White Wolf (5 page)

Wolf noted the lateness of the evening and wondered why the boy was wandering the streets of Westport. From what he’d seen, Jessie ran unsupervised a great deal of the time. Well, he’d let Jessie’s parents know about this latest stunt. They could have been burying their son come the new day. “Where’s your pa?”

“Dead.”

“Your ma?”

“Same.”

Frustrated, but not willing to turn him loose, Wolf frowned. “Who’s in charge of you? Grandparents?”

“What do you care? You’re taking my brothers away from me. If I never see them again, it’ll be your fault.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“You hired my brothers to go to Oregon. If they go, I go. You don’t have the right to separate us. We’re family. Families stick together.”

Wolf noted the glittering sheen of moisture in the boy’s green eyes and wished he knew exactly what was going on. He could have sworn Able had said there were only three brothers, the same ones he’d hired to drive Able’s cattle west, but there was no doubting this boy’s identity. A slow-burning anger simmered deep inside him. He remembered how it felt to be separated from family, and from what Jessie said, it was obvious James wasn’t planning on taking him to Oregon.

He couldn’t blame the boy for being angry. Setting his jaw, Wolf pulled Jessie toward the inky darkness outside the barn. “You and I are going to find James and get some answers.” Jessie struggled and protested but Wolf tightened his grip. But before he reached the door, James Jones burst into the barn. “Dammit, Jessie,” he shouted, “what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

At the sound of her brother’s furious voice, Jessie froze. Her startled gaze shifted past Wolf’s broad shoulders to James, who stood in the dark opening of the barn, feet widespread and fists shoved onto his hips. He glared at her, his brows pulled into a tight vee.

Oh, Lord, she was in for it now. She’d pushed her even-tempered brother too far this time. Of all her brothers, James seldom lost control, but when he did, she’d swear Hell heard him hollering. She moved slightly behind Wolf; moments before he had been the enemy, but now he seemed a safer haven.

Wolf released one of her wrists, keeping the other firmly encircled with his long brown fingers. “About time you came looking to see what trouble young Jess is getting into. Saves me from hunting you down.”

Wolf’s annoyance hung heavy in the dark silence. Jessie glanced from one man to the other, noting twin aggressive stances of fisted hands and set jaws. She groaned softly. How had things gone so wrong? All she’d wanted was to convince Wolf to let her go to Oregon with her family, but she’d let her temper get the best of her. She opened her mouth to explain, but James stopped her with an accusing finger.

“What the hell are you trying to do, Jess? Of all the wild, reckless—”

“Reckless is right,” Wolf interrupted. “Attacking strangers seems a good way to end up dead.”

James’s lower jaw dropped. “Jess attacked you?” He stepped farther into the barn, shock and disbelief written on his face. “You’ve gone too far this time.”

Jessie lowered her gaze to the tip of her muddy toes. Yep, she was truly in trouble now. She didn’t need to look at James to know his face was red as the lips of the women working in the saloon. She narrowed her gaze, her brief feelings of trepidation giving way to indignation. What had she really done wrong—aside from losing her temper? Nothing! She had rights. She was a Jones. No Jones worth his or her salt would sit complacently and let some outsider split them up. Refusing to cower, Jessie tilted her chin, her green gaze mirroring the anger in her brother’s.

She had every right to protest what her brothers were doing. And though White Wolf was responsible, James was allowing him to split them up. He deserved to shoulder some of the blame. “If I’ve gone too far, James, it’s your fault.”

“Dammit, Jess! We’ve talked about this.”

Jessie shook her head vehemently. “No!” Her voice trembled as tears threatened to break forth. “
You
made the decision to go to Oregon without me.”

“And you know why! We can’t afford to pass up this chance, and if you’ve ruined it…” His arms fell to his sides and he sighed heavily. “I’m real disappointed in you, Jess.”

Recognizing the familiar tactic meant to make her feel guilty, Jessie yanked herself free from Wolf and stomped over to James until she stood toe-to-toe with him. Over the years, she’d pulled some stupid stunts that he’d had every right to chastise her for—but not this. Oh, no, not this time. She was a grown woman. It was time he realized it. Digging her fingers into her hips, Jessie leaned forward.

“If that isn’t low enough for a belly-crawling snake! How do you think I feel? What happened to sticking together?” she accused, her voice low and husky with the effort to hide any weakness. Her voice hardened as she drew a deep breath and continued: “Talk about disappointing! Finding out that money is more important to you is bad enough, but then to learn that Jordan’s going to marry Coralie, that she’ll go to Oregon but not me, your own—”

“I’ve heard enough,” Wolf said in a growl, his fingers closing around her upper arm to pull her aside. “I want to know why you didn’t tell me you had a younger brother, James.”

Jessie stared at Wolf in confusion. He thought she was James’s brother? Glancing down at her shirt and homespun pants, she grimaced. One side of her face felt tight. Lifting one hand, she felt the streak of mud on her right cheek. Heavens, she was a mess from head to toe.

She tried in vain to rub it off; unfortunately, her hands were just as dirty. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. In all fairness, she couldn’t blame Wolf for mistaking her for a boy. Still, it rankled, illustrating just how lacking in womanly curves she was. Her fragile feminine ego took another bruising.

She opened her mouth to correct him. “You’ve made a mis—”

Wolf silenced her with a raised hand. The anger left his cold blue eyes, and the hard line of his mouth softened with compassion. “Quiet, boy. This is between me and your brother. As the eldest, James is responsible for your welfare. I will deal with this. You will not be abandoned by your family.”

The combination of his change toward her and the sudden realization that she might have caused her brothers to lose their jobs stopped the flow of words gathered on the tip of her tongue. The color fled from her face. What had she done? Did Wolf mean to fire her brothers?

She’d never meant for them to lose their jobs. She’d only wanted to shame Wolf into letting her go with them. Jessie bit her lower lip. As usual, her temper had landed her in a heap of trouble.

She tried once more to correct Wolf. “You don’t under—” From behind her, bony fingers squeezed her shoulder, silencing her. Startled, she turned her head. Her jaw dropped as she stared into a pair of familiar twinkling blue eyes. Surprised to see the old man she’d met earlier, she whispered, “What are you doing here?”

Rook indicated the two arguing men with a slight nod of his white head. “Come away, lass.” His raspy voice was low, for her ears only. His gnarled fingers grasped her arm as he pulled her back into the deep shadows.

Jessie glanced over at Wolf and James. They seemed oblivious to her disappearance. She turned to her new friend. “But Rook, he thinks—”

“Quiet, lass,” Rook rasped. “Listen ta me. God gave ya two ears ’n’ one mouth so’s ya could listen more than ya talk.”

Jessie pondered that bit of advice and decided she didn’t have anything to lose at this point. Raised voices brought her attention back to her brother and Wolf.

“Now wait one gall-durn minute, Wolf,” James spluttered. “No one is abandoning anyone. I arranged for Jessie to come to Oregon later with another family because Jessie’s a—”

Wolf’s hand rose upward, then slashed downward. His voice roared and echoed in the rafters. “A scamp. An un-mannered cub, that’s what he is. But where I come from, we don’t abandon our children no matter how badly they behave. You should’ve told me you had a younger brother. We could have worked something out. I hire honest, hardworking men. You came highly recommended, but I don’t cotton to any man running out on his responsibilities.”

“I don’t believe this.” Jessie groaned softly as she watched her brother gesture angrily.

“Someone needs to kick some sense into both of them.”

Rook grinned and pulled a pipe from his shirt pocket. “Kickin’ never gets you nowhere, ’less’n you’s a mule. Jest relax. I gots me a feelin’ things is gonna work out jest fine.”

Jessie released her pent-up breath in one long disgusted sigh. Let them fight it out. No matter the outcome, she was going to Oregon and that was that.

As the seconds ticked by, Jessie’s gaze kept returning to the imposing figure of the wagon master. Up until now, she’d been too distracted to pay much mind to what he looked like, but now the raw masculinity vibrating from him slammed into her, taking her breath away as she experienced her first taste of instant attraction.

He wore an unfastened buckskin vest, buckskin breeches fringed down each side, and moccasins. Except for his coloring, he looked Indian. She continued to study him. The faint glow from a lantern hanging on a nail revealed tantalizing glimpses of glittering golden curls coating the bronzed expanse of his chest beneath his vest. A strange fluttering in the region of her stomach caught her by surprise. Surrounded by grown men who oftentimes went shirtless, walked around in their long johns and spoke frankly within her hearing, Jessie had figured she was immune to all those symptoms of desire that the other girls giggled over. Yet staring at Wolf, she discovered she was very much affected.

His features were a study of shadows and smooth planes. Finely etched cheekbones placed high and prominent contrasted with sharp, angular jaws and a straight but gently sloping nose. Her eyes latched on to his mouth. Moments ago it had been soft and full when he’d looked down at her. To her surprise, she wondered what it would be like to be kissed by him, to have those blue eyes look at her with love and tenderness.

Jessie made a face. Why was she thinking of such things with a man she’d never met before when she had her sights set on Elliot? Some inner voice pointed out that Elliot’s handsome features had never taken her breath away or set her heart racing as the man arguing with her brother had managed to do in one brief meeting.

She was grateful when Wolf joined both her and Rook, putting an end to her disturbing thoughts. Staring into his set features, she noted that the brief flash of compassion she’d glimpsed earlier was gone. Though he stared hard at her, he addressed James.

“It’s settled. Jessie goes—with you—where he belongs. But from what I’ve seen, he’s not responsible enough to work with the cattle,” Wolf announced grimly, drawing himself up to his full six-foot-plus height.

Resenting the slur on her abilities, she stepped forward, hands on her hips. “I’m as good with cattle as my brothers are, aren’t I, James?”

James choked and refused to meet her pleading gaze. His fingers massaged the back of his neck as he paced behind Wolf. “If you’d just listen to me, Wolf. You don’t understand. Jessie is short for—”

Rook stepped out of the shadows behind her, cutting James off. “I could use some help with the cookin’.” His bushy white brows winged upward as he winked down at her. “Can ya cook and wash dishes,
boy?
”

Holding her breath, Jessie stared into Rook’s amused blue eyes. His use of the word
boy
let her know he’d had the same thought as she. She recalled his parting advice to her earlier:
If you’s meant ta go, a way’ll open up. You jest make sure you’re ready to take it.
It looked as though one had. The question was, did she dare take it?

“Well? We’re waiting,” Wolf reminded her.

“Jessie…” James warned.

Jessie averted her gaze from her brother. Could she really do it? Pass herself off as a boy for the entire two-thousand-mile trip? Yes! If it meant going to Oregon with her brothers, she
would
do it. She hid her grin of elation under a scowl. “I can cook as well as any girl,” she bragged.

Strands of golden-brown hair scraped the tops of each leather-shrouded shoulder as Wolf pulled Jessie to his side, then addressed James, who was swearing beneath his breath. “My decision is final. The boy goes or none of you go.”

Stark silence met his ultimatum. Jessie held her breath and waited anxiously as James strode to the open doorway, one hand leaning on the rough planks of wood as he stared out into the night, his shoulders stiff with tension. Please, James, she begged silently. It was the perfect solution. As the silence stretched, she stared at the straw-strewn ground, unable to watch him wrestle with his conscience. She felt bad knowing she was the cause of his inner turmoil. She tried to go to him but strong fingers dug into her shoulder.

Warmth seeped through her shirt beneath Wolf’s firm touch. Jessie puzzled over her reaction to the man at her side whose close presence sent heated blood thrumming through her veins. She sneaked a quick glance sideways and frowned. Admitting to any feelings of attraction to a hard, cold, insensitive man like Wolf was unthinkable. If Wolf knew the truth, he’d refuse to let her go. Surely it was the anxiety and tension flowing around the four people in the barn that was affecting her so oddly.

James turned, defeat written across his face. “This ain’t what it seems, Wolf, but you’re the boss. I just hope you remember that I tried to tell you.”

Jessie released her pent-up breath, her heart filled with joy. She was going to Oregon after all. The look James threw her way warned her that things were far from settled between them, but she’d worry about that later. For now, she was so relieved, she grinned happily.

Wolf glanced down at her. Jessie wiped the grin from her lips and ducked her head, unable to face those bright cobalt eyes that seemed to pin her to the spot. She shivered, struck with the sudden knowledge that she’d rue this day should Wolf discover the truth.

“It’s settled then. As of now, Jessie Jones, I’m the boss, and when I’m not around, Rook’s word goes. You work with him and do as he tells you or you’ll answer to me, understand?”

Jessie glanced over at Rook. It was his sly wink that gave her the courage to answer with a snappy, “Yes, sir.” With that, she bolted out the door.

Tuesday morning arrived, bringing with it clear blue skies, warm temperatures and lilting song as sparrows frolicked in the oak trees and swooped down to investigate the half-packed wagon. Standing on the porch of the small whitewashed farmhouse, Jessie watched Jeremy roll a barrel of rice into position. The wagon shifted and creaked under his movements. He straightened and smacked into one of the hickory slats arching from one side to the other. Rolling her eyes, she called out, “Duck, Jeremy. I swear, that’s the tenth time you’ve done that!”

He scowled at her. “Don’t see why we can’t just take these off and put them back on when we’re ready to put the cover on.”

Jessie shook her head and tromped down the porch steps. She handed her brother a small trunk containing her mother’s flow-blue china. He tucked it beneath a rocking chair and arranged a quilt-wrapped clock beside it. Satisfied that her mother’s dishes and clock were securely packed, she returned to the house for another load. Each trip through the lived-in rooms brought a lump to her throat. Her emotions seesawed. So many memories—of home, childhood and her parents—were being left behind for new beginnings in a land that promised richer tomorrows.

Clutching the family Bible to her breast, she left the house. Staring into the back of the nearly filled wagon, Jesse let hopes and dreams fill her heart and mind. Eager anticipation of the adventurous journey gripped her and left her breathless. She leaned against the side of the wagon while visions of the green grass lining the fertile Willamette Valley permeated her mind. Her lips
curved upward as she imagined a rough log-cabin house with her ma’s old rocking chair in front of a warm fireplace.