Her Cowboy Deputy by Lacy Williams

Author:Lacy Williams
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Matty woke from where he’d dozed off, rolled in a quilt just inside the barn’s outer wall.

What was that?

The smell of cow was pungent, the soft coos of the chickens the only sound.

And then more noise came, a loud banging. From the cabin.

Matty took off at a dead run, ignoring the protesting pain across his chest. He’d spent the past two nights in the barn instead of closer to the house, not wanting anyone watching them to figure out where he was watching from.

Had someone gone into the soddy and attacked Catherine and Pop? He reached for the gun belted at his side even as he burst into the cabin.

Catherine was tangled in a quilt on the floor, caught between the cot and a table leg.

But the man who pinned her down wasn’t a stranger. It was Pop. His hair was disheveled, but from the back Matty couldn’t get a look at his face or see Catherine, other than her feet that kicked from beneath Pop. Then Pop raised his hand as if he would strike Catherine.

“Stop!” Matty cried. He couldn’t pull his gun on the older man, not knowing what he did about Pop’s mental state.

Pop looked over his shoulder. His eyes were wild.

“You don’t wanna hit Catherine, Pop.”

Matty eased in the door. Another step or two and he could get his arms around Pop and pull the man off Catherine.

“Don’t know no Catherine,” Pop spat. “This here yella-bellied Grayback snuck up on me, tried to smother me in my sleep. And you—”

Matty stepped forward in time to take Pop’s wildly swung fist on his chin. His head knocked back, but he got his hand on Pop’s shoulder.

“Catherine—”

Another fist to his midsection cut off Matty’s words, but Catherine was already struggling out from beneath the blanket, pushing up against the cot. “Pop!”

Pop reached for Matty’s gun, but Matty twisted to the side and got both his arms around Pop’s shoulders.

“Stop struggling,” Matty said in the older man’s ear. “You’re safe in your dugout. On the homestead where you’ve lived for thirty years.”

Pop still fought.

“Calm down!”

“Geoffrey,” Catherine said sharply.

She stood directly in front of him, and Pop went still in Matty’s arms. Matty could see only the side of Pop’s face, but it had gone pale and Pop went limp, leaving Matty to catch him.

His collarbone twinged as he took the unexpected weight. Burned from the unaccustomed movements while grabbing Pop that couldn’t be helped.

“Cath?” His voice emerged weak.

“Is he—” Matty asked.

“Pop!” The alarm in Catherine’s voice changed. She took the older man’s arm.

Pop took a panting breath, and Matty helped wrangle him over to the cot, where he perched gingerly on the edge.

“You back with us?” Matty asked.

Catherine knelt before the older man. “Take it easy, Pop.”

Matty went for the coffeepot, but it looked as if Catherine hadn’t gotten the day started at all. Had Pop woken in a terror and surprised her?

He poured water from a pitcher into the coffeepot and put it on the stove to warm.

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