Brides of the West Page 4

  She swung away with a small cry of disappointment. Or was it the laugh of a temptress?

  He stayed where he was, watching her step through the door and into his bedroom. His control hung by a fragile thread. If he caught one more glimpse of those high perky breasts through that filmy fabric, he’d be done for. God. He was going mad.

  ***

  The kitchen smelled sweet with syrup and just a little smoky when Tess entered the next morning.

  Jake at the griddle waved his spatula. “Please, sit. My turn to cook.”

  Dave looked up from his plate with a shy smile. “Good morning, ma’am.”

  Matt reined in a smile that had almost run away from him. He glowered an acknowledgement.

  “Good morning, everyone,” she said. “Am I late?”

  “You’re right on time.” Jake dropped a plate with a pancake and bacon in front of her. “Help yourself to syrup.”

  She didn’t need encouragement. She poured the dark brown liquid over the golden fried batter and tucked in. The combination of salty bacon and sweet syrupy pancake filled her mouth. “Delicious.”

  Jake brought his own plate over and hooked his chair beneath him with one booted ankle. “Coffee?” he asked waving at the pot in the center of the table. She noticed that he cut his food with the edge of his fork instead of his knife and already had a mouthful. She liked to see a man enjoy his food.

  “When do we leave?” Not that it really mattered. She had little to pack. But she did want to get there before dark.

  The kitchen door slammed back. Raven strode in. Sweat streaked the dust on his face. “Trouble. Steers down in Split Pine Canyon.”

  “Dammit.” Jake leaped to his feet. “How many?” He reached for his hat.

  “Twenty. Thirty. Too many for me. A couple already in the water.”

  “Ah, hell.” Jake looked at Tess.

  “What is the matter?” she asked.

  “Some cattle have wandered into a gorge. Last time they did that, half of them drowned trying to make it across the river instead of turnin’ around and comin’ back the way they went in.”

  “Can we come, Uncle Jake?” Matt cried out. “You said we could come on the next roundup.”

  Jake looked torn. “It’s not a roundup. And we ain’t gonna go.”

  Matt glared at him. “You promised.” His gaze turned to Tess. His upper lip curled. ‘It’s ‘cause of her, ain’t it? You’re gonna let your steers drown because she wants to go to the city.”

  “A promise is a promise,” Jake said. “And I promised to take Tess into town today.”

  “I’ll take the boys,” Raven said. “We can fix the fence.” While his expression remained impassive, his eyes showed concern.

  Without thinking, Tess said, “I can go to San Antonio tomorrow.” Then wished she’d bitten out her tongue when Jake looked appalled and shook his head.

  “I can’t leave you alone,” Jake said. “And the country is too rough for the buggy.”

  “Can’t you ride?” Dave asked.

  “Yes,” Tess said. “Yes, I can.”

  “Not in a dress,” Dave said. “The thorns’ll rip it to shreds. That’s what Mama always hated...” His voice died at the glare from his brother.

  “I sure hate to lose that many good steer this early in the season,” Jake said. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”

  “No.” Tess smiled, suddenly glad not to be leaving, despite the little clock ticking in her brain. Tomorrow was the fifteenth of July and any day now Albert might leave. But this was important to Jake and she wanted to be part of it, to do something useful. “I don’t mind at all.”

  “Matt, fetch a clean pair of pants,” Jake said.

  “Why? I put these on clean yesterday.”

  “Now,” Jake said, his drawl more like barked orders. “And a shirt. Bring them back here. And get a wiggle on.”

  The boy shot off.

  Raven went to a cupboard and pulled out a sack, then piled the supplies on the table. Bread, dried pork, other things Tess didn’t recognize.

  “Dave,” Jake said, “go fill the canteens at the pump. Tess, when Matt comes back tell him to leave the clothes and come and help me saddle up.”

  In just a few words, Jake had turned the casual breakfast into a well-ordered expedition.

  “What can I do?” Tess asked.

  Jake raised his brows, waited for Dave loaded with canteens to struggle out of the backdoor, then grinned at her. “You can change into Matt’s pants and shirt, then come on out to the barn. We’ll see if we got a horse that will suit you.”

  ***

  When Jake glanced up from tightening the girth on the grey, he almost swallowed his tongue. It was all he could do not to whistle. Tess in a gown, day or night, was one sweet sight, but in Matt’s hip-hugging pants and white linen shirt, she was a man’s wet dream. This day had just turned into a nightmare.

  He aimed for what he hoped was a casual nod.

  Dave giggled. “You sure do look funny in Matt’s clothes.”

  Matt shot red-faced out of a nearby stall. “Tell her to take ‘em off.”

  Oh yeah. Jake’d sure like to tell her to do that. “I asked her to wear them. It’s practical for out on the range. That is, if we’re gonna go rescue those steer, instead of standin’ around here all day yappin’.”

  Matt opened his mouth, then clearly thought better of what was on his tongue, because he dove back into the stall he’d just exited. Moments later, he backed out his and Dave’s piebald ponies. Uncle Raven took the other mare and led Jake’s chestnut outside. He gave Tess a nod of approval as he passed.

  She bit her lip.

  “Don’t take any notice of that boy,” Jake muttered. “He’s taken a dislike to women since his father died and his mother went back East.”

  She nodded. “I guessed it must be something like that.” She approached the grey from its front quarter so as not to spook it and ran a hand down its nose, letting the horse get her scent before she moved to its side to mount.

  The woman knew horses at any rate.

  She frowned and touched the saddle, traced the complex pattern on the skirts with a fingertip. Her expressive green eyes widened. Her lips parted on a hiss of breath.

  “Somethin’ wrong?” Jake asked.

  She shot him a quick glance from beneath her lashes. “Uh...no. I was admiring the work on this saddle. Did you buy it near here?”

  She was lying. Again. Hell, he hated a lying woman. Reminded him too much of the boys’ mother. “San Antonio.” He watched her lips press together as if to seal in the excitement shining in her eyes.

  It was none of his business.

  He dropped the old hat he kept for working the barn on her head. The thick hair coiled on her crown kept it above her ears. “Come on, I’ll give you a boost.” She said she could ride. Now he’d see if she was lying about that, too.

  She settled into the saddle and he adjusted the stirrups. With her long coltish legs, she needed them longer than Matt did.

  “How’s that?” he asked.

  She pushed up in the stirrups and sat back down. “Good.” She ran a hand down the gelding’s withers. “Good boy.”

  He walked the grey out into the yard and handed her the reins, then mounted up. Uncle Raven and the boys had already moved out leaving him and Tess eating their dust.

  They broke into a trot. She did that funny up and down thing the English did, her sweet round bottom popping out of the saddle in the most suggestive way until he imagined himself lying beneath her, those strong thighs lifting her along his length... He dug his spurs in Buck’s flanks and broke into a canter. She caught up with him.

  Yeah. How about that? She rode as well as any of them.

  They settled into a steady rhythm. Fast enough to eat up the miles, steady enough not to wind the horses.

  Tess gestured to the boys up ahead. “So why aren’t those boys with their mother?”

  “She remarried. It didn’t work out too
good, so she sent them out to me. Matt’s hurtin’ bad because she don’t want him around right now. Their father was my younger brother, stepbrother. Went for a soldier and got hisself killed in the war. Now the ranch is all mine. Another reason their mother is mad.”

  “Oh,” she said.

  That was it? Oh. After he’d given his life’s history except the real bad part? He never talked about family as a rule. So why now? And why her?

  They rode on for another mile or two in silence. It was as if she were digesting what he’d said like a snake digests a bird.

  “Are there more snakes out here?” she asked.

  He almost fell off his horse. Could she read his mind? He held back a grin. “Cottonmouth, rattler. All deadly.”

  She edged her horse a little closer to his. “Are they likely to attack?”

  He resisted the temptation to tease, but didn’t want her more skittish than she was already. She’d only be a distraction. More of a distraction. “Only if you disturb ‘em, put a hand on one, stumble over it.”

  “Oh, I see.” She sounded a mite less tense.

  “Course they can be unpredictable. You can’t be sure they won’t take a mind that you’d make a tasty meal.”

  She shot him a glance from beneath his hat that said she didn’t believe him.

  “Then there’s coyotes and mountain lion, they sometimes attack cattle and the odd traveler,” he said.

  This time her eyes glittered like emeralds. “Why are you trying to frighten me?”

  “Just tryin’ to make you aware of the dangers.” Trying to make sure she didn’t want to stay? In case he couldn’t say no?

  “You will take me to San Antonio tomorrow?”

  Apparently it had worked. “Yes.”

  Her gaze swept the horizon. “Are we still on your farm...ranch?”

  He shook his head. “This is free range. All the ranchers hereabouts use it.”

  She pointed to a distant grazing herd of longhorns. “Then how do you know which cows are yours?”

  “Cattle. We brand ‘em. My brand is the Circle Q.”

  “The same sign as over your gate.” She said it as if she’d made a novel discovery. He had made the right choice. She was a town girl. Just like the boys’ mother. After the novelty wore off, she’d hate it here.

  “How much farther?” She shifted in the saddle. Another sign of her delicate constitution. Shit. He had to stop thinking about her bottom.

  “Couple miles more, I reckon.” He squinted against the sun. “See that outcrop of rock there in the distance. That’s where we’re headed.”

  They rode the rest of the way in silence.

  ***

  The unexpected slash of rocky gorge, took Tess’ breath away. After all the flat land, who would have imagined this beautiful wild and rocky place that seemed to appear from nowhere? Water rushed not far below them. Either side of the steep drop-off, fence posts leaned at crazy angles. Between them, protruding from ground churned by the hoofprints of many animals, other posts stuck up like broken teeth.

  “Something must have spooked ‘em and they busted through,” Jake said, circling his horse around the broken ground. “C’mon. Uncle Raven and the boys must have gone down to the river.”

  Behind him, Tess leaned back to check her mount’s awkward progress down the shale that sloped away at an alarming angle. The noise of the water drowned out the noise of their hooves.

  Rounding a giant boulder, she saw Raven and the two lads facing a head of about twenty-five steer, brown, white and beige with wicked looking horns. The three riders had them penned against a sand-colored up-thrust of rock that looked as if it might have been sliced by a giant knife.

  Two other animals struggled in the rapid flowing water, their cries pathetic.

  Jake, his face grim, twisted around in his saddle to yell at her over the noise of the water. “Take over for Uncle Raven. We’ll see if we can get those two onto the bank.”

  Tess nodded and eased the gelding around him. The little horse stumbled on the loose footing. Tess’ heart leaped to her mouth, but she held firm in the saddle.

  “Steady, boy,” Tess murmured. “Easy now.” The horse’s ears flicked back at the sound of her voice and stepped forward as daintily as you please. “Good, boy,” Tess crooned.

  Jake shot her a glance that looked like surprise edged with a glint of admiration.

  The moment she took up position beside Raven, he took off for Jake at the water’s edge.

  The two boys appeared anxious as they whistled and yelled each time a steer tried to make a break from the group. It was enough to keep the steers at bay. Tess grinned at the boys and picked up the rhythm, the horses pacing and circling, ever vigilant for the snorting, seething mass to surge. Up close, these beasts were huge, terrifying, brown eyes circled in white, saliva dripping from flared nostrils, and horns like bayonets. If they stampeded, she and the boys would be speared, or worse yet trampled, and the whole lot might drown.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Raven and Jake get a rope around the necks of the animals in the water. The way they looped the ropes in circles then tossed them was a work of art, not to mention an entrancing display of the power in Jake’s muscular shoulders as he wrestled the roped animal to the bank.

  Finally, both were out of the river and Jake and Raven joined her and the boys in the slow painful process of herding them up and out of the gorge.

  Sweat poured down her back, despite the shade in the depths of the ravine. Her shirt stuck to her skin, her bottom burned, but when she got to the top, she whooped and yelled along with the men. Elation filled her with a physical excitement the like of which she’d never encountered.

  Once the beasts got sight of open range, they took off in a race for the horizon. Tess looked to Jake for instructions.

  “Let ‘em go. They’ll stop to graze in a while as if nothing happened and we’ll check that none are injured.”

  Tess nodded, weariness grinding right down to her bones.

  The sun was already casting long shadows. She had no idea they had taken so long with the cattle. The day had disappeared in a flash. “It will be dark before we get home,” she said.

  Jake shook his head. “Can’t leave yet. First we gotta mend the fence, then I need to figure out what spooked those steers. If it was a wolf or a cat, I gotta deal with it.” His brow furrowed. “If them critters get a taste for tame prey, they don’t never leave the herd alone. I either gotta chase it off for good or kill it.”

  Tess felt sorry for the creature. “How will we find our way back after dark?”

  “We don’t,” Raven said, dismounting. “We camp. I’ll light a fire while Jake and the boys mend the fence.”

  Jake touched the brim of his hat in acknowledgement. He flung his saddlebag at the old Indian’s feet. “Use whatever you need. Boys, follow me.” He turned his horse for the fence.

  Matt and Dave followed him, their young faces grimy and weary, but still game.

  Tess eased herself out of the saddle, keenly aware of the stiffness in her thighs and the chafing of her nether regions. It had been months since she’d been on horseback, and never had she spent so long in the saddle at one time. The thought of dipping her sore places in the cooling river below tempted her greatly.

  Raven threw her a rope. “Here. Hobble your horse to graze. I’ll fetch up water in a minute.” He pulled the canteen from his horse.

  Hobble? She stared at his horse and realized he had loosely tied its front feet together, so it couldn’t run. She did the same to her mount. “I’ll get the water.”

  He cast her a sideways glance. “You can walk?”

  He must have noticed her awkward gait. “Easier than I can ride,” she replied with a chuckle.

  “You must go upstream, where the water runs slow. It’s tricky. Better let me go.”

  She was sore, not an invalid. “I can manage.”

  He gazed at her from those fierce black eyes for a moment, then nodded
. “You are a strong woman.”

  Ouch. He meant strong willed. Her greatest fault according to Mother. Well she wasn’t going to change now, and since it was all she had, her will would have to see her through. She picked up all of the canteens and slung them over her shoulder.

  She made her way past Jake and the boys working on the fence. Dave waggled his fingers, but Jake didn’t look up. He knew she was there. She sensed his knowing in every fiber of her being, in the tension across his shoulders, the fixed gaze on his hands and the subtle angling of his body away from her so their eyes didn’t have to meet.

  His aversion could not be clearer.

  To hell with him.

  She trudged down the slope, slipping here and there on the loose rock. This bank was clearly a deathtrap for the unwary.

  At the bottom, she headed upstream, clambering over rocks slick from spray, edging around boulders that teetered on the brink of the rushing stream, enjoying the respite from the sun. She could understand the cattle wanting to drink. Perhaps thirst had driven them into this dangerous place?

  She rounded the bend, a sharp elbow of a turn, and halted, mouth agape. It was a dead end. Water gushed from a fissure in a wall of rock into a placid pool. Here, the gorge narrowed to no more than a deep vee, with a pie slice of blue directly overhead and a patch of springy grass at the water’s edge surrounded by bushes and trees. Perfectly secluded. The overwhelming need to feel clean turned the dust and sweat into a tight crust on her skin. She glanced around. Everyone else was busy with their chores. If she was quick...

  She ducked into the bushes and stripped out of her borrowed clothes.

  ***

  Working swiftly, Jake knotted the ropes to the standing post. “Here,” he said to Dave. “Run these down to the post on the other side. Matt take the knife and cut the rope to length like I showed you last week, then join it to that other post. It’ll have to do ‘til we can get some more rails up here to rebuild the fence. I’m goin’ to have a look farther along and see if I can see what sent ‘em over the edge, then I’ll come and see how you’re doin’. Right?”

  “Yes, boss,” Dave said with a grin. He set off at a run, rope snaking behind him.

  Matt hesitated. “That lady. Tess. She ain’t so bad after all.” He flushed red and dashed after his brother, head down and arms pumping.