But even as she said the words, she knew that she was lying to herself because this had already gone way past business. This was probably already as personal as anything in her life had ever been since Kyle.

  Todd’s expression was grim as he stared at the dead bull that Wade had called him to come look at. “What did that?”

  “I’m not liking what my first guess is and that’s why I called you.” Wade stood beside him, staring at the gruesome carcass. It lay out in the middle of the pasture, not too far from the house, and the whole side of its face had been ripped off and was gone. The wound was nice and neat. You could see there had been a little bit of a struggle and there was a little bit of torn up grass, but other than that it was a fairly neat kill site.

  Todd’s thoughts were going exactly where his brother’s were. “Is that a paw print?” He strode over and looked down at the imprint in the dirt. It was definitely a paw print. A very large paw print.

  “Yup, it’s a paw print. You know, over time we’ve had reports of cougars out here but they’re just so rare. I don’t know the last time I heard someone reporting something killing one of their cows, though.” Wade studied the landscape to make sure the big cat was gone.

  There had been reports all over Texas off and on of people killing a mountain lion or panther; some called them a chupacabra. By whatever name it was called, it wasn’t something a rancher wanted hanging around. Especially if it could take down a bull like this.

  Todd didn’t like this. “Did you call the game warden?”

  “He’s on his way. They’ll come and they’ll be able to tell us what they think. You and I both know it was a cat. My only thing is, if it decided to take down a bull, do you think it’s hungry or you think maybe something’s wrong with it? I mean, I’m not liking this at all. They move in a really big range. I haven’t said anything about this to Allie.”

  “Yeah, I don’t think that’s a real good idea. But I wouldn’t let her go wandering off by herself. If I were you, just to be on the safe side, I’d make sure all my guys have their rifles with them or a gun tied to their hip. I know I may be overreacting but I’d rather overreact for a little while until we know there’s nothing wrong with this cat because maybe there’s just something about this bull that attracted him. I’m at a loss…I am really at a loss here. But I know I’m going to warn my people, because we’re just down the road and across the highway. Who knows—he could be down there right now. Thankfully, there’s a lot of things going on out here in the backcountry.”

  “I hear you and believe me, I’ll be letting them know.” He got a phone call then. From what he was saying, Todd knew it was the game warden; he was giving him directions on how to get out to the back pasture where they were. He had already given his cowboys notice to start moving the cattle out of the pasture. He didn’t want to have any more missing or dead. He especially didn’t want any calves to be taken.

  And that was the strangest part—why would this cat take down this bull? Of all animals to take down, it was the biggest and the strongest. Why this bull instead of taking down a weaker, small calf? Unless, maybe it tried to take down something smaller and the bull got in the way. Maybe the bull was territorial.

  Todd wasn’t sure but he had an uneasy feeling in his gut.

  The game warden came out and took samples and pictures of the tracks and the bull; they looked underneath him, looking for any other signs, and then they tracked the cat. They found a few more tracks a bit farther out. And there was no denying that it was a big cat. Wasn’t a bobcat—there were plenty of bobcats around here but a bobcat couldn’t do this. They were small; no way could they do this. The game warden agreed.

  By the time they left, they were going to make sure to let the other ranchers in the area know to keep watch. Until they could figure out why it would take down a big bull like that, they were all going to be on alert. But the best scenario they could come up with was that, from the scuffle, it looked as if they could have an injured calf out there somewhere and that the bull had intervened. It would take more than one swipe to take him down and a cat that could do that with a paw that size—you wouldn’t want to run into him without some form of protection.

  By the time Todd headed home, he and Wade had both firmly decided that their women wouldn’t be moving around without some sort of form of protection or without one of them with them. He realized after he was driving back to the vineyards that he had called Ginny his woman. And he didn’t even have to talk to Wade about it. He knew just from talking to Wade the other day that he thought he had feelings for her that he wasn’t accepting. Wade was already cheerleading over there for him to have the same kind of good luck with Ginny that he had had. Todd just hadn’t yet decided that it would be good luck. He was going to have to grab hold of this ride and see where it went.

  Because he and Ginny both had hang-ups. And nobody but the two of them could come up with help for what was next.

  A few minutes later, Ginny gaped at him. “What do you mean, a cat? A mountain lion killed a bull? I’ve heard of some of them being spotted—last year, there were one or two up in Fort Worth and some of the busier areas of Texas. I even saw some pictures of them and they were huge. But there’s so few of them. Surely, surely it’s gone. There is going to be a lot of people here tomorrow.”

  Ginny could only think of the fact that they were about to have a festival and there were going to be a lot of people here. They had had expectations of a lot and now, after the efforts that they had been making, there were going to be people all over this place. The very idea that somebody could come to the winery and could run into a mountain lion—it was scary. That would be media exposure that they did not want.

  It dawned on her, just as she was thinking that, that she responded as if this were her place too. Her brain was completely muddling things up. Todd stood with his hands on his hips, sweat dampening the V of his shirt and his armpits. They had been working; he hadn’t even told her until they had finished working later in the evening what he had gone to Wade’s for. There had been a lot going on with everybody finishing the last-minute details. Tomorrow, all they had to do was set things out and wait for people to show up. As they stood there, the sun started to set. It was beautiful: the cirrus clouds were spread out, and the sun was a brilliant combination of golds and the most dazzling translucent orange she had seen in a long time. It was amazing.

  But she was very uneasy. “What are we going to do?”

  He cocked his head so he could look at her. “We’re going to be cautious and we’re going to go about our business like this hasn’t happened. The likelihood of him showing up here is probably about the same as you winning millions off a lottery ticket. But the fact that he showed up at Wade’s and killed that bull…I’m not putting anything out of my mind. Could be deranged, you know, so I will instruct my men to have their rifles with them—not that our guests will see them but on the perimeters. We will have people watching and you’ll be fine if you are here. But if you get on that vehicle and you head out anywhere, you take that pink Loretta you got with you. Do you understand? And you keep her handy, or you come and get me or one of the men who’s carrying to escort you. I don’t want you going out by yourself.”

  “Todd McCoy, I can take care of myself. I can’t believe you’re telling me to keep Loretta close.” She smiled. “But believe me, I’ll take Loretta with me. I don’t need some cowboy hanging out with me. If that cat comes at me, wanting trouble, he’ll get it.”

  His gaze hardened. “Ginny, sometimes you really do get on my last nerve. I know you’re tough. I know you think you’re tougher than you are. But we’re talking about a cat with a paw bigger than your foot. That cat ripped the jaw off that bull with one clean swipe. You will be cautious. If you’re not, I’m not giving you another warning—if I find you out here and you’re roaming around and you aren’t packing or if you’re out there taking chances, I’ll lock you in your room or I’ll send you packing.”

  She glared at him. “Todd McCoy, again—you don’t need to be giving me orders. I’ll take care of myself. And if you were to try to take me and lock me in my room, then we would have a major problem.”

  He yanked his hat off and raked his hand through his hair. “Look, Ginny, I’m not saying this to be mean. I’m saying this because I’m concerned about you. And you don’t take well to being too concerned.”

  She sighed. “Okay, fine. No, I don’t take well to orders. I never have. And I know that this is out of concern. So, because of that, I’m going to try to bear it. But I’m warning you—don’t you try to pick me up and lock me in that room. I have Loretta in there and I’ll blow that door off.”

  He laughed. His laugh relieved some of the tension between them and she smiled. They stared at each other. “Fine. If you’re doing something that I deem is unsafe and careless and puts you at risk, then I will have a conversation with you. How does that sound?”

  She shot him a grin. “Sounds like you’re learning.” She laughed. To be truthful about it, it felt kind of good to have someone that concerned about her. But she wasn’t going to tell him. No sir, she wasn’t going to tell him that.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The day the harvest festival finally arrived, all their expectations were realized as people came in droves. Todd stood in the center of the festival area and looked at all the people milling around, enjoying the festivities. People were stomping grapes; kids were having a blast at the jelly area that had been the brainchild of Ginny. He still couldn’t believe that in all the years that they had done a harvest festival, they had never incorporated something like that. With the jelly making, kids were having a blast and the parents were too.

  Wade walked up to him. “I would call this a success.”

  Todd laughed. “You think?”

  “Oh yeah. Morgan’s going to be impressed. He’s supposed to be flying in any minute. We’re going to see that plane shooting in over there. He’s going to the back pasture and I’ll go pick him up. He just let me know that they were getting close. I told him to look down as they flew over this area and take a shot of it from upstairs.” He laughed.

  “Well, I hope the plane tilts a little bit so he can get a good shot through that window.”

  They heard the hum of a plane engine and looked up and saw the sleek jet flying over. His brother didn’t get to come in that much but the fact that he was flying in for the festival meant one of two things: he was flying in to check in on Ginny and Todd’s relationship—because Todd was sure he was starting to get a little bit nervous about what Granddaddy had planned for him. Then again, he might just be coming in to enjoy the festival. They went way back with this festival but, seriously, this was probably the best turnout they’d ever had. They hired marketing teams but Ginny went all-out about getting them to put the word out. She was really good. He wondered whether she realized that there were probably a lot of other jobs out there for her in the wine industry that had nothing to do with the vineyard. He had a feeling her mother and dad knew that too. They also knew the uncertainty of a small vineyard and the labor that was involved. He had no doubt that they had been given an opportunity of a lifetime to let this corporation come in and buy their winery and them walk away not only with their retirement intact but Ginny having a secure future. What parent wouldn’t want to do that for their child? But Ginny—she was a stubborn woman and she was going to only have it the way she wanted to have it. She probably wasn’t concerned about a secure future. She thought in the here and now. And she was good at it.

  He might mention this to her. Try to butt his nose in where he knew he probably wasn’t wanted…but maybe he could help her smooth some of this anger she was feeling at her parents—maybe he could smooth that out a little bit for her. Kind of repay her for what she had done here. He spotted her over near the grape jelly, laughing at some kids.

  “You go pick up Morgan. I’m going to go over there and tell Ginny what a great job she’s done.”

  Wade grinned at him. “You do that, little brother. And while you’re at it, you might try to keep her here. You two make a good team.”

  He wasn’t even going to deny it because it was true.

  Ginny spotted Todd walking toward her. She beamed at him. She was having a blast. And by the looks of him, she could tell he was happy too. This was a gigantic success. She had been hanging out with Allie, who was manning the jelly table with Ethel and Clara. And she was deciding that she liked the jelly making part of the vineyard more and more. There were aspects of it that were really fun. Like playing with all these kids.

  “Hey, cowboy. What do you think?”

  He grinned and tapped her cowboy hat on the front brim, knocking it down over her eyes. “I think that you did good—real good. This is the best festival ever.”

  She nudged her hat back up to where she could look at him. Butterflies soared inside her. The man just did something to her. She wasn’t going to think about that. “Thank you. I told you I was good. All you had to do was just listen.”

  He pushed his head back and laughed heartily. The sound of it sent the butterflies dancing to the pit of her stomach. She could listen to that laugh forever. The thought slammed into her and she sobered. Just stared at him. She could listen to that laugh and look at that man forever. Goodness gracious, she was in trouble.

  “Umm, they’re fixing to start the three-legged race. And I promised those couple of boys over there and those two little girls who were fixing a team up that I’d race them. I know it would be a little bit uneven, you and me racing the kiddos, but I figured they have youth on their side. Would you want to partner up with me?” The minute the words were out, it hit her that she wouldn’t mind that at all—more than just partnering in the three-legged race. She pushed that thought away. No thinking about that. But there was no denying that it was true.

  He grinned. “I think that that sounds like a real fun idea. I’d be happy to do that.”

  “Great. Then get ready. We’re going to go over there and get in line and find us a little string over there.” She walked over and picked up one of the strips of cloth that they had supplied. She walked back over, bent down, and began tying her leg to his leg.

  “Now, have you ever done a three-legged race before?” She looked up at him. He had his hands on his hips, like he did half the time, while he looked down at her. He looked like a long, tall Texan from her view. And he was so handsome it made her heart start thudding. She had to get her mind back on track.

  “I have to say, it’s been a very long time since I did this. I’m going to have to hang on to you and you’re going to have to lead the way.”

  “Well now, that sounds like a mighty fine idea because you know how I am—I like to lead the way. And I’ll tell you how to do this. Because I’ve done it a few times.”

  He grinned. “Really? You go play with kids a lot and run up and down with your leg tied to somebody?”

  She winked. “Maybe. There’s a lot of things about me, Todd McCoy, that you don’t know. I’m not just a pretty face, you know, or an amazing body. I have other things that I like to do.”

  “I happen to like your amazing body.” The words were a reaction to her teasing about her body. He grinned. “Don’t look so startled. I like you just the way you are. Especially when you’re having a good time and teasing. Not that sourpuss, frowny person you are half the time.” He laughed.

  They grinned at each other. And then she stood and he wrapped his arm around her waist and tugged her close. She wrapped her arm around his waist and she decided they could just stand like that for as long as they wanted to.

  There were more who decided to join in the race when they saw there were some adults and Todd was really happy about that because he did not feel right racing against a bunch of little kids. The kids seemed awfully excited about it. They were teasing Ginny, who had obviously made very good friends. She was teasing them right back.

  “All right, you little fellas and girls. I’m going to beat you all—you better run really fast.” Ginny kind of bent down, ready to run as though she were at a starting gate and they were fixing to shoot off a gun at the beginning of a race. The kids were giggling and laughing; a couple of boys, who looked to be about ten to twelve, got down like her. One of them had blond hair and the other one had brown hair and they were grinning.

  “Miss Ginny, I’m going to beat you—we are. Come on, Bo, get ready.”

  “I am ready, Jack. You get ready.”

  Todd laughed. He bent down and whispered in Ginny’s ear. “You’re not going to beat them, are you?”

  She looked up at him. “Well, I am if you help me. If you don’t, we’re going to fall down and probably get skunked.”

  He grinned at her. “You really would beat those kids?”

  She frowned at him. “You underestimate those little fellas. I saw them run a little while ago. You better get ready, bud, because they may just leave us in their smoke.”

  Todd grabbed her around the waist and she grabbed him around the waist again. When his foreman who was overseeing the race said, “Ready, set, go,” it was as if chaos broke out. Kids started running and Ginny yanked on his waist; he had a delayed reaction and stumbled and then she stumbled. They managed to stay upright but they were behind already. He was frankly quite embarrassed and then she nudged him—well, she didn’t nudge him; she rammed an elbow in his waist. “Come on, Todd. Get with the program.”

  He laughed and then, taking the initiative, he started running. Basically, he picked her up against his side and he started hopping, running, hopping, running as he watched everybody else. But they didn’t make it far. Two little girls fell in front of them and instead of running over them, he tried to dodge them but got off-balance. He and Ginny went down in a pile of laughter and giggles. She landed on top of him and then she rolled over on the ground, and he was looking down at her, completely lost. He watched the boys as they ran across the finish line and then turned and started jumping up and down and then started coming back their way. He looked down into her laughing face. The face he was really tempted to kiss. The sensation hit him so hard it was beginning to be ridiculous how much he was thinking about kissing her again. She was beautiful, she was funny, fun to be around, and smart. He was quickly realizing there was so much about Ginny that appealed to him that he wasn’t sure what in the world he was going to do. Right now, he grinned at her. “Well, you’re right—we lost, and here they come to gloat. You called it.”

 

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