Heart of a Texan (5 page)

“The people of Slender Creek won’t let you starve.”

“They’re too afraid to help me. One way or another, most of them depend on the ranchers for their living.”

“Fine, then
I
won’t let you starve.” He looked at her with such intensity a shiver went up her spine.

“I’d rather save my crops.”

He pushed away the spoon she held to his mouth. “Do you hate me that much?”

“No,” she said after a moment’s thought. “I don’t think I hate anyone but the man who shot my father.”

“The sheriff will find out who did it.”

“I expect the sheriff is just as beholden to the ranchers as anyone else.” She put a spoonful of broth into his mouth. “I’ll do it myself.”

“How?”

“I don’t know, but working in the fields will give me plenty of time to come up with a plan. Farming doesn’t take a lot of thinking.”

“Neither does ranching. My parents managed two stores, a livery stable, and owned part of a bank. That took a lot of thinking and a lot of work. I used the money they left to buy a ranch because it would give me time to follow Laveau.”

“You don’t care about ranching?”

He swallowed a mouthful of broth. “I didn’t in the beginning, but I’m starting to.”

“But you’re still going to spend most of your time looking for diViere.”

“I won’t have much choice if he’s decided to come after me.” He pushed away the next spoonful of broth. “That’s enough unless you want to help me to the chamber pot.”

Roberta felt herself blush. “I’ll leave that for Russ. Now I need to help Joe. Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“I’ve got my gun, and I’m not going to lie down until you put something over that window.”

“I’ll have Joe do it right away.”

“Are you sure you can trust that man? Most people say he’s crazy. Some even think he’s dangerous.”

“Joe doesn’t trust people because they’ve been cruel to him, but he wouldn’t hurt me or Prudence.”

“I wouldn’t hurt Prudence. That woman scares me.”

Roberta grinned. “She is rather severe, but she’s got a good heart.”

“I’ll take your word for it. Just don’t let her in here.”

Roberta lost all desire to laugh. “If she ever finds I’m alone with a man, even one who’s unable to sit up without help, she won’t leave. I expect the doctor will be by before supper. Maybe you can convince him to let you have something other than broth.”

“Don’t forget to lock the door and get Crazy Joe to cover this window.”

She started to object to the way he referred to Joe but decided to do that later. Right now she had to take care of the window. Thinking of what diViere would have done if she’d been five minutes later made her shudder.

***

“If you insist on working until you’re ready to drop, you might as well work in my saloon,” Boone said to Roberta. “At least you won’t have to dig in the dirt.”

Roberta had toiled in the hot sun the whole afternoon. Joe had set the chicken coop to rights and nailed boards over Nate’s window. One of the cows had returned, so he put together a rough corral for her and the two mules. Joe would catch the hens when they went to roost. That would mean stock to be fed, a cow to be milked, and eggs to be gathered as well as fixing supper for her and Nate. Thinking about all she had left to do put her in no mood to deal with Boone.

“If I hadn’t sworn to make a success of this farm, I’d be tempted to consider your offer,” she told him, “but right now I’m too tired to think about anything.”

“If you’d marry me, you wouldn’t have to think.”

Roberta didn’t look up from the tomato plant she was staking. “Marriage is the most important decision any woman can make. That requires more thinking than all the rest.”

“Otis Parker told me he turned down your request for a loan. How are you going to survive without money?”

Roberta stood up to face Boone. “He had no business talking to you about my private affairs.”

“I needed to know if he’d given you a loan because I was going to offer.”

Roberta placed her hand on her hips. “Otis is positive the ranchers will blow up the dam if I rebuild it. You’d lose your money just like he would.”

“I don’t care about the money. I’d give it to you. It’s not right for you to work in this field like a hired hand.”

“I appreciate your offer, but I can’t accept it.”

“What if I make it a loan with interest?”

“I’d be obligated to you, and I won’t be obligated to anyone.”

“You were willing to be obligated to Otis.”

“I would have been obligated to the bank. That’s different.”

“I don’t see how.”

Roberta turned to Joe, who’d been working quietly alongside her. “We’ve done about all we can today, so I’m going to the house to clean up. By the time you’ve milked the cow and done the feeding, I’ll have supper ready.”

“Joe eats supper at the restaurant,” Joe said.

“I know, but you’ve spent the day working for me. I owe you supper.”

“Annie cooks his favorites all the time,” Boone told her. “If he’s not there, she’s liable to throw a fit and not cook for anybody. Half of Slender Creek would go hungry.”

“I feel like I ought to pay him something.”

“He wouldn’t know what to do with it. Prudence collects his salary. Suppose I set you up in a dress shop?”

Roberta left the field and started toward the house. “Someone would still need to work the farm.”

“Then give it up.”

“I can’t let the attackers think they succeeded. This is Texas. A person is supposed to be able to do what he wants.”

“Look at you. Your dress covered with dirt, your hair escaping your bonnet and plastered to your forehead, and your hands covered with whatever it is that rubbed off those plants. Are you really doing what you want?”

Roberta didn’t shorten her stride. The thought of getting to the house and cleaning up gave her extra energy. “If you dislike the way I look, why do you want to marry me?”

“I don’t dislike it. I just hate that you have to work so hard.”

“I don’t mind. I won’t have to do it forever.”

“You mean you won’t have to do it when you go back to Virginia, but I don’t want you to go back. You don’t belong there anymore. You’re a Texan. What other woman would be stubborn enough to try to handle this farm by herself?”

Roberta had already been prey to doubts on that very score, but she wasn’t going to let Boone know. Before she could decide how to respond, she rounded the corner of the charred remains of the barn to see Russ McCoy attacking the door of her house with his booted foot. “Stop!” she yelled.

“It’s stuck,” Russ yelled back.

“It’s not stuck. I locked it.”

“Why the hell for?”

She didn’t answer until she’d reached the house. “Because your boss asked me to.”

“Why would he do that?”

“Laveau diViere was here this morning.”

“What makes you think it was diViere?”

“When I described him, Nate said it had to be diViere. He’d seen him at the window but thought it was a dream.”

“His window is boarded up.”

“He wanted it that way. Both of you stay here. As soon as I change my dress and fix my hair, I’ll let you in.”

Roberta trudged around to the back of the house. She left her dirt-encrusted shoes on the porch, hung her sweat-soaked bonnet on a peg, unlocked the kitchen door, and went inside. She would have liked nothing better than to cool her head under the pump, but she would have to do with the relief of being out of the sun. She quickly washed up, changed her dress, and ran a comb through her hair. Tugging on a pair of slippers, she went through the house to the parlor.

“Is that you?” Nate called before she reached the door.

Changing her path, she walked to the bedroom. Nate was propped up, his gun in his hand. He relaxed when he saw her. “I guess I don’t need this.” He indicated the gun that he slipped back under the sheet covering him.

“I was hoping you’d be asleep.”

“I was until I heard someone trying to break down the door.”

“That was Russ. I had to tell him about diViere to keep him from kicking it in.”

“What took you so long?” Russ asked when she unlocked the door.

Boone responded angrily. “Roberta doesn’t have to answer to you in her own home.”

“She does as long as my boss is here. The doctor just drove up,” Russ said over his shoulder as he headed toward Nate’s bedroom.

“You don’t have to put up with that man’s rudeness,” Boone said.

“He’s just concerned about his boss.”

“You mean he’s concerned about his job. Nobody else would pay him so much for doing so little.”

“You having a party here?” Dr. Danforth asked when he entered the house. “I hope I’m welcome.”

“You’re more than welcome if you’ve come to get that man out of Roberta’s house,” Boone said. “If you can get him out tonight, you can eat free at the restaurant for a week.”

“That’s a tempting offer, but it depends on my patient.”

“He’s probably pretending to be worse than he is.”

The doctor eyed Boone with a cocked eyebrow. “Why would you say that?”

“Who would you rather have looking after you, Russ or Roberta?”

The doctor winked at Roberta. “I see what you mean, but I suspect Nate would rather not have been shot.”

Roberta’s father often said his bedroom was too big for one man, but it was crowded by the time four people had gathered around Nate’s bed.

“I hope you’re not planning to turn this into a wake,” Nate joked. “I’m not ready to cash in my chips yet.”

Dr. Danforth pushed Russ aside. “It seems I’m the only one not trying to get you out of this house.”

Nate cast an injured look at Roberta. “I’ll see that you get a new window.”

“I’m not trying to get rid of you,” she protested.

“You ought to be,” Boone said. “You shouldn’t have to be responsible for him.”

“She won’t be as soon as I can get him back to the ranch,” Russ said.

“Both of you wait outside,” the doctor said. “He’ll get well a lot faster without you fighting over him. You stay,” he said, when Roberta started to follow the two men. “He’s not going anywhere for the next day or two. I’m not happy with how he’s looking. What’s he doing sitting up?”

The doctor wasn’t any happier when Roberta explained about diViere. “Nate is going to have Russ set up a guard on the house.”

“Don’t let them stand watch in this room. You have to keep Nate as quiet as possible if you want him to go home soon.”

“He can stay as long as he needs to.” Both men stared at her in a way that made her fidgety. “I don’t believe he was one of the attackers. I think he was coming to help.” They didn’t stop staring. “I’m sorry I shot him.” It was a lame ending, but she had nothing else to say.

The doctor recovered his businesslike attitude. “I’m glad you got that cleared up. Now, here’s what I want you to do for the next two days.”

“Unless you want me to die of hunger, let her feed me something besides broth,” Nate begged.

“I guess if he’s strong enough to sit up all afternoon, he’s ready for some solid food,” Dr. Danforth told Roberta. “Just don’t start him on a diet of steak and beans. Some baked chicken ought to perk up your appetite.”

The physician had just finished going over what he wanted Roberta to do for the next couple of days when the bedroom door was flung open, and Prudence Goodfellow appeared like a bad fairy.

“What is that man doing here?” She sounded like a demigod passing judgment on fallible mankind. “He must leave at once.”

“He can’t leave until I say so,” the doctor said. “Now go bother someone else.”

“He was shot during the attack,” Roberta said, trying to reassure Prudence. “He has to stay here until he’s well enough to go back to his ranch.”

“If he’s one of the attackers, he belongs in jail,” Prudence declared. “I’ll have the sheriff remove him.”

“He was coming to help,” Roberta admitted. “I shot him by mistake.”

That revelation gave Prudence pause. “I don’t believe you. You’re not a violent woman.”

“I’d just seen my father shot. I didn’t know what I was doing.” Roberta followed Prudence’s gaze, which was fastened on Nate’s bare chest.

“It’s not proper for a respectable woman to be in a house alone with an undressed man unless it’s her husband.”

“I’m changing his bandage,” the doctor said. “If you don’t like what you see, don’t look.”

“I don’t care about myself, but Roberta, who shouldn’t be exposed to…” Prudence seemed at a loss for words.

“Am I so ugly I offend her?” Nate asked.

“It’s not a question of attractiveness,” Prudence asserted. “No young woman can be alone with a man without endangering her reputation.”

“I can barely sit up without help,” Nate pointed out. “How can I possibly endanger her reputation?”

“You’re a man,” Prudence declared.

“Blame that on my parents,” Nate said. “I had nothing to do with it.”

“You’re a good woman,” the doctor told Prudence, “but right now you sound like you have less sense than Crazy Joe. Do something about her, Roberta, before I give her an injection.”

“Come on,” Roberta said to Prudence.

“I’m not leaving this house while he’s here,” Prudence stated as Roberta pushed her out of the room. “You never know what a man is capable of, even one who’s been shot.”

Russ, who had been waiting impatiently in the parlor, took exception to Prudence’s aspersion on his boss. “I’ll warrant he won’t be a danger to you.”

“I’m here to see he’s not a danger to Roberta,” Boone added.

“Russ is going to send someone to watch Nate at night,” Roberta told Prudence. “I promise to keep my door fastened. Joe arrives early every morning so I’ll be safe.”

“I mean to take Nate back to the ranch as soon as the doctor says he can be moved,” Russ said to Prudence. “I don’t want him here any more than you do.”

“Do you think Roberta’s incapable of taking care of him?” Boone demanded.

When the two men started to argue, Roberta couldn’t stand it any longer. “Stop, all of you. Nate is going to remain here until the doctor says he can go home, and all your fussing isn’t going to change that. One of his men will be here from now on, so it’s unlikely that I’ll poison him or that he’ll attack me. The doctor will make sure I give Nate the care he needs, and Joe will protect my virtue. I think that covers everything, so you can go home. Boone has his saloon to run, Russ has to organize the watch, and Prudence has to get home before dark. I’m depending on the two of you to see that she gets there safely.”

It would have been hard to say who was more dismayed, Russ or Boone.

“Come on,” Russ said to Prudence in a very ungallant manner. “I’ve got to get somebody over here quick.”

“She can go with me,” Boone offered. “I’d hate for you to have to go out of your way.”

“Fine.” Russ turned to Roberta. “If anything happens to the boss, I’m holding you responsible.”

“Since I’m the one prescribing for him, you might as well hold me responsible, too.” The doctor regarded Russ like he was a small, misbehaving boy. Since Russ was six inches taller and about twice his size, Roberta found it amusing.

Russ muttered a curse and stalked from the house, slamming the door behind him.

“Ignore him,” the doctor said to Roberta. “He’s just worried about his boss.”

“About his job you mean,” Boone said.

“That too. Now both of you get out of here so Nate can get some rest,” Dr. Danforth ordered.

“I will be back in the morning,” Prudence assured Roberta.

Boone said he intended to check on Roberta just as often.

“Don’t let whatever cowhand Russ sends spend the night in Nate’s room,” the doctor reminded Roberta after Boone and Prudence had left. “He needs his rest. Now that the window has been boarded up, there’s nothing the fella can’t do from out here.”

“Is it really okay for me to give him some chicken?” Roberta asked.

The doctor heaved a sigh. “He should probably stick to broth one more day, but I dare say his stomach can handle chicken. Young men these days don’t care what they eat. He could probably digest leather. Just don’t let him eat too much, and don’t let him have anything sweet. He can have plenty of that once he’s strong enough to go home.”

“How long will that be?”

“Are you still wanting him out as soon as possible?”

“Yes and no.”

The doctor grinned. “Are you going to explain?”

“I want him out because I don’t have time to take care of him, and I’m tired of Russ McCoy pushing his way in here twice a day accusing me of wanting to poison him. Still, I’m the one who shot him, so I should be the one to make sure he gets well.”

“What made you change your mind about him being one of the attackers?”

“He talked in his sleep about seeing the fire and coming to help my father. Besides, he wasn’t wearing a mask like the others.”

“Glad to hear it. I don’t know him well, but I always liked him.” The doctor cocked his head. “Maybe you ought to get to know him. You might like him, too.”

“Don’t try putting any romantic notions in my head. I’m not interested in a man who spends half his time playing cat-and-mouse with a murderer.”

“I heard you told the ranchers you intend to keep farming.”

“I also intend to find out who murdered my father.”

“Shouldn’t you leave that to the sheriff?”

“As long as the ranchers stick together, the sheriff can’t do anything.”

“Talk to Nate about this. I think he’s as interested as you in finding out who’s behind it.”

“He’s a rancher.”

“The attack caused him to get shot. I doubt he’s too happy about that. Think about it,” he said when Roberta was slow to answer. “There’s a lot more to that young man than you think.”

***

“This is good,” Nate said. “If you ever need a job, you can cook for me.”

Roberta had boiled a chicken, made a sauce from the stock, and served it over rice. The way Nate was wolfing it down, you’d think he’d never had a decent meal. “If you had made biscuits and gravy, the meal would be perfect.”

“I’m not your private cook.”

“You could be.”

“Can you see me surrounded by all those men? Prudence would have a heart attack.”

“How is that different from working in Boone’s saloon?”

“One is public, and one isn’t.”

“I could invite Prudence to chaperon.”

“Now you’re being ridiculous. Apparently you’re recovering faster than the doctor expected. Maybe you can go home tomorrow.”

“Why are you so anxious to get rid of me?”

Roberta took her time preparing the next mouthful of chicken. “It’s not
you
I want to leave. It would be anybody. I’ve got a lot to do.”

“Have you ever thought of asking for help?”

“I asked Otis Parker for a loan, but he turned me down. I thought the sheriff would have some information about who murdered my father by now, but I haven’t seen him since the funeral.”

“I expect it’s too soon to know anything.”

“It has to be the ranchers. All he needs to do is find one person who will tell the truth.”

“If everybody is as afraid of them as you believe, that won’t be easy.”

“That’s why I’ve decided to do it myself.”

Nate pushed away the food she offered him. “You don’t know anything about chasing murderers. It’s extremely dangerous. Anyone willing to kill your father the way he did wouldn’t hesitate to shoot you.”

Roberta put the spoon back in the bowl and set it on the table. “Then what do you suggest I do?”

“Let the sheriff handle it.”

“And if he can’t?”

“We’ll think of something.”

“
We?
”

“Don’t you think I’m as anxious as you to know who’s behind this?”

“Why should you be? Your father didn’t get killed.”

“No, but I got shot because of it. Besides, I don’t like knowing there’s a cold-blooded murderer in my community.”

“It’s hardly
your
community when you’re gone most of the year.”

“I’m not going anywhere with Laveau in the area now.”

“Why should he want to kill you?”

“Because I want to see him hang.”

“You said something about him when you were delirious, but I didn’t understand it.”

“Laveau and I served in the same troop during the war. When it became clear the South wasn’t going to win, Laveau betrayed us to the Union Army.”

“What happened?”

“The Union troops ambushed us in our sleep. If our captain hadn’t sensed something wrong, none of us would have survived. Twenty-four men died that day. One was my brother. Laveau might as well have been the one to put that bullet in his head. I’ll never be able to rest until he’s dead. Don’t you feel the same way about the man who shot your father?”

Roberta didn’t know what to say. She wanted justice for her father, but she didn’t know that she could shoot someone to kill. Did that make her a spineless female who talked big but would back down when push came to shove? “I don’t know what I would do. I guess I was out of my mind when I snatched up Papa’s gun and shot you. I don’t believe I even thought about killing you.”

“In other words, if you’d had time to think, you wouldn’t have shot me.”

“No.”

“Would you have shot the man who killed your father? Would you have wanted to kill him?”

“Yes.” She didn’t know whether she was ashamed or relieved to make that admission, but it was the truth.

“Good. I was beginning to think you didn’t have any spunk at all, that this insistence on keeping your father’s farm going was just a lot of talk.”

Roberta had been feeling less annoyed by Nate’s presence, but that changed in a flash. “I may not be as ready to use a gun as a man, but that doesn’t mean I can’t stand my ground.”

“Good. You’re much too beautiful to be spineless.”

A flush of pleasure ran through her at the compliment. Not even Boone had ever called her beautiful.

“That’s just the fever talking now,” she murmured. Roberta rose from where she’d been sitting next to Nate’s bed.

He held her gaze for a moment. “Don’t forget to leave the door unlocked, so my night guard can get in.”

“I’ll wait up for him. And I’ll leave the chicken on the stove. He can bring you more food if you’re hungry later.”

Nate’s grin was slightly crooked. “A good cowhand can stay in the saddle for a day and a half, wrestle a full-grown steer to the ground, and sleep standing up in a rainstorm. Ask him to do anything inside a house except eat or sleep, and you’ll find he’s as helpless as a child.”

“Are you similarly handicapped?”

Nate’s grin broadened. “I grew up a businessman’s son. I can do any number of things that would make a true Texan balk.”

“Oh, really? You’ll have to tell me about that someday.” Roberta was beginning to realize she didn’t know anything about this man named Nate Dolan. She had also come to the conclusion that she wanted to know more. A lot more. After all, he thought she was beautiful.

***

Nate settled back against his pillows after Roberta bid him goodnight. She was a confusing woman. At one end of the spectrum, she had shot him and faced down the ranchers. At the other end, she said she would never shoot any man if she weren’t too upset to think straight. Nate suspected she had always been capable of the first two. She believed the second only because she’d never been put in a situation where she had to choose. He had probably felt much the same before the war, before his brother’s death, but he could never go back to being that boy again. He wondered if the same might hold true for Roberta.

He was certain of one thing, however. She was a beautiful woman. The way that rosy blush spread up her neck and into her cheeks made him think no one had ever told her that before. Why hadn’t Boone Riggins told her she was beautiful at least once a day? He would have if he’d been in love with her. Didn’t every man think the woman he loved was beautiful? Wasn’t that part of being in love?

He didn’t know why he’d never noticed her lovely figure during the several visits he’d paid to her father. How could he have been so interested in dams, crops, and cows that he’d never noticed a beautiful woman?

Probably because she’d stayed out of sight. Probably because he’d been so focused on defusing the friction between Robert Tryon and the ranchers he didn’t think of much else. Probably because he’d been so obsessed with finding Laveau diViere, there hadn’t been any room in his head or heart for a woman.

Being shot had shifted things around a bit.

He was still concerned about the friction between Roberta and the ranchers. He was still obsessed with finding Laveau, especially since Laveau was in the area, but now Roberta filled his thoughts, too.

Heck, she was even making her way into his dreams, and not as a Florence Nightingale stand-in. She was more like Delilah, a temptress to test the resolve of a stronger man than he. But in his dreams he hadn’t resisted at all. Parts of his fantasy made it difficult to meet Roberta’s gaze without embarrassment—or showing naked desire. This was something new for him. Up until now, no woman had managed to hold his interest for more than a few days. He’d have to wait to know if Roberta was different.

***

Roberta placed Nate’s supper on the stove. The cowhand Russ sent over could feed him. Starting tomorrow, Russ had promised he would supply Nate’s meals. A guard would be present at all times so there wouldn’t be any need for her to do more than check on him briefly just to make sure he didn’t have a fever or that his wound hadn’t become infected. Since the doctor would come by at least once a day, she didn’t really have to do that. She could ignore him, forget he was there.