, she rose and brushed off her knees, Nate watching her the whole time.

"Go ahead and try it. Talk to him." She blew Justin a kiss and headed for the gate. "I'll wait over here."

He watched her leave as if she'd smacked him upside the head, then reluctantly faced the headstone. He didn't say anything aloud, not that she could hear, anyway, but he bowed his head like he was conversing mentally, his shoulders tense. Not long after, he met her on the path.

They walked back in silence, and she breathed in the familiar scents of soil and hay the closer they got to the barn. Nakos stood outside, clipboard in hand. He looked up and did a double-take.

"Hebe, Olivia." His tone was flat as always, but his expression was pure what-the-hell as he glanced from her to Nate.

"Good morning. You remember Nate Roldan? I hired him for some handyman stuff. He's going to follow me around for a little while."

Nakos didn't move. Not even to blink.

"He's going to be staying up at the house with me and Aunt Mae."

Nada. Nothing. Zilch. Dark eyes glared into hers and, if not for Bones trotting into the barn, she'd have sworn time stopped.

"Nice to formally meet you." Nate nodded.

Nakos's gaze narrowed on Nate's for a blip before settling on her. "Olivia, a word." He grabbed her elbow and turned her away.

She hadn't taken a step and Nate shoved between them, using his ginormous arm to push her behind him. "Hands off." The growl of his low, menacing voice stalled the breath in her lungs.

"Back the hell up." Nakos must've pushed Nate, because he stumbled into her, not that she could see around the wall of his body.

Whoa. "Time out." She ducked under Nate's arm and stepped between them. "Nakos would never hurt me."

Nate, jaw ticking, nostrils flared, dropped his gaze to hers. In a flash, he raised his arms and took a step away. "Sorry. Gut reaction."

Interesting. More on that later.

She turned and set her palms on Nakos's chest, maneuvering him several paces backward. "Testosterone, party of one. Follow me."

With a parting glare for Nate, her foreman followed her to the other side of the barn and removed his cowboy hat. "Have you lost your mind? You don't know a damn thing about this guy."

"I know he was injured serving with Justin and he said I could trust Nate."

Up went his arms in an are-you-kidding-me move. "Says who? The stranger who showed up on your doorstep six months after the fact?"

"Says Justin in a letter Nate brought to me."

Shoulders sagging, he let out a long-winded huff. "He could snap you in half with one arm tied behind his back and without breaking a sweat."

Men. Such a headache. "Yet he stepped between us when he thought you were a danger."

"We make all hiring decisions together. And why does he need to bunk at the house?"

She scrubbed a hand over her face. "He's mostly going to be fixing stuff around the ranch. If he takes well to other things, we can discuss adding more duties. And the boarding houses are full. You want him staying at your cabin?"

His eyes narrowed.

"That's what I thought." She tilted her face heavenward. "You could be a little more welcoming."

"I could chew glass, too. Doesn't mean I will." He glanced away. "You're giving me a coronary, little red. I don't like him alone with you two."

"Noted." She crossed her arms. "Trust me like you always have before. I'm not an i***t. Can we get to work now?"

"I'm calling Rip by the end of the day to do a background check."

Rip being Meadowlark's sheriff. "Fine." Whatever calmed Nakos down was okay by her. The nearest she'd seen him angry was a low simmer. Today? He was boiling the lid off the pot.

He let out a string of muttered words in his native tongue, which she assumed were curses, and stomped back to the front of the barn. He stopped a few feet away from Nate. "You lay one finger on her and they'll never find your body."

When he disappeared into the barn, Nate looked at her, his expression unimpressed. "Nice guy."