This Calder Range (40 page)

“I'll tell her that you'll expect her tomorrow, then.” He nodded and turned to leave.

“Won't you come in for coffee?” Lorna invited, despite Benteen's unwelcoming attitude.

But it was Benteen who drew Bull's glance before he shook his head to refuse. “No. Thank you, Mrs. Calder.” He walked to his horse and stepped into the stirrup, hefting his broad torso into the saddle.

As he trotted the horse away from the cabin, Webb tugged on her skirts. “How come he didn't bring the c'raige?”

“Probably because it was faster to ride his horse,” Lorna reasoned, but she was conscious of the look Benteen sliced her.

“When did the boys meet him?” The question was fired low and quick.

“Yesterday,” she admitted evenly, “when we went to Mr. Fitzsimmons' store. Mr. Giles was at the blacksmith shop getting a carriage repaired that belongs to the English party.”

“You didn't mention it last night.”

“It must have slipped my mind.” There was a sweetness to her voice that said she was paying him back for all the things he hadn't bothered to tell her. Actually she had failed to tell him because she had been bothered by the last comment Bull had made.

“What else has slipped your mind?” He wasn't amused. In fact, he was close to furious.

It wasn't her intention to make him jealous, and Lorna sighed tiredly. “Nothing, Benteen. Nothing else.” Then she pulled herself together and smiled at him. “Will you be here tomorrow when she comes? I'd like you to meet her.”

His gaze studied her, then swung to the rider leaving the ranch. “I'll be here when she arrives tomorrow.”

It suddenly dawned on Lorna that Bull Giles would probably escort Lady Crawford to the ranch. He was the reason Benteen was going to be here. He wasn't interested in meeting Lady Crawford, and he hadn't agreed just to please her.

“You think Mr. Giles is coming tomorrow,” Lorna murmured to let him know she was aware of his reason.

The look he turned on her was cool. “Don't you?”

“I am married to you, Benteen,” she declared with quiet force.

“Then I want to make sure he doesn't forget it,” he replied without any change in his hard expression.

A tall wooden structure towered above the unbroken tedium of rolling plains. Elaine sat up straighter in the carriage seat and leaned forward slightly to study it. Its proportions were grand, but anything less would have been dwarfed by the vastness of this empty land. The house was claiming dominion over the sprawling reaches of this wild country.

“Is that where we're going?” she called to Bull Giles to confirm the certainty that already burned in her heart.

“Yes, ma'am. That's the Triple C up ahead.” He turned slightly in the driver's seat to answer.

“Did you say Triple C?” Elaine questioned sharply.

“Yes, ma'am. That's the brand Calder uses. The Triple C.”

Settling back against the seat, Elaine kept a hand on the carriage side for balance as it rolled along the rough and rutted track leading to the ranch. Considering the remark Judd Boston had made, it seemed her son's ranch wasn't as secure as the house implied.

Lorna pulled at the neckline of her dress, trying to force it higher so not so much of her breasts would show, but her bustline had increased since having the boys. The bodice of the dress simply wouldn't stretch to cover the swell of her breasts.

Her eyes critically studied her image reflected by the mirror. Immodest or not, Lorna was going to wear it. This was her best dress. She refused to entertain her English guest wearing one of her plain, everyday
dresses. Her fingertips traced over her cheek, testing its smoothness.

A second image appeared in the mirror, startling her. Benteen had come up behind her with cat-soft steps. His rugged, lean-jawed face was next to hers in the mirror. Their eyes locked together for a long second before Lorna turned around to face him. His hand moved to lightly stroke the curve of her throat while his gaze followed its path.

“Giles will appreciate the time you've taken to make yourself beautiful,” he remarked cynically while his fingers continued their downward journey to wander over the exposed swell of her breasts.

“I didn't do it for him,” Lorna insisted sharply, irritated that he should say such a thing and all the while aware of the way her flesh tingled under his touch. “Besides, I don't even know that he's bringing Lady Crawford.”

“He is,” Benteen stated. “And he'll notice how you look.”

“I can't help that,” she protested as his fingers forced their way under the already strained material of the dress's neckline and followed its dipping line. “Why must you keep harping about him?”

“He wants to do what I'm doing right now with you.” The flat of his hand spread across the small of her back as his fingers finished their climb to her shoulder. “He'd like to take you away from me. You know that, too.”

His eyes challenged her to deny it, but she couldn't. “There isn't any reason for you to be concerned about that.”

“Isn't there?” His hand applied pressure to bring her against the lower half of his body. “Then tell me you don't like him.”

“But I do like him—as a friend,” Lorna qualified her answer, but refused to lie about her feelings for Bull Giles.

“He'll use that someday, Lorna,” Benteen warned. “That's why he's hanging around this area—because of
you. Nothing else is keeping him here. You can't trust him.”

“You're exaggerating.” But there was a grain of doubt within her. “This isn't the time to talk about it anyway. They'll be coming any—”

“They,”
Benteen cut across her words. “You are expecting him to come.”

“Benteen, please don't do this.” He had no cause to be jealous, but she couldn't seem to convince him of it.

His fingers dug into her shoulderbone to pull her the rest of the way to him. There was a fire in his kiss, as if he wanted to sear his brand on her lips and mark her the way he marked all the rest of his possessions. When he lifted his head, her breath was coming quickly. She was angered and aroused at the same time. The contradiction showed in the fiery sparkle of her eyes and the swollen softness of her lips. Pivoting, Lorna turned to survey the damages in the mirror.

“There isn't time for that,” Benteen said. “The carriage was approaching when I came in.”

She whirled around, furious with him for destroying her calm when their arrival was imminent. There was a satisfied glint in his eye as he studied her. Closing her mouth tightly, Lorna brushed past him to walk swiftly to the door. She could hear the rattle of the wheels outside.

The carriage was just pulling to a stop when Lorna opened the door. An inner sense told her that Benteen was a step behind her. She squared her shoulders against him as she walked out from the cabin to greet her special guest. The boys were already running forward to meet the visitors. When Lorna noticed the grass stain on the seat of Webb's short pants, her irritation increased.

Bull Giles swung down from the driver's seat, his gaze running over Lorna. She was conscious of it, but she wasn't able to meet his eyes, not when she knew that Benteen was keenly observing both of them. It
created a strain in her manner when she wanted to make a good impression on her afternoon guest.

She called Webb and Arthur to her side as Bull Giles moved to open the carriage door, offering his hand to assist the woman seated in back. When Lady Crawford stepped out, Lorna was struck again by the woman's regal bearing, an effect made more dramatic by the sheer silk blouse and long satin skirt, both jet-black. She looked older than she had the last time Lorna had seen her—age lines showed around her dark, nearly black eyes—but oddly no less beautiful.

As Lady Crawford moved gracefully forward to greet her, Lorna's instinct told her to curtsy, but Benteen's hand closed on the curve of her waist as if to check the movement. She stiffened slightly under his firm grip and remained erect.

“It's a great pleasure to see you again, your ladyship.” Lorna welcomed the woman with a proffered hand that was briefly taken and released.

“Please. Let's dispense with the formalities on this meeting. I would like you to call me Elaine,” she requested as her gaze swung pointedly to Benteen. “This is your husband?”

While his wife made the introductions, Elaine watched her son's face closely but she saw no recognition there. It wasn't surprising really, considering how small he had been and how much she had changed from a simple Texas girl to a member of England's ruling class. He showed a marked disinterest in her, yet she sensed a tension coming from him and wondered at its cause.

The two little boys were introduced to her. The heritage of Calder blood showed strongly in both of them, and Elaine remarked on it. Inwardly she was uncomfortable with the idea of having grandchildren. Growing old was something she fought, and the children were proof of her advancing age, regardless of the lies the mirror told.

“Mr. Giles.” She partially turned to address the guide. “Would you fetch me the two presents on the carriage seat?” Certain of his obedience, she kept her attention focused on the couple, her glance straying more often to Benteen. “I brought you each a little something to show my appreciation for your hospitality today. I wasn't aware of your two children or I would have included a small gift for them.”

“You shouldn't have brought us anything,” Lorna protested.

“My wife is right. We must refuse,” Benteen stated with a show of that stubborn Calder pride Elaine remembered so well.

“Nonsense.” With an autocratic gesture she motioned for Giles to hand them their gifts. “They are merely token presents. A jar of lotion for your wife and some cigars for you. Mere trifles, I assure you.”

Benteen grudgingly accepted the gift while his wife was much less reluctant. But Elaine's interest was caught by the glance he shot the guide, Giles. It was dark with suspicion and mistrust when Giles presented his wife with her gift. Elaine was quick to note the way his wife avoided looking directly at the guide. It seemed they were not quite the happy family unit that they had first appeared to be.

“Would you like to come into the cabin?” Lorna invited. “I fixed some tea and cakes.”

“I should like that,” Elaine accepted, then paused to glance at the house being constructed on the rise of the plains. “I couldn't help noticing that you're building a new home. It's a very imposing structure. Perhaps later you might show me through it?”

“The carpenters are just starting work inside, so there isn't very much to see, but I'd be happy to give you a tour of it,” Lorna agreed with an air of pride. “The cabin is going to seem very small and crude in comparison.”

“Mommy, please, can we sit in the c'raige?” Webb-pleaded,
unable to contain his eagerness a second longer.

Lorna tried to distract him. “Wouldn't you like to come inside and have one of those fancy cakes I made?”

“I wanta sit in the c'raige,” he insisted stubbornly.

When Lorna hesitated, Lady Crawford spoke up. “If the carriage can survive the journey over this rough country, two little boys aren't likely to harm it.” Children had always been more of a nuisance to have around than anything else, so she wasn't sorry that they were more interested in the carriage than her.

“I know the boys wouldn't intentionally do anything—” Lorna began.

Bull Giles interrupted her. “I'll watch the boys for you, Mrs. Calder, and see that they stay out of trouble.”

A brief but awkward silence followed his offer as Lorna glanced uneasily in Benteen's direction, but he said nothing. The corners of her mouth trembled with the effort it took to smile.

“That's very kind of you, Mr. Giles. Thank you,” she accepted.

“Come on, boys. Let's go see the carriage.” The two hurried to join him.

Lorna had been concerned about entertaining someone of Lady Crawford's class and breeding, yet the woman made her feel remarkably at ease over tea. The conversation flowed smoothly, except for the way Benteen held himself aloof from it. Lorna was conscious that Lady Crawford had noticed it, from the many times she let her gaze wander in his direction.

The happy voices and laughter of the boys carried into the cabin, an assurance that Bull was keeping them entertained. Lorna sensed that Benteen wasn't pleased by that. Perhaps she shouldn't have allowed them to stay outside, but Webb had acquired such a temper lately that she hadn't wanted to risk one of his stormy tantrums in front of Lady Crawford.

After waiting until she had deemed that her social obligation had been fulfilled, Elaine suggested they tour the new house. Her plan went awry when they went outside and both children wanted to accompany them to the building site. She thought they had been safely pawned off onto the guide, but it seemed she was wrong.

The interior of the house was a maze of skeletal timbers with chunks of sawed wood and stacks of lumber lying everywhere. To the small boys it was a giant playroom. Their running and shrieking seemed to add to the confusion. In spite of it all, Elaine could visualize exactly how the house would look, from the formal dining room to the serving area in the large kitchen. It had the potential to be magnificent by Western standards, and she knew it.

“This is going to be the study,” Lorna explained as they completed the circling tour of the ground floor, which had brought them to the room off the large entryway.

There was a loud thud behind them, followed by a shriek of pain and fright from one of the boys. Elaine was the only one who didn't react with alarm as both Lorna and Benteen hurried to the younger child, screaming where he had fallen. His stubby legs hadn't managed to lift his foot over a board. It had tripped him, the fall scraping both knees on the rough wood floor.