He faced her again. “Right after Thad started workinghere.”
* * *
Cord and Ryderhad jumped in the Jeep an hour ago and disappeared out into the pasture, leaving Sam to finish up her daily therapy sessions with a dim cloud hanging over her head. She’d accepted nearly a dozen vets and until today – she’d been able to focus solely on theirneeds.
Unable to wrap her mind around the dark possibility of Thad having anything to do with either the animal mutilation or the threats to her person, Sam stumbled into her shower and attempted to scrub away the thoughts. She took a little longer than normal, which resulted in her being nearly ten minutes late for her counseling session withThad.
She was never late. Being late was a subconscious sign of disrespect to the other person, and Hope Ranch was all about restoring respect and self-worth. Guilt rolling through her like storm clouds, she paused at the back door to the kitchen, laying her hand on the knob and staring out the dusty pane glass at Thad Guidry. He was pacing the back porch like a restless animal. She tried to reconcile the nervous, physically and emotionally scarred veteran in front of her with a cold-blooded stalker. A butcher. And she failedmiserably.
Angry at Cord for the suggestion, but even angrier at herself for considering it, she had to force a smile when she stepped onto the back porch a second later. “I’m so sorry I’m late,Thad.”
He’d already stopped pacing and assumed a defensive stance, his arms crossed over his narrow chest and his eyebrows lowered. “Beginning to think you were more worried about spending time with the newguy.”
His hoarse voice was sometimes difficult to understand. His convoy had been caught in an ambush and his SUV had gotten a direct hit from an RPG. Thad had been trapped inside the vehicle. The fire had scarred him on the outside and inside, burning his lungs from smoke inhalation and the smooth Cajun accent out of hisvoice.
Sam eased into one of the rocking chairs nearby and then patted the one next to it. “Want to sit down? You were working hard on that fence all daytoday.”
“Had to finish so we could start painting tomorrow.” Thad didn’t take her up on her offer to sit and she didn’t blame him. She’d promised him she’d give him 100% if he came to Hope Ranch and today she had failed to keep herword.
“You’re right, and thank you for not quitting. I don’t know how I’d keep this place going without people like you to help.” And she meant it. She was barely keeping the place open, living from one bag of donations to the next, selling cattle only when she had to make ends meet. The only real ranch hand she had was Jim Wayne, and the one time she’d tried to pay him with cash he’d just walkedoff.
Sam pressed her feet into the wood plank floor and rocked back, taking in the deep purples of the lingering sunset. This time of day always managed to sooth her nerves, and after a day like today she needed lots of soothing. “Anything you want to talk about in themeantime?”
“Yeah, the new guy. Don’t like him.” Thad’s short staccato sentences were a result of the damage to his lungs. It took him a lot more effort to build the strength to form words. At first she’d thought his gruffness was a sign of hostility. Now she understood it had nothing to do with this personality and everything to do with the wounds hesuffered.
“Cord? He’s a good guy. He’s a veteran too. But if it makes you feel any better, he’s only here temporarily to help me catch whoever took out those twocows.”
“Seems like he’s more interested in you than the cows,” Thad shotback.
“Well, he and I went to high school together. We were both a little surprised to see each other.” More than surprised on her part. All the old feelings she’d long since buried had risen to the surface at over a hundred miles per hour. She hadn’t had time to put up any defenses, or even process hispresence.
Thad uncrossed his arms and limped over to the empty rocking chair beside her, his stained and torn checkered shirt shifting with his movements. He’d pulled his naturally curly dark hair back into a low ponytail and trimmed his beard a good inch. And if she weren’t mistaken, those dust-covered boots parked next to hers were new. That was a major stride in self-care for him. A month ago, she’d barely been able to get him to shower. He had not seen the point in self hygiene. In fact, he hadn’t seen the point in living it all. “Explains why you stared at him allday.”
She should’ve been embarrassed, and if it were anyone else she probably would’ve offered up some lame excuse, but she couldn’t expect honesty out of her clients if she didn’t give honesty in return. “I might have had a little crush on him in highschool.”
A deep, rough laugh boomed out of Thad’s mouth. “Little?”
Sam found herself grinning like an idiot in response to the first real joke Thad had made since joining their team. “Hey, we’re supposed to be talking about you, notme.”
“All right, I’ll let you take the easy way out this time. What else you wanna know about me?” His laughter faded, but there was a new twinkle in his eyes. She’d planned on delving deeper into the attack on his convoy, but she knew it would suck away his good mood. “Why don’t you tell me about your high school crush?” sheteased.
“Just one?” Thad dipped his chin and looked at her up through his thick black eyelashes, and in that moment, she had absolutely no trouble seeing the handsome, carefree man he’d been before thefire.
“As the head nerd of my entire high school, I’m pretty sure I can only handleone.”
“Then I guess we better talk about Lacey. Her mama was 100% French Cajun and her daddy worked on the oil rigs off the coast. Lacey had hair so black it looked blue in the sun. It was soft, too, and sometimes I’d spend a whole hour just running my fingers through it.” Thad’s gaze drifted away from her, out over the emptybackyard.
Sam stayed quiet, letting him take his time. Most of the men had already turned in to the bunkhouses, as evidenced by the lights inside and the lack of noise around the ranch. It always got quiet at this time of night, right about when the sun fully set and billions of stars broke through thedarkness.
“We used to sneak out after my football games on Friday nights. I’d put two blankets in the back of my truck and we’d just lay there, staring up at the stars, planning our future. She was so smart. I could listen to her talk for hours. Never understood why she loved a roughneck like me.” Thad coughed, sucked in a breath and then coughedagain.
Samantha jumped up from her chair and ran inside the kitchen, snatched a bottle of water from the fridge and returned to his side in seconds. “Here drinkthis.”
Thad took the bottle, carefully sipping as he brought his breathing back under control. Samantha resisted the urge to fuss over him and instead eased back into her rocking chair, knowing that’s what Thad would want her to do. She pulled her long-sleeved flannel shirt tighter around her shoulders, warding off the night chill. The day had been hot enough for a tank top, but when the sun went down the temperaturedropped.
“Have you heard anything from yourpulmonologist?”
Thad cleared his throat and said in a much rougher voice than before, “Only hope is a lung transplant. I signed the papers, but he said the wait could be over a year because my blood type israre.”
