Love and Fury: The Coltrane Saga, Book 4 (22 page)

Briana’s hands began trembling. Dear Lord, Gavin had warned her it would happen like this, that one day, out of the blue, John Travis Coltrane would appear.

When she did not speak, Colt settled himself in a chair opposite her. “So,” he began, “you’ve come home.”

“And so have you,” she managed to counter.

He was able, despite the tension, to smile at her with some fondness. “It’s been a while, Dani. Fourteen years, I believe? As I sit here looking at you, it’s as though we’ve never met.”

We haven’t,
she thought, then began struggling to obtain command of the situation. She had to remember all Gavin had drilled into her. “Fourteen years is a long time. I feel the same way about you, John Travis.”

“Folks call me Colt, have since I was about sixteen.”

“Colt, then,” she said. “I realize this is awkward for both of us. You’re probably surprised to see me.”

He shook his head, the warmth beginning to evaporate. “I figured you’d show up sooner or later. Money can mend a lot of fences.”

Gavin had warned her to expect resentment, but she was hurt. This was silly, she admonished herself.
She
shouldn’t be hurt. She wasn’t Dani. “I would like nothing better than for us to be close,” she said awkwardly.

“Close with me?” He laughed, a brittle sound. “What about our father? It’s his money you’ve come to claim, you know. I should think you’d be appreciative enough that you’d want to see
him.
He’s been pretty hurt by the way you’ve treated him.”

Gavin had coached her. “I can’t expect you to understand why things happened as they did. I never really wanted things to be the way they were.”

“Then why were they?”

Briana lifted her chin. She did not, Gavin had told her over and over, have to justify Dani’s presence or her claim on the estate. “I have already told you that I do not expect you to understand my feelings, so there is no point in my attempting to explain. Some things, I feel, are better left unsaid. It is enough that I am here. This is my home, Colt. If you resent me, then that is too bad, but I have the right to be here.”

He sat back in the chair and silently appraised this stranger who was his half sister. Confident. High-spirited. Self-assured. If he wanted to be pleasant, then she would be pleasant. If he wanted to be nasty, he would bet she could be just as difficult. The spoiled little girl who could be goaded into a violent temper tantrum was no more. This was a poised, mature woman.

“All right,” he assented, “you’re here to claim what’s yours. I don’t argue with that.” He paused, then said, “Let’s talk about Gavin Mason and where he fits in.”

Not quite sure what to say, Briana shrugged.

“I arrived last night,” Colt said frostily, “while your soiree was in progress. I didn’t want to intrude, so I spent the night in the bunkhouse.

“By the way,” he added pointedly, “I met your Dirk Hollister. I understand he fancies himself the new foreman.”

He did not miss the way her expression changed.

“He is not
my
Dirk Hollister, and I assure you he was told last night that I have no intention of seeing Mr. Pope dismissed.”

Colt shook his head in disbelief at her temerity. “Well, I’m awfully glad to know that, Dani. I do appreciate your not firing
my
foreman. He’s only worked with the family for ten years. I think it’s real nice of you not to march in here and kick him out.”

Briana was not moved by his sarcasm. Why should she be? None of this, she reminded herself, had anything to do with her, not really. She was playing a role, that was all.

He looked at her carefully, puzzled that she could remain so calm. Nothing he said riled her. “So what about Mason?” he demanded. “Who the hell is he, and why’s he here?”

She knew the words by heart. “Gavin is my stepbrother, Aunt Alaina’s adopted son. We are very close, and when I announced I was coming to America, he insisted on coming with me because he said it wasn’t safe for me to travel alone. He’s been a marvelous help to me, especially after I got here and learned of your recent misfortune…”

“My personal life has nothing to do with any of this,” Colt snapped, “just as Gavin Mason hasn’t got a damn thing to do with what goes on at this ranch. Now, I’ve heard about how he’s ordered the hands around, and the servants. That is going to stop now. He’s not to come here unless he’s invited. If you don’t like that arrangement, then I suggest you move into Silver Butte so you can be with him. Which”—he paused, reminding himself not to let his temper get the best of him—“leads to my next question: Why have you been staying on here? Why didn’t you get what’s yours and go back to France?”

She shook her head. “It’s not that simple.”

“Yes,” he said, “it is. It’s all taken care of. Father explained it to me carefully. You get a sum of cash, and I’ve already signed papers agreeing to buy out your share of the ranch and the silver mine. Hell, there’s a lot of money just sitting there waiting for you. What, for God’s sake, isn’t simple?”

The next words she had been ordered to say were the most difficult.

“I—I want to live here, Colt. I want to see what my homeland is really like.” She kept her gaze on the wall, so she wouldn’t have to look at his face.

Colt was stunned. Never had he expected this. He could hardly say, “I don’t want you here.”

When he didn’t say anything, Briana asked, “Do you begrudge my staying here—in my own home?”

He shook his head. She had every right. “If that’s what you want, then fine, but,” he added firmly, “I run things. Have your parties, sure, but I run the house. Me. Not Gavin Mason. You can tell him to go back to France, but if he insists on leeching off you, then it will be your money he gets, not mine. Do we understand each other on that point?”

Briana was hating the encounter more with each passing moment, but she knew what she had to say. “Gavin can stay in
my
half of the house.”

Colt shook his head. “I won’t have it.”

“You have no choice.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“Fine.”

They glared at each other, Colt gripping the arms of his chair to keep from exploding. Briana wanted to cry. He seemed like such a nice man, and oh, how she hated to see those tender, beautiful eyes staring at her with such contempt.

Colt stood. “We aren’t getting anywhere, Dani, so I’ll get things with Mason straightened out myself. I’ve already taken care of Hollister, and since you seem to hold your stepbrother in such high regard, I hope the, same means won’t be necessary with him.”

Briana was joyous with relief to hear about Hollister, but she schooled herself to show nothing.

He walked to the door, then turned. “Let’s get one more thing straight. If you’re going to stay here, you aren’t going to be a prima donna. You’re to do your share of the work around here, and you can start by getting dressed. I don’t know how the genteel ladies of France dress at this time of day, but around here, the womenfolk are up at daylight and ready to get to work. You can start by going downstairs and helping to clean up the mess your friends made last night.”

Briana fought the urge to grin. That was exactly what she wanted—to work, to do things, to become a part of this wonderful place.

He went out, then came in again to say stiffly, “By the way, Dani, welcome home.” And then he left.

Briana squeezed her hands together, feeling the full measure of her tension. Well, Gavin had met his match; she was sure of that. Once he found out that he wouldn’t be able to push Colt around, Gavin would take Dani’s share of the money and leave for France. The ruse would be over, and she would be free.

She turned to stare wistfully out the window. She would miss this green and gold and blue world, the wide-open spaces.

She acknowledged sadly that she had a new reason for hating this deception. Under other circumstances, she knew somehow that Colt would be warm and friendly, and thinking about that provoked strange stirrings within her. In that first instant, she had felt something unexplainable, and she wondered whether Colt had felt it also. She had felt drawn to him…until those tender eyes had turned so cold.

She shook her head, turning away from the window. It was silly to daydream foolishly. Colt believed she was his half sister, and she could never let him know otherwise.

One more painful thing to try to forget.

One more tormenting reminder of a life that could never be.

Colt left the house. He knew he ought to be in the study, going over finances, but that would have to wait. He needed to think because there was a hell of a lot on his mind.

Damn, but his sister was a strange one. He’d never seen a woman so calm in a tense situation. While she had made her position clear, subtly letting him know she wasn’t feeling guilty over her long estrangement, she had managed to do so without goading him. if he was angry, if he resented the lack of remorse in her manner, he knew it was due to his own feelings.

Smart. The girl was smart, seemed to know exactly what she was doing. But he was puzzled over her wanting to stay. Why didn’t she just take her money and go back to the family she had chosen fourteen years ago? Could she really care about life on a Nevada ranch? He doubted it.

Maybe, he mused as he headed for the stable, she wanted to find a husband here. With the money she was entitled to, she’d have no trouble. Plenty of men would marry her for that reason alone. He sighed. He supposed now he’d have to put up with fortune hunters sniffing around, especially after the big party last night.

He slowed his pace. Dani was a beautiful woman. Did she look like her mother? He had never been told much about that period in his father’s life, and he’d never asked a lot of questions, for he understood that that had been a very sad time for both his parents. He knew only that his father, believing his mother dead, had gone to Kentucky as a federal marshal, to put a stop to the mistreatment of the Negroes by the Ku Klux Klan. He had done a fine job, too, Colt recalled proudly, he and his sidekick, Sam Bucher.

Sam Bucher.

A wave of tender feelings went through Colt. He had grown up loving Sam Bucher like a member of the family, even calling him “Uncle Sam”. When he died four years ago, peacefully in his sleep, his death had hurt deeply. It was also the only time Colt ever saw his father cry.

Colt knew well the story of how his father had come by his fortune. He and Sam had saved the life of a prospector, Wiley Odom, who was about to be murdered by claim jumpers. When eventually Odom died a natural death, he willed the mine to Travis and Sam, in gratitude. Sam gave his share to Travis, saying he just didn’t want the responsibility. But Sam remained with Travis, having no family of his own, and Travis saw to it that Sam never lacked for anything.

Colt commanded himself to push the memories away. There was enough going on right then without thinking about the past.

“Colt!”

Branch was hurrying toward him.

“Hollister’s on his way to get Mason. One of the wranglers saw him on the trail into town, said he had a big bruise on the side of his face. What the hell happened?”

Colt told him, then said, “I’m glad he’s gone after Mason. The sooner I set him straight about keeping his nose out of my business, the better.”

“And Dani?” Branch pressed.

Colt told him about their brief conversation, confiding that he didn’t understand her staying on the ranch.

Branch told him how she’d taken to ranch life right from the start. “Till Mason put a stop to her ridin’. He rules her with an iron hand, he does. She looks like a scared rabbit when he’s around.”

“You mean she’s afraid of him?” Colt asked, bewildered.

Branch shook his head slowly. “Naw, not exactly afraid. The way she looks at him, it’s like she can’t stand him, maybe even hates him. I get the feeling maybe he’s been sent by that woman, Dani’s aunt, to keep an eye on her, and she resents it. He sure bosses her around, though, no doubt about that.”

They reached the stable, and Colt led his horse from a stall and saddled him. Branch watched in silence for a few moments, and then both men decided it was time to speak of something neither really wanted to talk about. Branch waited, knowing Colt would talk when he was ready, and soon enough, Colt said very quietly, “How come you didn’t tell me the truth about Becky?”

Branch shrugged, uneasy. “Not my place to. You never did like anyone messing in your personal business, Colt.”

Colt agreed, then said, “Let’s just say I came back a little smarter than when I left.”

“Good.” Branch smiled. “And I hope you didn’t get your feelings hurt,” he added cautiously.

Colt made no reply, as Branch had figured he wouldn’t.

Chapter Fourteen

Colt decided to ride out to the silver mine, to check on operations there. It could have waited. There were other things that needed tending to first, but he wanted a good long ride, and the Coltrane property encompassed over a thousand acres. Not long after leaving the ranch compound, he felt like the only soul in the world.

The talk with Branch, about Becky, had gotten his anger stirring and he chided himself. What was done could not be undone.