The Rancher's Bride (13 page)

What the hell was the matter with him?

*   *   *

The next morning, when Rose and Emily arrived at the Bar M to work, neither of them were prepared for the scene they found at the stable.

Roy and Randall, his deputy, were searching the building and surrounding area. The stalls were full of mud and water. The horses were running loose in the valley below. Chloe was in furious tears.

Rose and Emily found Chloe sitting in the open doorway of the feed room. Her chin was resting on her fist and her bleary eyes were shooting daggers. She looked ready to kill. “What in the world has happened?” Rose asked.

“We don’t know. Someone came in here last night, let the horses out of their stalls, then turned on every hydrant in the place. Oh, and one of my best riding saddles is gone.”

“Gee, water is already scarce around here. And it’s dangerous for the horses to be running loose like that,” Emily spoke up. “Just a little cut from a cactus thorn could mess up a racehorse.”

Smiling wanly, Chloe reached up and patted the girl’s shoulder. “You’re so right, honey. And I know I should be down there trying to gather the horses. But I knew it wouldn’t do much good until I got some help.”

Roy entered the stable at the opposite end of the building. Rose left the two women and went to speak with him.

“I would say good morning,” he said to Rose. “But this mess is hardly good.”

“Hi, Roy. Do you have any idea what’s happening around here?”

He looked grim as he snapped a small notebook shut and dropped it into his shirt pocket. “There’s no question about it, Rose. Someone is out to harm this ranch and consequently our family.”

After what Harlan had done to her last night, this was the last thing she needed to hear. But surprisingly, she
wasn’t feeling much at all. She was dead inside and she was glad. She didn’t want to have to worry or think or feel anything anymore.

“Harlan thinks Belinda Waller might have cut the fence. Do you think she could have done this?”

Roy took off his hat and ran his fingers through his sandy hair. He looked tired and angry and Rose realized that he was just as hurt by this as she or her sisters. He truly loved Justine and all of her family. No doubt it was weighing heavily on Roy because he hadn’t yet been able to catch Belinda.

“A sheriff doesn’t like to speculate, Rose. He’d rather go on the facts he has laying on the table. But to you, I’ll say, hell, yes, she’s done this. Or if not her, she hired some gunslinger to do it for her. There’s no guard dog here and I’m sure that once Chloe and Kitty are asleep they’re too tired to be woken up by faint noises.”

“I should have left Amos here. But I’m the only one he’ll obey, so I figured it would make more sense to let him stay on the Flying H,” Rose said with regret. “He might have barked.”

“I doubt it. He’s a cowdog, not a watchdog. Besides, whoever did this might have fed him a tranquilizer or even poison.”

Rose shuddered at the evil thought.

Roy motioned for her to follow him. Once they reached Chloe and Emily, he said, “Look, you three, I don’t know exactly what’s going on here yet. But I want you all to be very careful. Keep an eye out for anything unusual and don’t any of you go riding off alone. Not close to the ranch or far off.”

“Don’t you think you’re going a little bit overboard?” Chloe asked him. “I figure this was meant to be more of a prank than a threat.”

Roy shook his head. “The person or persons who did
this wants to deal you some misery. Next time they might not stop at damaging or stealing property.”

“You’re scaring me,” Chloe said, rubbing at the goose bumps on her upper arms.

“Me, too,” Emily added. “It gives me the creeps to think someone was sneaking around here.”

“Good,” Roy said. “I want you all to be spooked enough to be cautious.” He arched a brow at Rose, who had so far remained silent. “This means you, too, Rose. If you have to go line riding or checking your cows, I want you to carry a .30-30 with you.”

Chloe and Emily gasped at the same time. Rose’s wooden expression didn’t alter.

“I will,” she promised her brother-in-law. But she could have told him she wasn’t the least bit afraid for herself. If someone tried to harm her, then so be it. Emily and Chloe were her only concern now.

After Roy and Randall left the ranch to answer another call, Chloe sent Emily to gather up as many lead ropes as she could find to use on the scattered horses. Then she said to Rose, “We need Harlan to help us gather the horses. Will you run up to the house and call him or shall I send Emily?”

“No.”

The one word came out short and clipped. Chloe’s eyebrows shot up. “No? Rose, what the hell is the matter with you? We need his help.”

“He has things of his own to do.”

“I can appreciate that. But this is an emergency.”

Rose looked past Chloe’s shoulder to the soggy, empty stalls. “We can deal with it without him.” From now on, she was going to deal with everything without him, she promised herself.

Chloe grabbed her sister’s shoulder and hissed sharply, “I don’t know what’s come over you, but now isn’t the
time for you to be acting like an ass. You heard Roy. Someone is out to harm us! Some of the horses may already be cut or crippled. We need Harlan’s help!”

Rose had needed him, all right. Every fiber of her heart and soul had needed him. He’d known that—she’d shown him so in a thousand ways—yet he’d chosen to turn away from her. He’d taken the most intimate part of her and then decided he didn’t want it.

Once again she’d been duped by a man. But this time it was a thousand times worse. Peter might have hurt her body, but Harlan’s rejection had been like a knife in the heart.

Rose realized she wasn’t nearly as numb as she’d first thought. Tears were brimming over the lids of her eyes and spilling onto her cheeks. “I…I’m sorry, Chloe. I know I’m behaving badly. I…” She quickly dashed the tears from her face and glanced around to make sure Emily wasn’t within earshot.

“What is it? Has something happened with you and Harlan?” Chloe guided her sister over to a bale of alfalfa and pushed her down on it. “Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”

Rose let out a mocking laugh. “When? I drove up and found another disaster.”

“So what is it? You had a fight? Rose, I’m sure—”

“No. No fight.”

“Then what?”

Rose dropped her head. “I haven’t been completely honest with you about my marriage to Harlan,” she said, then glumly added, “or honest with myself either.”

“What do you mean? You told me you loved Harlan. You still do, don’t you?”

“I love him desperately,” she said in a low, strangled voice. “But…Harlan doesn’t love me. He only married me to give Emily a mother.”

“Oh, no, Rose! That can’t be true.”

She lifted her head as acid tears began to burn her eyes. “It’s very true.”

Shaking her head, Chloe threw up her hands. “I don’t care what you say, I can see for myself when the two of you are together. Harlan adores you. He’d do anything for you.”

Except make love to her, Rose thought sickly. She was too awkward and inexperienced, too inept as a woman to please her husband. Of course, she’d feared that very thing from the very beginning. But like a fool, she’d let her runaway feelings for him sway her into his arms. Now she was paying the price.

The whole thing truly was her fault. She’d known she wasn’t cut out to be a lover. She shouldn’t have ever tried But when Harlan had kissed her, held her, made love to her, he’d made it seem like he really cared.

Gritting her teeth against the pain, she said, “That’s all just an act, Chloe.”

Chloe flat out cursed. “Rose, if Harlan is acting he might as well head on up to Broadway. He’d make a darn sight more money there than he would raising cattle.” Taking Rose by the shoulder, she nudged her in the direction of the house. “Now dry your eyes and go call him.”

Rose lifted the hem of her gingham shirt and dabbed the moisture from her eyes. “You’re a hard woman, Chloe.”

In spite of the chaos around them, Chloe laughed. “I don’t know about hard. But I do know I’m right about you and Harlan. He might have wanted a mother for Emily, but he also wanted you for himself.”

Rose knew better, but there wasn’t any point in trying to make Chloe understand. After all, what did it matter now? She’d agreed to be a wife of convenience for Harlan. That was her lot in life and she might as well get used to it.

*   *   *

The night was still hot as Harlan left the horsepen and walked toward the house. His steps were slow and weary, matching the laden beat of his heart. It seemed incredible to him that only a few days ago he’d been a relatively happy man. How had his life gone from bliss to agony in the matter of a few moments?

As he stepped onto the porch he figured Rose was probably getting ready for bed. All of them had put in a long, hot day gathering the horses and mucking out the flooded stalls. She’d more than likely fall to sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. But he wouldn’t. He’d lie awake, wanting to touch her, wanting to hear her soft voice, wanting to pillow her head on his shoulder and feel her hand resting on his chest.

He’d been stupid and reckless to make love to Rose in the first place. But now he was beginning to think he was even more stupid for putting a stop-to it.

When he entered the back door, he found Rose sitting at the kitchen table drinking a glass of fruit juice. The moment she spotted him, she clutched the neck of her robe tightly together.

The protective gesture reminded him of how deeply he’d hurt her and he wondered if there was any possible way he could hate himself more.

“I thought you’d be in bed,” he said.

Her eyes on the glass in front of her, she shook her head. “It was so hot and dry today I can’t seem to get my thirst quenched.”

Harlan pulled out the chair across from her. “I wish you didn’t have to work so hard, Rose.”

She grimaced. “I’m not fragile, Harlan. My name might be Rose, but I’m really a weed.”

Maybe she was tenacious, Harlan thought, but even a weed could only take so much before it wilted and died.

“Just the same, I’m not too keen on the idea of you and
Emily riding range tomorrow. If you think that herd of heifers needs to be checked on, then I’ll do it.”

“You’re sounding like Roy. He made me promise to carry my rifle.”

“Will you?”

She grimaced, then nodded. “Although I don’t know why. I couldn’t bring myself to shoot a rattlesnake unless it was about to bite Pie or Amos.”

“Even so, you could certainly use it to bluff your way out of trouble.”

She glanced at him and for a moment when their eyes met, Rose felt as if nothing had really changed between them, that if she were to go around the table and kiss his cheek, he wouldn’t push her away. But nothing would make her take the chance of having her husband reject her again. She couldn’t bear the pain.

“You honestly think there might be trouble?”

“More trouble, you mean?” He nodded grimly. “I don’t think this person or persons is through with the Bar M yet. I think they won’t be satisfied until it’s ruined. Completely.”

Rose suddenly felt cold inside. “It has to be the twins’ mother. We have no other enemies.”

“Exactly. And she has to be caught. I’m going to talk to Roy about guarding the ranch house for the next few nights. I could bunk down in the barn and be ready and waiting for anyone who came around.”

And he’d have a good excuse not to go to bed with her, Rose thought painfully. She drained the last of her juice and got up from the table. “I’m not crazy about the idea. But I’m sure you’re going to do whatever you want anyway.”

She started out of the kitchen and before Harlan could stop himself he lunged from his chair and snared a hold on her arm.

Rose lifted cool, questioning eyes to his face and he let out a long breath. “I want to say something about last night. I—”

Her spine stiffened and she tugged her arm away from his hold. “I don’t want to hear anything about it. There’s nothing more to be said, anyway.”

He groaned. “Yes. There is. You don’t understand why—”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Harlan. I understand perfectly. You don’t love me. And…that’s all right. Love wasn’t a part of our bargain.”

“But I—”

“You thought you could handle a physical relationship with me. You probably even thought you wanted that between us. But then you found out you didn’t. Well, that’s all right, too. We married for practical reasons and I can live with that. So don’t look so miserable. I don’t hate you.”

She had every right to hate him, Harlan thought. “But I’ve hurt you and—”

“Like I told you, I’m a weed. You can step on them and even grind them into the dirt with your bootheel, but they somehow survive. So quit worrying. Everything is fine. Just the way you wanted it.”

She was either one hell of an actress or he’d managed to kill what love she’d had for him. He should be relieved. But he wasn’t. Everything inside him ached and all he really wanted to do was pull her into his arms and never let her go.

“Good night, Harlan.” Her head up, her shoulders straight, she walked away from him before he could see the tears on her cheeks.

“Do you think Emily needs to go to the doctor? Maybe she got a touch of sunstroke yesterday,” Harlan said to
Rose the next morning as she climbed into the cab of her truck.

Rose shook her head. “I think she’s just tired. If she doesn’t feel any better by tonight, I’ll have Justine come take a look at her.”

Rose shut the door. Harlan stepped up and rested both his hands on the open window. “This isn’t like her. She always wants to do everything with you. Do you think she’s afraid to go back to the Bar M?”

When he was close to her like this, Rose couldn’t make her eyes stay anywhere else but on him. Even though it hurt to look into his face, meet his warm brown eyes and pretend she didn’t love him.

“No,” she answered. “Even if Emily was afraid, she’s not a coward. She’d go with me come hell or high water.”

Unlike her father, Harlan thought ruefully. If he had real courage he’d haul Rose out of the truck and show her just how much he wanted to make love to her. And damn the fear of losing her. But he knew what it was like to love someone, then lose them. He couldn’t forget the weeks and months he’d lived in a black haze, the pain he’d endured trying to struggle out of it. How could he let himself love like that again? Feel that much again?