Читать книгу A Rancher's Vow - Patricia Rosemoor - Страница 14

Startled, Reed stared at Alcina. “What’s rude about speaking my mind?”

It was something he usually avoided. He didn’t know what had gotten into him.

Yes, he did, Reed admitted.

Truth be told, his whole way of life was being threatened by men like Cardona. Ranches all over the West were being sold off and carved up into smaller properties. Peoples’ lifelong dreams were being stolen away from them, and with the economy so poor for those that lived off the land, there didn’t seem to be a way to stop it.

A man practically had to have another job to support his ranch habit. Or his wife did.

“The area needs new blood,” Alcina said, “or Silver Springs will die.”

“It is dead. Has been for years. It’s a ghost town, but certain people don’t want to let it go.”

“Which includes your father,” she reminded him. “Emmett wants to see it come back. So do I.”

So did he, for that matter, not that he would admit it now.

“I heard you opened yourself a business,” he said, instead, “inviting people who don’t belong here to come this way.”

“You mean tourists?” she asked, a sudden chill in her tone. “What’s wrong with letting people from other parts of the country see how beautiful this area is…and my making a living off their interest.”

“Because then they get too interested and want to move right in on our territory.”

“Well, good for them. And good for us. Time doesn’t stand still, Reed, no matter how much you might want it to. Things change. Businesses change. People change—”

“Including you?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Just that I’m surprised you came back to Silver Springs at all,” Reed admitted. “Why did you? I figured you fit right in on the East Coast with your mother’s people.”

Emotions washed through her face so quickly he imagined he might have upset her.

“Are you saying I don’t fit in here?” she demanded.

“Do you?”

“Not everyone has to be a rancher or a rancher’s wife to love the high-desert country. Silver Springs used to rely on the silver mine, but it dried up years ago and so did the town. And so did anything resembling a life for me here.”

Alcina was working up a head of steam as she spoke. Reed couldn’t help but be mesmerized by her heightened color and the way her features so quickly became animated, making her appear even more beautiful.

“But there is hope, Reed,” she went on hotly, “and that hope is new blood and new ideas. So what if my way of being able to live here meant turning our old home into a bed-and-breakfast? It was that or drive into Taos or some other town that’s at least solvent to make a living. Then I would be commuting again and…oh, never mind.”

Alcina shoved herself from the table and rose. Reed hadn’t meant to insult her into leaving, but he figured she was through listening, for the moment, anyway. Besides, he’d said too much as it was. Normally, he kept his nose out of other people’s business and his opinions to himself where they belonged.

If he had, she might not be stalking away from him in disgust, her patrician nose in the air.

More than anything, Reed craved peace in his life, no doubt a reaction to his fractious childhood. He’d grown up in a household where his father and two brothers had constantly warred with each other. Reed had vowed he never would live like that again.

So why was he finding the outspoken woman so attractive? Reed wondered.

He forced himself to remain seated rather than follow her. He could use a woman in his life, true, but he could do without Alcina Dale.

Disgusted at how his supper conversation had turned sour, Reed tried to muster his appetite in vain. Half of the food he’d piled on his plate would be wasted.

Then he remembered the dog.

After throwing away the bones and scraping away some of the spicier stuff, he was satisfied that the leftovers would do. He found an empty bowl, filled it with water, then headed back toward his truck.

On the way, he spotted Pa near the house, deep in conversation with Vernon Martell, whom he’d met on his last visit home. The man was alone, his wife being an invalid who rarely got out. Reed meant to say howdy.

The neighboring rancher was a hearty man, tall and broad-shouldered, not trim, but not heart-attack material, either. In his mid-forties, he wore his light brown hair short, and his equally light brown eyes peered through fashionable titanium-framed bifocals. He was plain dressed—at least compared to Cardona—but he appeared equally well-heeled from the looks of his custom boots, chamois sports coat and heavy diamond-studded gold cuff links that said a lot about his healthy bank account.

Drawing closer, he heard Martell say, “I’m in the market to expand the VM.”

“You already did with that land you got from that developer fella.”

The tone of the conversation stopped Reed in his tracks.

Vernon Martell was new to the area, so to speak, having lived in these parts little more than a year. Denizens of the community were considered in terms of generations, or at least decades, rather than in months or years. Besides which, Martell had picked up a ranch that had folded under economic stress dirt cheap—a foreclosure—and that didn’t win any popularity contests. Neither would his buying a chunk of Luis Gonzalez’s land.

“That was a start,” Martell agreed, “but I’m not finished.”

Instinct made Reed stay where he was, a few yards behind the men. Wanting to hear what they had to say, he chose not to interrupt.

“You must’ve had a better year than the Curly-Q.” Emmett Quarrels narrowed his gaze on his neighbor. “What did you have in mind?”

“Your southernmost pastures—they adjoin the land that belonged to Gonzalez.”

“So what’s your point?”

“That we could both come out ahead,” Martell said magnanimously. “Me with a little more land, you with enough money so that you don’t lose the rest.”

“I’m not losin’ nothing.”

“That’s not the word going around. Word is that Tucker Dale is ready to foreclose—”

“Gossip is fodder for old women with nothing better to do!” Emmett snapped, cutting him off.

Reed could hardly believe it. Tucker Dale, Alcina’s father and Pa’s longtime former business partner, threatening Pa with ruin.

Martell persisted. “So the rumors aren’t true?”

“It’s none of your business. Unless…you wouldn’t know anything about the bad-luck incidents plaguing the Curly-Q lately?”

“Are you accusing me of something?”

Pa seemed to be mulling that over, Reed realized, after which he choked out, “All I’m saying is that I expect you should mind your own spread and keep your nose out of mine!”

With that, Pa stomped off. Martell stared after him for a moment before turning and coming face-to-face with Reed. Their gazes locked. The other rancher was the first to look away. He waved to some invisible acquaintance and stalked off in the other direction.

Leaving Reed uneasier than ever. He’d known the Curly-Q was in trouble from his talk with Bart. But the seriousness of the situation suddenly hit him hard.

His gut told him that he’d walked back into a worse hornet’s nest than he’d left more than a decade ago.

“EVERYTHING IS SET for your honeymoon night,” Alcina told Pru when they met directly outside the ranch house, where she’d gone to regroup after her cross words with Reed.

“This is so great of you, so special.” Pru pushed the red curls from her freckled face, gave Alcina a big hug.

“Special for a special friend,” Alcina said.

She’d decked out the best suite at her bed-and-breakfast—the Springs—with dozens of candles, special scented bubble bath for the Jacuzzi and rose petals strewn across the spread. She’d also left a bottle of champagne set in a big bucket of ice next to the bed. Hopefully, it would still be cold when the newlyweds arrived—a lot of hours had passed, and it was already dusk.

“The spare key is in the cactus pot to the right of the front door,” she reminded Pru. “Don’t let Chance get bit,” she joked as if she meant the cactus, “unless you do the biting, of course.”

Laughing, Pru said, “A little privacy right now sounds like the best wedding present in the world.”

Newlyweds living with the bride’s family until other arrangements could be made wouldn’t be easy on any of them, Alcina knew, and they were saving their honeymoon for the National Rodeo Finals to be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, in two weeks. She was happy to do this for Pru and Chance. She only wished she could let them have the bed-and-breakfast to themselves all night, but there was no place in town for her to bunk in, and Josie couldn’t really stay with Bart because of his kids. At least no other guests were checked in—not that Alcina couldn’t use more business.

“You’ll have several hours alone, anyway, so you can get as wild as you want,” Alcina teased. “Josie and I will give you fair warning when we come in—we’ll make lots of noise.”

Pru’s eyebrows arched as she said, “Maybe if you’re lucky, that’ll be really, really late.”

“How late do you want me to be?”

“As late as a certain Quarrels brother will keep you happily occupied.”

Knowing what Pru was getting at, Alcina felt her grin fade. “You’re dreaming.” Thinking of the argument she’d had with Reed earlier, she said, “I’m the last woman Reed Quarrels would want to keep out late.”

“I don’t know. He was looking pretty interested.”

“Was being the operative word. And then I opened my big mouth.” Alcina sighed and wondered if she should have listened to his opinions and held her own, something she’d never gotten used to doing. “No man likes to hear a woman rant while he’s held captive like a pinned butterfly.”

“Hmm, sounds pretty darn interesting if you ask me.” Coming up from behind them, Chance slipped an arm around his new wife’s waist. “Making exotic plans for the evening, are you, Miss Prudence?”

Pru blushed and smacked him in the chest with the flat of her hand.

“Want to play rough, huh?” He grinned and arched one eyebrow. “How about we—”

“Enough already!” Alcina said with a laugh. “Too much information. I don’t need any more details. And I think the two of you had better get out of here so you can be alone before you embarrass everyone.”

Chance grinned. “Sounds like a plan.”

“Not until we observe the formalities,” Pru countered.

The formalities being the cake cutting and garter and bouquet throws, Alcina knew.

But first Pru wanted to freshen up. And Chance followed her inside the house, meaning the formalities wouldn’t commence for some time yet.

Alcina started off, intending on rejoining the party, when she realized that she’d be on the sidelines watching couples dance. Forget that, she chose to take herself for some solitary exercise instead.

With dusk came a chill in the high-desert air. Alcina wrapped the scrap of material that matched her dress around her shoulders closer. Good thing she’d fetched it while in the house.

As she strolled behind the storage building that also held the living quarters of the only permanent hand on the Curly-Q, a loud thump startled her.

“Moon-Eye?” she called out.

But if the hired hand was around, he must not have heard, because he didn’t answer.

On edge, she rounded the storage building and looked for the hired hand. Deep shadows thrust across the property, so it was difficult to make out details at any distance. Still, a movement from the back of the barn caught her attention. Of course it must be Moon-Eye—who else?—though she couldn’t actually see the man well enough to be certain.

Alcina guessed chores on a ranch didn’t wait, not even for a wedding. She thought to join the hired hand, to keep him company for a few minutes, when a voice coming from the opposite direction distracted her.

“C’mon…I know you want it…”

A man’s enticing voice.

“That’s it, sweetheart…”

Reed’s voice.

“That’s good, isn’t it?”

Alcina’s mouth went dry at the seductive tone.

“I told you it would be…”

Who in the world was out here with him? Alcina wondered, her imagination on overdrive. Like a fool, she found herself wanting the full picture.

“More, yes…take it all…”

Shocked by the implication and yet drawn like a moth to a flame, she came close enough to see for herself.

And then her face flamed with her foolishness.

For, hunkered down next to his truck, Reed was hand-feeding a wretched-looking brown and white dog with a torn ear. The moment the animal spotted her, it backed off toward the pickup, cowering.

“You scared her,” Reed stated. “Damn! And I was just getting her to come around.”

Alcina ignored the blame placed on her and murmured, “Oh, no, girl, you don’t need to be afraid of me,” crouching also and holding out a nonthreatening hand.

Aware of Reed staring at her, Alcina grew self-conscious, but she didn’t want to scare the dog further and so stayed exactly as she was. Barely a moment went by before the animal ventured forward to smell her fingers.

“You poor thing,” Alcina said, turning her hand so the dog lightly nuzzled her palm. In the same tone, she asked Reed, “Where did she come from?”

“Not here. I found her on the road—the reason I was late. I’d never ask you to lie, but if you wouldn’t tell Chance…”

She remembered him being honest to a fault, so his keeping something like that from his brother was a big deal. Reed confiding in her… Warmth flooded Alcina.

“I think Chance would understand, but I’ll keep mum.”

She’d always known Reed was a kind man. Without thinking, she stroked the dog’s neck, then continued petting her, running a hand down a bony spine.

Suddenly catching herself, Alcina murmured, “Oh, sorry.”

She expected the dog to slither away and was surprised when it moved closer for more.

“She must trust you,” Reed said.

Alcina ran gentle fingers along the animal’s protruding ribs. “You don’t have to sound so surprised.”

“I didn’t mean that to sound judgmental. It’s just that she’s so skittish.”

Suddenly feeling a little skittish herself, Alcina met Reed’s gaze and realized that he was staring at her. His expression was appreciative. And puzzling.

“What?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Most women wouldn’t have touched a dog that looked scruffy and sick.”

“I’m not—”

“Most women,” he finished for her. “I remember.”

Getting to her feet, Alcina asked, “So what’s her name?”

“I don’t know. She’s not my dog.”

A disbelieving Alcina cleared her throat.

“She’s not.” Reed rose, as well. “But I intend to find her a good home.”

From the way the dog was looking at him so adoringly, Alcina figured she’d already found herself one—her new owner obviously hadn’t realized it yet.

“In the meantime,” she said, “you have to call her something.”

“What’s wrong with Girl?”

“Not very personal.”

“Then what do you suggest?” he asked.

“You want me to name your…uh, her?”

“Why not? It’s only temporary.”

“Right, temporary.” Alcina looked deep into the dog’s liquid brown eyes. “Hey, Temporary.”

The dog whistled through her nose and gave a sharp bark.

“I think she likes it,” Alcina said.

Reed snorted. “Temporary? Come on, that’s a ridiculous name for a dog.”

“Then you name her.”

For a moment, she thought Reed might take her challenge. Then he shrugged.

“Temporary it is.”

Alcina grinned. They stood there grinning at each other for a moment before she remembered the festivities. She’d only meant to kill a few minutes and had lost track of time.

“I think we’d better get back if we want to send the bride and groom off with our best wishes,” she said.

“That means it’s time for you to get back into the pickup,” Reed told the dog.

He patted her and opened the door. She stood there looking at him.

Giving her a hand signal, he said, “C’mon, Temporary, get in.”

The dog jumped into the truck and onto the driver’s seat where she settled, her adoring gaze still on Reed.

“You’re her hero,” Alcina murmured.

“I only did what any decent person would do.”

She knew that wasn’t true. The world was filled with decent folks. But the dog obviously had been on her own for a while now. Only a really caring person would have taken the time and trouble with her that Reed had.

With the dog settled, they hurried back to the party to find the wedding cake had already been cut, and the unmarried men were being urged to step up for the garter toss.

Nearly two dozen men, mostly old bachelor cowboys, got into the spirit of the competition. Moon-Eye was at the front of the line, she noted; he must have finished his chores. Even Bart and Reed jostled each other good-naturedly as one of the musicians beat a tattoo on his drum.

Chance took a quick look over his shoulder, and Alcina was certain he aimed directly for Bart, who was committed, if not yet officially engaged, to Josie Walker.

Only, Reed was the one who ended up with the garter on his arm.

Alcina tried to sit out the bouquet throw, but Pru wouldn’t hear of it. Certain her friend would send the spray of flowers Josie’s way, Alcina gave in and moved to the opposite side of the much smaller group of women, the oldest of whom was Felice, the youngest Lainey.

When the bouquet wound up in her own hands, Alcina was floored.

Pru turned to face her, a sly grin quirking her lips, and Alcina knew her friend had sent the flowers her way purposely. What in the world was she thinking?

Just then, the band started a lively tune.

“Well, isn’t this an interesting development,” Pru said, drawing closer, Chance in tow. She shifted her mischievous gaze from Alcina to Reed.

“You really shouldn’t have,” Alcina muttered.

A challenging glitter in his eyes, Reed asked, “Alcina Dale, where’s your spirit of fun?”

And before Alcina knew what was happening, he’d swung her into his arms for a dance.

As they did the Texas two-step, the newlyweds grabbed hands and rushed through the dancing crowd. Catcalls about their wedding night and handfuls of birdseed followed them. Alcina watched them go with a bit of envy, the emotion exacerbated, no doubt, by the man who wrapped his arms around her.

“Amazing, Chance settling down,” Reed said. “I never thought I’d see the day.”

“People do strange things when the love bug bites them.”

Alcina was only too aware of something nibbling at her.

After the disagreement that had punctuated their reunion, who would have thought she would end up in Reed’s arms? Being there felt too good for her peace of mind, Alcina decided. He was merely getting into the spirit of the occasion, while she was feeling things that made her chafe.

She wasn’t a teenager anymore…not even a young woman…so what was her problem?

While she’d thought of Reed fondly through the years, she hadn’t kept herself on a shelf waiting for him to realize that she was the one for him. She’d gone on with her life, to other men, other relationships. She’d returned to New Mexico after college in New York, but she’d soon had reason to return to the East Coast. Working as an interior designer, she’d met plenty of eligible New York bachelors. Her friends out East had considered her sophisticated when it came to matters of the heart after her seemingly easy split with Jeffrey.

But suddenly she was thrust back to the uncertainty of her youth. Sweaty palms. Palpitating heart. Overactive imagination.

Surely it was only her sentimental streak at work. That and a healthy libido.

The moment the music ended, Alcina thought to put a stop to her renewed attraction to Reed right then and there, but the band merely swung into a softer, easier piece, and he pulled her even closer. They fit together perfectly, his chin resting against her temple. His warm breath drifted across her forehead and shot goose bumps down her spine.

Alcina groaned.

“Am I holding you too tight?”

“No…yes.”

“Make up your mind. Which is it?”

Alcina made a big show of adjusting the bouquet that lay along his back. She murmured, “There, that’s better,” as if holding the flowers had been her problem.

“Mmm.”

She wasn’t about to let him know that he was the cause of her discomfort. But now his breath was tickling her ear. A tiny thrill traveled all the way down to her toes. She tightened her hold on the bouquet, and the fingers of her other hand pressed into the garter.

The significance of the wedding tokens didn’t escape her.

Despite her being a rational, sensible, self-reliant woman, she wished—only for a moment—that old traditions had some basis in fact. That a bridal bouquet and a garter really were good-luck charms that could turn her youthful fantasies into adult reality.

Then Reed turned his head to gaze into her eyes, and his face slowly inched closer, and a little smile played across his lips, and crazily—only for a moment—she thought he was about to kiss her.

Pulse jagging, reality returning in a rush, Alcina ended that moment fast.

She stopped dead on the dance floor and pushed at Reed’s chest until he released her. Staring at him, hardly able to catch her breath, she felt too foolish for words.

“Something wrong?” he asked, that knowing smile still flirting with his mouth.

“Something, yes…”

Like her heart pounding as fast as a freight train…

…and her knees softening to Jell-O…

…and her brain turning to mush.

“But don’t worry about it, okay?” she gasped.

With that, Alcina rushed off the dance floor and cut through the noisy revelers.

“Alcina, wait a minute,” Reed called.

Not stopping, she nevertheless glanced over her shoulder and saw him still standing on the dance floor, hands on his hips and staring after her as if she were a crazy person. So much for any attraction that had sparked between them, she thought. After this, added to their earlier fight, he’d be sure to keep his distance.

Chagrined, she fled toward the buildings and the refuge of her car that was parked on the other side. Not that she could go home, she realized—she’d promised Pru some quality time with her new husband.

She was thinking that she’d go for a long drive and was trying to visualize where, when a series of weird noises cut through her jumbled thoughts.

A muffled boom was followed by a high-pitched outcry…several horses, she realized…horrible noises tearing from their throats.

Equine screams that sent gooseflesh down her spine.

The music died abruptly and voices rose behind her as she ducked between buildings. Drawn to the disturbance on the other side, she gasped in shock and fear, and for a moment stopped, frozen at the sight.

The barn was ablaze and three horses milled about before it. The animals were trapped in the small corral adjacent to the burning building.

“Dear Lord!”

The blaze was growing, and as sparks shot into the dry brush surrounding the fence, the lines of fire spread so fast that Alcina could hardly take in the reality of what she was witnessing. Inside the corral, the screaming horses—three of them—stood out in dark silhouette against the orange glow. One of them reared, frantic hooves slashing at the pipe and wire fencing.

The gate!

Dropping the bouquet, Alcina ran for all she was worth as another explosion shot the flames higher and wider. If the horses weren’t freed fast, they would either burn to death or injure themselves, perhaps fatally, while trying to escape.

Unlatching the gate, she swung it open wide. Immediately one horse popped out as if greased and goosed.

Alcina whistled and shouted, “C’mon!” to the others. She stood back to give them a wide berth.

A second horse shot past her.

But a third continued to screech and dance in circles, seemingly too terrified to recognize the safety of the opening. And another whistle from Alcina didn’t seem to cut through his panic.

A roar of voices behind her told Alcina that help was on its way. Someone else who knew more about horses would have a better chance of rescuing the creature. A glance over her shoulder assured her that she was the only one close enough to help now before it was too late.

Heart pounding, she ducked through the opening. Someone cried, “Alcina, stop!” but she was too focused on the terrified horse to heed the warning.

“Easy,” she crooned. “I’m going to get you out of here. You’ll be all right.”

The horse snorted, threw up his head and rolled his eyes at her in distrust. He wasn’t going to come easily, that was for certain. Maybe if she got around behind him, she could drive him out.

As Alcina drew closer, the terrified horse acted cornered. Screaming, the bay reared, then bolted forward as if ready to drive right through her. Alcina tried her best to get out of his way, but she wasn’t fast enough.

Half a ton of panicked horse glanced off her shoulder. Alcina flew back, stars of pain and orange flames and flailing yellow silk filling her vision for the few seconds she was airborne. Then she landed hard, all the breath knocked out of her.

She couldn’t move.

The fire raged closer…its greedy heat licked her.

Stunned, she watched a spark land on the tip of her silk wrap.

Like a fuse, it ignited.