When Love Comes (16 page)

Broc backed deeper inside the thicket so there wouldn’t be any chance the men gathering wood would see him. In the meantime, he listened to Dan put forth one argument after another. Carruthers ignored everything Dan said. He appeared so focused on heating the branding irons, he didn’t seem to notice he was doing all the work while Dan did nothing. If this ever went to court, Dan couldn’t be accused of participating.

“The irons will soon be ready,” Carruthers told Dan. “Tell the men to start roping the calves.”

“I’ve got to ask you again not to do this,” Dan said. “It can only end up being bad for everybody.”

Carruthers appeared to lose control of his temper. He waved his fists in the air and got so agitated, his face turned
dark from the force of his anger. He made Broc think of one of his younger brothers who used to throw a tantrum when he didn’t get his way.

“Nothing is going to happen to anybody!” Carruthers shouted. “Now stop talking and take one of these branding irons. Sully will have that calf on the ground any minute now.”

“I’m not picking up one of those irons,” Dan stated. “I’m not going to brand any calves that I know don’t belong to you.”

Carruthers let out a strangled shout of anger, yanked one of the red-hot branding irons from the fire, and turned on Dan, waving the rod like a weapon.

Dan evaded Carruthers’s attack, then moved in to get a grip on the man’s wrists and hold them immobile. Unfortunately he didn’t have eyes in the back of his head to see one of the men sneak up behind him, pick up a rock, and hit him over the head. Dan crumpled into a heap on the ground.

“Son of a bitch!” Carruthers said. “He turned on me.”

The men, shocked by the unexpected turn of events, had frozen into a tableau.

“Shoot him,” Carruthers shouted to the man with the rock. “Shoot him and throw his body into the marsh.”

The man froze.

“Shoot him!” Carruthers screamed. “I want him dead.”

“I don’t have a gun,” the man stammered.

Broc wondered if he would have shot Dan if he
had
had a gun.

“Any one of you got a gun?” Carruthers asked the other men.

One by one they shook their heads. Apparently thinking they were only going to brand calves, none of the men had come armed.

“You’re all spineless, useless bastards. If your mothers could see you now, they’d be ashamed they gave you birth. Looks like I have to do it myself.”

When he strode over to where his horse stood munching on the rich grass, and yanked his rifle from its scabbard, Broc knew the decision about what to do had been made for him. Pushing aside the foliage blocking his sight, he took careful aim with his own rifle and fired.

Carruthers’s weapon exploded into three pieces and flew from his hands. Everyone knew the shot had come from within the oak thicket, so Broc had no option but to show himself.

“You!” Carruthers exclaimed when he saw Broc. “I’ll kill you for being on my land. Shoot him!” Carruthers shouted at his men, apparently forgetting they’d already told him they were unarmed. “Shoot him! He tried to kill me.”

“If that’s what I’d meant to do, you’d be dead instead of acting like a crazy man. I just wanted to stop you from shooting Dan.”

“I have another rifle.”

Carruthers turned to where his horse had been, but the rifle shot had caused the animal to run off.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Broc told him. “Amanda knows where we are and what you intend to do. She and Leo are bringing the sheriff.”

The announcement appeared to make no impact on Carruthers, but it had an immediate effect on his men. The man who had wrestled a roped calf to the ground jumped up to let the animal scramble to its feet. A second cowhand released the pressure on his rope, which allowed the calf to shrug off the lasso and run bawling to its mama. A third cowhand released his calf. The others backed away from the animals they were holding in a tight circle. In a matter of seconds the
scene had changed from one of a branding to men sitting their horses. The only evidence of what was meant to happen was the fire and the still red-hot branding irons.

Broc knew that would be enough. Carruthers recovered enough from his rage to realize that, too. “Scatter the fire and throw the branding irons in the marsh,” he ordered.

“No one is going to touch that fire until the sheriff gets here,” Broc said.

“Rush him,” Carruthers ordered. “Without the fire, there’s no evidence against you.”

The last word was hardly out of his mouth before Carruthers turned and started running after his horse. It was clear Carruthers didn’t intend to be caught in case the sheriff really did show up. Broc had a decision to make: did he keep the men covered and allow Carruthers to get away, or did he go after Carruthers and let the men get away? He didn’t know if he could trust them to be more concerned about their own skins than Carruthers’s anger, but he couldn’t allow the boss to get away. He started after Carruthers.

Running in boots was hell, but Broc ignored the pain. What he couldn’t ignore was that Carruthers had gotten a good head start and was incredibly fast for a man his age. If Broc didn’t do something, he might get to his horse before Broc reached him. Hoping he hadn’t lost the accuracy he’d gained playing darts with rich men on riverboats, Broc threw his rifle at Carruthers’s feet. His luck held. The rifle struck one leg, causing the rifle to spin and catch the other leg. Carruthers hit the ground hard.

Broc was on him before he could get to his feet.

Carruthers wasn’t ready to give up. He did his best to hit or kick Broc. Neither scratching nor biting was beyond the man. Broc finally wrestled him flat on the ground, face pushed into the grass, and locked his arms behind his back.

“I’ll kill you for this,” Carruthers threatened in a muffled voice.

Broc ignored his threat.

Much to Broc’s dismay, when he looked back Carruthers’s men were busy scattering the fire. He didn’t know how he could prove Carruthers had meant to brand stolen calves, but he would think of something.

Apparently Carruthers could see well enough to realize what his men were doing, because he laughed. “You might as well let me up. It’s over.”

Broc sighed in relief when he saw a horse’s nose appear above the crest of the nearby hill. It was immediately followed by Amanda, Leo, and the sheriff. “No, it’s not,” Broc said to Carruthers. “The sheriff is here. Even if your men have scattered most of the evidence, there’s still enough to convict you.”

“It won’t matter what they find. They’ll never convict me of rustling.”

Broc couldn’t believe the man would continue to pretend innocence. If nothing else, Dan could testify to what his boss had intended to do.

“None of my men moved a single one of those cows. Gary Liscomb brought them here. Even Dan Walch will testify to that.”

At first Broc didn’t believe him. He couldn’t understand why Gary would do such a thing, but then the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach made him reconsider. Gary wished his mother would sell the ranch. He hated it so much he’d quit rather than continue to work on the Lazy T. Then there was his obsession with Priscilla Carruthers. How far would he go to win favor with Priscilla and her father?

“Let me up,” Carruthers said. “I’m not going to leave now that you have nothing to hold against me.”

No one could remove the scorched spot where the men had built the fire. The ground would still be warm. With some effort, the sheriff could probably recover at least one of the branding irons from the marsh, but no one could prove they’d been intended for use today. The fire could be explained as a way to heat coffee. Cowhands needed coffee to drink almost as much as they needed air to breathe.

Broc got up off Carruthers and started toward the site of the fire. He was more worried about Dan. Amanda and the sheriff rode up as he was helping Dan sit up. Amanda looked around, obviously confused by what she saw.

“Amanda told me Carruthers was going to brand her calves.” The sheriff looked around. “I don’t see any cows.”

“They were here a few minutes ago,” Broc said, “but Carruthers’s men drove them off when they realized you were on your way.” He pointed to the scorched place on the ground.
“They scattered the fire and threw the branding irons into the marsh. The ground is still warm.”

“He’s lying,” Carruthers called out to the sheriff as he approached. “He was hiding in those trees. I’m sure he would have run off my cows if we hadn’t found him.”

“I couldn’t run off cows that aren’t here.” Broc’s sweeping gesture took in the panorama of the empty prairie.

Carruthers acted as if Broc hadn’t spoken. “He tried to kill me when I told my men to run him off.” He pointed to the pieces of his rifle. “Any one of them will tell you he did that when he shot at me.”

“I can produce a half dozen men who will testify that I can shoot the heart out of a card at a hundred feet,” Broc said. “I can prove it right now if you’ll hold up a card.” Carruthers didn’t seem anxious to volunteer. “I shot that rifle out of your hands to keep you from killing Dan while he was unconscious.”

Dan stopped rubbing the back of his head and directed a startled glance at Carruthers. “You were going to kill me?” he asked in disbelief.

Carruthers pointed at Dan. “He hooked up with Kincaid to rustle my cows. One of my men knocked him out when he attacked me.”

“You attacked me with a branding iron when I refused to brand Lazy T calves.” Dan turned on the assembled cowhands, who were watching warily. “It shouldn’t take more than a day to find out which one of you knocked me out. If you’re smart, you’ll be gone before then.” The guilty cowhand flinched. Dan started to laugh. “I should have known it was you, Lakey. You’d empty the pockets of a passed-out drunk.”

“Lakey deserves a reward for coming to my rescue,” Carruthers said, “and he’ll get one. I take care of hands who ride for the brand.”

The sheriff turned to Amanda. “I don’t see any evidence Carruthers was going to brand your calves.”

“Both Broc and Dan will testify that he was.”

“My men will testify I wasn’t,” Carruthers countered.

“Don’t waste your time,” Broc said to Amanda. “They’re not going to incriminate themselves.” He turned to the sheriff. “I realize you don’t have the proof you need to arrest Carruthers, but you will have to agree that the circumstances look suspicious. If you’ll ride around a bit before you leave, you will find plenty of Lazy T cows in this area. If you don’t look around,” Broc added when it was clear the sheriff didn’t believe a word Broc said, “you’ll be neglecting your duty to investigate any allegation of rustling or illegal branding. When it comes out that this is exactly what has been happening and that you ignored it, you will be as guilty as Carruthers.”

“I’m not guilty of anything. Gary brought his cows here,” Carruthers told the sheriff. “My men had nothing to do with it.”

“I was against keeping them here,” Dan said, “but Gary said Sandoval had been stealing any cow that dropped a calf by the stud bull.”

Amanda looked so horrified, so nearly destroyed, Broc ached to take her in his arms, to tell her it wasn’t true, but he couldn’t. He would have enjoyed pounding Gary’s head against a wall until the boy came to his senses, but that wouldn’t help things now.

“I don’t see any proof that Mr. Carruthers or any of his men were attempting to brand calves, his or anyone else’s,” the sheriff said to Amanda. “Since your brother was the one who brought your cows here, there’s no point in my looking around. There’s nothing I can do.” His expression hardened. “This is the last time I let you involve me in an attempt to incriminate Mr. Carruthers. It won’t do you any good to
object,” he said when Amanda started to speak. “I won’t listen to anything you say. Now I think it’s best if you take your men and leave Mr. Carruthers’s range.”

“Take this turncoat with you,” Carruthers said, pointing at Dan. “I won’t answer for what will happen to him if he’s not cleared out of the bunkhouse by the time I get home.”

“Don’t bother,” Dan said. “I was going to quit anyway.”

Amanda slapped him as hard as she could.

“What’s wrong with you?” Gary demanded as he grabbed hold of Corby’s desk to keep from losing his balance. “Have you gone crazy?” Instead of answering him, Amanda slapped him again. Broc stepped forward when Gary drew his arm back to punch Amanda.

“Lay one finger on your sister, and I’ll break both your arms.”

“She hit me.”

“You’re lucky. If you were my brother, I’d have castrated you.”

“I know you don’t like working on the ranch,” Amanda said, her breath unsteady from anger and exertion, “but I would never have believed you would intentionally try to ruin your own family by giving our cows to Carruthers.”

Gary blanched. “I didn’t—”

“Don’t attempt to deny it,” Broc said. “All of Carruthers’s cowhands backed him up.”

Cornered, Gary changed his story. “I was afraid Sandoval would steal them. I knew Carruthers would keep them safe.”

Amanda rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe I’m related to anyone stupid enough to believe that.”

“It’s more likely he was trying to ingratiate himself with Carruthers so his daughter would pay him some attention,” Broc said to Amanda before turning to Gary. “Do you realize Carruthers was going to put his brand on all the calves
this morning? If we hadn’t stopped him, by this time they would have been his.”

“But because you put the cows on his land, the sheriff couldn’t do anything about it,” his sister told him. “Because you cut the ground out from under us, the sheriff won’t believe anything I say in the future.”

“The only good thing to come out of this is that we found the cows and were able to get most of them back,” Broc said. “You have to help us find the rest of them.”

“You can’t make me,” Gary said.

“Then the sheriff will,” Amanda said. “He’s not happy that you caused all this trouble.”

“Carruthers won’t let you on his land.”

“He will because it’s the only way he can clear his name of suspicion,” Broc replied. “And he means to do that so he can keep on trying to ruin your family.”

“He’s not trying to ruin us,” Gary declared. “He just wants to buy the ranch. If you would stop trying to pin everything on him—”

“Then what?” Amanda asked. “Priscilla would fall in love with you for solving her father’s problems, you’d be married in a huge wedding with all the town invited, and you’d live happily ever after with at least a dozen perfect children to perpetuate the Liscomb heritage?”

Gary’s expression turned mulish. “I don’t see why you think that should be so impossible.”

“It’s impossible because she’s not interested.”

“If you’d stop blaming her father for everything, maybe she wouldn’t run away every time I try to speak to her.”

“Well, I can’t blame her father for everything now, can I? I have to blame my own brother instead.”

Gary had the grace to look chagrined. “If I had thought Carruthers was going to put his brand on our calves, I wouldn’t have taken them to him.”

“No, you’d have taken them to Sandoval instead. Do you hate the ranch that much?”

“Yes!” The word exploded from Gary. “I begged Pa not to buy it. Hell, he didn’t know any more about ranching than the rest of us. It probably would have failed anyway.”

“It’s not going to fail,” Amanda said. “I’m not going to let it.”

“How are you going to do that?”

Before Amanda could answer, the door opened and Corby entered the room. “What’s going on in here? I can hear the shouting in the saloon.”

“They’re having a family conference,” Broc told him.

“Then what are you doing here?”

“I asked him to be here,” Amanda said.

“Why? He’s just a stranger in town for a few days.”

“I asked him because he’s my foreman.”

Corby took the news so badly that if his hair hadn’t been greased down, it might have stood on end. “Why didn’t you tell me you’d hired a foreman? I told you I’d take care of everything.”

“Only if I married you,” Amanda reminded him, “but I’m not ready to get married.”

“When will you be ready?”

“I have no idea.”

Broc noticed faint spots of color bloom in her cheeks. Did that mean she
had
been thinking about marriage, maybe to him? That seemed too much to hope for, but those spots of color had to mean something.

“I don’t want him in my office,” Corby said, indicating Broc.

“Why?” Amanda asked.

“I don’t trust him. He tried to steal money from you. How do I know he won’t try to steal from me? I sometimes have large sums in my safe.”

From the way Corby preened, Broc decided he’d said that to demonstrate how important he was.

“I’ll wait for you outside,” Broc told Amanda.

“You’re scheduled to perform in about ten minutes,” Corby reminded him.

“I’ll just step out the back door for some fresh air. I like to clear my lungs before I wade into that gray haze.”

“I’m leaving,” Amanda said. “If I stay here, I’ll be too upset to sing.”

“Get back to the bar,” Corby told Gary. “Gil needs help. The place always gets crowded when it’s time for Amanda to sing.”

Gary left the room as quickly as possible.

“You ought to ask for a percentage of the bar,” Broc said to Amanda. “Those men wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.”

“You’ll have to start doing more if you want to keep them here,” Corby said, anxious to avoid any discussion of paying Amanda more money. “The other saloons are getting their own singers.”

“Not as good or as pretty as Amanda,” Broc reminded him.

“No, but they’re more friendly with the customers.”

Amanda swelled with indignation. “I refuse to allow anyone to take liberties with me.”

“I don’t want you to,” Corby assured her. “I’m just telling you there’s competition.”

“No one plays as well as Broc,” Amanda said, “or sings duets like he does.”

“I know that,” Corby said, “but I’m paying you a lot of money to keep the customers here.”

“I think we can come up with something,” Broc said. “Give us a couple of days.”

“Good. Now it’s time to sing.”

“I hear you’re going to search Carruthers’s range,” Dan said to Broc. He’d been seated at the bar all through the evening, but he only spoke to Broc outside. “I’m surprised he agreed.”

“He didn’t have much choice after the sheriff changed his mind about looking for Lazy T cows.”

“You know he won’t give up, don’t you?”

“I never expected he would. What are you doing now?” Everybody in Cactus Bend knew Carruthers had ordered Dan off his range.

“Just hanging around. Would you like to ride with someone who knows that range better than Carruthers himself?”

Broc admitted to being a bit surprised. “You offering yourself?”

“Who else would I be offering?”

“The way Carruthers feels about you now will be nothing compared to the way he’ll react if he thinks you’re working for Amanda.”

“I don’t care what he does.”

“You got a reason for putting your neck in a noose?”

Dan laughed. “Yeah, I have a reason, several of them, but I’m not sharing more than to say I want to see that Amanda gets a fair chance to find her cows. You know Carruthers will cause as much trouble as he can.”

“Then the best way you can help would be to convince the sheriff to ride along with us. Our credibility isn’t too high with him right now.”

“Sorry, but I thought Amanda knew about Gary bringing the cows. He said it was her idea.”

“Gary is a proven liar. The sheriff isn’t sure about Amanda and me.”

“I think I know a few things that might convince him to give Carruthers a closer look,” Dan said.

“I gather you’re not sharing those things, either.”

Dan laughed. “Maybe one of these days.”

“From your expression, it all has something to do with a woman.”

“I’m leaving. A few more minutes, and you’ll know everything without me saying a word.”

Broc didn’t know everything, but he was certain of one thing. Dan had the look of a man in love. Broc knew because that’s the way he felt.

Carruthers’s men were fanned out like a cordon with Carruthers astride his mount about ten yards in front. Broc was relieved Dan had been able to talk the sheriff into joining them.

“What are you doing here, sheriff?” Carruthers asked. Broc could tell he was thrown off balance by the sheriff’s presence.

“I know it makes a rancher nervous to have strangers riding all over his land. I thought it would be best if I came along to make sure these folks don’t do anything to upset you or your cows.”

Broc didn’t know what Dan had told the sheriff, but this was a very different approach from the one he’d taken just the day before.

“I don’t want to put you to any bother,” Carruthers said. “Me and my boys can take care of things.”

“I’m sure you can,” the sheriff replied, “but I’d appreciate it if you’d let me ride along for a while. I used to be a cowhand. Once in a while I miss it.”