Saving Grace (#1 in the Red Valley Series)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

He was so tired. Tired of the trail, the dust, the killing, sleeping on the cold hard ground, and most of all the running. Nobody that knew him would believe that he was afraid of anything. But then nobody really knew Cole Weston anymore. He was ready to have his own home again. Home, a place to call your own and to take pride in, of course it wouldn't have the same meaning as it did before. He thought about the ranch he had been to that morning as he rode into the small town of Red Valley. Cole found the ranch last year when he was passing through tracking an outlaw named Billy Stone; but hadn't been ready to settle down then.

Ten long years he'd been wandering, taking odd jobs here and there at first, then he started doing what he did best, tracking. He'd worked for the army for a few years as a scout, but decided he didn't like taking orders from anyone else, so he became a bounty hunter. He'd been a damn good one too. He adjusted himself in his saddle and rubbed the scar on his left thigh; one of his many souvenirs from his profession. This one had been different though, this one had almost killed him. The stupid bastard that shot him nicked an artery, and he'd damn near bled to death. Cole hadn't cared if he lived or died since the day his heart had been ripped from his chest, and buried with the ones he'd loved. That's what had made him so good at what he did. But for some reason when he was looking death in the eye he decided he wasn't ready to go just yet. It was then that he decided to buy the ranch in Red Valley.

It was a nice little ranch with rolling green pastures, and a sparkling creek with a small pond running through the property. There were a couple hundred acres, a decent sized ranch house, a good sturdy barn, a bunk house and another little one room cabin. Most of the fences and corrals needed to be mended though. It looked like it had been abandoned for several years. He'd have to hire a couple of ranch hands to get everything up and running, it was just too much for him to take on by himself. Hopefully he would be lucky and the ranch would still be for sale.

Red Valley was a quiet out of the way town still fairly new. His hope was that he would be able to find the peace his weary soul so desperately sought. The sights and sounds of the town brought him back from his thoughts. He stopped and took a good long look around the town; it was still fairly new so all of the buildings were all in good condition. Most of them were painted a bright white. There was still only the main street with all the buildings facing each other. It was a typical western town with all of the typical buildings. A two story saloon with the ladies of ill repute in their bloomers leaning over the railing trying to drum up business. Even from where he sat on his black gelding, he could hear the piano playing. Cole glanced over the rest of the town and found the land office beside the jail. Ladies walked on the sidewalk as they went about their daily routines. His eyes landed on the diner across from the mercantile. The faint scent of fresh saw dust from the saw mill drifted over to him.

Cole took a deep breath to calm his nerves as he dismounted his black gelding, tied him to the hitching rail and walked into the land office to hopefully buy the ranch that he hadn't been able to forget. Twenty minutes later with the deed to the ranch in his pocket and a deep feeling of satisfaction, Cole walked down the dusty sidewalk past the two story hotel to the diner to get something to eat.

It was long past lunch and he was starving. The delicious smells made his stomach rumble. He walked into the diner, and by habit stood for a moment giving his eyes time to adjust to the change in the light. There were no other customers at the moment but Cole heard the sound of raised voices, a man and a woman. Giving a slight cough to alert them of his presence he walked over to a corner table and sat down with his back to the wall facing the door. Hearing the swinging doors, he looked up to see a woman walk from the kitchen with the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. As he watched her glide across the room he felt as if the breath had been knocked out of him.