The Rancher's Bride (3 page)

“For heaven’s sake, what now?” Kitty asked wearily.

Rose decided it would do no good to delay the telling. “The fence between us and the Flying H has been cut and cattle herded onto our land.”

“What?” Chloe practically yelled the question.

Totally bewildered, Kitty asked, “Who would have done such a thing?”

“I rode over to the Flying H and confronted Harlan Hamilton about it,” Rose told them. “He admitted that he’d done it.”

Chloe’s mouth fell open. Kitty simply stared at her niece.

When neither of them said anything, Rose made an impatient gesture with her hand. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?” Kitty asked with a puzzled frown.

“Like you’re wondering what gave the timid spinster enough courage to go see a man,” she said with disgust.

“Rose! None of us think of you as a timid spinster,” Chloe countered. “That’s your own way of thinking.”

Frustrated because she still couldn’t gather her nerves together, Rose closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” she told the two women, “I’m still feeling sorta testy.”

Kitty and Chloe exchanged worried glances. Rose never felt testy over anything—quietly concerned maybe, but never angry or irritated.

“Why? What happened between you and our neighbor?” Chloe asked.

“Like I said, I went to see him. I didn’t want to, but I made myself.” Rose offered Adam a spoonful of pureed chicken. The baby smacked his lips in appreciation. “And I guess it’s a good thing I did, or we might have—”

“What?” Kitty prompted when Rose stopped in midsentence.

“You’re not going to believe what he showed me.”

“His naked chest?” Chloe asked dryly.

Rose shot her sister a cool look of disapproval. “The man is running out of water.”

“So are a lot of other people around here,” Kitty spoke up. “Why, Vida was just telling me yesterday they were having to haul their drinking water from Ruidoso.”

“So is that why Mr. Hamilton cut our fence and drove his cattle onto our land? To give them a drink?” Chloe asked in disbelief. “I can’t really see what good that was going to do. Cattle have to have water every day. Or—” She looked at her sister with raised eyebrows. “He didn’t leave them on our land, did he?”

Rose shook her head. “No, he didn’t leave them on our land, but he intends for us to—” She couldn’t go on. Her throat closed around the words, forcing her to swallow several times before she could speak. “He wants us to open up the Bar M to him so that his cattle can reach our part of the river.”

The two women stared at Rose in stunned silence, then finally Chloe burst out laughing.

“You know, I always wondered why that man was single,” she said once her laughter had trailed away to a chuckle. “He’s got looks to die for, but apparently he doesn’t have a brain to go with them.”

“Just hush, Chloe, you haven’t heard it all,” Rose scolded wearily.

“You mean there’s more?”

Adam was banging his fist on the high-chair tray. Rose quickly pushed another spoonful of food at the baby.

“Oh, yes. It seems that several months ago, more than a year to be exact, our father borrowed money from Harlan Hamilton.”

“No!” Kitty said with a sharp gasp.

The humor suddenly vanished from Chloe’s face. “How much?”

Rose repeated the amount and once again the two women stared blankly at her.

“The worst part is,” Rose continued, “Daddy put the Bar M up as collateral.”

Chloe rocketed to her feet. “He couldn’t have! He wouldn’t have!”

Her face stiff, Rose said, “He did. Harlan has it on document. And I’ll assure you it was all very legal.”

“You mean, if we don’t or can’t repay Mr. Hamilton, the ranch could belong to him?” Kitty asked fearfully.

Rose nodded. “That’s just about the size of it.”

“So what are we going to do?” Chloe asked sinkingly. “If we sell our stock there’s no way the ranch can make money!”

Adam began pushing away the offered spoon, indicating to Rose he was full. She wiped the baby’s face and hands, then began filling her own plate. She wasn’t going to let what her father had done, or what Harlan might do, ruin her supper.

“We’re going to open up our land to Mr. Hamilton and hope that he’ll be patient about the loan. Right now, he says water is the only thing he wants from us,” Rose told the two women.

Like a fallen rock Chloe dropped back into her chair. “Oh Rose, you’re so gullible where men are concerned. You haven’t been around them enough to know they’ll tell you anything that suits them—no matter how far from the truth it is.”

Rose leveled a dark look at her sister. “Oh, I think you know I learned all about men a long time ago, Chloe. That’s exactly why I stay away from them. But as for Harlan— we have no choice but to trust him. He’s holding all the cards.”

Chloe sagged against the back of her chair.

Kitty looked at Rose. “What do you think about this Mr. Hamilton, Rose? Do you think he can be trusted?”

Did she? Since her ordeal with Peter more than eight years ago, Rose had never trusted any man, except her father. And even that had turned out to be a mistake. She’d be a fool to believe Harlan was sincere. Yet for some reason she wanted to think he was different from the rest, that
maybe he was one of those few men like her sister’s husband, Roy Pardee. An honest man with morals and a good heart.

“I don’t know, Aunt Kitty. I found out he’s a widower with a teenage daughter. He appears to be a responsible man and father, but who’s to say? We thought Daddy was a responsible man and father.”

“Tomas must have been a very troubled man to do what he did. Having an affair with that woman, paying her all that money and now this! I just thank God my sister Lola isn’t alive to know about it.” Kitty shook her head sadly. “So what’s going to happen next?”

Rose took a long drink of ice water. She’d never felt so exhausted in her life and to think of getting up and facing Harlan in the morning was nearly more than she could bear.

“First thing tomorrow I’m going to meet Harlan at the cut in the fence and we’re going to decide what to do about the cattle. As for the money, I’m sure you both know we don’t have it and there’s no chance we will have it for a long time to come. He says his use of our water will count for a payment on the loan. I don’t know how much money that means, but I’ll find out.”

The kitchen went quiet, except for the babies, who were squealing and straining to grab the other’s face across their high-chair trays.

Rose finished the food on her plate, then lifted Adam into her arms. The baby nuzzled his head against her neck and she savored his innocent affection. The twins were the only good thing to come out of this mess their father had made. And whether the law ever managed to track down their mother or not, the whole family was determined to keep them and raise them as true Murdocks. “I’m going to give Adam a bath and get ready for bed. Will one of you call Justine and tell her the news?”

Kitty nodded solemnly. “I will. Maybe Roy might have some idea that could help us.”

“Roy’s a good sheriff, but I don’t think he can help us out of this mess,” Rose said, then turned to leave the kitchen.

“Rose,” Chloe called after her.

Rose turned to look at her younger sister. “Would you rather I met Mr. Hamilton in the morning?”

She and Chloe had always been opposites. Chloe was normally bubbly and outspoken and very self-confident, whereas Rose was just quiet, old Rose. Yet there had always been a deep love between them and Rose could feel it now more than ever.

“Thanks for offering, Chloe, but this is—well, it’s something I have to do myself. After Daddy died we agreed that the horses were your responsibility and the cattle mine. I’m not going to run from my job just because I don’t like dealing with a man.”

“We never said we couldn’t help each other out, if the other needed it,” Chloe said gently.

A wan smile touched Rose’s face. “I know. But oddly enough Harlan Hamilton doesn’t scare me. It’s just that— there’s something about the man that bothers me.” Adam tugged on a loose tendril of her hair. Rose absently kissed the baby’s cheek. “But I can put up with him for as long as it takes to get this ranch back to a solid business again. And I’m making a promise right now. Harlan Hamilton is never going to own the Bar M.”

L
ong before Rose reached the faint bend in the river, Harlan spotted her on the sorrel. From the hill where he sat on his black mare he watched and waited for her to ride closer.

She was dressed as she had been yesterday in a pair of worn jeans, brown boots and a gray felt hat. The only difference was her shirt. This one was deep green and buttoned tightly at the cuffs and throat.

Last night after he’d taken the woman home, he’d found it nearly impossible to stop thinking about her and he couldn’t figure why. True, she had a quiet, natural beauty. But he’d seen plenty of good-looking women since Karen had died and none of them had stirred him in any way. Yet there was something about Rose Murdock that made him itch in all the wrong places.

Nudging the mare’s sides, he decided to ride down the slope to meet her and the spotted blue dog trotting at her heels.

“Good morning,” she said as he stopped abreast of her.

“Good morning,” he drawled.

She shifted in the saddle as his dark brown eyes scanned her face. She didn’t know why the man had to look at her like he enjoyed it. She was too thin to have much of a figure and her features were sharp and angular. The only nice things about her were full lips and gray luminous eyes. But in Rose’s opinion nothing about her warranted a second glance.

“I’ve talked with my family about letting you use some of the ranch,” she said to him.

“And?”

And? Did he honestly think they were in a position to refuse him? Rose wondered. She said, “Of course they’re in agreement. They’re leaving it up to me and you to decide which parts of the land would work best for all of us.”

“I’m glad they understand my problem.”

Rose came close to groaning out loud. His problem? All he needed was a little water. She and her sisters needed a miracle.

“My sisters and I would like to know how much money you’re willing to allow us for our water,” she told him.

He studied her for a moment, then named an amount that Rose considered surprisingly generous.

“I think that’s more than fair,” she said awkwardly as her eyes skittered away from his tough face.

Looks to die for.
That’s the way Chloe had described him. Rose didn’t know about that, but she knew whenever she looked at him she couldn’t think or breathe or do anything but gawk like a naive teenager. Her reaction to him was downright silly. But she didn’t know how to stop it.

Harlan motioned toward the section of land they were presently on. “I have a hundred head to graze and water. Can this spot do that? It’s the closest one to me and the most feasible one to use. Or do you have cattle in here now?”

She nodded. “Fifty head. But I can move them.”

“That’s a lot of trouble.”

It was. But she was getting pretty used to dealing with trouble. First they found babies abandoned on the doorstep, then they discovered their father had been blackmailed by the mother into making exorbitant payments, and now this loan to Harlan Hamilton. Rose couldn’t imagine what else might turn up as a result of their father’s reckless behavior.

“There’s no other choice,” Rose told him.

“Where is your open pasture?” he asked.

Her eyes flickered back to Harlan. The gold of the morning sun was rising behind him, outlining his thick shoulders, the rolled brim of his black hat and the dark curls lying against his neck. He looked like a moonlighter, something the old men of the west called a cattle thief. Could she trust him with her cattle? Her land? Herself?

“Several miles from here.”

Rubbing his unshaved jaws, he thoughtfully studied the land spread to the west of them. The river was dry in spots, but in other places the water was deep and cool. If heaven had a name, the Bar M had to be it, he thought.

“I see you didn’t bring a wrangler with you,” he said to Rose.

Her eyes on Pie’s tangled mane, she said, “I don’t have a wrangler. I’m it.”

Harlan couldn’t have been more stunned if Queen, his mare, had suddenly started bucking sky-high. This woman was taking care of several thousand acres of land and cattle on her own? No. He couldn’t believe it.

“I’m not saying this because I think you’re incompetent, but I just don’t believe…” He broke off with a shake of his head. “Surely you have help of some kind.”

She combed her fingers through Pie’s long mane, then patted his neck. The horse was her help, her companion, her very best buddy. These days she spent more time with him than she did anyone.

“Pie here is my help. And Amos my heeler,” she motioned toward the dog, waiting quietly at her horse’s hocks. “Believe me, he’s a lot better than a handful of lazy wranglers.”

He looked skeptically at her, the sorrel and the scroungy dog. “I’m sure he’s a good horse and the dog is no doubt trained to work cattle, but—”

“You don’t have a hired hand, do you?” she interrupted.

“Well, no, but my ranch is half the size of yours.”

She lifted her chin proudly. Not for anything would she let him know how exhausted she was by the end of the day, how weary she was when she rose before dawn to start all over again. Some days she didn’t know if she could take another step. But the idea of losing her home drove her on.

“It takes a little more effort. We have someone to cut and bale our alfalfa for us and of course we have to have a farrier over pretty often to shoe Chloe’s horses, but other than that we pretty much do things for ourselves.”

What would Tomas think if he knew how hard his daughters were working? Harlan wondered. And what had happened to get the place in such shape? Tomas himself? Or had his daughters high-rolled all their money away?

“I know last night you implied things were tight. I didn’t realize you meant—well, I hadn’t heard you’d let all your hired help go.”

If that was the case, then he probably hadn’t heard about the twins, or her father’s sordid affair that had produced them. Rose couldn’t help but wonder what Harlan would think of his old friend when he did finally hear the story.

Rose glanced pointedly at the watch strapped to her wrist. “Well, if you’re ready, I think we’d better see if we can find my cattle and get them out of here. This might take awhile.”

“Not yet.”

Rose cut him a glance. “Why? What are you waiting for?”

“Emily is coming to help. In fact, she should be here any time now.” He reined Queen up the slope. “I’ll go see if I can spot her.”

Rose followed close behind him. “Emily knows about riding and herding cattle?”

He shot her a dry look over his shoulder. “Emily was born on a ranch back in east Texas and she’s lived on the Flying H for seven years. Like you, she knows what it’s all about.”

“You taught her?”

“It’s just me and her. I may come up short at being a stand-in mother, but as her daddy, I’ve taught her all the things I could. That may not seem like much to you, Rose, but…” he paused and shrugged, “someday it might help her.”

The two of them rode on to the top of the slope, then pulled their mounts to a stop. As they waited for Emily to appear, Rose considered what Harlan had just told her.

Teaching Emily about ranching was as much or more than what Tomas had taught her. She’d hate to imagine what sort of shape she and her sisters would be in now if they’d been raised as helpless females. Still, she couldn’t imagine not having a mother’s soft hand to wipe away a tear, brush her hair, help her pick out a dress for the junior high prom.

Rose had been devastated when she’d lost her own mother a little over a year ago. But at least she’d had her love and guidance while she’d been growing up. Emily had been robbed at a very vulnerable time in her life. Did Harlan realize that?

Only a minute or two passed before Emily came riding up on a big Appaloosa. Like Rose, she was dressed for riding in the sun and the brush. A smile on her face, she
appeared to be much perkier this morning than she’d been last night.

“Good morning, Rose. I hope you don’t mind me tagging along. Daddy thought I might be a help.”

Rose smiled at the girl. “I’m very grateful that you’re going to help. Since I don’t have any wranglers anymore, it’ll just be us three and Amos.”

The teenager stared at Rose in pretty much the same way her father had. “You don’t have help on your ranch?”

“Not right now,” Rose told her. “We’ve had to do a little cutting back.”

Harlan wondered what it cost Rose to admit to having financial problems. The woman obviously had pride and he respected her for that. He also respected the fact that she hadn’t given up. She was working hard to keep her home together. If she had caused some of the money problems on the Bar M, she was certainly trying to make up for it now.

Wanting to lighten the moment he grinned at both women. “Too bad, honey,” he teased Emily. “There won’t be any young cowboys for you to show off for.”

Emily groaned and tossed her head. “Oh, Daddy, you know I don’t like boys.”

“Not yet, huh?” he said, then gave Rose a conspiratorial wink.

Rose couldn’t remember the last time a man had winked at her. Feeling her cheeks turning pink, she quickly reined Pie away from him. “We’d better get moving,” she said matter-of-factly.

Fortunately the Bar M cattle were feeding on a patch of prickly pear not far from the pasture Rose intended to move them into. With Amos barking and circling the herd, it wasn’t too difficult for the three of them to bunch the cattle in a tight wad.

Because of the heat, they moved the animals at a slow walk. Even so, fine dust boiled high in the air and covered the three of them. Rose pulled a handkerchief from her jeans pocket and rode over to Emily, who was coughing and waving her hand in front of her face.

“Do you want my handkerchief?” Rose asked her.

Her face brown from the flying dirt, Emily grinned with appreciation, but shook her head. “Thank you, Rose. But you should keep it for yourself. I’ll be all right.”

It was difficult for Rose to believe this was the same girl who had been whining about washing a sinkful of dishes. So far Emily hadn’t complained about anything. In fact, she was working just as hard as Rose to get the job done.

“Then why don’t you ride up toward the front of the herd?” Rose suggested to her. “It won’t be as dusty up there. Your father and I can watch things back here.”

Emily nodded and urged the Appaloosa forward. “Thanks, Rose!”

Rose tied the handkerchief over her nose and mouth, then swung in place a few yards away from Harlan at the back of the herd. She was surprised to see he was watching her.

What was he thinking, she wondered. That all of this would someday be his? Well, thinking was as close as he was ever going to get, she silently promised. She’d sell every last cow and calf on the place and beg every bank in the state before she’d lose this ranch to him, or any man.

“How much farther?” he called over to her.

She wiped her forehead with the back of her forearm. “About a quarter of a mile. We’re almost there.”

He nodded and she noticed that unlike her and Emily, he appeared to be coping with the dust as though it wasn’t any more irritating than a pesky fly.

“I sent Emily up toward the front to get her out of the dust,” she told him.

“I noticed.”

He didn’t say more. Rose didn’t expect him to, but something about the expression on his face made her gaze linger longer than it should have. Suddenly his eyes softened and she felt at that moment it was just him and her against the world.

As if he’d read her thoughts, he said, “We’re going to get through this, Rose. The both of us.”

Maybe they would, she thought. But what would it be like once the rain eventually came, the debt was finally paid and the two of them went back to simply being neighbors again? She’d probably never see him after that.

The thought should have comforted her, even given her something to look forward to. But strangely enough she felt bothered by the idea. Although she couldn’t understand why. Harlan wasn’t her type. No man was her type. She’d do well to remember that.

By the time the three of them left Rose’s cattle safely secured on fresh pasture, it was noon. Harlan suggested they eat lunch before starting the task of moving his cattle onto Bar M land.

Down by the river, Rose found a smooth spot beneath a poplar and pulled out the lunch she’d packed in her saddlebags.

As she spread the containers of food on the ground in front of her, Harlan walked up behind her. “You know, you never cease to amaze me.”

The sound of his voice jerked her head up and around. She’d thought he was still tending the horses, not looming over her shoulder. The sight of him standing so close set her heart pounding heavily.

“Why do you say that?” she asked, trying her best to sound casual.

A faint smile tugged at his mouth as he looked down at her dusty face. She wasn’t comfortable in his company.
He’d known that the moment he’d walked up to her yesterday evening and she’d introduced herself. Her voice had been cool, yet her glances had been shy. Now the more Harlan was around her, the more he wondered why she wasn’t married. She must still be in her early twenties, and when she looked at him with her clear gray eyes, he got the impression that she was far more innocent than her years.

“I never expected you to have your lunch with you.”

Frowning, she turned her attention to the sandwich in her hand. “I take food out with me every day. I never know when I’ll be too far away from the ranch house to make it back for lunch. Besides, it’s always wise to at least carry a thermos of water or some sort of drink with you in this country.”

“That’s what I’m talking about,” he said. He sank to the ground a few feet away from her and leaned his back against a half-dead cottonwood. “Most women wouldn’t be so prepared. Hell, most women would be lost out here like this. But you seem right at home in the saddle, herding cows.”

She bit into a ham sandwich and told herself not to look at him. She didn’t like it when her senses went haywire. And that’s what the sight of him did to her, she realized. It crippled her brain. “I was born on this ranch, Harlan. I am home, here.”