Eagle's Redemption by Cindy Spencer Pape

so.”
    “Anyway, we’ll keep our eyes open and let the rest of the hands know, just in case,”
    Mac continued. “That’s about all we can do really.”
    “Yep.”
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    “So on to more pleasant topics, Leah and Shane get home tomorrow.”
    “Uh-huh.” What was Mac up to now?
    “Well, I know they want us to come up to the ranch house for dinner tomorrow, but I was thinking we needed to do something a little bigger, you know? So, how about a welcome-back party at Hell’s Bells the night after?”
    Dash raised one eyebrow. “You sure they’ll want to go out drinking and partying right after they get back from their honeymoon?” Hell’s Bells was the name of Mac’s bar, the business he’d built for himself. It was a nice enough place—exactly the way Dash had imagined a western honky-tonk—but Dash still preferred to avoid social gatherings. He was reluctant enough to go to Leah’s coming-home dinner at the ranch.
    Mac grinned. “I know Shane. He’s gonna want to show off his good luck for the whole town to see. So, I can count on you to show up, right?”
    “I guess.” He hid a grimace and nudged his horse into a faster walk.
    * * * * *
    “So, about Leah’s dinner tonight,” Carmen said as they ate breakfast the next morning. After just a week it seemed normal to be feeding Dash before he left for the ranch. “Are you going?” It would be the first time they’d gone anywhere since they’d been sleeping together, and she was twitchy as a sixteen-year-old at her first Sadie Hawkins dance. If her body wasn’t still humming from this morning’s lovemaking, she’d have been even more nervous.
    “I guess,” he answered slowly. “You?”
    “Planned on it,” Carmen answered. “Grandfather’s going too. He offered to come pick me up, if you didn’t want to come back here between work and dinner.” Of course she was hoping Dash would insist on driving her to the dinner. He’d need to shower and change anyway, and he could do that here as well as in the bunkhouse at the ranch.
    The only sound that broke the silence was Dash chewing a bite of waffles. Finally he swallowed a gulp of coffee and said, “I guess I’ll see you there then.”
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    Okay, this is going well. Carmen’s pleasant anticipation of the evening ahead dimmed considerably. Apparently he didn’t want anyone to know they were seeing each other. That pretty well explained why they hadn’t gone out for dinner a single time, even though he’d spent the last five nights at her house, rocking her world. He wasn’t the first guy she’d slept with who’d wanted to keep it a secret. She’d just thought Dash was a better caliber of man than Johnny Dowling or Brett Beck, two men she’d dated briefly in Houston when she’d lived with her parents. Johnny had fucked her then never spoken to her again, moving on to date one of her former best friends.
    Brett had been the one who admitted outright that while Carmen was an all-right lay, she wasn’t someone he’d want to show off to his friends or family, even if her father was rich enough to almost compensate for her personal shortcomings.
    She’d moved here to Morgan’s Creek shortly thereafter.
    Not this time. If Dashiel Hyde was ashamed to be seen with Carmen, he could just take a god damn hike.
    Before she could work herself up into an even bigger lather, Dash’s cell phone chirped. He stepped away from the table before flipping it open. “Hey, Captain, what’s up?” There was a long pause while he listened to the voice on the other end.
    “Fuck.” The single word was infused with a wealth of emotions, ranging from anger to dread. Something bad had happened. “Why the hell didn’t anyone notify me immediately?”
    Another pause.
    “Okay, I get that—even you’re entitled to a vacation now and then, but surely one of those fuckwads in the department could have given me a call.”
    After another few moments, Dash sighed. “All