Ambush at Dry Gulch Read online

  COWBOY TO THE CORE

  Jake Dalton believes in worthy causes—like opening his Texas ranch to inner-city kids for the summer. But there’s a catch…that involves a woman. Dedicated do-gooder Carolina Lambert can hold her own against any man…Jake included. Except now someone with a nasty grudge who’s been waiting for the perfect moment to strike has the beautiful widow in his sights.

  R.J. Dalton’s estranged son is the last man on earth Carolina wants to trust with her life. But the rugged single father has sworn to keep her safe. As passion ignites—and a killer closes in—Carolina and Jake may lose their chance at a love neither expected to find again.

  Jake met Carolina’s steely gaze. “I’ve been way out of line. I jumped to conclusions and made a fool of myself.”

  She gazed at him, the anger subsiding as a look of pleading burned in her eyes. “I don’t care what you think of me, Jake, but I’m begging you to contact your father, soon, before it’s too late. It would mean the world to him—and to me.”

  Jake’s insides twisted. It was tearing him apart to look into her eyes and refuse her, but she had no idea what she was asking of him.

  “I’ll think about it.” That was the most he could promise.

  “Then I guess I’ll have to settle for that for now.” She turned away and resumed packing.

  A protective urge hit him hard and fast. “I know I don’t really have a say in the matter, but I’d really like it if you’d spend the rest of the week at the Silver Spur.”

  “Why?”

  To keep her safe. To keep her close. He wasn’t sure exactly which need was stronger at this moment.

  AMBUSH AT

  DRY GULCH

  Joanna Wayne

  Joanna Wayne began her professional writing career in 1994. Now, more than fifty published books later, Joanna has gained a worldwide following with her cutting-edge romantic suspense and Texas family series, such as Sons of Troy Ledger and Big “D” Dads. Joanna currently resides in a small community north of Houston, Texas, with her husband. You may write Joanna at PO Box 852, Montgomery, TX 77356, or connect with her at joannawayne.com.

  Books by Joanna Wayne

  Harlequin Intrigue

  Big “D” Dads: The Daltons

  Trumped Up Charges

  Unrepentant Cowboy

  Hard Ride to Dry Gulch

  Midnight Rider

  Showdown at Shadow Junction

  Ambush at Dry Gulch

  Sons of Troy Ledger

  Cowboy Swagger

  Genuine Cowboy

  AK-Cowboy

  Cowboy Fever

  Cowboy Conspiracy

  Big “D” Dads

  Son of a Gun

  Live Ammo

  Big Shot

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.

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  CAST OF CHARACTERS

  Carolina Lambert—The stunning widow of wealthy rancher and oil man Hugh Lambert, and R.J. Dalton’s favorite neighbor. She thinks her life is complete until she meets Jake Dalton.

  Jake Dalton—Rancher, single parent and R.J. Dalton’s oldest son, the only son who has not reconnected with him.

  R.J. Dalton—He’s lived his life on his terms, but after being diagnosed with a brain tumor, he only wants to reconnect with his children and grandchildren.

  Lizzie Dalton—Jake’s teenage daughter.

  Mildred Caffey—Good friend of Carolina Lambert who is being harassed by her ex-husband.

  Thad Caffey—Blames Carolina for his wife divorcing him.

  Mary—Jake’s mother and R.J. Dalton’s first wife.

  Edna—Jake’s housekeeper, though she’s more like family than an employee.

  Aidan Bastrop—State representative, friend of Jake Dalton and a supporter of Carolina’s charitable work, including the Saddle-Up Program.

  Tague, Damien and Durk Lambert—Carolina’s adult sons.

  Sheriff Garcia—He’s determined to stop Thad Caffey before he harms Carolina or Mildred.

  Sara Billings—A Saddle-Up volunteer.

  Peg Starling—A Saddle-Up volunteer.

  To my very patient and supportive editor, Denise Zaza,

  who believed in me enough to stand by me during

  recent health problems, and to my wonderful readers,

  who came to love the Lamberts and the Daltons

  (especially Texas rounder R.J. Dalton) as much as I do.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Excerpt from Gunslinger by Angi Morgan

  Chapter One

  Carolina Lambert shifted in the porch swing so that she could look her neighbor R.J. Dalton in the eye while they talked. He rocked back and forth in his chair, sometimes looking at her, more often staring into space.

  Her heart ached at the way his body grew weaker each day. He had already beaten the odds by more than two years, but the inoperable tumor in his brain was relentless. It was only a matter of time and yet there was a peace to his spirits that she envied.

  He sipped his black coffee, his wrinkled hands so unsteady that it took both of them to hold his mug. “I reckon Brit told you that you better get over here and check on the old man while she took Kimmie in for her checkup.”

  “No one has to coax me. Spending time with you is always my pleasure,” Carolina said truthfully.

  But he was right. Even with a precious baby girl to keep her busy, his daughter-in-law Brit had pretty much taken over the job of coordinating the family’s schedule so that R.J. was never alone for more than a few minutes at a time.

  “I swear you dropped off Saint Peter’s coattail, Carolina. You’re the best danged neighbor a scoundrel like me ever had. Best looking, too. Can’t believe you’re still running around single. Hugh’s been dead what? Three? Four years now?”

  “Four and a half.”

  “That’s a long time to put your life on hold.”

  “My life’s not on hold. I’m busy all the time with my family, friends like you and countless projects.”

  “Not the same as having a lover.”

  “Now, what are you doing even thinking about lovers at your age?”

  “I’m not dead yet. If I was thirty years younger and not playing hide-and-seek with the grim reaper, I’d be after you quicker than hell can scorch a feather.”

  “You’ve done more than your share of chasing women, Reuben Jackson Dalton.”

  “I caught a few mighty fine ones, too.”

  “So I’ve heard.”

  He smiled, the wrinkles around his eyes cutting deep into the almost-translucent flesh. “Lived life on my terms, sorry as it was. By rights I ought to be drowning in regrets. Wasn’t for taking your advice about what to do with my ranch, I would be.”

  “I can’t take credit for you turning your life around.”

  “You don’t have to take it, by jiggers. I’m a-givin’ it to you. I offered to give you the Dry Gulch Ranch free and clear. You turned me down. Didn’t leave me much choice except to try your idea.”

  “I suggested you leave the Dry Gulch Ranch to your family. That’s not a particularly inventive idea.”

  “Sounded like crazy talk to me. Leave this ranch and what lottery winnings I had left to a bunch of strangers who wouldn’t have tipped their hats if I’d passed them on the street.”

  “Until they got to know you.”

  He nodded and rubbed his weathered, bony chin. “Blessing was I got to know them. Listen at me, talking about blessings. You have really rubbed off on me. Surprise, ain’t it, after me being a worthless rounder most of my eighty-plus ornery years?”

  “You were never worthless.”

  “I done plenty of stuff I’m not proud of, but I must have done something good along the way, like pick the right women to birth and raise my kids. You gotta admit, I got me some real winners. Got the smartest and cutest durned grandkids on the planet, too.”

  “Next to mine,” Carolina teased. “So you really do have no regrets?”

  “I’d like to trade a few more years with my family for all the ones I’ve wasted, but I’m good with what I’ve got.” He turned to watch a woodpecker in a nearby pine tree. “Would be lying if I didn’t say I have one other regret, though.”

  “What is that?” br />
  R.J. scratched his chin, his fingers poking into the loose pads of skin at his neck. “I’d just like the chance to sit around the table and chew the fat with Jake, one-on-one. At least make a stab at getting to know my firstborn, find out why he’s so set against being part of the family.”

  Carolina swallowed hard, feeling his pain and fighting her own swelling anger. R.J. hadn’t been much of a father to any of his children when they were growing up, but what kind of adult son could just turn his back on his dying father? She tried not to think ill of anyone, but Jake Dalton was the exception.

  She’d gone so far as to call him herself last week, planned to beg if necessary to get him to pay R.J. a visit before it was too late. He’d been cool and aloof, until she’d pushed.

  Then he’d struck out at her, accusing her of having done enough already to screw up R.J. and the rest of the Dalton clan. She might have found out what he meant by that if her temper hadn’t flared to the point that she’d hung up on him.

  The man was arrogant, coldhearted and infuriating. If his mother was anything like him, no wonder R.J.’s first marriage had ended in divorce.

  Of course, so had his other three marriages, so she definitely couldn’t absolve R.J. of fault.

  “How’s your friend Mildred Caffey?” R.J. asked. “Has that no-good, wife-beater ex-husband of hers tried to get in touch with her since he got out of prison?”

  “He hadn’t the last time we talked, but I know she’s worried that he will. It’s been good for her that she’s been so busy working on a project with me.”

  “You don’t think she’ll go back to him, do you?”

  “No. She’s much smarter and more emotionally stable now then she was when they were together.”

  “Thanks to you.” R.J. swatted at a honeybee that had been flitting among the blossoms of the potted petunias scattered about the porch. “You go around rescuing every stray you see.”

  “Only the ones who want my help. And Mildred isn’t a stray. She just made some bad choices along the way.”

  “Sure as shooting, she did. I knew Thad Caffey was bad blood the first time I met him. Don’t know why a nice young woman like Mildred ever married a no-account skunk like that.”

  “Love sometimes blinds people.”

  “Reckon you’re right about...” He stopped midsentence, ran bony, knotty fingers through his thinning hair and stared into space.

  He stayed silent so long Carolina feared he was fading into one of the spells he had far too often these days. Times when he drifted into another world, one where he didn’t recognize his own family. One where he visited a woman from his past or from his dreams.

  Carolina imagined this phantom as a first love, one who had carved out a space in his heart and never fully let go. Perhaps someone he’d loved the way she’d loved Hugh.

  Finally R.J. turned and looked at Carolina, his eyes clearer now, as if he’d returned from the secret caches of the memories that had claimed him.

  “He’s gonna be out to kill you, Carolina.”

  “Who?”

  “Thad Caffey. I was in the courtroom the day the jury found him guilty. I saw the way he looked at you, his face contorted and his eyes wild like he was a panther about to spring. I figured he blamed you for her testifying against him.”

  “If he thinks I encouraged her, he’d be absolutely right. I won’t be intimidated by Thad Caffey.”

  “Or any other man around these parts.” R.J. sputtered a raspy, guttural sound that might have been a chuckle or a cough. “All the same, keep an eye out for trouble.”

  Carolina looked up at the sound of approaching hooves and gladly let the topic drop as R.J.’s son Adam came riding up on a handsome gray mare. He tipped his hat and dismounted.

  “Hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

  “Absolutely not,” Carolina assured him. “Always good to see you.”

  “And you. Hadley’s been talking about having you over for supper one night soon, but she says you’re jumping through hoops getting ready for that summer riding-camp program you’re organizing.”

  “I have to be in Austin for their area training session starting tomorrow. This is a busy time.”

  “Busy myself. Spring on the ranch,” Adam said, knowing she’d understand that said it all. He joined them on the porch, stopping to lean against the railing. “Just came by to see if you want to go check out a new foal that was born last night, Dad.”

  “Long as you don’t expect me to ride that mare of yours to the barn.”

  “Nope. We’ll take your truck.”

  “Good. I’m about as steady as a cat on skates these days. Carolina can go with us. She’s always keen on any kind of baby.”

  “Yes, but I have to beg out today,” Carolina said. “Too many errands on my to-do list. But I know you’ll be in good hands.”

  She stood when R.J. did and gave him a quick hug and a kiss on his sallow cheek. Her anger swelled again at the thought of Jake Dalton and his refusal to pay a visit to the Dry Gulch Ranch and R.J. The loss was definitely his.

  The Daltons were one terrific family—second in her heart only to her own.

  She said her goodbyes and went back to her black Mercedes sports car. Her phone rang before she made it back to the highway.

  “Hello.”

  “Glad I caught you, Carolina. This is Jack Crocker, and I got a bit of bad news for you.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m going to have to back out of hosting that training session here on my ranch next week.”

  Her spirits plummeted. The arrangements were all made. Ten new summer riding camps opened in two weeks, their first venture into the Austin area. If they canceled the training, they had to cancel the program and disappoint one hundred and fifty young teens from the inner city.

  She’d known Jack and his wife for years. They were the first people she’d thought of when she decided to branch out to the Austin area.

  “What’s happened?” she asked, struggling not to show her disappointment. “Are you sick? Is Betsy?”

  “Nope. Me and the wife are fine. Just found out that all the kids and grandkids are coming to town to surprise Betsy for her seventieth birthday. No idea why they didn’t tell me before now, ’cept they figured I’d never keep the secret.”

  “I understand,” she said, crushed, but already trying to figure out a plan B.

  “Don’t you go frettin’ about it, though,” Jack consoled. “I wouldn’t leave you stranded in a ditch without a mule to haul you out. I gave a call to Aidan Bastrop. He took over from there.”

  “Took over, how?” Aidan was a state representative and a friend, but this time she didn’t see how he’d be able to intervene. He didn’t own a ranch, and much of the training required that.

  “Aidan worked something out with a neighbor of mine. You’ll have bigger and better facilities than what you’d have had here.”

  The knots in her stomach relaxed. She should have known Jack wasn’t the type to blow a commitment lightly. The relief lasted for the two seconds it took for him to mutter the name of his replacement.

  The last person on earth she would have asked for a favor.

  Chapter Two

  Jacob Edward Dalton worried the knot in his red-striped tie for about ten seconds before jerking it off and tossing it to a nearby chair. Texas State Capitol building or not, he was going casual. Mid-June and the humidity was already battling the temperature for record highs for this time of year.

  He could kick himself for letting Aidan Bastrop talk him into volunteering the Silver Spur for some project he’d never even heard of before now. Nothing like a gaggle of women descending on a ranch to guarantee his wranglers would do more gawking than work.

  Not that Jake was against helping out. He gave generously to several causes important to him. But he had a ranch to run and a teenage daughter to corral, neither of which was going particularly well at the moment.

  His foreman had been thrown last week when a rattlesnake spooked his horse. Granger had suffered a broken leg and bruised ribs. The man would be limited in what he could do for the next couple of weeks, though Granger would keep abreast of everything going on around the Silver Spur.