and I wasn’t afraid to die. I know that sounds bad.” He moved his cup in a slow circle so the orange juice swirled around and around. “My father had passed away a few years before that, and my mom remarried pretty quickly. I’m afraid to say my stepdad and I butted heads from the get-go. More than anything, I joined the service to escape.”
Heath wasn’t afraid to die? She wanted to ask him about that statement, but she didn’t really have a right to. Policemen and soldiers were alike in that way, weren’t they? They always knew that not coming home was a possibility. But that didn’t mean they weren’t afraid of the possibility. Did Heath enjoy an adrenaline rush? Or was it something else?
Josie laced her fingers together and looked down at her palms. She didn’t need to know because she wasn’t getting involved with him. Not even as friends. He’d be around for a month and then be gone.
Ask him something else. Anything else.
“Did you grow up on a ranch?”
“No, a quiet patch of suburbia.” He stretched out his legs under the table. “My dad was in law enforcement.”
“Ah.” Josie nodded. A lot of families were like that... Being on the force seemed to run in the blood. She cradled her belly. Not you, little one! I won’t allow it. “Well, when did you learn all this stuff?” She motioned over her shoulder, in the direction of her barn. “How to take care of cows and pigs and fix fences? Last I checked they don’t teach that on the force or in the army.”
“They sure don’t.” He chuckled and set his napkin on the table. “My uncle Blaine has a ranch not far from here, near Waco. I moved in with him when things went south with my stepdad. Blaine put me right to work.” Heath rubbed his hand over his smile. “He says there’s no such thing as hands that aren’t working on a ranch.”
“Good for your uncle.”
“I’m glad he did.” Heath steepled his fingers. “If he hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t be any help to you now.”
“What are you doing in Haven anyway?” Josie asked between bites. “Besides bugging me at my ranch, that is. And the calves mystery.” She rolled her eyes. Not because she wasn’t still scared about the possibility of a stranger having been hiding in the barn with her, but because it still seemed silly that a Texas Ranger was working the case. “We both know you didn’t take a month off to investigate that.”
Heath finished a piece of bacon. “Visiting Flint, mostly. And checking out the boys ranch, of course.”
“Do you know someone who might need to go there?”
“Having resources for troubled youth stored up here—” he tapped his forehead “—is good in my line of work.” He rested his forearms on the table. “How about you? Why do you volunteer there?”
Josie shrugged. “Everyone in Haven pitches in.”
“Did your husband?”
Not at all. Dale always gave the place a wide berth. “Why do you care—”
“I’m sorry.” He held up a hand. “Forget I asked.”
Josie plowed on anyway. “I’m a member of the Lone Star Cowboy League. We support the boys ranch. I’m there because I want to be, but also because it’s my duty as a member of the League. My husband wasn’t a member. You have to be a rancher to be involved... Dale wasn’t one. I only just joined. After.” She looked down.
“You didn’t have to answer,” Heath said. “My question was out of line. Job hazard. I’m used to asking whatever I want to know.” He smoothed his hand down his jaw. “How about this... Who’s your favorite kid on the ranch?”
She shifted her cup around and around in her hands. “I don’t have a favorite.”
“Of course you do.” His voice was gentle. “Who is it?”
“I guess, if I absolutely had to pick... I’d probably say Diego. He’s had a hard road in life. He’s this bright little guy who always has a serious expression on his face. Like he’s working out a math puzzle at all times.” Josie pulled a face, imitating Diego. Heath answered with a soft grin.
“His hair is almost black and his eyes are dark and soulful.” Josie found she was smiling but couldn’t help it. “He and I get along really well because he loves the cattle. He’s always the first one at the barn waiting for me and wants to pitch in on anything having to do with the calves. You could say I have a soft spot for him.”
Heath leaned forward. “What’s Diego in for?”
“In for?”
“All the boys there, they’re troublemakers. They wouldn’t be sent to the ranch if they weren’t. What’s Diego’s issue? What’d he do wrong?”
Josie bristled. There was nothing wrong with Diego. Nothing at all. Sometimes a child needed special attention. Sometimes they needed a change from normal life in order to work through something. But living at the ranch certainly wasn’t a punishment.
“You still don’t think well of them. Even after our talk yesterday?”
Heath’s expression became unreadable. “I know good, well-adjusted kids don’t end up there. Normal kids are at their homes...with their parents. I know bad things have happened at the boys ranch in the past.”
“With that attitude, it’s a wonder you’re willing to help Flint solve his case at all.” She scooted out of her seat and collected both of their plates.
“Attitude?” Heath turned in his chair so he could continue facing her as she moved to the sink. “That’s not attitude. It’s the truth.”
Josie dropped the dishes into the sink with a loud clang and turned around. “Those boys are flesh and blood with feelings and dreams and they just want to be loved and accepted. Same as you and me.” She laid her hand along her collarbone. “If you can’t see that, Officer, then you aren’t that great of a detective after all.”
“I’m sorry.” He looked down, studied the table. “Perhaps you’re right. After everything, I guess it’s hard to see them any other way.”
“After everything? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“My dad was a Texas Ranger. I don’t think I told you that before. But he was.”
He’d said his dad worked in law enforcement...but they were both Rangers? That was amazing. “You followed in his footsteps?”
Heath nodded. “I wanted to honor his sacrifice.” He looked down at his hands as if the lines on his palms were the most interesting things in the world. “Fifteen years ago, my father was working a case at your boys ranch.”
Josie’s heart sunk. She sucked in a loud breath. As someone who’d lost a loved one to the thin blue line, she knew where his story was going.
“They found him dead. Three bullets. Near the main barn on the old property.”
“Oh, Heath.” Josie crossed the kitchen and laid a hand on his shoulder. She squeezed. “I’m so sorry.” She blinked
