a robbery. Or it could be some local kids out for a little mischief who didn’t realize you all had arrived in town yet. I can’t imagine that you’ve been in town long enough to make any enemies.”
“Actually, we did have a little incident today at the café,” Nicolette said.
Lucas looked at her in surprise. “What kind of an incident?” he asked before Dillon got a chance.
She tightened her arms around Sammy. “Sammy accidentally spilled his milk and it splashed on a man’s jeans. He went off, calling Sammy a spoiled city brat and then...” She paused and then continued. “And then I threw my iced tea at him.”
“He was sitting at the counter with a bunch of other men and they all gave us the evil eye when we came in,” Cassie added.
Lucas’s stomach tightened at the thought of any man accosting Nicolette and Sammy. And he was oddly pleased that she had enough mama bear in her that she’d added to the milk insult by tossing her tea at whoever it was.
“Did you get a name?” Dillon asked.
“Lloyd. Daisy called him Lloyd,” Nicolette replied, the tremor back in her voice.
“That has to be Lloyd Green. He’s the only Lloyd around,” Lucas said and then looked at Nicolette. “Why didn’t you tell me about all this when we met in town after lunch?”
She pointedly glanced down at the boy who, despite all the excitement, had the droopy eyelids of exhaustion. “I didn’t think it was the time or the place.”
Dillon frowned. “Lloyd is definitely a hothead, but I can’t imagine him taking any grudge to this kind of a level. Still, I’ll check him out, see what he has been up to tonight.” He gazed at Nicolette and then back at Cassie. “Anyone else giving you any problems?”
“No, like you said before, we’ve scarcely been in town long enough to meet anyone.” She looked at Adam. “And I don’t think we’ve made anyone angry here at the ranch.”
“It wasn’t one of our men,” Adam replied firmly. “Nobody here would want to bring harm to Cassie or Nicolette or Sammy. We’re all trying to rebuild things since Cass’s death, not destroy them.”
“I just want to know that my son is safe,” Nicolette said softly. In the past few minutes Sammy had drifted off to sleep, and she gently stroked his dark hair from his forehead.
Lucas found himself wondering what her touch would feel like across his forehead, what it would be like if she were his woman, if Sammy was his child. He focused back on Dillon, knowing his thoughts were about to take him into dangerous territory and there had already been enough of that on this night.
“I’ll have my men check the window upstairs,” Dillon said. “And if it’s any consolation, I wouldn’t assume that whoever was at the window intended harm for your boy. It’s more likely it was just a matter of chance that that particular window was used.”
“I hope you’re right about that,” Nicolette replied.
“I’m going upstairs to check out the window, and I know your men and mine are combing the area, but I think the excitement is probably over for the rest of the night.”
As Dillon went upstairs, Nicolette shifted the sleeping boy in her arms and Lucas sat on the sofa next to her. Adam stood at the side of the chair where Cassie sat clad in a blue lightweight robe, her eyes still filled with fear.
“You don’t have to worry,” Adam said to her. “I’ll have a man patrol the perimeters of the house for the rest of the night.”
“And you also won’t have to worry because I intend to move in,” Lucas added. “I can bunk in with Sammy during the nights until Dillon gets this figured out, and that way nobody will be able to get past me to hurt anyone.”
Nicolette stared at him in obvious surprise, but he also saw a hint of relief in the green depths of her eyes. “You don’t need to do that,” she said, but it was only half a protest.
“Maybe I don’t need to, but I want to,” he replied. He looked to Cassie, who he knew would have the final say in the matter.
“You could at least stay in the extra bedroom in a queen bed rather than bunking in with Sammy on a twin,” Cassie replied.
He looked at the kid, his handsome little face a picture of innocence in slumber. He’d been sleeping when his mother had screamed. He’d heard about a man at his window. He’d probably be afraid to sleep alone in that room ever again.
“I’d rather sleep in the small room with Sammy. He might need a roommate for a few nights after all the trauma,” he replied.
He would have slept on a cow patty on a wintry night to receive the soft, grateful gaze that Nicolette gave him. What was wrong with him? He had never felt this protective surge for anyone except Cass, who had saved his life, his very soul by having him come to this ranch.
He would have died for Cass, and it shocked him that in the brief time he’d known Sammy and Nicolette he was starting to feel the same way about them. It didn’t make sense, was completely irrational considering how little he knew about Nicolette, but it was there, nevertheless.
“While Adam and Dillon and his men are here, I’ll just go get some things from my bunk,” he said, suddenly feeling as if he needed some distance from the very scent of her, from the emotions she evoked in him.
As he stepped out the front door and headed around the house where the ladder still stood leading up to Sammy’s bedroom, a new fiercely burning knot formed in the pit of his stomach.
He dismissed his crazy thoughts about Nicolette and instead his mind filled with all kinds of questions. Had the incident in the café with Lloyd Green prompted some sort of crazy attempt at retribution?
Everyone knew Lloyd was a mean soul, but a little milk on his jeans didn’t warrant this kind of reaction. Still, with Lloyd and his group of buddies there was no telling for sure. He might have just thought it would be fun to terrorize Sammy and Nicolette.
Lloyd worked for Raymond Humes on the ranch next to Cass’s. Throughout the years there had been plenty of bad blood both between Raymond and Cass and the cowboys who worked for each of them.
Lucas’s feelings toward Nicolette and Sammy were definitely confusing, but the ladder against the house felt ominous, and as he reached the bunkhouse, he smelled more than a hint of danger in the air.
* * *
Dillon and his men finally left. By the time they did Nicolette had laid Sammy on the sofa and she was pacing the floor, trying to wrap her mind around that unexpected and frightening face in the window.
Cassie and Adam were in the kitchen seated at the table and talking about rotating men outside the house each night for the next couple of nights or until Dillon came up with a guilty party and a reason for the ladder.
Nicolette heard only the murmur of their voices as she was mentally focused on the vision of that ski mask and those eyes that had appeared to hold such glittering malevolence.
Who could it have been and what had he wanted? Was it just an accident that he’d been about to enter the room where her vulnerable son was soundly
