face relaxing, he glanced at her. “It was my pleasure. I’m not ready to settle down, but I like you. Anytime you’re at a loose end, we can see a movie or get a burger.”
She chuckled. “I feel the same way. Thanks.”
He pursed his lips and gave her a teasing glance. “We could even go dancing.”
“I liked waltzing.”
“I want to learn those Latin dances, like Caldwell and Grier.” He whistled. “Imagine Grier doing Latin dances! Even Caldwell stood back and stared.”
“Mr. Grier is a conundrum,” she murmured. “Not the man he seems, on the surface.”
“How would you know?” he asked.
She cleared her throat. “He stopped me for speeding out on the Victoria road.”
“Good for him. You drive too fast.”
“Don’t you start!”
He frowned. “What was he doing out there? He doesn’t have jurisdiction outside Jacobsville.”
“I don’t know. But he’s very pleasant.”
He hesitated. “There’s some, shall we say, unsavory gossip about him around town,” he told her.
“Unsavory, how?” she asked, curious.
“It’s probably just talk.”
“Harley!”
He slowed for a turn. “They say he was a government assassin at one point in his life.”
She whistled softly. “You’re kidding!”
He glanced at her. “When I was in the Rangers, I flew overseas with a guy who was dressed all in black, armed to the teeth. He didn’t say a word to the rest of us. I learned later that he was brought over for a very select assignment with the British commandos.”
“What has that got to do with Grier?”
“That’s just the thing. I think it was Grier.”
She felt cold chills running up her arms.
“It was several years ago,” he reiterated, “and I didn’t get a close look, but sometimes you can tell a man just by the way he walks, the way he carries himself.”
“You shouldn’t tell anybody,” she murmured, uneasy, because she liked Grier.
“I never would,” Harley assured her. “I told my boss, but nobody else. Grier isn’t the sort of man you’d ever gossip about, even if half the things they tell are true.”
“There’s more?” she exclaimed.
He chuckled. “He was in the Middle East helping pinpoint the laser-guided bombs, he broke up a spy ring in Manhattan as a company agent, he fought with the freedom fighters in Afghanistan, he foiled an assassination attempt against one of our own leaders under the nose of the agency assigned to protect them… you name it, he’s done it. Including a stint with the Texas Rangers and a long career in law enforcement between overseas work.”
“A very interesting man,” she mused.
“And intimidating to our local law enforcement guys. Interesting that Judd Dunn isn’t afraid of him.”
“He’s protective of Christabel,” Janie told him. “She’s sweet. She was in my high school graduating class.”
“Judd’s too old for her,” Harley drawled. “He’s about Leo Hart’s age, isn’t he, and she’s just a few months older than you.”
He was insinuating that Leo was too old for her. He was probably right, but it hurt to hear someone say it. Nor was she going to admit something else she knew about Christabel, that Judd had married the girl when she was just sixteen so that she wouldn’t lose her home. Christabel was twenty-one and Judd had become her worst enemy.
“Sorry,” Harley said when he noticed her brooding expression.
“About what?” she asked, diverted.
“I guess you think I meant Leo Hart’s too old for you.”
“He is,” she said flatly.
He looked as if he meant to say more, but the sad expression on her face stopped him. He pulled into her driveway and didn’t say another word until he stopped the truck at her front door.
“I know how you feel about the guy, Janie,” he said then. “But you can want something too much. Hart isn’t a marrying man, even if his brothers were. He’s a bad risk.”
She turned to face him, her eyes wide and eloquent. “I’ve told myself that a hundred times. Maybe it will sink in.”
He grimaced. He traced a pattern on her cheek with a lean forefinger. “For what it’s worth, I’m no stranger to unreturned feelings.” He grimaced. “Maybe some of us just don’t have the knack for romance.”
“Speak for yourself,” she said haughtily. “I have the makings of a Don Juanette, as Leo Hart is about to discover!” He tapped her cheek gently. “Stop that. Running wild won’t change anything, except to make you more miserable than you are.”
She drew in a long breath. “You’re right, of course. Oh, Harley, why can’t we make people love us back?”
“Wish I knew,” he said. He leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the lips. “I had fun. I’m sorry you didn’t.”
She smiled. “I did have fun. At least I didn’t end up at the ball by myself, or with Dad, to face Leo and Marilee.”
He nodded, understanding. “Where is your dad?”
“Denver,” she replied on a sigh. “He’s trying to interest a combine in investing in the ranch, but you can’t tell anybody.” He scowled. “I didn’t realize things were that bad.”
She nodded. “They’re pretty bad. Losing his prize bull was a huge financial blow. If Leo hadn’t loaned him that breeding bull, I don’t know what we’d have done. At least he likes Dad,” she added softly.
It was Harley’s opinion that he liked Fred Brewster’s daughter, too, or he wouldn’t have been putting away whiskey like that tonight. But he didn’t say it.
“Can I help?” he asked instead.
She smiled at him. “You’re so sweet, Harley. Thanks. But there’s not much we can do without a huge grubstake. So,” she added heavily, “I’m going to give up school and get a job.”
“Janie!”
“College is expensive,” she said simply. “Dad can’t really afford it right now, and I’m not going to ask him to try. There’s a job going at Shea’s…”
“You
