Heart of Rockies 03 - More Than a Feeling (8 page)

The door burst open. “What d’we have to do to get some chocolate around here?” Avery demanded, looking offended. “I mean, I’m six weeks post-birth, girls. I’m not having any sex. I
need
chocolate.”

Ruby forced a laugh. “Coming right up.”

“I still think you should give him a chance,” Paige whispered as they headed for the dining room. “Sawyer’s one of the good guys, Ruby. Whatever it is you’re running from, maybe he can help you.”

“I don’t want help. I just want to move on with my life.” She couldn’t risk Derek learning where she was, hunting her down. And who knew what he’d do to Sawyer if he found out she was attracted to him.

No.
She had to keep the secrets locked safely in the past. Letting them out was too big of a price to pay.

Even for someone as wonderful as Sawyer.

M
orning used to be Sawyer’s favorite time of day. When he and Kaylee were married, he’d sneak out of bed before she woke up and brew the coffee, get breakfast started. He might suck at cooking overall, but frying eggs and bacon, or flipping pancakes, was his specialty. Kaylee would stagger into the kitchen, all bleary eyed and gorgeous with her dark hair knotted on her head. She’d hug him—cling to him—and depending on where he was at with the food, they’d end up kissing, or, if it was a really good day, he’d make love to her right there on the kitchen floor.

Now the memory made him pull the covers over his head, as if the darkness could make it disappear. He turned over in the empty king-size bed that Bryce had put into all the ranch’s guest cabins. Would he ever open his eyes as the first rays of sunlight beamed through the window and not think of those mornings? It wasn’t so much that he missed Kaylee. Well, he missed who she had been then. Losing the baby changed both of them; he wasn’t naïve enough to deny that. They’d gone from being best friends and passionate lovers to being strangers who coexisted in the same house. He’d stopped making breakfast. She’d started going out to dinner with her friends after work most nights of the week.

Distance yawned between them, and it wasn’t like he didn’t see it happening; it was just that he couldn’t find the energy to care. Truth was, he’d fallen in love with an idea—Kaylee as a devoted and loving mom, just like his mom. In some ways Mom had set him up to believe that all women were as perfect as June Cleaver, cooking gourmet family dinners every night of the week, baking cookies for him after he came home from school. Hell, she’d even clean his room, fold his laundry, and leave him treats under his pillow when she made his bed every day. But for Mom it wasn’t an act. It was her life. It was what she’d loved the most in the world. Her family. Her kids.

Apparently that wasn’t reality for everyone.

It wasn’t like he’d expected the same out of Kaylee. He only wanted a wife who’d love her family, who’d never take one day of it for granted. After he told Mom Kaylee had cheated on him, she’d looked at him sadly. “Not every woman wants to be a mom,” she’d said. “It doesn’t make her a bad person, Sawyer. You just want different things in life and she was feeling trapped.”

So yes, maybe it was his fault. Maybe he’d trapped her into his vision for the future, thinking she would change, that her biological clock would start ticking. Wasn’t that a real thing? He’d thought it—

A loud knock interrupted his thoughts. Sawyer rolled over again and glanced at the clock: 6:00 a.m.? Who the hell could be standing on his doorstep before the sun was even up?

The knock turned into a pounding that lurched his heart into reaction mode. Sawyer jumped out of bed and pulled on the rumpled pants and shirt he’d had on the day before, then shoved his feet into his tennis shoes. He jogged out of the bedroom and across the small kitchen and living room. By the time he reached the door, he was out of breath.

Bryce stood on the porch. “Hey.” His face was grim. “There’s been another incident.”

Sawyer blinked the sleep-induced fog out of his eyes. “Incident?”

“A thousand dollars is missing from my office,” Bryce said, his jaw tight. “I was there until three o’clock in the morning working on some bookkeeping. So it had to be sometime between three and now.”

Sawyer stepped out onto the porch and resisted the urge to shake his head. How many times had he told his cousin to install a surveillance system? “Sure wish you would’ve taken my recommendations,” he said, giving in to the temptation to be the asshole who says
I told you so
.

But Bryce took it in stride, simply shrugging like
what the hell do you want from me?
“It’s a family ranch. We’ve never needed security cameras.”

Even though he was in the mood to argue, Sawyer silently stepped back inside, pulled on a fleece, and followed his cousin down the porch steps.

“I wouldn’t be worried if things hadn’t been disappearing,” Bryce said, keeping a brisk pace. “I don’t keep the cleanest office in the world.”

“You’re not stupid with your money, either.” Bryce counted every cent, made sure the books weren’t even a nickel off. It was a trait they’d both inherited from their moms. “Someone’s stealing from you.” He wanted Bryce to acknowledge it this time.

“Yeah. I should’ve realized it before.” His cousin led the way across the ranch’s massive front deck until they reached the office.

They stepped inside and Sawyer glanced around the main room. Nothing was broken. “How’d they get in?”

“No idea,” Bryce said, jiggling the doorknob. “It’s always locked up.”

Locks didn’t mean much when you trusted everyone’s mother and their dog with a key. “Who has access?” He did his best not to sound impatient. It wasn’t Bryce’s fault he was so trusting. Elsie had raised him that way—to always see the best in people, and he hadn’t been jaded by years of police work.

“Employees only,” Bryce said, as if that meant something. “Most of them have a master key.”

Don’t roll your eyes.
Later he would suggest that Bryce put a different lock on the office and not give
anyone
the key. Instead of launching into a lecture, he walked to the check-in counter, noting that nothing else was out of place. It was like someone knew Bryce kept the money in his office. Someone knew exactly when they could take it without anyone seeing. “How many employees are around between three and six o’clock in the morning?” He moved to the doorway that led into Bryce’s office.

His cousin didn’t answer, so Sawyer turned to face him.

“You know I need names,” he said in his official-police-business tone, because now they were dealing with a repeat offender and the stakes were getting higher. A couple hundred dollars and a missing bracelet were minor offenses. But the suspect had gotten away with it, and now they were after more. “If we don’t catch this son of a bitch, they’ll keep stealing from you. You can’t afford to keep losing money.”

Bryce heaved out a sigh. “Ruby is
usually
the only one. She sometimes comes in between four and five.” He raised a hand as if to slow Sawyer’s thought process. “But any of the maintenance guys could’ve been here. A guide, maybe.”

Not likely. Sawyer knew the maintenance guys, and none of them ever got up before ten, though he’d love to blame one of them. It was easier than considering the alternative. He did another sweep around the room, taking time to inspect the desk. “I could call in CSI. Have them dust for fingerprints.”

“You promised we’d keep this quiet,” Bryce reminded him. “I don’t even want Avery to know about this. She’s already worried enough, being a new mom. This would freak her out.”

Pretty much the answer he’d expected. “Fine. Show me where the money was.”

Bryce led him back to the desk. He opened a drawer and held up a brown zipper pouch. “I keep it in this and put it in my desk until we make the deposit.”

Sawyer shot him a look. “That’s some high-tech security you’ve got there. A real fortress.”

His cousin tossed the empty envelope down onto the desk. “We’ve never had to worry about it before.”

“But you admit it’s a problem now. Maybe a security system would be a good idea.”

Bryce shrugged off the idea like he always did. “I’ll try to work it into the budget.”

Leaving the desk behind, Sawyer bent to examine the door handle on Bryce’s office. “Someone definitely had a key.” There were no scratches on the metal that would indicate a picked lock.

He straightened and looked around again. “You sure nothing else was touched?”

“Not that I can see,” Bryce said, pulling open drawers. “Laptop’s still here. Credit cards are here. It’s like someone just wanted the cash.”

Because cash could never be traced and whoever took it knew that. They didn’t have to sell anything and risk someone else ratting them out. They knew they’d get away with it.

Damn.
Sawyer strode back into the lobby, noting the baked goods cases were full of fresh donuts and croissants. “Ruby was in here,” he said, nodding toward the food. “She fills the cases every morning.”

“What’re you gonna do?” Bryce asked like he dreaded the answer.

“What I have to do,” he replied, already opening the door.

“You’re gonna talk to Ruby?”

He stopped. “Do I have a choice?” The thought of confronting her like this made his stomach twist, but there were no other leads. No one else was around.

“I hope she didn’t do it,” Bryce said, following him across the porch. “Mom would be crushed.”

“I hope not, too,” he admitted.

But he had to be open to any possibility.

Humming. She was actually humming. Ruby whipped the batter for the individual carrot cakes she was making for that evening’s dessert. A smile snuck onto her lips. She’d never meant to kiss Sawyer, but the warmth of it still bubbled up and made her smile like a silly girl. Yes, she knew she couldn’t indulge again, but somehow that one kiss was tempting her to defy logic. God, it’d been so long since she shared a kiss with anyone. Let alone someone as debonair as Sawyer. Okay, that would be never. She could still feel the soft stroke of his fingers against her skin…

The kitchen door pounded open. Sawyer and Bryce marched in. And there went her smile again, as if by simply seeing him, her body decided she was happy. How could she not be when he looked like that, all rumpled and sleepy with his untamed dark hair and the stubble across his jaw? “Um…hi there,” she said, going for casual, but instead her voice sounded as light and airy as her body felt. Was she already blushing?

Sawyer wouldn’t look her in the eyes. And maybe he didn’t look sleepy…maybe he looked…grumpy?

Was he mad about the kiss? He hadn’t seemed to be at the time, but a whole night had passed since then…

“Ruby.” He looked over, his gaze focused above her head like he wanted to avoid her eyes. “We have to ask you some questions.”

Glancing between his solemn expression and Bryce’s, she set down the mixing bowl. “Okay.” She drew the word out into her own question. Was it about the dog?

Sawyer crossed his arms, making them bulge. “What time did you get here this morning?”

The rush of heat that’d made her blush spread down her neck. “The same time I always do. Just before five. Why?”

He shared a look with Bryce. “You see anyone else around?”

The pulse point in her neck throbbed. Something bad had happened. “No,” she croaked. “It was just me.” But she couldn’t be sure of that. She’d been distracted all morning, humming and thinking about that man right there. Who now looked at her with an accusation in his eyes.

“There was no one else?” he asked again. Slowly this time. Like he wanted her to really think about it. “No cars? You didn’t hear a strange noise?”

She tried to think, tried to flash through the scenes of that morning, but the growing pulse of panic blurred the images. What had happened? Had someone been hurt? Murdered? A cold prickle across her forehead made it feel like the blood was draining from her face.

Had Derek found her?

“I didn’t see anyone,” wisped out of her mouth on a breath of fear. She leaned against the counter to support her weak legs. “Why? What’s wrong? What happened?”

Sawyer and Bryce shared another coded look, seeming to fight over who would tell her.

“Sawyer, what’s going on?” she demanded, because her mind was entertaining only the worst possible scenarios.

“Someone broke into the office and stole some cash,” he finally said. “Bryce locked up at three this morning and when he got back at six, the money was gone.”

“Oh, no,” she uttered, doing her best not to sound relieved. But no one was hurt. No one was being stalked. “How much did they take?”

“A thousand dollars,” Bryce said.

Sawyer stepped close to her, his eyes seeming to analyze her face. “But not many people have been around. And whoever it was had a key.”

“Oh.” The word came out like a punch. It made her stomach hurt the way he was looking at her, talking to her. “You think I took it.” Humiliation crowded out the infatuation that had inflated her heart. Now it felt cold and flat.

“I don’t think anything yet,” he lied. She could
see
the lie in those cold steel eyes. He suspected her. He thought she’d stolen money from the Walkers.

Tears rose up, blurring his face, blurring everything, the happy, warm glow of the kitchen, the mixing bowl on the island in front of her.

Sawyer’s rigid jaw went soft. “We only wanted to know if you’ve seen anything suspicious,” he said gently.

“I had nothing to do with this.” Disregarding him with a shake of her head, she turned to Bryce. Because, really, who the hell cared what Sawyer thought, anyway. She sure didn’t. Not anymore. “You have to believe me, Bryce. I’d never steal from you. After everything you guys have done for me—”

“Of course you didn’t,” Bryce said, shooting Sawyer a look that clearly said
back off
. “We only came to ask if you’d seen anyone else around.”

“Sorry.” Inhaling to dry the tears in her eyes, she lifted the mixing bowl back into her hands and started to whisk again, working out the sudden onslaught of anger that flexed her hands. “I wish I could help.” Batter splattered onto the counter, but she kept stirring, hard enough that her wrist ached.

“Okay, then.” Bryce said after a hollow silence. “I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t mention anything to Avery. She’s already sleep deprived with the baby and everything.”

“Of course,” she replied without looking up. Now the anger had ballooned into righteous indignation.

How could they even ask her if she’d stolen money? She’d worked her ass off to thank them for giving her this opportunity. Did Sawyer think she was stupid? That she’d ruin her chance at the ranch—her chance at a new life—for a thousand dollars?

“Guess I should head out,” Bryce called, cruising to the door like he couldn’t get out of there fast enough. “Let us know if you see anything suspicious.”

Her silent nod sent him out the door, but Sawyer hung around across from her, as if by standing there, he’d get her attention.