The Rancher's Bride Read online

  Rose gave him an awkward little wave, then quickly drove away. It wasn’t until she was far away from the house that she was able to relax her grip on the steering wheel. But her hands immediately began to shake, forcing her to once again tighten her fingers on the laced leather.

  The man hadn’t so much as touched her, yet she felt as if she’d just spent a reckless hour in his arms. Her heart was racing, her face burned, and her hands shook like an alcoholic’s.

  Rose unconsciously pressed down harder on the gas. She had to get home and away from Harlan Hamilton.

  “Harlan’s daughter is such a sweet little thing,” Kitty spoke up later that night as the family sat around the supper table. “I’m glad you’ve invited her to spend some time with us. She seems hungry for company.”

  Rose pushed a pile of stir-fried vegetables around on her plate. “She was very sullen the first time I met her.”

  “After spending time with her today, it’s hard to picture Emily as sullen,” Chloe said.

  Rose didn’t want to talk about Harlan or Emily. There were plenty of other happenings in the area they could discuss over supper. But her sister and aunt seemed taken with the subject of their neighbors to the east.

  “I know. Harlan credits me with the change in her. He says she took a quick liking to me.” She lifted her gaze from her plate to see Chloe and Kitty had both stopped eating and were staring at her as if she were about to break open some deep dark secret

  “That’s not surprising. I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t like you, Rose,” Kitty said.

  Rose had always been too quiet by nature to be much of a socializer. But those people she did come in contact with from time to time, she treated with friendly respect. Yet as far as being someone’s dearest friend, she wasn’t. Other than her sisters, she’d never been able to let herself be that close to anyone.

  “I don’t know about that. But I think Emily was just waiting for someone to come along and befriend her. She lives a lonely life. Especially in the summer when school is out and it’s only her and her father.”

  “Is Harlan good to her?” Chloe wanted to know. “Or is he one of those hard, demanding fathers?”

  Harlan hard and demanding? Rose couldn’t imagine it. She glanced across the kitchen at the twins, who had already eaten and were both now sound asleep on the floor of their playpen. The image of Harlan holding Adam so gently and lovingly floated through her mind.

  “Quite the contrary. He’s very easy with his daughter.”

  Chloe pondered this as she reached for her water glass. “Well, that’s not surprising. She’s a part of the wife he lost.”

  “He must have been crazy about the woman.”

  Kitty’s remark turned Rose’s attention back to the dinner table. “What makes you say that?”

  With a negligible wave of her hand, Kitty rose from the table and went to pour herself a cup of coffee. “Because he’s never remarried. As far as I know he hasn’t had much in the way of girlfriends, either.”

  Rose frowned. “How could you know that? I didn’t think you knew Harlan.”

  Coffee cup in hand, Kitty returned to her seat at the table. “I’ve spoken to him briefly a few times when he stopped by the ranch to see Tomas. But as for the girlfriends, I’m merely repeating rumors I’ve heard.”

  And in this case, rumor was right, Rose thought. The first night she’d met him, Harlan had implied he wasn’t interested in attaching himself to a woman. Not even in a semipermanent way. But whether his single status was due to some overwhelming grief for his late wife, Rose couldn’t say. Nor did she like the idea of Harlan clinging uselessly to a memory. He was too strong a man for that.

  Dabbing her mouth with a napkin, Rose pushed her chair back from the table. The food on her plate had barely been touched, but her appetite was completely gone now.

  “Well,” she said to her aunt and sister. “The only thing we need to know about Harlan Hamilton is that we owe him money. Whether he wants a wife or a mother for Emily is his own business.”

  She left the kitchen with both women staring worriedly after her.

  Later that night Justine called as Rose was helping Chloe give the twins a bath. Rose dried her hands and went into the study to pick up the phone.

  “Hi, Rose. Sorry I called at a bad time.”

  “Don’t worry, Chloe is managing all by herself. Although I’m not sure who’s actually getting the bath, her or the twins.”

  Justine laughed. “Either way, I’m sure Chloe is enjoying every minute of it.”

  Yes, Chloe was utterly taken with her baby brother and sister. Rose often worried what it might do to her if Belinda suddenly showed up to claim the twins. One thing was for certain, her little sister would be totally heartbroken.

  “How’s everything over at the Pardee Ranch? Charlie and Roy doing okay?”

  “Charlie has been happily helping his daddy dig holes in the yard. Roy wants to put up a fence around the house and plant rosebushes. For his beautiful wife, he says.”

  “Rosebushes?”

  Justine laughed and Rose could easily tell it was the contented sound of a woman who knew she was loved. Justine and Roy had been married for more than two months now. But before that things had hardly been easy for the couple. Five years ago Justine had borne Roy’s son, but at the time she’d believed he loved someone else more. So she’d left town and kept the baby’s parentage a secret from him. Once Roy had discovered the truth about Charlie, he’d been furious. But in the end love had prevailed and both Justine and Roy now regretted letting pride and misunderstanding waste five years they could have spent together.

  “Romantic huh?” Justine went on. “But I told him this isn’t east Texas, it’s the New Mexican desert. He still insists he can get them to grow and bloom.”

  “When Roy gets them all planted I’ll come over and take a look. I haven’t gotten to see Charlie enough lately.”

  “I’ll hold you to that promise, sis. So how are things going over there?”

  Rose bit back a sigh. She didn’t want Justine to know just how weary she and Chloe were; it would only make their middle sister feel guilty for not being around to help. Justine’s monetary contribution to the ranch each month was doing more than her fair share to hold the Bar M together.

  “We’re all fine. Has Roy made any progress tracing Belinda Waller?”

  “That’s mainly why I’m calling. He’s tracked her to a cheap apartment in Albuquerque, but the police up there tell him she hasn’t been seen around the place for the past several days. I think Roy is going to drive up there tomorrow to search the apartment. Even if Belinda isn’t there, he might find something to tell him where she’s headed or something about her plans. But I think it would be like hoping for snow in July to think she still might have any of the money that Daddy sent to her.”

  Rose grimaced. “It doesn’t sound like she’s living as if she has much money.”

  “No. I think we can safely write off those thousands.”

  Rose rubbed fingers across her furrowed brow. It sickened her to think that Harlan’s hard-earned money had been lost, too. And she suddenly realized he had been victimized just as she and her family had been.

  “When do you think Roy will be able to tell us what he finds in Albuquerque?”

  “He’s not planning on staying overnight, so I’ll call you as soon as he gets back home.”

  Rose propped her thigh over the corner of the massive oak desk and closed her eyes. “Justine, I’m so worried about Chloe and the twins. She wants to be their mother so badly. What if Roy discovers Belinda wasn’t the one who dumped them here? What if they were kidnapped from her, then left here? The woman would have every right to claim her own children!”

  “I know, Rose. But Roy tells me that’s a highly unlikely scenario. For one thing, Belinda was identified by Fred as the woman with the twins that day in Ruidoso. Second, why would a kidnapper leave the babies on the Bar M? A kidnapper certainly didn’t know t
he twins were our siblings. Think logically, Rose. Belinda left the babies with Tomas and his daughters.”

  Rose’s eyes flew open. “You mean the woman probably doesn’t know Daddy is dead?”

  “Roy thinks she might not. After all, who would have told her? If Daddy was driving down to Las Cruces to see her, all she knows is that his visits and his money have stopped.”

  Rose let out a heavy sigh. “I hope Roy is right.”

  “He usually is. That’s why he’s such a good sheriff.”

  Rose smiled. “You wouldn’t be a bit prejudiced?”

  Justine chuckled. “Not in the least. Just agreeing with ninety percent of Lincoln County voters,” she said with glee, then her voice sobered. “Darling Rose, don’t worry. And don’t let Chloe worry. Roy is going to find Belinda Waller and when he does, he’ll make sure she pays for what she’s done to our family. You’ve got to trust him.”

  If there was one man on this earth Rose could trust, it would be her brother-in-law. “You’re right, Justine. And we’ll try to think positively about this.”

  “Well, I’d better let you go. Charlie is helping his dad load the dishwasher, so I’d better go take a peek. They’ve probably thrown in food scraps and all!”

  “Okay. I’ll talk to you tomorrow night.”

  “Oh Rose, before you hang up, I wanted to ask about Harlan Hamilton.”

  Every nerve in Rose’s body tensed at the man’s name. “What about him?”

  “I just wanted to know how things were going with him. Is he quibbling over the money?”

  No, he was quibbling over her. The thought hit Rose so strongly she very nearly said the words aloud. Wouldn’t that shock her sister? she thought wildly. “No. He’s—contented to gain access to our water and pasture. So far.”

  Justine sighed with relief. “Good. I hope you can keep him that way.”

  Rose wasn’t sure what it would take to keep a man like Harlan contented. Nor did she know why she’d been relegated to the task. But she did know one thing. She was going to have to get a firm hold on herself before she did something foolish. Like fall in love with the man.

  “I hope so, too,” she murmured huskily. “Good night, Justine.”

  The next morning, Rose was surprised to find Emily waiting outside by the corrals. Her Appaloosa was already saddled and tied to a nearby hitching post. Harlan or his truck and trailer were nowhere in sight.

  “Good morning,” she greeted Emily. “I didn’t realize you were out here. I thought you would come to the house.”

  Smiling, Emily shook her head as she moved into step beside Rose. “Daddy was in a hurry this morning. He says he has lots of stuff to do today. And anyway, he says it isn’t good to wear out your welcome.”

  “Oh. Well, neither of you have to worry about that around here,” Rose said, while hating herself for being disappointed. All evening she’d thought about seeing Harlan again this morning, but he’d already come and gone without even saying hello. Instead of feeling relieved she was totally deflated.

  The two of them walked on toward the stables. Pie and the other working horses were kept at one end of the long barn, away from Chloe’s racehorses.

  While Rose brushed and saddled the sorrel, Emily stood near her shoulder, handing her blankets and tack and sporadically patting Pie’s rump.

  “Are we going to ride far today, Rose?”

  “As far as we can before noon. Did you bring your lunch?”

  “No,” Emily said ruefully. “I forgot and left it in the refrigerator.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ve already packed enough for the both of us.”

  Rose glanced at the teenager and saw a relieved look cross her face.

  “Gee, Rose, you must have been an awfully nice teacher.”

  Rose smiled to herself as she adjusted the latigo. “Why do you say that?”

  “Because you don’t get mad about things and yell and threaten.”

  That didn’t mean she didn’t sometimes want to get angry, to yell at the top of her lungs and stomp her feet as Chloe sometimes did when she lost her temper. But Peter’s assault all those years ago had not only frozen her desire for men, it had also made it hard for Rose to express much outward emotion. If she was hurt she did her best to hide it. If she was angry she tried her best to dampen it. Most of the time Rose lived inside herself and most of the time she was a very lonely woman.

  Annoyed with her straying thoughts, Rose jerked both stirrups into place and reached for the reins. “Come on, honey. If you’re ready, we’d better get started. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover.”

  The two of them rode west to a section of the ranch that hadn’t been used much in the past few years. The pasture was a long distance from the main ranch house, making it a nuisance if an animal needed to be moved or doctored. Also, several miles of the land ran adjacent to an isolated county road. The perfect setup for cattle thieves. However, it had been more than a decade since cattle theft had taken place on the Bar M, so Rose wasn’t really worried about that matter. She was more concerned about the condition of the fence.

  For two hours she and Emily rode through sagebrush and scrubby piñon pine. They were almost to the outside boundary fence when Rose spotted the cattle. As the two of them neared the herd, the animals lifted their heads but didn’t bolt from the patch of prickly pear.

  “Do they look okay?” Emily asked.

  “I think so. Let’s take a closer look,” she told the girl.

  The morning sun had grown unmercifully hot. Rose pushed her hat to the back of her head and wiped her brow on her shirtsleeve before riding a few steps closer to the herd.

  Surprisingly, despite the lack of grass and the searing heat, the cattle appeared to be in pretty good shape. But something didn’t seem right. Rose squinted her eyes as she studied every animal in the group.

  “The bull is gone!” she said with a sudden gasp.

  Emily jerked around in the saddle. “Gone! Are you sure, Rose?”

  Rose tried to swallow down the knot of fear forcing its way into her throat. The bull was a pureblood worth thousands of dollars and probably the best bull on the whole ranch. If he was dead, she didn’t know if she or the ranch could bear the loss.

  “I don’t see him.”

  Emily looked worriedly from Rose to the herd of cattle. It was the first time she’d heard Rose raise her voice over anything.

  “He’s got to be here somewhere. He was here the other day when we moved the cattle,” the teenager reasoned.

  Rose nodded and tried to calm herself. The bull could have simply wandered off away from the herd. “Let’s look around here and see if we can find him. I’ll ride to the west. You go east. But don’t get so far away that I can’t find you,” she told Emily.

  Emily reined the Appaloosa away from Rose and took off at a short lope. “I’ll find the bull for you,” she yelled over her shoulder.

  Twenty minutes later Rose still hadn’t caught sight of the bull anywhere. She was about to turn around and go in search of Emily when behind her, she heard the girl shouting.

  “Rose! Come and see what I’ve found!”

  Rose galloped over to where Emily waited on a barren rise of land. “What is it? Did you find his carcass?”

  “No! I haven’t seen the bull. It’s the fence. Someone has cut it down.”

  Rose stared blankly at the girl. Surely she hadn’t heard right. “The fence is down?”

  Emily nodded as she heaved to regain her breath. It was then Rose noticed the hot lathered condition of the Appaloosa. “You’ve galloped for a long distance.”

  Emily nodded again. “I was a long way from here when I found the fence. And then—well, I got scared! What if moonlighters did it? They might come back!”

  “Show me the fence,” Rose said grimly.

  Thirty minutes later Rose squatted on her bootheels to examine the area around the cut fence. The six strands of barbed wire lay in useless curls on the ground.

  “Emily, w
hat kind of boots are you wearing? Do they have a track on the bottom?”

  “No. They’re slick leather soles. Besides, I didn’t get off my horse. Why?”

  Rose peered closer at the dim footprints in the loamy desert soil. “Because whoever was here has a small foot about your size.”

  “Do you think they got the bull?”

  “I don’t know. I hope not. But it looks like his tracks are here, too.” Rose straightened to her full height, then carefully stepped through the tangled wire and out toward the county road. It didn’t appear as though a stock trailer had parked on the side of the dirt road. Nor were there any scuff marks on the ground indicating where a large animal might have been loaded into any sort of vehicle.

  “Why would someone cut your fence, Rose?” Emily asked once Rose had rejoined her. “Is there somebody around here who doesn’t like you or your family?”

  Rose couldn’t imagine anyone. But after all that had happened here lately, she couldn’t be sure about anything anymore. “Not that I can think of.”

  “Well, someone meant harm when they did this,” Emily said with adultlike speculation. “We’d better get back fast and tell Daddy!”

  Rose looked at the girl. “Tell your daddy? Why?”

  Emily threw up her hands as if she couldn’t believe Rose had to ask. “Because he’ll know what to do. Because he’ll help you, Rose.”

  Harlan? Help her? Yes, she supposed he would. He’d more or less intimated he’d help her with anything, if she’d only ask him. But did Rose want to ask? It would only draw him closer to her. She knew that as surely as she knew every hill and coolie on this ranch. Did she dare risk it? Did she need him that badly?

  With one graceful sweep of motion, Rose was back in the saddle, reining Pie toward the Bar M.

  “Let’s go find Harlan,” she said.

  Chapter Seven

  Back at the Bar M, Rose dialed Harlan’s number and was lucky enough to catch him in the house eating lunch. She quickly relayed what she and Emily had found, then went on to ask him if he’d be willing to help her.