Boots and Wishes: Ugly Stick Saloon, Book 8 (4 page)

“Hey. I think you don’t look a day over twenty-five. Kendall’s the one who’s the baby among us.” As soon as Charli said the word
baby
, Kendall backhanded her.

Charli’s eyes widened and she clapped a hand over her mouth. “Sorry.”

“Why?” Audrey stared from Kendall to Charli and back. “What’s going on here?”

Kendall sighed. “Jackson made us promise not to mention the B-word today.”

A mix of love and anger washed over Audrey. “Good grief. I’m not fragile. I’m not going to break or anything. Saying the word
baby
isn’t going to send me off the deep end.”

“Well, we did promise,” Mona admitted.

“As Jackson declared this Audrey Anderson Day, I’m the queen and I officially release you from the promise. There will be no walking on eggshells today or any day.”

Charli sagged. “Whew! I was wondering how I’d keep my big mouth shut all day.”

“Yeah, especially since you hired Beth,” Kendall said. “What’s the scoop?”

Audrey shook her head. “All I know is that she had to leave her apartment and only has the trailer to live in. Poor girl had been on the road for twelve hours.”

“Where’s she headed?”

Audrey hadn’t really been able to think much past baby Mia. “I’m not sure. She said she didn’t have any family.”

Mona dragged a comb through her hair, working the tangles free a little at a time. “That makes no sense to be on the road for twelve hours and not be headed anywhere in particular. And what made her take the back roads that led her to the Ugly Stick Saloon?”

Audrey shrugged. “I really don’t know.”

A long, pregnant pause followed.

Charli shook her head, staring from Kendall to Mona. “You two aren’t going to mention the elephant in the room? That’s right, leave it to me, the big mouth.” She turned her gaze on Audrey. “The woman has an infant that can’t be more than two weeks old.”

“Mia’s a month old. She was a preemie,” Audrey corrected.

“My point is,” Charli continued, “women don’t go on twelve-hour road trips with newborns, headed nowhere. Something’s not right. You should have Deputy Cramer run a background check on her. Maybe she’s wanted for a crime.”

Kendall’s eyes widened. “Maybe she stole the baby.”

Audrey shook her head. “The baby looks like her.”

“Babies look like babies,” Charli disagreed. “The woman could be lying to you and on the run. What would it hurt to run the check on her license? Tell her you have to make a copy of it for employment at the Ugly Stick.”

“I suppose I could do that.” Audrey didn’t like being dishonest or subversive. She took most people at face value. “Beth looks like the real deal. I trust her.”

“Then let
me
have the deputy run the check.” Charli dug in her purse and pulled out a crinkled napkin with writing on it. “Look, I wrote down her license plate number. I can have Cramer run it if you’re not comfortable asking for her driver’s license.”

“Okay, I’ll think about it. Either way, don’t be obvious about your suspicions when you’re around her. She appears to have been through a lot, having been uprooted and starting over with a tiny infant.”

“If the infant is
hers
,” Kendall repeated. “Think about the mother she could have stolen it from.”

Mona clipped a portion of Audrey’s hair up on top of her head and reached for the blow-dryer. “I’d have Cramer check the missing persons reports and see if anyone had a baby stolen.”

“Good grief. Beth’s on the up and up.” Audrey waved her hand like a queen, tipping her head back. “Now, can we drop the topic and get on with my day? It is, after all, Audrey Anderson Day.”

“Absolutely, your highness.” Kendall genuflected in a low curtsy and giggled, destroying the effect.

An hour later, her fingernails shining a lovely shade of rose-petal pink, Audrey, Charli and Kendall hugged Mona and set off on their mission to visit the newest shop in Temptation, temptingly named Naughty Nothings.

As they passed the hardware store and the sheriff’s office, Charli stopped. “I just remembered that Connor wanted me to check and see if his new drill gun has arrived at the hardware store. It will only take a moment. I’ll meet you at the shop.”

Audrey’s gaze zeroed in on Charli. “If you’re thinking about stopping at the sheriff’s office, don’t.”

Charli’s cheeks flushed red and she raised her hands in surrender. “No, really, Connor has a drill gun on order. One of those cordless types. He’s been waiting for over a week. It should be in by now.”

The telltale blush in Charli’s cheeks was enough for Audrey to know she was fibbing. What would it hurt to have Deputy Cramer check on Beth’s background? She was certain he’d find nothing, but her friends wouldn’t rest until they knew for sure Beth wasn’t out to take advantage of Audrey.

Audrey smiled. She had really great friends, a wonderful husband and brothers-in-law. What more could she ask for?

A baby.

An image of Jackson holding the tiny Mia in his arms ripped through her mind, making her heart ache. She pushed the image aside and glanced from Kendall to Charli. “Go on. Check on the drill. And while you’re at it, have Cramer run Beth’s license plate.”

Chapter Four

Jackson sat at the bar inside the Ugly Stick Saloon that evening, nursing a beer and looking for every opportunity he could muster to corner Audrey in the storeroom and make her tell him what she’d purchased at the Naughty Nothings store on Main Street. Every time Charli or Kendall passed him with a tray loaded with drinks, they smiled knowingly.

He didn’t always come to the bar at night. He had a ranch to run during the daylight hours, but the house was too lonely without Audrey. Since Mark and Luke had built their own home to share with Libby, the ranch house they’d grown up in was too big and too quiet for Jackson all by himself. Audrey had been swapping out late nights with Charli, but Friday and Saturday were usually all hands on deck. Cowboys came out of the fields for a cold beer, pretty girls and country music to tap their boots to.

Dusty Cramer, one of the county sheriff’s deputies, slipped onto the stool beside Jackson. He wasn’t in uniform and he ordered a beer. Wearing a regular cowboy hat, he was just another cowboy at the saloon to have a good time.

“Jackson.” Cramer lifted his foaming mug.

“Dusty.” Jackson tapped his to the edge of Cramer’s. “Since you’re off duty, here’s to an uneventful night at the saloon.”

He nodded. “Thanks.” Then he tipped the mug back and took a long, deep pull on the beer before setting the mug on the bar and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “I hear you have a squatter on the premises.”

Jackson sipped at his beer, knowing Dusty had more to say and would get around to it in his own sweet time. “We do.” He tipped his head toward Beth as she weaved her way among the patrons of the bar, serving drinks with a sweet smile. “Her name’s Beth Smith.”

“Is that what she told you?”

Jackson shrugged. “Sure. Why?”

“Just wondered. I ran the plates on her truck and trailer. They expired over three years ago.”

“So she’s not so good at keeping up her licenses. I take it you also ran a background check on her.”

Dusty stared into his beer. “Audrey can be too trusting of the strays she brings in.”

With a nod, Jackson let Dusty continue.

“Charli and Kendall were worried. They wanted me to make sure the woman was on the up and up.”

Jackson set his beer on the bar and faced Cramer. He hoped and prayed Beth wasn’t wanted for murder or something. Having always trusted his gut, he couldn’t believe the woman would harm a fly. “What did you find out?”

“Not much. The truck and trailer belonged to an older couple, Martha and Gordon Peterson.”

“Belonged?”

“The couple is deceased as of four years ago.”

“Damn.” Jackson’s gaze shifted from Beth to Audrey. What would Audrey think about her latest stray? “You don’t think she stole the vehicles, do you?”

“I don’t know what to think.”

“And her name might not even be Beth Smith.”

“That’s about it.” Deputy Cramer glanced across the room at the petite brunette who looked as harmful as a kitten. “I came to check her out for myself.”

“Has the sheriff gotten wind of her? Does he know you’ve run her plates?”

“Not yet. Hopefully he won’t find out anything until I’ve done a little more digging.” Dusty’s gaze followed Beth’s every move. “I’d like to find out what I can without tipping her off. If she did steal the vehicles, I have to haul her in.”

“Nice.” Jackson stared at his beer mug now, wondering if all the baby talk and seeing Mia had biased him in Beth’s favor. He couldn’t imagine her in handcuffs. She seemed so nice. “So, what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to try and ask her some questions without alerting her to the fact I’m with the sheriff’s department. Maybe she has the truck and trailer legally. If that’s the case, all I could do is write tickets if I catch her out on the road driving with expired tags.”

Jackson shook his head. “There has to be a story behind those sad eyes.”

“What worries me most is the baby. What if she stole it? What if that baby is not hers? I’ll try and lift some prints.”

“She looks so innocent. Like she wouldn’t harm a fly, and she’s very good with the baby.” Jackson glanced across at Beth.

Dusty’s lips thinned. “Looks can be deceiving.”

“Want me to disable her vehicle?”

“You might consider it. If she is on the run, she won’t get too far with a baby and a broken-down truck. At the very least, it would keep me from giving her a ticket.”

“Will do.” Jackson slid off the bar stool, about to do his civic duty and pull the wiring on Beth’s starter. All the years he’d been a straight shooter, always obeying the laws, setting the right example for his younger brothers, and here he was about to vandalize a young mother’s vehicle.

Hell, if she was running away from something, she likely had a good reason. If Dusty didn’t get to the bottom of it, Jackson sure as hell would. Mia needed a stable home, not a mother on the run from the law. Perhaps Beth was trying to get away from an abusive husband. Given the shadows under her eyes and the bruise on her temple and the fact she wasn’t headed anywhere in particular, that scenario rang truer than anything.

In which case, Audrey would be the first to offer the woman sanctuary. For that matter, so would Jackson. He had no patience for men who used their superior strength to bully women. And the thought of a man harming one hair on Mia’s tiny head…well, it just wouldn’t happen as long as Jackson had a breath left in him.

While Cramer sought out a seat in Beth’s section of the saloon, Jackson went in search of his lovely wife. She needed to be aware of what Cramer had learned and prepare herself for the likelihood of Beth being hauled away in the back of a sheriff’s cruiser. Hell, if Beth had kidnapped the baby, Audrey might be accused of harboring a criminal.

He found her in the storeroom, shifting boxes of whiskey and vodka around. Jackson took a heavy box from her arms. “Where?”

She pointed to a stack in one corner. “I could swear I ordered a case of Jack Daniels.” She stood in the middle of the storeroom, wearing her cutoff shorts, a white blouse unbuttoned and tied around her middle, displaying a generous amount of midriff, and cleavage pushed up by a sequined corset that matched her studded red boots. It was just one of her uniforms for her work at the Ugly Stick Saloon. The patrons loved the women to dress sexy and provide an occasional dance or sing a song. That and tossing bottles like jugglers kept them entertained and coming back for more than the beer and whiskey.

Jackson set the box of whiskey on the stack she’d indicated and turned, taking her into his arms. “Hey beautiful.”

She leaned into him and sighed. “Some nights I wonder why I own a bar. I could be home with my feet up, watching some mindless show on television. Instead, I’m searching through cases of booze, looking for the elusive box of Jack Daniels. What kind of life is that?”

Jackson grabbed her hands. “Sell this place, Audrey. Stay home with me and let me take care of you.”

“Oh, Jackson. You know I couldn’t let you do that. I love being an independent woman. I’m with you because I
want
to be, not because I
have
to be. I wouldn’t have it any other way.” She leaned up on her red-booted toes and kissed him on the lips. “Now, help me find that whiskey, will ya?”

He pulled her into his arms. “I will. After I get a proper kiss.”

“Mine wasn’t good enough?” She chuckled. “Suppose you show me how it’s done, cowboy.” She tipped her face up and closed her eyes. “I’m waiting.”

He cupped her cheeks with both hands and bent to capture her lips with his. At first gentle, he brushed lightly across the softness of her mouth. That didn’t last long before he was so hungry for her he couldn’t hold back. He gathered her closer, lifted her by the backs of her thighs and backed her against the wall. His tongue dove between her teeth, thrusting and sliding along the length of hers, loving that she tasted sweet and tangy like strawberries with a hint of whipped cream.

When he finally set her on her feet, her eyes were glazed and her hands curled into the fabric of his shirt. “Okay, you win. That was a proper kiss.” She pushed her hair back from her face, inhaled and let the air out in a long, slow stream. “Well, now, was that all you came in here for?”

Jackson had to think before he could remember why he’d sought out Audrey in the first place. “Deputy Cramer ran the tags on Beth’s vehicles. Both the truck and the trailer tags expired over three years ago.”

“So?” Audrey frowned. “She might not have had time to renew them before she had to leave.”

“The original owners of the tags died four years ago.”

Audrey blinked. “You think she killed them?”

“No, of course not. But there is a possibility she stole the vehicles.”

“If she did, she had to have a really good, legitimate reason. From what I’ve observed of Beth so far, she’s hardworking, cares about others and is dedicated to her baby. Every break she gets, she runs out to the trailer to check on Mia and Mona.”

“You got Mona Daley to babysit? I’m surprised Grant let her out of his sight.” Jackson pushed aside some of the boxes, searching for the case of Jack Daniels.

Audrey did the same, lifting a case of rum and moving it to another stack. “Grant is on the road right now, helping Sam Whitefeather compete at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. They left today and won’t be back for at least a week. More if they decide to stay and enjoy some gambling in Sin City.”

“I thought he gave up the rodeo?” Jackson went through a stack of five boxes without finding the whiskey. He reached up to shift some boxes on a shelf.

“Grant did, but he’s going along to help Sam through the finals. Sam’s riding broncs and roping with his new partner.”

“Have you been out to check on Mona and Mia?”

Audrey frowned. “No. Why?”

“As worried as you were last night, I just wondered.”

“After I introduced Beth to Mona, they took it from there. Beth seems quite happy to have Mona care for Mia.”

“What about when Grant gets back?”

Audrey stood with her hands resting on her hips, staring around the storeroom. “I’ll help Beth find another caregiver for Mia. Maybe by then she’ll know what she wants to do.”

“You mean she’ll have enough money to move on.”

Audrey reached for a case sitting on a shelf at eye level and turned it around. “I suppose.” She snorted, straightened the box and then faced Jackson. “Damn. No whiskey. Honestly, Jackson, I don’t see how she can keep moving with the baby. That poor child needs a stable environment.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t offered to put up Beth and Mia at the ranch yet.”

Audrey chewed on her bottom lip. “As a matter of fact, I’ve been meaning to ask you—”

Jackson raised his hand. “You know my answer. Do what makes you happy, sweetheart.” Once again he gathered her in his arms. “I just ask that you wait until we’re more certain of her. If by some weird chance she has committed a crime, I don’t want you to go to jail for her.”

Audrey touched a finger to his chest. “Or you for that matter.” She nodded. “I’ll play it by ear. I take it Cramer is going to do more digging?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I’ll wait for him to come back with more details. But if the weather turns colder, I’m bringing them in.”

“I agree.”

“Good. Now help me find that case of whiskey or I’ll have some cranky cowboys on my hands.”

Audrey kept a close watch on Beth through the weekend and into the next week. The weather held good, staying above the low fifties with sunshine and no rain.

For some reason Beth’s truck wouldn’t start. No matter how much Jackson fiddled with it, he couldn’t seem to get it going. Audrey found that odd since Jackson was so good with anything mechanical. Beth refused to take it to Nick McBride’s auto shop.

“I can’t afford to pay anyone to fix the truck right now. Every penny I make needs to go into groceries and diapers for Mia,” was Beth’s response.

Audrey had to admit she was a little relieved the truck wouldn’t run. Without a vehicle to tow the little camp trailer, Beth couldn’t leave in the middle of the night. On the following Monday morning, Audrey stopped by and offered to take Beth shopping at the grocery store in Temptation.

Beth strapped Mia into an infant car seat and buckled it into the backseat of Audrey’s truck. Then she climbed in. “Thank you for taking me to the store. I’m down to my last diaper and can of formula. It’s amazing how many diapers Mia goes through in a week.”

Audrey glanced back at the baby in the car seat.

Mia slept, perfectly content.

“Is she always this good traveling?” Audrey asked.

Beth laughed. “Until she gets tired of it. Twelve hours was too much. Even she needs to be able to stretch out occasionally.”

Audrey pulled out of the parking lot behind the saloon. “Are you two doing okay in the trailer?”

“Oh yes. I really appreciate that you’re letting me stay where I am.”

“I can have Jackson hook up his truck to the trailer and take it to the local campground, where I’m certain you can find a slot for rent.”

“That would be great, except I wouldn’t be able to get back and forth to the saloon without my truck. And right now, I can’t afford to have it fixed.”

Audrey nodded. She had to bite back an offer for the two of them to stay at the ranch. She’d promised Jackson that she would wait a little longer, though her instinct to provide shelter for them was so strong it physically hurt not to say something. “At the very least, Jackson can take the trailer off to the campground to use their waste dump.”

“That would be great. At least until I can afford to have the truck worked on.”

“I can spot you the money to have it fixed,” Audrey said. It wasn’t inviting Beth into her home, but it would help the woman out, and she could have Nick take his time until they learned more about Beth.

“No. I wouldn’t dream of it. I don’t want to be indebted to anyone. Especially to you. You’ve already done so much for me.”

“Me? My motives were purely selfish. I needed a good waitress and you fit the bill perfectly. You do good work.”

Beth blushed. “Thank you. I admit I’ve never been a waitress.”