A Texan's Honor (39 page)

Bret turned his horse and followed. Curiosity turned to concern and then fear as their trail led toward the northern limits of the ranch. Bret could think of no reason for Emily to ride this far from her intended destination unless she was being forced.

Lonnie.

He was in love with Emily. He'd taken a tremendous risk when he organized the rustling in hopes of getting her to marry him. He wouldn't have wanted to leave without a chance to see her one more time. Bret was certain Emily wouldn't have gone with him willingly. She had been kidnapped. Bret didn't believe Lonnie would hurt Emily, but he knew how desperate a man in love could be. He had to find them, and soon.

If Bret hadn't been looking for it, he might have missed the barely noticeable trail of smoke rising out of a large thicket of trees and visible against the pure
white of a cloud low on the horizon. He rode to where the land fell off toward a small stream. He dismounted and ran along the bottom of the ridge, hoping Lonnie didn't happen to be looking in his direction. Thickets of willow tangled by berry canes and wild grape vines provided cover until he reached the edge of the trees. Hoping he wouldn't disturb any birds or small mammals and give himself away, Bret carefully parted some oak branches.

A small fire burned inside a circle of stones. He could make out Emily seated on the ground, her hands tied behind her, but he didn't see Lonnie. Certain he was somewhere close, Bret gradually worked his way through the thicket until he was close enough to Emily to whisper, “This is Bret. I'm right behind you. Where is Lonnie?” He was prepared for Emily to be startled, but not for the anger of her pinched mouth or the hurt in her eyes when she twisted around to face him.

“Why are you trying to sneak in?” she demanded. “I'm sure Lonnie's been expecting you.”

Confused by her attitude and her words, Bret looked around, expecting to see Lonnie pointing a rifle at him. “Keep your voice down,” he whispered urgently. “Where is Lonnie? How soon will he be back? It won't take but a minute to untie you.”

“Lonnie!” Emily called out. “Your partner is looking for you.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Bret said, frantically looking around.

“I know all about your scheme, so you can stop pretending. There's coffee on the fire. Help yourself while you wait for Lonnie.”

“I don't know what's gotten into your head,” Bret said as he crawled toward Emily, intent on untying her and getting away before Lonnie returned, “but we
can figure it out later. Right now we have to—”

“Right now you have to stop where you are.”

Bret turned to see Lonnie standing not ten feet away, his rifle pointed at him.

“It's Bret,” Emily said. “Surely you were expecting your partner.”

“Joseph Abbott is the man who wrote me,” Lonnie said. “He warned me this man would try to make you fall in love with him so he could steal your ranch.”

Emily swallowed hard. She didn't need any more proof than the expression on Bret's face to know she'd leaped to the wrong conclusion. “But you said . . . I thought—”

“You thought I'd pay your own foreman to steal your cows and kidnap you,” Bret said.

“Lonnie wasn't stealing my cows,” Emily said. She felt so shocked, so mortified,
so stupid,
she could hardly think. “He was only pretending to so I'd beg him to save my ranch and then marry him out of gratitude. Joseph didn't want me to go to Boston. He just wanted control of my shares in Abbott and Abercrombie.”

Bret's expression didn't change. “It doesn't matter what he was
really
doing. What matters is that you thought I'd have any part in it.”

“I didn't want to, but when he said he was hired by that man at my house—”

“You automatically thought of me,” Bret finished for her.

“I haven't thought of anybody but you in days,” Emily threw at him. “Why should it be any different now?”

She didn't know why she'd never thought of Joseph as being capable of doing anything like this. Maybe because she'd met him years ago and liked him. Maybe because he seemed more like an annoyance than a danger. With Bret, Hawk, and Zeke around, who would think of Joseph as posing a problem? Still, she should have believed in Bret. She should have believed in herself enough to know she couldn't love a man who would do what Joseph had done.

“I'd never have believed any of this about you if it hadn't been for the will,” she said.

“What about the will?” Lonnie asked. Neither he nor Bret had moved.

“Dad left control of my inheritance and half of the ranch to Bret,” Emily said.

“I saw the will myself,” Lonnie said. “Everything goes to you.”

“He made a new will just before he died,” Bret said. “If you don't believe us, you can ask your
boss
. He was there when I read the will.”

“Did you see it?” Lonnie asked Emily.

“Yes. There's no question Dad wrote it.”

“I'll bet you witnessed it,” Lonnie said, waving his rifle at Bret.

“He didn't know anything about it,” Emily said. “Zeke and Hawk witnessed it.”

“His own brothers,” Lonnie said with a sneer. “How can you believe he didn't know anything about it? I bet he planned it.”

“It was Sam's decision,” Bret said before turning to Emily.

“You can't believe anything he says,” Lonnie protested.

“Then who is she supposed to believe?” Bret asked. “You've already admitted to plotting against her with Joseph. I was honest with Emily and her father from the beginning.”

“It doesn't make any difference,” Lonnie protested.

“Maybe not, but the plan you hatched with Joseph is useless now,” Emily said. “Bret has control of the stock, half the ranch, and all my money. There's no point in your marrying me now.”

“But I love you,” Lonnie said.

“I'm never going to marry you, so you might as well let us go,” Emily told him.

“He'll try to get me hanged,” he said, pointing to Bret.

“You'll certainly hang if you kidnap Emily or kill me,” Bret said.

Emily could tell that Lonnie was undecided, but he kept his rifle on Bret.

“I'm going to untie Emily,” Bret said, moving toward her as he spoke. “Point that rifle somewhere else.”

“You'll get away.”

“That would be better than you shooting Emily by mistake,” Bret said. He wasted no time in untying Emily and helping her to her feet. “Now put the rifle down,” he said as he moved away from her. “Don't make things any worse.” He had moved around the opening in the trees until Lonnie was between him and Emily, making it impossible for Lonnie to keep his eye on both of them at the same time.

“Put the rifle away, Lonnie,” Emily said. “If you don't, I'll take it from you.”

The moment Lonnie half turned toward Emily, Bret launched himself at Lonnie. The rifle went off and both men went down in a tangle. Emily held her
breath until she was certain both men were fighting much too hard to have been injured. She was afraid that Lonnie was stronger than Bret. She picked up the rifle, intending to hit Lonnie over the head with it. To her surprise, when she looked up, Bret was pounding Lonnie with such rapid and powerful jabs her ex-foreman was reeling. One last blow to the jaw sent Lonnie tumbling to the ground.

“That last one was for Emily,” Bret said. “If you ever touch her again, I'll break every bone in your body.”

Emily thought that was one of the nicest things Bret had ever said.

“Pack your things and leave this house immediately,” Emily said to Joseph. “I don't want to see you ever again. After all the letters we've exchanged, I can't believe you'd lie to me.”

“I never lied to you,” Joseph protested. “I still don't trust Bret. Lonnie wasn't trying to steal your cows, only scare you into being sensible and coming to Boston where my father could take care of your inheritance and my mother could take care of you.”

“You didn't want me, just my shares in the company.”

“The situation would have been advantageous to everybody. Handing everything over to Bret was a horrible mistake. It'll be a disaster. You just wait and see.”

It was pointless to talk to Joseph. Nothing anybody could say had been able to convince him he'd done anything wrong. On the contrary, he acted as though he were the one who'd been mistreated.

“I'll take my chances,” Emily said. “I can't believe I didn't see through you.”

“People like Joseph only show their true colors when something important is at stake,” Bret said. “In this case it was control of the family firm.”

“I don't want to have to think of Abbott and Abercrombie ever again,” Emily said to Bret. “I'm glad Dad left control of the shares to you. I'd much rather think about my ranch—at least my half of it.”

“How many times do I have to say I'm leaving control of my half to you? I'll be happy with anything the three of you decide.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Hawk said with a grin.

“Everybody knows you two know more about ranches than I do.”

“You could change that,” Zeke said.

“First things first,” Bret said. “Emily wants to talk to you about finding a new foreman.”

“One of us can stay here, and one of us can leave with Bret for Fort Worth,” Hawk said. “We ought to be able to find somebody there or in Dallas. You sure you don't want to prosecute Lonnie?” he asked Emily.

“I'm sure. He'd never have thought of trying to force me to marry him if it hadn't been for Joseph.”

“What about the two who were doing the branding?”

“Let them go.”

“I guess that's all we need to know,” Zeke said.

“Which one of you is going with me in the morning?” Bret asked.

Zeke and Hawk each pointed at the other and said, “He is.”

Bret laughed. “You two fight it out between you. In the meantime, I need to talk to Emily.”

Emily's heart seemed to jump into her throat. She followed Bret outside, and he led her to the spot on the side of the hill where he'd kissed her. The night seemed extraordinarily quiet. There was no wind to stir the trees or bend the grass. Stars filled the sky
while clouds floated silently overhead. The usual sounds of the night were absent—not even a cow lowing softly to her calf. The whole world seemed to be waiting to hear what Bret would say. She didn't want to hear it.

He was leaving.

She didn't know how she was going to stand it. Maybe some women died of a broken heart, but she was certain she wouldn't be so fortunate. Fifty years from now she'd probably be standing on this hill, remembering how he'd held her in his arms, how he'd kissed her, how she'd thought the rest of her life would be perfect because he would be at her side.

“I love this spot.” Bret waved his arm to indicate the wide expanse of Texas prairie spreading out before them. “It's the one place on this ranch that reminds me of Jake and Isabelle's spread.”

“You were truly happy there, weren't you?”

“Yes, but I was too eaten up by bitterness to understand what they were offering me. I couldn't forget what had happened to my parents, to me. I couldn't stop wanting to do something to even the score.”

“Will you be able to even the score when you go back?”

He turned to look at her. “I've finally realized that's impossible. I can't undo what was done, and nothing else would make any difference.”

She warned herself not to leap to any conclusions, but his words offered hope. “Then why are you going back?”

“I have some unfinished business.”

“Then I'm going with you.”

Bret looked startled. “Why?”

“If you won't stay in Texas, I have to go to Boston. I don't want to leave the ranch, but I'll follow you wherever you go.”

His expression was odd. She'd wanted to see delirious happiness. She'd hoped for a smile that would start in his eyes and gradually transform his face. At the very least, she'd expected surprise. It looked more like pain.

“I'd never let you move to Boston. You'd hate it there.”

“I'll hate it here without you.”

The pain seemed to deepen. That was when she knew his plans didn't include her. The truth hit her like a fist, brutally and without warning.

“After I've finished what I need to do,” Bret said, “I'm leaving.”

“How long will that take?”

“I don't know.”

“What will you do when you're finished?”

“Come back to Texas.”

Emily thought her chest would explode with happiness. After being certain she'd lost him, he was coming back.

“But not here,” Bret said.

The bottom fell out of her world. “Where are you going?”

“Home.”

Emily had to swallow a couple of times before she could speak. She was relieved he'd decided he belonged in Texas, but she'd hoped he'd want to be with her enough to learn to think of her ranch as home. She could almost dislike Jake and Isabelle because he loved them more than he loved her. “What are you going to do about your half of the ranch?”

“I'll have that deeded to you as soon as I get to Fort Worth. I never wanted it, and I don't intend to keep it. Your father may have thought it was a way to keep us together, but I won't take what's yours or force you to
work with me. That's no way to convince two people they ought to marry.”

Hawk had told them her father had named Bret to handle her inheritance because getting to know Joseph had convinced him he couldn't trust Joseph or Silas. Furthermore, he'd wanted Bret to marry Emily and hoped that by forcing them to share the ranch, they'd have time to fall in love.

“I want to work with you,” Emily said. “I want to marry you.”