“I fed him at the station.”
“How about some hot chocolate for you? Does that sound good?”
“Actually, it does.”
It took a while for Mattie to summarize everything that had happened after Cole left with the tiger.
When she told him about Eve’s confession, he made a sound of exasperation. “What a shame.”
Grim faced, he handed her a cup of steaming hot cocoa. “So will Kasey be arrested?”
“We have no evidence against her yet, but we’ll investigate her on suspicion of drug and wildlife trafficking. Even though both she and Eve will deny it.”
“And Tyler’s in jail, on hold pending the wildlife charges?”
“Along with Flint, Ben Underwood, and Zach Irving.”
“Poor Lillian and Doyle.” Cole shook his head, staring at the floor for a moment while he absently sipped his chocolate. “Let’s go sit in the living room where it’s more comfortable.”
He led her to a seat beside him on the sofa, placing his arm on top of the cushion at her back. With the warm cup between both hands, she nestled against him while Bruno and Belle went to their dog beds. Robo lingered at Mattie’s feet, but with a bit of encouragement, he went to the extra cushion, circled a couple of times before plopping down, and opened his mouth in a squeaky yawn with a great deal of pink tongue curling against his sharp canines.
“That’s good, Robo,” Mattie said. “Time to sleep.” He placed his head between his paws and heaved a sigh.
“It’s hard to believe Eve Redman could get that desperate,” Cole said. “I mean, that ranch is special to the Redmans, but to go to the extreme to kill for it?”
“I think there’s more to that family dynamic than we know at this point. Eve holds a lot of anger and resentment against Nate and perhaps some misplaced blame for the foreclosure. I think their inability to make ends meet has more to do with the kids growing up. Foreclosure doesn’t happen overnight, and they’d already sent Tyler and Kasey to college. Now Eve. I think the family needed more income than they could generate.”
“Not to mention that cattle prices have been down the past few years. Family-owned farms and ranches struggle to compete with agricultural corporations. Sometimes I worry about my own parents in today’s times.”
They sat and sipped their chocolate for a few minutes while Mattie thought about Cole’s family, his parents’ connection to the land, and the different choices for careers their children had made. “What will happen to your parents’ ranch when your dad needs to retire?”
“We never talked about it, but they might already be thinking about what they would do. I suppose their land could be the only retirement investment they have. I really don’t know.”
“Would you want to start working on the ranch?”
She could feel Cole cringe beside her. “It tears me up to think about my parents selling their land, but I wouldn’t want to go into ranching. I’m happy being a vet.”
“How about Jessie?”
“I think she’s happy with her life in Denver and her career as an attorney, but if she wants to take up ranching, I hope she’ll say.” Cole remained silent for a minute before sharing his thoughts. “Ranching is a hard way of life. You battle the elements to raise your livestock and your crops, and you tend to your animals and plants three hundred and sixty-five days a year. You work outside during rain, sleet, and snow to give your animals food, water, and shelter, and you don’t even know what a family vacation is. Your income fluctuates depending on the agricultural markets, and you never know when things are going to tank. But the lifestyle gets under your skin and into your bloodstream. You love the land and your animals, and you want to pass it on to your family.”
Mattie nodded and leaned her head against Cole’s arm. They sat while she digested Cole’s words, and she assumed that, like her, he was thinking of how they applied to Doyle and Lillian. And even to their daughter Eve, now in jail facing a prison sentence. After several minutes, she spoke. “I guess I should go home and clean up so that I can get some sleep. Back to work for both of us again in the morning, right?”
Cole tightened his arm around her. “You must be stiff and sore. Do you want to soak in the tub here?”
Mattie tipped her face so that she could study his. He leaned down and kissed her, a kiss that was tender and full of promise. It had been a long time since Mattie had known such intimacy. She hated for the kiss to end.
Cole lifted his lips to speak. “No strings attached on the offer of the tub, but I want you to stay the night. I’m in this relationship for the long haul, and I want what’s best for you. Your decision won’t change my love, one way or the other.”
Her heartbeat quickened. “The kids?”
“The kids and Jessie are staying with my parents tonight.”
Mattie touched his cheek, and he turned into her palm to press his lips against it. “I say yes.”
Without another word, Cole stood and took her hand to lead her up the staircase.
* * *
For the life of her, Mattie couldn’t sleep. She rose on one elbow to study Cole’s face by the light of the moon shining through the open curtain. His features were relaxed in sleep, his lips parted slightly.
His bedroom window was closed, something she couldn’t stand, but she didn’t want to awaken him by opening it. Noiselessly, she slipped from between the sheets, put on a clean T-shirt he’d laid out for her, picked up her cell phone from the bedside table, and padded down the stairs with bare feet. Immediately alert, Robo and Bruno lifted their heads when she entered the den.
“Go back to sleep, you two. It’s just me,” she murmured as she sank onto the couch, picking up the chocolate fleece throw from the back and covering herself with it. She leaned into the couch pillows and considered going home, but decided against it. She didn’t want Cole to misunderstand.
Her sleeplessness had nothing to do with Cole; it was her problem. He’d been perfect—tender, decent, and loving. What passed between them might not have meant a change in their relationship for him, but now she loved him more than ever. And the excitement of being with him had resulted in a restlessness she couldn’t define.
On one hand, she’d never felt such joy in her life; on the other, she’d never been this terrified.
What if she didn’t know how to handle this heady love she felt for Cole and his kids? What if she messed up? What if she lost him? She supposed these were questions she’d need to talk over with her shrink.
She didn’t want to think about the Redman case anymore, and her mind needed a distraction from her relationship with Cole. Since she hadn’t had time to check her email all day, she decided to pass the time looking at it. Maybe she would grow drowsy enough to fall asleep on the couch.
An email from the ancestry database she’d submitted her DNA to was buried in the middle of her incoming list. It took her by surprise, even though she’d expected to hear from them for days. She squinted at it while she hovered her finger over the screen, afraid of what it might say. Had they drawn a blank while searching for family matches for her?
She tapped the screen and took in the email at a glance, scrolling to the end for results. Her heart tripped as she went back to read it more carefully.
Cole charged down the stairs, headed for the kitchen. “Mattie!”
“I’m in here, Cole.” Clutching her cell phone, she stood and met him at the doorway.
He swept her into his arms. “You were gone. I thought you’d left.”
“No, I just couldn’t sleep.” She squeezed out of his grip far enough to lift her cell phone to where he could read it. “Look. I heard about my DNA.”