Angel Creek (19 page)

Each day dawned as hot and clear as the one preceeding it, and Lucas began to worry, even though the Double C still had good water. There was no telling how long a dry spell would last, and it wasn't just the water holes that were drying up; the grass was getting dry and brittle, with no new growth to replace the grazed areas. The cattle were having to graze farther each day, then returning to the creeks and water holes for water. They were daily growing leaner, and each day they had to cover even more ground. He
didn't like it, but there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. Admitting that didn't sweeten his temper.

After going without Dee for two weeks he rode over to Angel Creek one day, leaving a lot of work undone because another minute without her was one minute too long. He was restless and irritable, not just because of his sexual needs but because he couldn't get her out of his mind. No woman had ever invaded his thoughts like that, getting in the way of his work, interfering with his sleep. His desire for her hadn't cooled; he wanted her more than ever, his hunger all the more intense because it had to be hidden, even from his own men. If the men ever wondered where he went, they never asked. He suspected they all assumed he was seeing Olivia, and of course they would never make joking remarks about a lady the way they would if the woman was less than respectable. It enraged him that anyone would consider Dee less deserving of respect than Olivia, but he couldn't say anything without making Dee a target, so he had to keep his mouth shut.

Dee was sitting on the front porch placidly rocking when he rode up, and she made no effort to get up to welcome him. She was probably mad at him, he thought with a sigh, but then he decided that she wasn't. If Dee had been angry, she would have let him know it. It was more likely that she was just taking it easy in the shade.

He put the horse in the barn where it was cooler, and as he walked back to the house he noticed how green everything was, when everywhere else the grass was turning brown and the tree leaves were limp.
Angel Creek was a lush oasis in comparison. He stopped and looked around. Her garden was thriving, and as far as he could see up the valley the meadow grasses were green and resilient. He could hear the quiet rush of the water in the creek, the sweet, cold, crystal-clear mountain water that fed this little valley and made it thrive.

The valley wasn't big enough to support all of his cattle, but if he owned it, then it would be a safeguard against drought. Enough cattle could survive there to keep him from being wiped out. Indeed, keeping some cattle there would even help those heads left on the Double C, because they would get what grass and water there was to be had.

Dee was still rocking when he stepped up on the porch and sat down beside her. Her eyes were closed, but her foot maintained the slow, steady movement of the chair.

“I'll give you five thousand dollars for Angel Creek,” he said.

Those inscrutable green eyes opened and regarded him for a moment before her thick black lashes swept down again. “It isn't for sale.”

“Damn it,” he said irritably. “That's twice what it's worth.”

“Must not be,” she reasoned. “Since you offered five thousand, then it's worth five thousand.”

“Seven thousand.”

“It isn't for sale.”

“Would you be sensible about this?”

“I am being sensible,” she insisted. “This is my home. I don't want to sell it.”

“Ten thousand.”

“Stop it.”

“What are you going to do when you're too old to work the land? This is hard work, and you won't be able to keep doing it. You're young and strong now, but what about ten years from now?”

“I'll let you know in ten years,” she retorted.

“Name any kind of business you'd like to have, and I'll set you up in it. You're not going to get that kind of offer from anyone else.”

She stopped rocking and opened her eyes. Lucas watched her intently, his pulse speeding up now that he had finally aggravated her out of her cool demeanor. It was like deliberately prodding a tigress to attack, but he was tired of that blank refusal even to discuss selling Angel Creek. He might not win, but she'd at least listen to him.

“That's not as interesting as the offer Kyle Bellamy made,” she said with soft mockery.

He felt a spurt of anger. He could just imagine what Bellamy's offer had been. When he'd first met Dee he hadn't liked it that Bellamy was also interested in buying the land, but now he disliked even more the thought that the man had wanted Dee.

“I can just imagine the offer he made,” he said sarcastically.

“I doubt it.” She gave him a smile so sweet he was instantly wary. “He asked me to marry him.”

This time Lucas didn't feel a spurt of anger, he felt a huge rush of it, so hot that his entire body seemed to expand and burn. His pupils constricted to tiny black points. “Not if I can help it,” he said in a voice so flat
and toneless she wasn't certain he'd said anything at all.

“It was my decision, not yours. I turned him down, of course.”

“When was he here?” Murder was still in his eyes.

She shrugged. “Before you ever came back to town.”

Some of the anger faded as he realized that it wasn't a recent event. But if Bellamy ever came back to Angel Creek, it had better be to say good-bye.

“I don't want him here again,” he said flatly, just in case she was in any doubt.

“I didn't invite him in the first place.” She added thoughtfully, “I didn't invite you, either. Isn't it strange? The poor men who could have used a homestead just wanted me for sex; you and Bellamy have plenty of land, but you want more. I'd have to say that Bellamy wants it more than you do, since he offered marriage.”

Lucas tensed, every instinct alert. “Is that what it would take?” he asked, carefully feeling his way. He felt as if he were treading through quicksand, where one misstep would be a disaster. He realized that he was holding his breath, waiting for her answer.

Dee didn't look at him, but out across her land. “Getting married would be even worse than selling out,” she said. “I'd lose both my land and my independence. Of the two, selling it would at least let me stay independent.”

Sharp disappointment thudded in his chest. Until he felt the force of it he hadn't realized how much he had wanted her to say yes, that she would be interested
in a marriage proposal from him. Shock froze him in his chair. He had known since the first time he'd made love to her that she had ruined his plans to marry Olivia, that he couldn't marry Olivia while he still wanted Dee so fiercely. He couldn't imagine Dee consenting to be the mistress of a married man, nor would it be fair to Olivia. And Dee had made her opinion of marriage plain the first time they'd met. Until now he hadn't really thought of marriage to her because she didn't fit in with his plans; he had been prepared to marry her as a necessity if she should become pregnant, but the subject had never come up between them, and it had just been speculation on his part that she would marry him even then. Now he had brought it out into the open, and her refusal had hit him squarely between the eyes. He wanted Dee as his wife, and not because she would fit into his plans. If anything, she would make things harder.

But with her he could laugh and fight and not have to worry about hurting her feelings if he snapped at her. Dee would give back as good as she got. And in bed she was wild and natural, giving him complete freedom of her body without embarrassment and exploring him in the same manner. He would find some way to make her fit into the mold he wanted.

He'd marry her in a minute if she'd have him, but Dee didn't want to marry anyone. Marriage would make her feel caged, and she couldn't tolerate that.

“Then take the money,” he said, not looking at her because he was afraid she would read too much in his eyes. “It's enough to invest, so you'll always have enough to live on. That way you'd still be independent, and you wouldn't have to work yourself to death
on the land. Hell, you could even buy more land, if that was what you wanted.”

“But it wouldn't be Angel Creek,” she said softly. “I love it here. I fell in love with it the first day I saw it.” And it had given her a reason to live. In exchange for its healing bounty she was its caretaker, its guardian. Sometimes she felt a superstitious fear that she was like a plant that would die if uprooted from the soil of this small valley.

And she would never love any man as much as she loved this damn place, he thought savagely. He would rather have had Kyle Bellamy as a rival than Angel Creek, because he could fight Bellamy, but how could he fight the land? He remembered the look of dreamy ecstasy on her face the morning he had come to her in the dawn and found her out in the meadow, and sharp jealousy pierced him as he realized it had been for the land, for the wash of golden sunlight, for the crystal flow of water, and not for him.

The hell of it was, he loved the Double C just as fiercely. He couldn't condemn her when they were so much alike. That was why he was so relaxed with her, because she matched him strength for strength. But damn it, it wasn't like he'd be asking her to move to another country.

He stood up and held out his hand to her. “Let's go inside,” he said abruptly. He needed her. God, how he needed her.

But she didn't take his hand, just gave him another of those cat looks. “If you rode all the way over here just for that, you'll have to be disappointed. I'm having my monthly.”

He
was
disappointed but felt no inclination to
leave. Even if he couldn't make love to her, he needed her in other ways. He kept his hand extended. “Then come sit on my lap and drive me crazy,” he said.

Her face brightened with interest, and she put her hand in his. She was always willing to drive him crazy.

But as it happened they spent more time talking than snuggling. He had been serious about her sitting on his lap, so that's what she did, both of them in the big chair in front of the fire. He told her about his breeding plans for his herd, about his expansion ideas, how he planned to use the politicians in Denver to further his ambitions. The citizens of Colorado were supposed to vote to ratify the state constitution on the first of July, and it would then go to the federal government for a vote to admit them to the Union. He told her what statehood would mean, and she sat up to frown at him.

“I don't know if I want crowds of people coming out to settle. I like it the way it is now.”

“It's progress, honey. With more people we'll get more businesses, and more railroads. Railroads are the key. Colorado can't be completely civilized without them.”

“What difference does it make?”

“Money,” he said simply. “You can't do anything without money.”

“But I don't want things to change.” She nestled her head back on his shoulder and said pensively, “I don't like change.”

“Everything changes.” He combed his fingers through her long hair and pressed a kiss to her temple. She turned her face into his throat, and he held her
tighter, as if he could protect her from the changes that were inevitable for them both.

It had become customary for Olivia to go riding every Sunday afternoon. Sometimes she would return without seeing Luis, her disappointment carefully hidden behind her calm demeanor. But most of the time he would join her at some point. She seldom saw him at any other time, for his duties on the ranch kept him busy. The days between those stolen Sunday afternoons crept by at a snail's pace, while the few hours she spent with him were gone almost before she knew it. She was so obsessed with seeing him that she even neglected to ride out to see Dee and felt guilty because she had so much to tell her.

She couldn't seem to think of anything other than Luis. Her heart would begin hammering as soon as he appeared at her side, making her feel as if she would suffocate in the heat. She had already ceased wearing the fitted jacket of her riding habit, but convention insisted that she keep her blouse firmly buttoned all the way up to her throat and the sleeve cuffs fastened at her wrist. The unusually warm weather was uncomfortable, and her physical reaction to Luis made it seem even worse.

She would often look at the open throat of Luis's shirt and envy men the freedom of their clothing, but it wasn't long before the smooth brown skin visible in that open neckline would distract her from the details of clothing, and the heat would intensify.

Luis saw the way her gaze would linger on his open shirt and the flush that would soon climb to her
cheeks. Though she didn't realize it, she was becoming more accustomed to the physical desire between them, and as each Sunday passed without anything more than kisses she was becoming hungrier. She was innocent, but she was a woman, with a woman's needs. The day would come, and soon, when her desire and curiosity would grow too strong, and she would reach out for him. He only hoped it would be soon, for the frustration was killing him. He had never waited so long for a woman before, but then no other woman had been Olivia.

As June progressed the heat became even more oppressive, and riding during the afternoon was almost unbearable for both riders and animals. On a Sunday afternoon toward the end of the month Luis found a spot of intense shade under a stand of big trees and reined in his horse, dismounting with the fluid, catlike grace she found so fascinating.

“Let the horses rest,” he said, reaching up for her. “We'll start back when it cools down some.”

Olivia was more than glad to rest in the shade. She patted her face with her handkerchief and sat down under a tree while Luis gave the horses a little water, then tied them with long lines so they could graze. That done, he sat down beside her and placed his hat on the ground, then wiped his face with his sleeve.

“Do you want some water?” he asked.

She laughed, amused that he had taken care of the horses before offering any water to her. “Is there any left?”