Cowboy's Bride (21 page)

"I'll get you a washcloth and you'll feel
better."

Kalli bathed her face, then went to the sink
and ran the cloth under cold water.
She wrung it out and handed it
to Becky.

"The cool water will keep your eyes from
swelling."

Becky's eyes filled again.

"Now tell me what's the matter." Kalli
brushed back her hair, patted her shoulder, trying to offer comfort
to the girl.

"I wanted you to go away." Becky said
tearfully.

Kalli sat down, watching the child.

"I know that.
You and your dad wanted me to
leave."

"I wanted you to go away so Dad would stay
home and spend the summer with me like we did other years.
And he
wanted this ranch.
I thought if you left, he'd get it."

"But this is my home," Kalli said
gently.

"Dad said you'd never stay.
At the first
setback, you'd be gone.
Since you wouldn't stay, I thought you
should go now, not stay through the summer.
I only wanted you to
leave."

"And so you're upset because I'm still
here?" Kalli asked gently.

"No.
It's not working.
And Daddy's grouchy
all the time.
He doesn’t want to be with me.
He doesn’t want to do
things like we used to."

Since when, Kalli wondered, her heart
skipping a beat.
Since their last night together?
Was he missing
her as much as she missed him?

"I tried to get you to leave, and you just
don't go," Becky said, a hint of bewilderment in her gaze.
"I tried
with the horse, I thought you'd leave then.
But you didn't.
Then I
fixed your computer, and you still didn't leave."

"Hold on a second.
What are you saying?
Did
you do something to Stony so he'd buck?"

Becky nodded, tears coursing down her
cheeks.

"And you erased all my computer work?"

She nodded again.
"Daddy said if things went
wrong, you'd leave."

"Your dad is dead wrong.
I'm staying.
He
just has a problem understanding that.
But I thought you and I were
starting to be friends.
I thought we'd go shopping together and do
some more baking—"

Becky started crying again.
"I liked you,
Kalli.
But I wanted to make my dad happy.
And I thought getting
this ranch would make him happy." She lay her head on her hands and
cried.

Kalli was more confused than ever.
She ached
for the girl's unhappiness, rejoiced that Trace had not been the
one to sabotage her computer efforts, but didn't know how to handle
Becky's revelations.
The child had only been trying to help her
father.
Being without a mother, their relationship was closer than
others, and Becky fought for her father just as he would have
fought for her.

Kalli grew a little indignant that Trace's
constant harping on her unsuitability had taken root in such a
convoluted manner.
But it was time for all such shenanigans to
stop.

"You'll have to tell your father, Becky.
And
you have to stop doing things like that."

Becky looked forlorn.
"He'll be mad at
me."

"Damn straight, he'll be mad.
I'm a bit
miffed myself," Kalli said, rising.
"What you did was wrong, don't
you know that?"

Becky nodded.
"But I didn't mean for anyone
to get hurt.
I'm sorry about your ankle.
I've fallen lots of times
and never got hurt."

"How'd you do it?
I thought Stony was just
skittish."

"A thistle beneath the saddle blanket."
Becky shrugged.
"I didn't think you would suspect.
You being a city
lady and all.
And then I took off the blanket and threw the thistle
away."

"Well, for future reference, older women
aren't as agile as young girls.
And that horse is a lot taller than
yours.
I could have been seriously injured."

"I know.
I was so scared when you fell and
didn't get up right away."

Kalli remembered Becky had asked if she was
dead.
Shaking her head, Kalli took Becky's arm and helped her up,
then gave her a handful of tissue.
This was Trace's problem, not
hers.
Marching Becky to the bathroom, Kalli instructed her to wash
her face and comb her hair.

"When you're done, come out on the front
porch.
We'll have some lemonade and talk a bit more.
Then you'll
have to go home and tell your dad."

Kalli fixed lemonade and got some cookies.
She took them out to the porch and sat down, her thoughts churning.
She’d never suspected Becky.
For a guilty moment she remembered
suspecting Trace, even knowing he wasn’t the kind of man who
wouldn't do such a thing.

Becky came out and sat gingerly on the edge
of a chair, looking lost and uncertain.

Kalli handed her a glass of icy lemonade and
offered her the plate of cookies.
"How'd you sabotage the
computer?"

"When you went to get brownies that
afternoon, I just did a global erase."

Kalli frowned.
"How did you know to do that?
I know nothing about computers beyond inputting on predesigned
screens."

"Dad taught me a lot.
I've had some in
school.
I know a lot about them.
And the program you use is so
easy."

"Great.
I’ve spend hours every night
rekeying all the information you erased.
If I'd known about you,
you could have done it."

"Daddy will be so mad at me."

"Yeah, probably.
But he loves you and will
understand you were only trying to help him," Kalli said.

Becky sniffed but said nothing.

Kalli wished she could talk to her mother,
ask her opinion on how to handle Becky.
And maybe even how to
handle Becky's obstinate father.
She loved him, but he pushed her
away at every turn.
He'd ignored her for over a week.
Insisted he
knew she wouldn't stay.
What would it take, ten years in residence
before he'd allow that maybe she'd stay a little while?

What was she going to do about Becky?
Rather, what would Trace do?
He was the child's father.
For a
moment Kalli was glad she had no children.
She wanted them, and
would love than to death when she had than, but they could be a
trial.
Briefly she smiled, remembering the headaches she and her
brothers had given their parents.
Such was family life.
There was a
lot of joy shared, as well.

"He'll probably yell at me," Becky said in a
sad voice.

"Yes, but yelling can only hurt your
eardrums," Kalli said easily.
“And I'll protect you if he gets too
bad."

Becky looked at her in amazement.
"You're
not even as big as I am."

"Ah, but I'm a lot tougher, sweetheart.
Comes from standing up to five brothers.
All of which are about the
size of your father."

***

Trace stared at the letter from Richard
Strominger, unable to believe what he was reading.
He felt sick.
He
couldn't believe what it said.
Kalli was offering to lease him her
ranch.
She was leaving.
After all her protestations of staying for
the long haul, she was leaving.

He should be feeling good.
He'd wanted the
ranch, could expand his herd, start that new breeding program.
He'd
known all along that she'd leave.
He'd drawn back from her warmth
and happiness to save himself the pain of her departure.
But he
felt as if he'd been gutted.
He felt betrayed and abandoned.

Damn, he thought, leaning back and closing
his eyes to dispel her image dancing before him.
It didn't work.
He
could see her as clearly as he had that first day, climbing so
sassily from her new truck.
See her as clearly as he had in her bed
that morning when she'd scaled the heights in his arms.
See her as
clearly as he had riding when she was so sore she could scarcely
sit on the saddle.

His gut tightened and he opened his eyes.
Clenching his jaw tightly, he tried to ignore the pain that cut
like a knife, tried to remind himself he'd known all along she'd
leave.
But being right didn't ease the ache that plagued him.
Somehow he'd hoped he’d be wrong.

I'm in for the long haul, she'd said.
Yet
he'd known she wouldn't stay.
Alyssa hadn't.
Kalli was from Boston,
light-years away from a lonely, isolated ranch in Wyoming.
He'd
known it, but it didn't make the reality any easier.

Hell, he didn't want her damn ranch any
more.
Not if it meant losing her.
He wanted her.
He wanted her to
stay with him, live with him, be there for him.
To share her life
with his until they were both old.
Until one of them died.
He
wanted her to give him more children.
He'd always liked children,
loved Becky.
He'd love to have children with Kalli.
They'd probably
be as feisty and troublesome as their small mother.
Was it true all
her brothers were large?
He would want their sons to be tall, but
all the daughters could be pocket size, like Kalli.

He wanted her in his bed every night.
He
wanted to make love to her until neither one of than could breathe.
Sleep with her, feel her warm, soft, silky body snuggled against
his every night, especially in the long, dark nights of winter.
He
wanted to wake her up each morning with kisses and love and see her
sparkling eyes laughing at him.

He didn't care a snap of the fingers about
the Triple T, he wanted its owner.

Only now it was too late.
She had stopped
fighting him, relinquished her ranch to him.
To make him happy, the
damn letter said.
Hell, if she left, nothing would ever make him
happy again.

11

Kalli heard the throaty growl of Trace's big
pickup before she saw it.
She looked down the gravel drive and
watched as he drew nearer.
For the first time in days she felt
alive, gloriously alive.
He was coming and they would certainly
have a few words to say.
She smiled in anticipation.
Her visit to
Richard had been a gamble.
But just maybe it was one she'd win.

She couldn't see him clearly behind the
tinted glass, but she knew he was angry as hell from the way the
truck roared toward her house.
It stopped with a swirl of dust and
gravel.
She smiled.
It was time this know-it-all cowboy found out
something new.

“
Becky, do me a favor and
take some of these cookies down to Charlie at the bunkhouse," Kalli
murmured, her eyes never leaving the truck.
This was do-or-die
time.
Oddly, she felt totally calm.

Becky hurried away without an argument, glad
to delay confessing to her father what she'd done.

Kalli tipped back in her chair and watched,
her heart pounding.
Trace had obviously received Richard's letter.
Now she waited to see his reaction.
She wouldn't give in to the
uncertainty that plagued her.
She would see what he had to say.

Trace slammed the truck to a stop and cut
the engine.
Anger and fear raged.
He wasn't sure which was
stronger.
He only knew since meeting Kalli Bonotelli he'd had more
emotions flare than any time in his life.
Now that he was here he
hesitated, fear roiling in his gut.
He was going to confront her
about the letter.
Challenge her about all the fine talk she'd given
over the weeks and see what she said.

He was most of all afraid she'd tell him
goodbye.

He snatched up the letter from the seat and
thrust open the truck door, slamming it closed behind him like a
shot.
He crossed the short distance smoothly, deadly, like a lone
wolf on the prowl.
Kalli shivered in delight, holding his gaze with
her own, watching as he slowly walked toward the porch, his eyes
caught with hers, his gaze hard and impassive.

Damn, but she looked cool, tipped back in
the chair, watching him with a speculative look on that pretty
face.
He'd like to shake her up, shake her, period, for putting him
through everything.
Damn her, why had she come to Wyoming at all if
she wasn't going to stay?

There were two shallow steps up to the wide
wooden porch.
Trace rested his foot on the first step.
Shimmering
waves of anger filled the air.
Kalli slowly brought her chair down
and stood, wiping her palms against her shorts.

"Hi, Trace," she said, watching him
warily.

He was surprised to see a glimmer of
apprehension in her expression.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're
doing?" he asked menacingly, waving the crumpled letter in front of
her nose.

She glanced at it then at him.
"I assume
that must be the letter from Richard.
Wasn't he clear?"

He stood tall, threatening and so
heart-stoppingly male she felt the feminine parts of her soften in
desire.
She licked her lips and studied him with false calmness.
At
least there was a reaction.
Not a quiet acceptance.
Somehow the
gamble had to pay off.

"You're leasing me the ranch."

She shrugged.
"You said you wanted it.
You've been saying it since I arrived."

"I wanted to buy it, dammit, not lease it.
I
wanted you to sell it and get the hell back to Boston so I wouldn't
have to see you again!
Leasing it would tangle us up together
forever."

"I told you I wasn't selling," she said
primly, still trying to gauge his reaction.
Was it only anger?

"Hell, you also told me you weren't leaving,
but what are you doing but heading back to the east coast as fast
as you can?
And being ornery about relinquishing the ranch."

"I'm-"

"Can't take it, just as I said, can you?" he
snarled, stepping up on the first step.
"What about all your
protestations about staying in Wyoming for the long haul?
What was
all that malarkey about your being one determined woman?"

She cocked her head to one side, narrowing
her eyes.
"What about it?" she asked.
"Maybe there comes a time
when you have to cut your losses.
Realize things won't ever be the
way you want, no matter how much you want them.
Admit it and move
on."

He closed his eyes, rubbed the fingers of
one hand against his closed lids, then snapped them open.

"Don't go, Kalli," he said softly,
urgently.

"Why not?" She held her breath.

"Because I want you to stay."

Her heart sped up.
Her skin tightened and
flushed.
Hope blossomed.
"Why?"

He hesitated, his eyes gazing deeply into
hers.
He swallowed hard.
"Because I want you, dammit!"

"That's all?" Disappointment threatened.

"Isn't that enough?" He put his boot on the
next step.

She shook her head.
"That sounds like only
sex."

"It’s not only sex.
I want you in bed, I
can't deny that.
But I want you out of it, too."

Her heart thumped harder and harder.
Come
on, she urged, say it, oh, please, just say it.
She took a step
closer and smiled at him.

"So I should stay just because you want
me?"

He nodded, licking suddenly dry lips.

She shook her head.
"It's not enough."

"Hell, what do you want?
I've never asked
anyone else to hang around.
We have something special between us.
Stay and see what happens." Fear rose again.
She was going to
leave, and all because he couldn't say what he felt.
Couldn't voice
the emotions that threatened to swamp him.
Fear spread through him
like a plague.
Dammit, he was going to lose her just because he was
a coward.

"I need more than wanting," she said.

"I need you to stay."

"Here?
Run my ranch with your help?" She
tried for clarity.
If he wanted her that much, how much bigger was
the step from that to love?
She wanted it all.
She was greedy and
demanding, and he would say the words to her before she'd say
yes.

"I thought you wanted the Triple T," she
said, stalling for time.
Trying to figure out a way to get him to
admit he loved her.
He had to, didn't he, to ask her to stay?
Please, God, let him love me.

"When I heard from Richard that you were
leaving, I knew the ranch didn't mean anything to me.
I want
you."

"Richard told you I was leaving?" She
frowned.
Had he really said that?

"The letter said you were leasing me the
land.
Hell, lady, you can't leave."

"Why not?" Her fingers slipped between the
buttons on his shirt, rubbed lightly against his warm skin.
She
breathed in the tangy scent of him, the mixture of horses and
sunshine and masculine strength.

"Why not?" He rested his forehead against
hers, his breath fanning across her cheeks.
"Kalli, you're the
sunshine in a dark life.
You are laughter and enthusiasm and
delight.
You've brought me more than I can ever give you.
I can't
let you go."

"You're always giving orders."

"Yeah, and you're always arguing with me.
Only don't argue with me on this one, Kalli.
Stay."

"Give me a good reason, cowboy, and I'll see
what I can do." Kalli smiled, love spilling out of her heart for
this man.

He read the demand in her eyes.
"You've
never done anything to make it easy for me."

She grinned and shook her head slowly, but
took a step closer.
They were almost touching from chest to thigh.
"You're tough, Trace, you don't need anything made easy."

"Stay with me, Kalli.
Live with me.
Build a
life with me.
Don't go back to Boston." He was getting desperate.
She was toying with him, damn her, and he wasn't sure he was
getting through to her.

Her face was on a level with his, her body
so close now be could feel the heat radiating from her.
Could feel
her breath stir the air near him.
Could smell the sweet scent of
her hair, the fragrance of wild flowers from her warm body.
He took
a deep breath, knowing he would always recognize her in a dark room
by her sweet scent alone.

"Tell me why you want me," she breathed, one
finger trailing down his cheek, feeling the muscle tighten in his
jaw when he clenched his teeth.
"Is it so very hard?"

"Damn you, yes!" He swept her up in his arms
and lowered his mouth to hers, ruthlessly plunging into the heat of
her.
His lips found a hot response, his tongue its mate.
His hands
molded her against him, running up and down her spine, cupping her
bottom and hauling her closer still.
He relished the feel of her
full breasts pressing against his chest, the softness of her belly
against his.
If he lived to be a hundred and had her every day he'd
never get enough of her.
She was his life, his happiness, his
future.
He had to have her, now, tomorrow, forever.

Setting her on her feet, he rested his
forehead against hers.
His breath was harsh and rapid.
"I'm
incomplete without you," he growled.

She pressed her lips against his gently,
speaking as they clung.
"Incomplete?"

Incomplete described her life perfectly when
Trace was not there.
He'd completed her in a way she would never
have known if she had not come to Wyoming.

"Yeah."

"There's more.
Say it, Trace.
Say it!"

His eyes opened to find has, gaze deep into
hers as he said slowly, "Hell, you make me so mad I want to
strangle you.
But I won't..
.because I love you, Kalli.
As hard and
deep as any man can.
I don't want to.
I was content with my life
before you came and I know you're going to bring me a truckload of
heartache, but I can't help it.
I love you beyond belief.
Stay!"

Snuggling closer, she brushed her lips
across his again.
"I'm not bringing you anything but love, Trace.
I've loved you for weeks.
Maybe since the first time I saw
you."

He hugged her tightly, his mouth tender as
he nibbled kisses across her cheeks, on her nose, her eyelids,
avoiding her lips as he teased her into arousal.
His tongue flicked
against her soft skin, his breath bathed her face.
The feelings of
relief and love swelled in him until he couldn't tell what was
what.
She loved him!
Thankfully she was going to stay and love
him.

"Kiss me," she demanded, almost frantic with
love and desire.

He complied, and the embrace was endless,
gloriously endless.

"Becky said you haven't been happy lately,"
she murmured, when he pulled back to breathe.
Her heart melted at
his love words.
Who would have thought her cowboy capable of such a
romantic turn?

"When I'm with you I am." He loved her so
much.
Was she really going to stay?
"These last days have been
hell.
And then to get this blasted letter from Richard-"

"Tell me what Richard said," she murmured,
snuggling against him, wanting to rip the shirt from his chest and
press her bare breasts against him.
Wanting to draw his mouth to
hers and plunder it.
To capture the spiraling ecstasy only he
brought.
To reaffirm together the love they'd just confessed.

"Who the hell cares what Richard said?" He
was frustrated.
She wasn't saying yes.
Though she hadn't said no,
either.

"Tell me," she insisted.
Had Richard
embellished what she’d told him?

He flung himself away and walked across the
porch, leaning his forearm against a post.
He gazed out across the
grassy acreage that he'd longed to own.