Courage To Follow (Cowboys of Courage 1) Read online

  Courage to Follow

  Courageous Love Book One

  CHARLENE BRIGHT

  Courage to Follow

  Copyright © 2015 by Charlene Bright

  All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, without the express written permission of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Books by Charlene Bright

  Canton County Cowboys Trilogy

  A Cowboy Worth Loving

  Dare to Love a Cowboy

  Captivated by a Cowboy

  Courageous Love Series

  Courage to Follow

  Courage to Believe

  Courage to Love Series

  More Than Words

  I Saw Mommy Kissing a Cowboy

  (Cowboy Christmas Romance coming November, 2015)

  Courage to Follow

  He only wanted a simple life…

  Apparently, there would be no peace for Garrett Woodward, though he lived on the top of the mountain outside Courage, Montana, steering clear of social situations. But Garrett gets shoved into the role of sheriff when Courage’s 20-year veteran sheriff goes missing, only to then be blamed for his murder. For a man as well liked as Garrett, he’s floored when the entire town turns against him and refuses to search for more clues. Making one last ditch effort, Garrett decides to visit an old friend to call in a favor and finds himself in a completely different kind of trouble, this time involving his heart.

  She was only there to solve a mystery…

  But Shakota Clearwater welcomed the opportunity to explore life off the Crow Nation reservation. She longed for more excitement in her life, and using the tracking skills she’d honed since early childhood would offer her new experiences. Of course, she wasn’t counting on intense attraction – and perhaps a connection soul deep – between her and Garrett Woodward to be one of those experiences. But Shakota has to decide where she belongs before she can give her heart away to a man she doesn’t think she can live without.

  Table of 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

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  As the first rays of light crept over the horizon with an orange and pink hue, Garrett Woodward looked up from the hay he was spreading over the stables through the glassless window; the sound of hooves was unexpected so early in the morning. He scowled, seeing the deputy’s hat in the distance, and wondered why Leland Maynard would be riding out to his ranch at literally the crack of dawn.

  Sticking his pitchfork in the remainder of the bale, he ambled outside and waited, hands on his hips, as the horse and rider approached. He tipped his own Stetson at Leland in greeting, and the deputy nodded, his expression dark. He dismounted, keeping the reins in his hand, and stood in front of Garrett. “Mornin’,” he said, his voice gravelly.

  “It’s a little early to be out making house calls, isn’t it, Leland?”

  “Yep.” The man reached into the pocket of his thickly lined county-issued coat and pulled out a pack of Marlboros, taking one out and lighting up. Garrett raised an eyebrow at him; it was against policy to smoke on the job. Leland merely grunted. “Not a word, Garrett. I got bigger problems to solve.”

  Garrett crossed his arms over his chest, his feet shoulder-width apart. “And how does that involve me at this hour of the day?”

  For a thin man, Leland’s jowls hung prominently, especially when he frowned. He reached into his pocket again, and this time he pulled out a badge. “We got an issue, and I need to swear you in.”

  Garrett chuckled. “You’re kidding me. Did Hoyt come into the office this morning and decide to retire or something?” He couldn’t imagine Sheriff Hoyt Brooks giving up his badge, even if he did have arthritis and was on the high side of sixty. “Stop yanking me around and tell me why you’re really here.”

  But the deputy shook his head. “I’m dead serious. Hoyt didn’t come in at all this morning, and nobody’s seen him for a couple days.”

  Scoffing, Garrett waved a hand in dismissal. “He probably drove down to visit his family in Wyoming. Did anyone bother to call him?” He hated to insinuate the sheriff’s department was incompetent, but at times, they overlooked the most obvious answers in favor of a panic that made a mountain out of a molehill.

  “Don’t toss me crap, Garrett. Keep it for the fertilizer plant.” Leland took the hat off and scratched his head. “His car’s parked at his place, and his phone’s inside the car. It goes straight to voicemail when you call it. You think I just came over here on a whim?”

  It sounded suspicious enough, and he knew Leland wouldn’t come calling to swear him in as Sheriff if he didn’t have to. “What do you think happened to him?” he asked, not exactly eager to assume the position. He had a happy life running his ranch and backing up the deputies on the rare occasion they needed another hand.

  “I don’t know. All I know is, we need a sheriff, and we need to investigate. It doesn’t look good.”

  “Can’t you take the badge, Leland? I’m more than happy to help figure out where the hell Hoyt is, but I’ve got my own responsibilities.”

  “We all do. You know very well the hierarchy of things around here. If you didn’t want to get stuck running things, you should have said something a long time ago.” Leland shoved the badge at him. “Let’s just say you gave your oath rather than bothering with the official certifications. We all know you aren’t gonna break that oath, no matter what.”

  Holding the badge, Garrett swallowed hard. He’d only gone to the police academy in the first place because he’d been young and restless, and he thought he wanted to get out of Courage, Montana. He’d had aspirations of going to Helena and making a career as a detective. Five minutes after graduation, he’d realized he didn’t want to be in the city, and he certainly wasn’t excited about following the rules tied to holding an official position. He liked carrying a gun; he didn’t like being told how to use it.

  Still, Courage was his home, and when Hoyt approached him and recruited him on a contingency basis, he figured it wouldn’t hurt to have the minimal income, especially since the man loved his job too much to give it up for at least another twenty years. By then, Courage could rustle up a new sheriff. And it wasn’t like anything ever happened in the rural town anyway, aside from the occasional property line dispute or a car without chains getting stuck in ice or snow. He didn’t count on being needed often.

  Now, the world had turned upside down, and the town would expect him to take the reins and carry the weight on his shoulders. And most of all, they’d lean on him to find Hoyt Brooks and return him safely; the man was a longtime icon in Courage. Cursing under his breath, Garrett started toward his house, a cabin-s
tyle log home he and his brother built as teenagers, Leland on his heels. The remnants of the last snowstorm crunched under his boots. The temperature didn’t usually break freezing long enough to melt six inches, but by some miracle, the weather had been sunny and over forty for three days straight, and Garrett’s land had melted, with an inch or so still clinging in the shadowed areas.

  “What’s the plan?” Leland asked, sounding impatient.

  At his front door, Garrett rounded on the deputy. “Are you seriously hounding me right now? You came to me about five minutes ago and threw me into the fire. If you want me to handle this, you have to back off and give me a second to wrap my head around the whole situation.” He threw the door open and went to the kitchen, grabbing the jug of milk from the fridge and taking a gulp straight from it.

  “Oh, that’s civilized right there,” Leland grumbled.

  “Listen here, Deputy,” Garrett warned, his blood starting to boil as he grew irritated. “I live alone. This is my property, and it’s my milk. I’ll drink it out of the carton if I want. If anyone comes over for dinner and has a problem with that, I have a cow out there. They can go milk it.” He reached into one of the cluttered drawers and shuffled around until he found the holder with his sheriff’s department ID, and he attached the badge and shoved it in the pocket of his flannel. “The first thing I want you to do is find out exactly when and where Hoyt was last seen, who saw him, what sort of conversation passed between them, and if anyone’s seen any strangers around. Check with Lou first.” Lou ran the diner on Main Street, and Hoyt spent a lot of time there since his wife had passed a couple of years before.

  “Will do, Sheriff,” Leland told him with a mocking salute and a wink. “I’ll give you a call when I got something to tell you.”

  “Good. I’m calling up Judge Jamison for a warrant to search his house,” Garrett called after the deputy.

  He and Leland had never gotten along. Leland was four years older and never got over his little sister Ellie having a crush on Garrett back in high school. To this day, Garrett hadn’t slept with the girl, but Leland believed him to be responsible for taking her virginity and wouldn’t listen to either of them. It was a source of contention, and it especially would be now that Garrett wore the badge and was technically Leland’s boss.

  He went to his bedroom and picked up his cell, but the damn thing was nearly dead and searching for a signal it wasn’t getting. Rolling his eyes at the one frustration he had at living in the middle of nowhere—a lack of reliable technology—Garrett grabbed his trench coat and keys, shut off the lights, and turned the heat down. It had to run or his pipes would freeze, but he didn’t care if it was downright frigid in his house when he came back.

  He walked back out to the stables to close them up, and then he made his way back to his 1989 Ford Bronco, climbed in, and let her warm up for a few minutes. She ran like a champ; he’d kept her in excellent condition since he’d gotten her from his grandfather at fifteen. Even with over 200,000 miles, she hadn’t needed a new engine or transmission yet.

  He drove down the mountain, over the rocky tree-lined trail, until he came to the dingy four-way stop sign that was the center of Courage proper. He parked at the grocer’s and went inside, finding Walt Harris behind the counter, sitting on his stool with his nose buried deep in the Courage Journal, which was more of a gossip paper than a news source. Garrett hadn’t expected anything else.

  “You know, Walt, if you go get some new glasses, you won’t have to squint like that.”

  The shop owner chuckled and put down the paper, wrinkling his nose and looking over the reading glasses at him. “That would mean getting my oil changed, taking the highway to Billings, seeing the doctor, and shopping. By the time I paid for oil, gas, the appointment and the glasses, I’d have spent four months’ worth of cable bill. I’d rather have ESPN.”

  Garrett shook his head in disapproval. “You won’t be able to watch ESPN if you go blind, old man.”

  “I’ll enjoy it till I do,” Walt argued. “Now, what can I do you for today, Garrett? Are you here for something you need, or are you good-deeding again?”

  Walt would never let him live down that embarrassment. Garrett’s neighbor, Eleanor, had been caught in a storm without any medication for her daughter, who was running a fever, and Garrett had valiantly volunteered to run into town. An hour later, he’d maneuvered the Bronco safely down the mountain, only to slide into the gas pump and spill about forty gallons of gas. He’d paid for the whole mess, but the story spread, and for a while, no one could pass up the chance to ride him for it.

  “I’m here to use the phone, Walt,” he said, trying not to get grumpy.

  “I told you to get a landline pulled out there. Those cellular things don’t do any good up in the mountains. There are no towers up there.” Walt was one of those who always thought he knew everything and didn’t miss a chance to tell you about it. “Go ahead. It’s not long distance, is it?”

  “No, I’m calling Jamison.” As he reached over the counter to grab the phone, Walt lost his humorous attitude and stared at him with a wary expression.

  “What do you want with the judge?” His tone was instantly defensive.

  Garrett just dialed silently, waiting for an answer. He was looking at waking Jamison up, asking for a warrant, and then finding a way to get that warrant brought to them from fifty miles away. His mood, which hadn’t been stellar to begin with, took a nosedive. He thought he was out of luck, but halfway through the fourth ring, a female voice barked, “Hello?”

  Clearing his throat, Garrett offered, “Good morning, Judge. Garrett Woodward here from out in Courage.” Courage was small, but so was Treasure County, and Sarah Jamison would know who he was. There were only three sheriff’s stations in the entire county. “I sincerely apologize for disturbing you this early in the morning. I wouldn’t have woken you unless it was important.”

  “You didn’t wake me, but you did interrupt my workout. Now that you have me, what can I do for you? And it had better be an emergency.” Garrett held the phone away from his ear and winced. Either she was screaming into the phone or the volume had been set too high.

  Closing his eyes, he fought for patience. Getting testy wouldn’t get him anywhere. “Judge, I need a search warrant issued for the home, office, and property of Sheriff Hoyt Brooks.” He ignored Walt’s comments under his breath and continued, “The sooner you can get that for me, the better.”

  “And on what grounds are you making this request, Mr. Garrett?” she demanded.

  “I’m requesting it on the grounds that Brooks is missing. And since his deputy swore me in about half an hour ago, I’m acting sheriff. So, Sheriff Garrett is the appropriate title of reference.” He took joy in his ability to toss in a jab, considering her less than friendly manner.

  “Do you have any evidence he didn’t just drive south in search of warmer weather?” she asked.

  “His car’s still here, his phone’s in the car, and he hasn’t been to the diner he goes to at least twice a day for a couple of days. So far, no one else seems to have seen him after that.” Garrett pinched the bridge of his nose. “Look, I don’t have much to go on. I just got hit with a new job and a new case all at once, while I was tending the stables before dawn. And in this so-called town, I doubt there’s any real evidence I can get to without a warrant to search his properties. Could you just help me out a little so I can start my investigation?”

  There was silence at the other end of the line. Then, “I suppose you need it brought out to you, too, since you don’t have a fax machine.”

  “I got a fax machine,” Walt spoke up. He pointed behind him, and Garrett craned his neck to see the device.

  With a smile and a thumbs up at Walt, Garrett told the judge, “Actually, I’ve got a fax number for you.”

  “All right, give me a minute, and then give me your name and your fax number one more time. I’ll have a warrant that covers any properties owned, inhabited, or in reg
ular use by your missing sheriff.”

  Relieved, he got the number from Walt and reiterated the information to the judge, who said she’d have the warrant faxed to him within the hour. He hung up, glad that had gone better than he’d expected. Of course, now he had Walt to contend with. “You know, now that I think about it, I haven’t seen Hoyt since last Friday. That was almost a week ago. How long has he been missing?”

  Garrett shook his head. “I’m not sure yet. Just don’t go spreading rumors. As far as I’m concerned, Hoyt had a relative visiting, and they’ve gone hunting in his relative’s truck. That’s the theory I’m operating on unless something pops up to tell me different.”

  He had to hang out here until the warrant came through, so he stalked over to the mini-fridge full of cold sodas and snatched a Mountain Dew, and he perused the shelves, choosing a huge bag of cheddar and sour cream chips with a prepackaged sandwich.

  He placed it on the counter in front of Walt, adding a candy bar at the last minute, and the owner just stared at the stash. “Are you ringing me up or not, boss?” he asked.

  Walt shook his head. “No, it’s one of the perks of being the sheriff now. You make dirt pay, just like Sheriff Brooks. The least I can do is supplement with a freebie here and there. Besides, you’re about to be running around like a chicken with no head trying to solve a mystery that might not need solving. You need the food. Just stay away from the gas pumps.”

  Garrett had half a mind to pass a twenty-dollar bill over anyway, to make sure he didn’t owe any favors. But he trusted Walt and just nodded a reluctant thanks instead. He sat in the small deli area while he ate and watched the small junction in town come to life as store windows lit and a few cars drove in.

  The first person to enter the store smiled at Garrett and came to greet him. “Hey, Garrett, what’s hanging? I don’t see you round this part of the county much.” Lucas Graham had been one of his closest friends in school. When Garrett entered the police academy, Lucas opted for the fire academy and then doubled up with medical training. He’d joined the Treasure County Search and Rescue, based out of Courage, and he was the lead EMT.