Shea suddenly felt defensive.“We have nothing in common.He’s an outlaw, a—”
“Be careful, Miss Randall,” he said, his voice very quiet all at once, “or we might talk about your own shortcomings or those of your … father.”
“I wish you would,” she defended herself.“You insinuate, you make charges, you blame, all the while kidnapping, stealing, robbing—”
He stopped her with a penetrating gaze.“Randall doesn’t know anything about you.Ifyou are his daughter.He was completely surprised when someone told him a woman claiming to be his daughter appeared at the stage office.”
Shea went stiff.She’d realized from the letters, from the absence of any mention of her, that he probably hadn’t known.Yet the reality still stung.The mystery deepened.“I have to see him.”
“Not until this is over.”
“What isthis?”she said with frustration.
“Rafe will tell you when he’s ready,” Ben said, giving her the saddlebags, then going to a corner to get a bottle of whiskey.
He moved to the door, opening it and grandly waiting for her to go first.
She did so and then watched as he closed the door and locked it, pocketing the key.A part of her had considered escape now that Rafe Tyler had help.But as she looked into Ben’s face, she knew she had forfeited what little chance she’d had.She was a prisoner again, this time with two keepers.
She heard the lonely, anguished growl of the bear still prowling under the trees.It didn’t understand what was happening.
Neither did she.She didn’t understand anything that was happening, particularly inside her mind and heart.Dear God, she didn’t understand.
Chapter 15
Clint walked with Kate through the rose garden behind the Dewaynes’ sprawling ranch house.It was her garden, and it suited her.The roses were planted haphazardly, not in neat rows but with abandon.Reds mixed with yellows, pink with white.
They smelled like her, too, and he thought she probably used rose petals for the fine flowery scent that always seem to cling to her.
Her hand touched his, and he found his fingers closing over hers, despite his intention to do exactly the opposite.He had meant to make it plain tonight that he wouldn’t be seeing much of her, that his ranch duties precluded any social activities.
But nothing had worked as he’d planned, not since the moment he stepped over the Dewayne threshold.She had greeted him with that smile that warmed him through and through.Her green eyes had lit just at his entrance, and he felt his resolve fade like fog under a morning sun.
Even more disconcerting was his welcome by the others.He’d been treated like one of the family by her father and two brothers.Worse, he had been asked his opinion on what to do about the new lawlessness in Rushton.
Clint had felt so damn small, as if he needed to crawl under a rock.Instead, he had shrugged.“It seems strange they seem to be targeting Jack.”He hesitated.“I don’t much like that McClary who’s staying there.And hewasout the night the miner was killed.”
Russ Dewayne nodded.“Can’t say I care for him much, either, but he wasn’t here when the stage robberies started.”
“Maybe.Maybe not.”Clint let the implication hang in the air: Maybe McClary just hadn’t announced his presence until now.
“Can you keep an eye on him?”Russ asked.
Again, Clint felt like crawling under that rock.He’d done a lot in his lifetime he wasn’t exactly proud of, but he’d never lied to a friend, to someone whom he respected and who trusted him.
He nodded, then changed the subject, asking about the Dewayne herd.
“Hell, you know.It’s been rough all over; we were hit by winter as badly as Jack.We have to sell more of what’s left of the herd than we’d like.Rut that’s ranching; we expect bad weather, drought, wolves, coyotes.What we don’t expect is that human carrion circling around here.”
Clint inwardly winced.He wished he could explain.Now.But he couldn’t, not without betraying Rafe, his own brother, and the others.
“What are you going to do, Russ?”
“Damn if I know.Wait, I suppose.Jack was right about trying to find anyone in these hills.There wasn’t a trail after that first robbery.The tracks just seemed to disappear.I feel so rotten about Jack.He’s worked hard to build the Circle R.Some of us are talking about advancing him a loan ourselves, but we all have our own problems now.What will his hands do?”
“They’re getting impatient.Some are talking about leaving.”
“And you?”
