Home For a Cowboy Christmas(21)

Emmy stared at the packages, shocked at the number. Then Dwight went back out and came in with a second haul of bags.

“Hurry and eat,” Victoria told her, bouncing up and down like a kid at Christmas. “I’m dying to see some of these clothes on you.”





Chapter 10


Dwight stared down at all the bags and simply shook his head. Victoria had gone above and beyond, but that was just the kind of person she was. She had one of the biggest hearts of anyone he knew. Sometimes, people took advantage of that, and she had been hurt more times than he liked. But that was simply who his sister was. And he wouldn’t change her for anything.

He looked over at Vic and Emmy. Emmy’s face had color again as she smiled at whatever Vic had said. Though Emmy was fine now, she hadn’t been when he returned for lunch. He could’ve kicked himself for not informing her of Vic’s arrival. He couldn’t believe he had forgotten.

The panicked look on Emmy’s face would haunt him for months. He closed his eyes and tried to center himself. A mistake had happened on his watch, one that was his fault. It couldn’t happen again. Emmy’s safety was his responsibility, and he could never forget that.

He flexed his hands, recalling the feel of her in his arms.

His eyes flew open. No. No! He couldn’t think like that. Whatever … emotions … dared to rise within him needed to stay dead and buried, no matter how appealing it was that they might flutter to life again.

“She’s stunning,” Vic whispered as she came to stand beside him. “Unbelievably so.”

Dwight swallowed, not bothering to answer.

But Victoria was too shrewd not to pick up on that. She quirked a brow at him. “It’s okay to admit she’s possibly the most beautiful woman to walk this Earth.”

“She’s under my protection,” Dwight said in a low voice as he met his sister’s gaze.

“Don’t play stupid with me. There are enough movies out there of this exact scenario where the couple gets together.”

Dwight shook his head. “Don’t, Vic.”

“Fine,” she said with a shrug. “Don’t let us keep you. We’ve got girl stuff to do. I’ll keep her busy.”

“And the door locked.”

Vic’s brows snapped together. “Okay.”

“There are people trying to kill her. If anyone shows up that you don’t recognize, call me immediately.”

A beat of silence passed before Victoria asked, “It’s that serious?”

“It’s that serious.”

“Shit,” she murmured and looked over her shoulder at Emmy. “No wonder she reacted so strongly to my arrival.”

“She also has PTSD. Someone put out a hit on her. She’s in witness protection, but someone leaked her location. Dalton, her handler, got to her right before the assassin pulled the trigger.”

Victoria’s lips parted in shock. “Holy shit.”

“It’s good you’re here. At least, for a bit. Things went to hell last night, and it is keeping me farther from the house than I’d like.”

She put her hand on his arm. “I got her. Go do what you need to do.”

“You’re the best.”

“Damn right, I am. And I don’t intend to let you forget it.”

Dwight smiled and kissed her on the cheek. He then looked at Emmy and raised his voice so she could hear. “I’m grabbing a sandwich and heading out. You and Vic have a good time.”

“Be careful,” Emmy said with a smile and a wave.

Dwight hurried to fix a sandwich before leaving the house with Sam by his side. He felt better about leaving Emmy now that Vic was there. He had told Emmy how safe the ranch was, but he knew someone could find a way to get to her if they really wanted. And he had a suspicion that the people after Emmy wouldn’t stop until they found her. That meant it was only a matter of time before they got to the ranch. But he would be prepared.

The missing calf from last night gave him a reason to upgrade his surveillance without causing a stir. Word spread quickly in their small town. By now, everyone would know that he had lost two calves last night. One that froze to death after falling through some ice in the river, and the other to wildlife.

Every ranch lost cattle throughout the year and budgeted for that, but losing too many meant you were out a lot of money come time to take them to sale. He’d had a decent year, but with the first significant snowfall bringing two deaths, he didn’t want to take any chances.

Dwight ate his sandwich as he drove back out to where he and his men had been mending a fence. He’d already sent one of the younger guys into town with a list of things to get to upgrade the surveillance. They should be finished with the fence by the time he got back from town, and then they could get to work installing the new cameras.

He finished the last of his sandwich and put on his gloves before opening the door and getting out, Sam jumping into the snow right behind him. Dwight nodded to his men as he approached, and they got to work.



* * *



“I hope you can forgive me,” Victoria said as she walked back to the sofa and sat after Dwight and Sam had left.

Emmy shook her head. “Don’t think anything about it.”

“I hope you don’t mind, but Dwight just told me what happened to you. It’s a big deal, and you have every right to be jumpy around people you don’t know. I know I would be.”