Signed and Sealed (10 page)

Elijah was noticeably quiet and withdrawn throughout the meal, although he did question Will about his refusal to accept his financial help. “Mrs. Coleman tells me you would not take the bank card that I had left for you?” he asked while they were having dessert. It was the first time he’d spoken since the meal began, although Will noticed that he kept him under close scrutiny, as always.
What’s wrong?
He wondered.
What’s he looking at or what’s he trying to find?

“I didn’t need it,” he said. “I do appreciate the offer, though,” he added politely.

Eli didn’t say anything to that. He just looked at Will long and hard.

After dinner, Elijah and Martin excused themselves to take care of some sort of mechanical problem in one of the stables. Will followed them as they left the room. At the front door, Elijah turned around and reached out suddenly, taking him by the shoulders and bringing him up snug against him. “I’ll see you before bed,” he said with that same expression that seemed to be trying to look through him. Martin witnessed the embrace but acted as if it were natural and expected. He wasn’t the least bit surprised. Will began anew to feel the trap and the set-up coming together around him.

The desire to run came on him with considerable force. If only he could grab his bags and walk out that door, but then Eli would simply come after him. He’d made that very clear when he showed up at the mall. Mrs. Coleman told him that he’d even put his pilot on standby. He was prepared to fly to Michigan if need be. It wouldn’t be easy for Will to get away. He was tied to this man for a while; he was the collateral that had allowed Katrina to go home. If he left, Katrina’s contract and his agreement were both broken, and as Elijah stated earlier, he wouldn’t take that lightly. Will really didn’t care what Eli did to Katrina at this point, but he cared about his home. He wouldn’t allow Katrina to take everything from him again. He was stuck, and he had to see it through ’til the thirty-first, which at this point seemed years away.

“So, what
do you think?” Martin ventured as they were making their way to the large stable.

“I really don’t know,” Elijah stated with slight frustration. “In the beginning, before he arrived, I thought he had to be as guilty as his sister. Now I just don’t know.”

“You seem to be falling for him.” Martin smiled. “Is it real, or are you trying to get him to show his true colors?”

Elijah threw his hands up and sighed deeply. “I thought I was playing with him, but it seems that he may be playing with me. The more I know of him, the more unsure I am about the entire situation. I can’t get involved with someone who would support a scheme like the one Katrina concocted.” He ran his hand roughly through his hair, frustrated at his inability to paint Will with the same brush as Katrina.

“I’m finding it hard to believe he would be a part of anything underhanded or immoral. I just don’t know.”

“How are you going to get at the truth?” Martin was impressed by his brother’s candor with regard to his weakness with William.

“I have a plan.” He smiled but did not elaborate.

Will
decided to go outside to walk and think. He walked on in no particular direction, lost in his own thoughts until he heard someone call to him.

“Hello there,” a woman called to him from the porch of a small home.

“Hello,” Will responded.

“Would you like to come and sit for a while?” the woman asked kindly.

“Thank you.” Will accepted and walked toward the porch. The house was small, but well built and attractive.

The woman introduced herself as Kathy Graham. She was a petite young woman with beautiful black hair and a big, welcoming smile. She explained that her husband Jim had worked for Elijah for the past five years. She told Will that all the married employees had their own homes on the ranch and the single men lived in the bunkhouses.

Will was about to introduce himself when Kathy told him that she already knew who he was. “The Hunter ranch grapevine is one of the finest in the county.” She laughed, and Will joined her. “People here knew who you were even before you ever arrived,” she continued. “Word got around quick that Katrina’s brother was coming. Elijah seemed very satisfied by the fact that you agreed to come to the ranch,” she tried to explain. “It’s hard to describe. He had been in the blackest mood possible for any human to assume ever since your sister… attempted to….” She fell silent. Will recognized her discomfort.

“It’s okay,” Will assured her, “I’ve lived with Katrina a lot of years. I know what she’s capable of doing. Don’t be afraid of offending me. There isn’t much that I’ve heard when it comes to Katrina that I haven’t already said myself.” Kathy smiled, relieved that she hadn’t offended him.

“Well, to get to the point, after he heard about you and heard that you were coming here… well, his mood changed considerably.” She offered Will a small lemonade, which he accepted. “It was like night and day,” she exclaimed. “We were all very interested in meeting you.” “How did his mood change?” Will asked. He wondered if Eli was perhaps happy that he would have another of the Drake clan to torment.

“You were the hot topic that day,” Kathy stated with enthusiasm. “Elijah informed everyone that you would be arriving sometime within the week. He also demanded that you be treated with courtesy and respect unless you proved yourself unworthy of it.”

Katrina must have told him. He had let Katrina know that he would be arriving within the week, though he hadn’t told her any specific date or time.

“Have you seen the piano in the sitting room?” Kathy asked with a sly grin.

“Yes, it’s beautiful,” he responded. “I’ve wanted to try it out, but I’m afraid to ask. It probably belonged to his mother,” Will commented.

“That piano arrived two days before you did. He bought it for you. Katrina told him you were a piano teacher, and he wanted to make you as comfortable as possible.” She laughed at the expression on Will’s face.

“You’re not serious?” Will stated after the shock.

“I’m serious.”

“He never said anything about it.”

“He wouldn’t, but you can ask him if you don’t believe me,” Kathy urged him. “His behavior, when it comes to you, William Drake, is a side of Elijah that we’ve never seen.”

“I think it’s a trap,” Will blurted after finishing his lemonade in one gulp. This caught Kathy by surprise.

“A trap? Why?” It was Kathy’s turn to ask the questions.

“It all feels like a set-up to me,” he began. “I just don’t trust him. Why did he trade Katrina for me? What does he want? I’ve had these questions going through my mind ever since I arrived, and the only answer I can come up with is that it’s some sort of twisted game he’s playing.”

“Everyone thinks that he is truly interested in you. His behavior since your arrival has bewildered us all. Elijah has never shown the slightest real affection for anyone. I’m not saying he isn’t popular; he’s a man, after all. He will use a man, but he has never allowed one to stay at the ranch. I find it hard to accept that what I’ve seen in him lately is just part of a joke or a game.” She could see that although Will was quietly listening to her, he was obviously not buying it. “If he wanted to hurt you, he would. He wouldn’t drag it out for a month. Why would he want to hurt you, anyway? You had nothing to do with what your sister tried to do. Did you?”

“No, and that’s what I keep telling him, but he still seems to think that I am the mastermind behind this gold-digging operation. Katrina told him that it was all my idea, and he believes her.”

“He believes you.” Kathy stated this emphatically. 

That declaration truly startled him. “What did he say to you, exactly?”

“It isn’t what he has said; it is how he is behaving.” Kathy was struggling with her words. “If you don’t know Elijah, you wouldn’t understand. He is handling you so differently. He was hateful to your sister. Her life here was hell. If he thought you were part of the scheme, he would be treating you the same.”

“Still, I don’t accept that he feels anything more than contempt and disgust where I’m concerned.”

Kathy shook her head.

“So his sexuality is common knowledge, then?” Will asked. He’d been curious since the beginning that no one found it odd that the ranch master was gay.

“Oh, absolutely. Personally, I don’t care, you can’t help who you love, but I think everyone else is just too afraid of him to question anything he says or does. He is a brutally honest person, he doesn’t hide himself for anyone,” Kathy stated matter-of-factly.

Will was glad that he’d found Kathy. Her company was a pleasure. Even though he’d known her for only a few short minutes, he was comfortable discussing his thoughts and concerns with her. It was a relief to open up to someone.

“Well, whatever his intent, we’ll both know in a couple of weeks,” Kathy finished lightly. They talked on for a while longer before Will excused himself to return to the main house.

It was not yet 10:00 p.m., so Will walked slowly, again trying to figure out what Elijah might be planning. Kathy’s opinions were pleasant to consider, but Will was too much of a realist to take them seriously. He liked Kathy; she was someone who could become a good friend if Will were staying longer, which he wasn’t.

He was lost deep in his own thoughts when someone came up beside him. He didn’t speak, just fell into step with him.

“Nice night for a walk,” Eli commented eventually.

“Yes.”

Eli reached over casually and took his hand, holding it loosely. His touch was becoming familiar, but it always made Will tense and wary. They didn’t say anything more for some time. They walked and enjoyed the fresh night air. When they reached the front yard of the main house, Elijah hesitated, slowing down as if he wasn’t ready to go inside.

“Would you like to see the horses?” he asked, remembering Will’s delight in the horses at Adam’s ranch.

“Yes, I would.” Will visibly brightened. Eli smiled and slipped his arm around Will’s waist. A young man passed them on their way to the stable and tipped his hat to them.

“Good evening, Mr. Hunter… William,” he said.

“Good evening, Steven,” Elijah answered. The young man regarded them curiously for a moment before moving on.

“Does Steven work for you?” Will needed to talk, to say anything. The silence was too heavy.

“Yes, he’s an excellent horseman. I’m lucky to have him.”

Will thought again about what Kathy had told him and considered asking him about the piano.

“Mr. Hunter,” he began but was immediately cut off.

“Call me Eli,” he said and accompanied his statement with a firm squeeze on Will’s middle.

“Eli,” he corrected. “You have a beautiful piano in the sitting room, and I was wondering if I may be allowed to play it?”

“Yes, you may. I brought the thing here for you.” He was smiling at him when he added, “I told you that your stay would be as comfortable and as pleasant as I could make it. I was wondering when you were going to ask me about the piano.”

“I thought it was a family heirloom. I was afraid I might be overstepping my boundaries if I asked to touch it,” he explained. “Kathy Graham told me that it just arrived a few days ago, so I decided to ask.”

“Kathy Graham?” He looked puzzled for a minute. “You’ve been making friends, I see. She is a fine woman.” He glanced down at Will with a strange look of satisfaction. “You’re fitting in here very nicely, William.”

He opened the door to the stable and let Will enter first. He followed Will in and secured the door behind them. Horses lined both sides in their separate stalls.

“Wow!” Will burst out, unable to contain his amazement. These weren’t Mackinac Island workhorses, these were champions and they lived like it; the stable was immaculate.

Elijah was delighted with Will’s approval and put his arm back around him, guiding him down the walk, looking at each magnificent animal individually.

“Are these all Thoroughbreds?” Will asked as he stopped to admire another of the animals standing regally in his stall.

“Yes, they are.” Eli was impressed by the uninhibited excitement he saw in Will’s expression. He was proud of his horses.

“These are the most beautiful horses I have ever seen in my life,” he said with sincere appreciation.

“Thank you,” Eli responded with the same sincere appreciation and hugged him a little closer. Will was a true enigma, cool and distant with regard to everything except horses. Horses made him smile and excited his interest. The look on his face was pure unabashed joy. He couldn’t get enough of it.