Lorraine Heath (9 page)

“But you didn’t hate him,” Rebecca said softly.

“I hated him with a passion that made me tremble. It scared the hell out of me to know I could feel any emotion that deeply or that powerfully.”

Rebecca was surprised by the impassioned confession. “Why did you hate him?”

Removing his hat, Zach used the sleeve of his shirt to remove the sweat that had collected along his brow. He heaved a deep sigh. “For all his coldness, Ethan was the perfect son. I, on the other hand, was the one who questioned, the one who didn’t always do as I was told. Father took a strap to me a couple of times and I just laughed, saying it didn’t hurt. Then he brought Jake home.”

Zach shook his head. “I can’t even remember now what I did, but Father grabbed my arm and dragged me out to the barn. Jake was asleep on the straw, looking so peaceful. My father yanked him up and tied him to a beam, jerked his pants down and applied his strap with a vengeance that my backside had always been spared.

“When my father was done, he asked me if that had hurt and told me that in the future when I disobeyed him, Jake would get the beating. Then he walked out, leaving me to
cut him down. Jake looked at me with those big brown eyes of his filled with tears and whispered, ‘What’d I do wrong? If he’d tell me, I wouldn’t do it again.’ And I told him the truth. ‘You were born.’ So I toed the line as best I could, which probably wasn’t good enough.”

“I hope you’ll understand my feelings,” Rebecca said, “but I do hope your father is burning in hell.”

Zach gave her a sad smile. “I’ll do you one better, Mrs. Burnett. I hope someday Ethan and I join him.”

He sauntered off towards the barn. Rebecca turned, leaning her head against the rough bark of the tree as the tears wandered down her cheeks. It had been long ago and Jake had survived it. Her Jake, her sweet, gentle Jake.

Jake slipped back into his shirt and took the plate Rebecca offered.

“Do you mind if we go sit over there?” He nodded towards the tree that was offering Zach shade.

“No, I don’t mind.”

Together they walked over.

“Mind if we join you?” Jake asked.

“Not at all,” Zach said as he moved over to allow more room against the tree.

Jake helped Rebecca lower herself to the ground before dropping his own lean frame down.

“Ethan said you got the debts. What debts were those?”

Zach laughed. “Seems Father not only enjoyed whoring, but gambling and drinking as well. Ironic, I thought, since I think one of your beatings came about because I got caught with a bottle of sour mash. Anyway, he owed just about everyone in town and they came to collect. We had to sell everything to pay off his debts.”

“Sorry to hear that. You had a real nice ranch.”

“Mother died pretty soon after that. The humiliation was too much for her.”

“So you and Ethan came out here?”

“Yep. Went down to Mexico, bought a few longhorns, stole a few, too. Been grazing them on the open range.” He eyed Jake. “Mostly your open range.”

“I’m fixing to fence it off.”

“Figured you would. I’d better warn you, Ethan won’t take kindly to it. Despite the fact the deed’s in your name, he thinks he has a right to this land. I don’t agree, but I’ve stayed with him so far because we’ve had no troubles.”

“How many head do you have?”

“Fifty.”

“How can you make a profit with so few?” Rebecca asked. “By the time you drive them to market, you’d be lucky to break even.”

Zach looked around Jake at Rebecca, then amused, his eyes came back to Jake. “I thought you married her because she was beautiful.”

“I married her because she’s the best damn rancher I know.” He glanced over at his wife. “But now that you mention it, I guess she’s not so hard on the eyes.”

Rebecca acknowledged Jake’s compliment by placing a hand on his thigh, a subtle action that did not escape Zach’s notice.

“You’re avoiding my question, Mr. Truscott,” she said.

“Call me Zach. A lot of men own only a few cattle, graze them on open range. We make a profit by combining our herds when it’s time to get them to market.”

“We brought Hereford cattle from Kentucky,” Jake said. “I want to breed them with longhorns. Would you be interested in selling yours?”

“I’ll think on it. I doubt Ethan will want to sell. I hear that ranchers are willing to pay seventy-five dollars a head for Herefords up in the Panhandle. You’d best guard yours well.”

The meal ended and the men went back to work finishing off the barn, completing the project as the sun dipped down to touch the horizon. The men threw buckets of water on each other, washed down and slipped away to change into clean clothes as Carrie set the band up in one corner of the barn.

Rebecca felt the warmth of Jake’s hand surrounding hers as music began to fill the newly built barn. She smiled up at him as he escorted her to its center, took her in his arms
and began to waltz with her in time to the music.

Zach had a difficult time keeping his eyes from straying to Rebecca. Her eyes danced as much as her feet as she was held in her husband’s arms. She was a beautiful woman. She could have had any man and she had chosen Jake.

Zach had known many beautiful women, women who flirted, who looked at him through lowered lashes, laughed at a secret joke. Women who were married and still played the role of coquette. But Rebecca was unlike any of those women. She was never far from her husband’s side. Zach had only seen her dance with two men other than Jake. He strolled over and asked her for a dance.

“You’re a beautiful woman, Rebecca,” he said once he had her safely on the dance floor. He grew serious. “When Jake puts up his fence, he won’t be able to avoid the war that will follow.”

“And which side will you choose?” she asked.

“I won’t. I’ll take my cattle and go somewhere else. You should probably do the same.”

“Is that a threat?”

“No, ma’am. I just wouldn’t want to see you get hurt. There’s no reason for you to be exposed to the dangers.”

She met his gaze levelly. “Mr. Truscott, if something touches Jake, it touches me. I assure you if I wished to avoid the trouble, I’d need only ask Jake not to put up his fence. He explained to me what would happen if he fenced in his land. But it’s his land, every acre, and if he wants to fence it in, he has the right to do so and I’ll stand by him.”

Zach smiled, shaking his head. “I didn’t mean to offend you. I find myself in an unusual position. I never expected to envy Jake anything. But I envy him for having you.”

The dance ended and Rebecca pulled away. “Thank you for the dance.”

Zach took her arm. “I hope we can still be friends.”

She gazed into brown eyes similar to Jake’s, but the shade was not as deep nor the reflection of emotion as rich. “I’d like for us to be friends, but I want to make sure you understand my position. I told Jake if he put up his fence,
I’d shoot anyone that tried to tear it down. I meant it. I was raised on a ranch. I was raised to be a rancher. And I was raised to fight for what is mine. Side with Ethan and you not only go against Jake, you go against me.” “Jake is a lucky man.”

“Funny,” Rebecca said as she turned to leave, “I’ve always considered myself the fortunate one.”

Watching her return to her husband’s side, Zach gazed longingly after her. Jake deserved some good in his life, but he had outdone himself when it had come to choosing a wife.

He waited patiently until Frank escorted Rebecca out to the dance floor. Then he took a deep breath and walked up to Jake.

“Don’t suppose you could use another ranch hand on your spread, could you?” he asked, wishing his palms weren’t sweating.

Jake studied the man standing before him. The handshake they’d exchanged at the Reading Ranch couldn’t erase the memories of all those bitter years, but working beside Zach today had seemed to forge a fragile bond between the two men. “Helping me build my barn is one thing. Working for me is something entirely different. Don’t you think it’ll cause hard feelings between you and Ethan?”

“I can handle Ethan.”

“What about your cattle?”

“I’ll take my share from Ethan, graze them with yours. If I don’t turn out to be the best hand you ever hired, you can keep them.”

“You seem to forget I know exactly how good you are.”

Zach smiled. “Then you’ll win either way, won’t you?”

Jake wanted to make sure Zach understood what his position would be if he came to work for him. “Lee Hastings is my foreman. You’d have to take orders from him.”

“I’ve got no problem with that.”

“And Reb. She’s my partner. Her word’s the same as mine.”

“Figured as much.”

“Well then.” Jake extended his hand. When Zach took it, he smiled. “Welcome to the Rocking R.”

Gray-haired men swore the route of the Shawnee Trail was determined by the town of Pleasure. Silver-haired women swore Pleasure chose its location because of the route of the Shawnee Trail. Neither side could prove their case, but one certainty remained: the town of Pleasure took its name from the reason for its existence.

Andrea Shanley had come to the barren land with one purpose in mind: to make herself wealthy. She hired carpenters and, in what at that time seemed to be the middle of nowhere, she erected a large house.

One week after the carpenters left, the residents of her establishment arrived and the place opened for business. Its business was to bring pleasure to the men who drove the herds up from the bowels of Texas to the shipping centers in Kansas.

Jake pulled the wagon up in front of Pleasure’s only general store, then helped his wife down as a flurry of dry dust swept through the main street. Frank and Lee Hastings hopped out of the back of the wagon, promising to return in an hour to help Jake load up the supplies. Jake followed his wife into the general store and then headed over to talk to the owner.

Strolling through the store, Rebecca was surprised by the amount of finery, satin cloths, and fancy feathers that adorned the shelves, wondering who in the world would need such things. She stopped beside a bolt of blue calico, running her fingers over it, turning around when she felt her husband’s presence beside her.

“Would you like blue curtains?” she asked.

Jake studied the cloth without touching it. It was marked at ten cents a yard. The first thing Reb had asked for and he wasn’t going to be able to give it to her.

“Would you prefer another color?” Rebecca asked, noting his hesitancy to commit himself to blue.

“No, blue will be fine. But …” His forlorn expression told Rebecca something was amiss.

“What’s wrong?”

“Reb, we’re going to have to go back over this list of supplies and decide what we really don’t need.” “Why?”

Jake ran his hand down his thigh. “Because I was expecting to be able to buy on credit, and Mr. Abrams says I’ll have to pay cash. I need to hold onto the cash as much as possible.”

She looked past her husband to the man standing behind the counter, a man who obviously dipped his hand into the candy jar. He was smacking his lips as though he were tasting sugar. She wondered how long it had been since he had been able to see his feet. She brought her eyes back to her husband.

“Why won’t he extend us credit?”

“Because I’m not worth anything.”

Jake hadn’t seen anger flare up in those blue eyes so intensely since her father had announced her child would not inherit his land. “Did he tell you that?” she hissed.

“Yes, ma’am. But he’s right. I only have eight hundred dollars left.” He once again ran his hand down his thigh.

“I’m thinking I might have to look for work on another ranch.”

“You’re going to work another man’s spread so you can finance your own? You married me to handle the books. Guess it’s time I started earning my keep. Introduce me to Mr. Abrams.”

As they walked to the counter, Rebecca ignored the way the man watched her. He looked like a child running his tongue slowly over an all-day sucker.

“Is it true you won’t extend us credit?” Rebecca asked.

“It’s like I told your husband. We’ve had a dry summer and cattle aren’t doing well. People owe me and they aren’t paying.”

“Do we owe you?”

“No, ma’am.”

“So you’re judging us on others’ abilities instead of our own. I assure you that’s not a wise business decision. My husband has only just begun working his spread, but he
brought five hundred head of cattle from Kentucky, and we have not suffered from a drought. For anyone that knows him, his handshake serves as adequate collateral. Since you don’t know him, I’ll overlook the insult you’ve leveled against him this time, and I’ll trust it won’t happen in the future.”

Samuel’s face turned as red as the candy sitting in one of his glass jars. “I’m real sorry, ma’am. But I just can’t extend you credit.”

“Is there a bank in this town?”

“Yes, ma’am. Four storefronts down.”

“And if we bring you a letter of credit from the president of the bank, will you extend credit to us?”

Samuel chortled. “Ma’am, if you can get a letter of credit from tightwad Harry, I’ll give you the store.”

“May I have that in writing before I leave?”

Samuel’s mouth dropped open. The woman was serious. “No, ma’am.”

“Mr. Abrams.” Rebecca extended her hand which he hesitantly shook. She and Jake turned to leave. Then she turned back. “Is there somewhere in town where we can get something to eat?”

“The hotel across the street serves up a good meal.”

“Thank you, Mr. Abrams. We’ll be back shortly.”

Rebecca walked quickly out of the store. Jake followed more slowly. His wife waited on the boardwalk, tapping her foot, her arms crossed under her chest, her jaw set as he had never seen it set.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

Her eyes snapped up to his. “What are you apologizing for?” She shook her head and released her pent-up breath. “It’s my fault. I’m used to dealing in a state where everyone knew me and my father’s name was as good as a bank draft.” She slipped her arm through his. “Before we leave today, though, you’ll be able to get credit anywhere in town that you want it.” She smiled up at him. “Let’s go get some lunch and I’ll explain it all to you.”