Heart of a Texan (7 page)

He hadn’t been
looking
for love, but did one have to look? Didn’t love find you instead of the other way around? That was the way it happened with Cade and the rest of his friends in the Night Riders. He’d never thought much about it, but he believed a person who was looking too hard ran the risk of seeing something that wasn’t there. Best for love to find you and wrestle you to the ground. That way you knew you had found the real thing.

But what if love spoke in a whisper rather than a shout? Had he been so unaware that he would have missed a soft-spoken approach?

Why was he even thinking about this? He wasn’t ready to get married. He was only thirty-one. He had plenty of time to find the right woman to love, and who would love him in return. Roberta was attractive. Hell, she was beautiful. He even liked her. He wasn’t in love with her, but she was the kind of woman he’d want for a wife. When he was ready. After he’d brought Laveau to justice.

***

“Are you trying to kill him?”

Carlin looked at Roberta in utter confusion. “This is his breakfast.”

“Nate can’t eat that without throwing up.”

“The cook made it especially for him. Russ said if I didn’t get it over here while it was still hot, he’d fire me.”

“Russ is the one who ought to be fired.” Roberta shook her head at the food spread out on her table. “Black coffee strong enough to dissolve a horseshoe, sausage spicy enough to bring tears to his eyes, potatoes fried in beef fat, and hot bread that will sit in his stomach like a lead weight. If that’s the kind of breakfast he usually eats, I’m surprised he’s lived this long.”

Carlin didn’t answer.

“You and Grady can eat that stuff. I suppose you’re healthy enough it won’t kill you,” Roberta said, her voice laced with disgust. “I’ll fix Nate something that won’t have him in a fever by the time the doctor gets here.”

“Russ was most particular,” Carlin said. “He said you wasn’t to fix anything else for the boss to eat, that the cook would do it, and we’d bring it over.”

“When you bring something edible, Nate can have it.” She turned to the stove.

“What are you going to make?” Carlin asked.

“A couple of eggs on dry toast. If that goes down well, I’ll let him have some stewed peaches.”

“What am I going to tell Russ?”

“Nothing. I’ll talk to him. Now go wake Grady. That boy may have trouble getting to sleep, but he has even more trouble waking up.”

Roberta should have known that a man who cooked for a ranch staffed only by men wouldn’t have any idea what to feed a sick person. How could she let Nate go home when they’d probably kill him with food anyone with half a grain of sense would know was practically indigestible?

She sliced some bread and put it on the stove to toast. It took only a moment to soft scramble two eggs. The food was ready before Carlin pushed a sleep-eyed Grady into the kitchen.

“Sorry to sleep so late, ma’am,” Grady said to Roberta. “The boss was in a mood to talk last night. I didn’t get to my bed until late.”

“I hope you didn’t keep him up too late. He needs his rest.”

“It’s not a problem for him. He gets to sleep all day.”

“You do remember that he was shot, don’t you?”

Grady looked abashed. “Yes, ma’am.”

“I think that entitles him to some extra sleep, not to mention a night guard who doesn’t sleep like the dead. Half a dozen Laveau diViere’s could have walked through that parlor, and you wouldn’t have known.”

“Begging your pardon, ma’am, but I hooked my spurs over the door handle. Nobody could open that door without the jingle waking me.”

Roberta doubted a mere
jingle
would have woken Grady, but she gave him credit for good intentions. “Eat your breakfast. When you’re done, come find me. I want to make sure Russ sends something Nate can eat next time.”

Grady looked at the food on the table. “Ain’t that the boss’s breakfast?”

“No.” Roberta picked up the plate with the eggs and toast. “This is. In about ten minutes, one of you bring me a bowl of those peaches.”

She didn’t know what tale Grady would carry to Russ, but she was sure it would send the foreman galloping over to the farm as fast as possible. She knew the doctor would second her opinion, so she was actually looking forward to the encounter. Somebody needed to take Russ down a notch, and she was feeling in the mood to do it.

She knocked lightly on the bedroom door.

“Come in.”

Roberta entered the room but left the door open. “I’ve got your breakfast.”

Nate had propped himself up in bed. He looked surprised, but not displeased, to see Roberta. “Russ is supposed to be sending my meals. What happened?”

“He sent food, all right, but it was indigestible.”

“What was it?”

Roberta recited the menu.

“I like all those things.”

“I have no intention of letting the doctor arrive to find you can’t keep down your food or have developed a fever. I brought you something that’s nourishing and will sit well on your stomach.”

Nate eyed the eggs on toast with disfavor. “That looks like food for a sick child.”

“It’s suitable for a sick man as well. Now stop scowling and eat.”

Nate transferred his gaze from his breakfast to Roberta. “For an unmarried woman, you’re awfully bossy.”

“I guess it’s a good thing I’m not looking for a husband.”

“You like yourself the way you are?”

Roberta set the plate of food in Nate’s lap, seated herself in the chair next to his bed, and fixed her gaze on him. “I can’t think of anything that would make me more perfect.”

“You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“Do you like yourself the way you are?”

From Nate’s reaction, she guessed he’d never been asked that question. “I guess so. Yes,” he added as though his answer was unexpected.

“Then there’s no reason I can’t like myself. I don’t spend half the year trying to kill anyone.”

“Laveau deserves to die.”

“Succeeding will make you a killer. Is your revenge worth that?”

“You don’t understand.”

“No, I don’t. And I won’t, even if you try to explain it, so let’s not talk about it.” She picked up the plate of food. “Do you feel up to feeding yourself today?”

Nate looked at the eggs. “Not if I have to eat that.”

“Will it taste better if I feed you?”

Nate’s grin was teasing. “Of course. Being fed by a beautiful woman would make any food taste better.”

Roberta forked some eggs and toast into Nate’s mouth. “You’ve got to stop telling me I’m beautiful. I might start to believe you. Then where would I be?”

Nate started to answer, but Roberta fed him another mouthful.

“It’s not becoming for a woman to go around thinking she’s beautiful. Outside of it being stupid to ignore the evidence of her mirror, she would arouse the scorn of other women of superior attractions and the envy of those less blessed by the caprice of Nature.”

She prevented Nate’s response with another mouthful.

“Any woman so caught up in herself is likely to believe all sorts of things said to her. That could lead to very unfortunate circumstances. Some men will say anything to win a woman’s favors.”

Nate pushed aside the next mouthful.

“I’ve never heard such nonsense. Do you always talk like that?”

“Only when attractive men try to fill my head with empty flattery.”

Nate held the hovering fork at a distance. “Saying you’re beautiful is
not
empty flattery. It’s only a statement of fact. By the way, thanks for saying I’m attractive.” He pulled the fork toward him and took the food.

“This whole conversation is ridiculous,” Roberta said. “I’m not beautiful, and you know you’re attractive.”

“Not half as attractive as my brother. I have that on the best authority. My mother’s.”

“That was a cruel thing to say. I’m surprised it didn’t make you dislike your brother.”

“No one could dislike Caleb. He was always spilling over with fun. It was all our captain could do to keep him quiet when we made a raid. We would be in camp hardly five minutes, and already a group would be gathered around him.”

Roberta forked another spoonful into Nate’s mouth. “I’m sure he was wonderful, but you don’t have to keep walking in his shadow.”

Nate looked shocked by her words. “Is that what you think I’m doing?”

“Aren’t you? He’s all you talk about unless it’s getting revenge on Laveau diViere. And that’s only because you hold him responsible for Caleb’s death. You spend most of your time away from your ranch, you have no social life, and virtually no friends. You have money, looks, and youth, yet you’re wasting all three.”

Nate swallowed and fixed her with an irritated frown. “Is that the complete list of my faults, or did you cut it short to spare my feelings?”

Roberta couldn’t repress a smile. “I’m certain there are more, but I know very little about you.”

“But if you knew me better, you wouldn’t hesitate to bring them to my attention.”

“Not unless you gave me reason. I’m not a cruel person.”

“Are they that bad?”

Nate looked so genuinely concerned, Roberta couldn’t hold back a laugh. “I’m sure they’re not, but you are a man, and in anything involving a man, a woman is well advised to assume the worst. That way she will never be disappointed.”

Nate’s brows knitted together, but there was a hint of laughter in his eyes. “You’re something of a minx. I can’t wait to see the man you marry.”

“That won’t happen.”

“Why?”

“I don’t plan to marry until I go back to Virginia.”

“There are plenty of men in Texas.”

“Not for me. Now that you’ve finished your eggs and toast, would you like some stewed peaches?”

“Anything to get the taste of eggs out of my mouth.”

“I’ll be back in a moment.”

She turned toward the door but was nearly knocked down when an enraged Russ McCoy burst through it. He held a bowl of peaches in his left hand.

“What the hell do you mean by giving the boss’s breakfast to Grady and Carlin while you feed him mush like this?”

Nate had never seen Russ so upset, not even when a bull they were attempting to castrate broke loose and gored his favorite horse. “Stop waving that bowl of peaches around before you spill it all over me.”

“How do you know it’s peaches?” Russ wanted to know. “I can’t tell what it is, and I’m looking at it.”

“Roberta was about to feed me some stewed peaches. I assumed they’d look a lot like mush.”

“You’d eat this?”

“She assures me it will put me in the pink of health by the time the doctor gets here.”

Roberta didn’t waste time setting Russ straight. “I said no such thing. I
did
tell him the food you sent over was unsuitable. I didn’t expect you to know anything about caring for a sick man, but I thought your cook would have had more sense.”

Nate should have felt guilty letting Roberta and Russ argue over him, but he was enjoying it too much. Roberta hardly knew him, didn’t appear to like him much, but she was looking out for his welfare with a vehemence he had previously associated only with mothers of small children. His own mother wouldn’t have defended him with such vigor.

As long as he could remember, everything had always been about Caleb. From the time his little brother could walk, there had been a litany of things Nate had to do to make sure nothing happened to him.
Never
let him out of your sight. Make sure he doesn’t run too fast. Keep him from picking up anything that could hurt him. Protect him from bullies and rough games. If their father hadn’t intervened, Caleb might not have been allowed to leave the house until it was time to go to school. At the end of every list came the same threat.
I’ll never forgive you if anything happens to him
.

She had been true to her word. When Nate told her of his brother’s death, he feared she would go insane with grief. For weeks she roamed the house, crying hysterically and cursing him for being the one to survive. After she regained her senses, she refused to speak to him, look at him, or stay in the same room with him. She died less than five months later.

The weight of guilt was suffocating. It was made worse when his father died, and he inherited everything. Knowing he couldn’t return to a home filled with so many painful memories, he’d sold everything and bought a Texas ranch. Despite being rich enough to sit back and let others work for him, he’d devoted himself to bringing Laveau to justice. But that hadn’t brought relief. He was still pursued by the knowledge that his parents wouldn’t have hesitated to exchange his life for Caleb’s.

A particularly loud outburst from Russ drew his attention back to the discussion of what constituted suitable food for a man convalescing from a gunshot wound. He was relieved from having to intervene by the entrance of the doctor.

“If you can’t learn to speak like a sensible man, you can wait outside,” the doctor said to Russ.

Russ pointed an accusing finger at Roberta. “She’s the one who’s not sensible. Do you know what she fed the boss for breakfast? Eggs on toast. Now she wants to feed him a mush she says is peaches.”

“I suppose your idea of a good breakfast is what those two boys in the kitchen are eating.”

“I ordered it especially for the boss.”

The doctor pushed past Russ to get to Nate. “Then it’s a good thing Roberta has some sense. He’ll get well much faster with her feeding him. You can poison him after you get him home.”

“I’d just as soon not be poisoned at all,” Nate said.

“Then you had best let this young lady order your meals even after you go home. Now let me look at you.” After a brief examination, the doctor stood back, a satisfied look on his face. “Youth is a wonderful thing. If I’d been shot like you, it would take me a month to recover. You ought to be as good as new in a week. I could let you go home today, but I think I’ll keep you here another day.”

Nate didn’t want to admit he was relieved. As much as he disliked being confined to the bed, he enjoyed having Roberta take care of him. And there was no disputing that she could hold her own against Russ. He admired her determination to save her father’s crops. He could only imagine how much backbreaking work that required.

“You want to go home today, don’t you, boss?”

Nate didn’t know quite what to make of Russ’s distrust of Roberta.

“I don’t like to impose on Roberta, but if she’s willing to put up with me, I’ll stay here another day. I’m not looking forward to the ride home.”

“Sensible man,” the doctor said before turning to Roberta. “What do you say?”

Nate thought Roberta looked slightly uncomfortable at being addressed so directly. Could it be that she really didn’t want him here a minute longer than necessary?

“Nate can stay here as long as necessary. With one of his men here to look after him, there’s not much I have to do. However, I do have one condition. Well, maybe two.”

“What are they?” Nate felt a tightening in the pit of his stomach.

Roberta turned to Russ. “I have to be the one who decides what Nate eats. If he’s going to have a relapse, it’s not going to happen in my house.”

“What’s the second?” Nate asked.

“That Russ not set foot in my house again. Grady, Carlin, and any other cowhand he wants to send are fine, but I will not be bullied and shouted at in my own house.”

Russ apparently had a lot he wanted to say, but Nate cut him short. “Your requests seem reasonable considering all the trouble I’m putting you to.”

“You’re damned lucky this woman has good common sense,” the doctor said. “You don’t know how rare that is.”

“What am I supposed to do about food?” Russ asked. “Our cook would quit if I asked him to fix eggs on toast.”

“Talk to Roberta,” the doctor said. “I’m sure she can tell you what to have your cook fix.”

“And if you’re still afraid I’ll poison your boss, you can have one of your men feed him.”

“I’m not afraid you’re going to poison me,” Nate said. The boys would be so uncomfortable they were likely to get more food on his clothes than in his mouth. Besides, he’d be so embarrassed to have one of them feed him he’d end up doing it himself.

“If that’s all you want me for, I’m needed in the fields,” Roberta said. “I expect Joe is out there already.”

“I don’t trust that man,” Russ told Roberta. “He’s not called Crazy Joe for nothing.”

“I’d trust him with my life. Now I’ll write out some instructions for your cook and leave them by the front door. Tell him to follow them exactly. If he doesn’t, I’ll throw it out.”

“I don’t know how you can stand that woman,” Russ said to Nate after Roberta left.

Nate chuckled. “She’s a lot prettier to look at than you.”

The doctor wrinkled his nose. “Smells a mite better, too. Go talk to your horse while I finish checking out your boss. And don’t forget the list for your cook. It may not seem like it to you, but her breakfast was the best choice for your boss.”

Russ had several things to say about a self-respecting man being run over by a high-and-mighty female, but he finally took himself off.

The doctor changed the bandage, remarking once again on how quickly Nate was healing. He placed the last pin in the new bandage, leaned back, and looked Nate in the eye. “When are you going to ask that woman to marry you? If would be a shame if she ended up wasting herself on Boone Riggins.”

***

Roberta straightened up, putting her hand to her back to ease the pain. She looked over the fields she’d worked so hard to save. Some of the plants were standing tall again. Others had started to put out new leaves. She had never wanted to be a farmer, but she was proud of what she’d accomplished. “That’s about all we can do for today,” she said to Joe.

“Joe can work more.”

“You’ve done more than enough already. You need to get back to town so you can clean up and eat your dinner before going to the saloon.”

“Mr. Boone says Joe can work here as long as you want. Mr. Boone says you’re more important to him than the saloon.”

Roberta had doubts about that, but Boone had been a persistent suitor. There were rumors he was on a very friendly footing with one of the women who worked in the saloon, but Roberta had given Boone no reason to think he was pledged to her.

“You need some rest,” she told Joe. “You’re out here first thing in the morning, and you work in the saloon until late at night.”

“Joe rests at the saloon. As long as Joe’s there, nobody causes trouble.”

“Giving you a job was the smartest thing Boone ever did.”

“Miss Prudence says Joe is smarter than people think.”

“She’s right. Now come with me. You can wash up at the house.” She hoped Nate’s cook had sent the beef and vegetable stew she’d requested. She didn’t feel up to cooking tonight.

“Miss Prudence said she would see Joe today,” Joe said. “Miss Prudence says she likes to check on Joe to make sure he’s doing all right.”

Almost as though she’d been conjured up by the sound of her name, Prudence drove up the lane toward the house. By the time Roberta reached her, Prudence had already alighted from a wagon.

“Glad I caught you before you went home,” Prudence said to Joe. “I need you to unload.”

“What have you got?” Roberta asked.

“Your hogs,” Prudence said.

“What do you mean
my
hogs
?”

“People in town processed the hogs killed in the attack. They kept some, and I brought you the rest.”

The wagon was nearly full. “I can’t use all of this.”

“Then sell it. That’s what your father meant to do.”

“I gave those hogs to anyone who wanted them.”

“Everybody’s grateful, but they thought they ought to give you some back.”

It looked like a lot more than
some
. Roberta had a strong suspicion Prudence had demanded people give back just about everything.

“Is your smokehouse still standing?” Prudence asked.

“It’s hardly big enough for all of this.”

The front door to the house opened, and Carlin stuck his head out. “Is Webb here yet?”

At the sound of an unknown male voice, Prudence pivoted, lanced a baleful glare at Carlin, and demanded in a fearsome voice, “Who is that man, and what is he doing here?”

Roberta started to remind Prudence of the reason for Carlin’s presence in her home, but it appeared she now felt the threat from diViere wasn’t sufficient reason for such a young, healthy man to have the run of Roberta’s house.

“This man is not bedridden.”

“Nothing can happen to me as long as Joe’s here,” Roberta reminded Prudence.

“I only stay during the day,” Carlin said. “Webb will be here this evening and Grady back for the night.”

“It sounds like Sodom and Gomorrah!”

Roberta couldn’t repress a laugh. “Don’t be ridiculous, Prudence. These are boys. What harm can they do?”

“They may be boys, but they’re boys in men’s bodies.”

“I have a shotgun, a rifle, a pistol, and a lock on my bedroom door. I’m as safe as anyone in Slender Creek.”

“The boss would fire us on the spot if we did anything to upset Miss Tryon,” Carlin told Prudence. “He won’t even let Russ come here anymore because he argues with her.”

“It’s only for one more night,” Roberta said. “The doctor said he can go home tomorrow.”

“I should think it’s about time. No respectable man would impose himself on a woman.”

“I shot him, Prudence. He didn’t exactly impose himself on me.”

“Where do you want Joe to put this?”

While they’d been talking, Joe had emptied the wagon and placed everything on the front porch.

“Part of it has to go in the smokehouse and the rest in the storeroom,” Roberta told him. “Let me divide it up.”

Roberta was glad to have something to distract her from Prudence’s homily on the inherent immorality of men. With Joe and Carlin’s help, she was able to get everything put away by the time Webb rode up with Nate’s supper.

“You’d better hurry back to the ranch, or you’ll miss your supper,” she said to Carlin. “Joe, I want you to escort Prudence back to town.”

“Joe will take care of Miss Prudence.”

Much to everyone else’s amusement, Joe picked Prudence up like she was nothing more than a doll and placed her in the wagon. Ignoring her indignation at his treatment, he climbed onto the seat next to her, picked up the reins, and turned the wagon toward town.

Webb’s gaze followed them, his jaw slack. “I never thought I’d see the day any man laid a hand on Miss Prudence,” he said. “And it was Crazy Joe.”

“Joe is
not
crazy, and he idolizes Prudence. He’d tear apart anybody who tried to touch her.”

“Nobody’s crazy enough to do that,” Carlin said.

“I won’t have either of you criticizing Prudence within my hearing,” Roberta informed the boys. “She’s done more for me since my father’s death than everyone in Slender Creek put together. She has a heart of gold.”

“And the hide of a cactus,” Carlin added. “That woman scares me.”

“She wouldn’t hurt a flea.”

“I’m not a flea. I’m a man, and she definitely hates men.”

Roberta decided there was no point in trying to convince either man of Prudence’s finer attributes. “I’ll heat the stew,” she said to Webb. “Carlin can explain what you have to do and where you sleep.”

The beef stew was richer than she wanted, but there were enough vegetables to ward off indigestion. The cook had made enough for half a dozen people, so she assumed it was meant to be her supper as well as Webb’s. She’d have to thank him as soon as she had the opportunity. About the time the stew was ready, Webb walked in.

“The stew’s supposed to be my supper as well as Carlin’s.” He looked unsure, like he expected Roberta to tell him he couldn’t have any.

“I’ll just take enough for Nate and me. You and Carlin can have the rest. Eat all the sourdough bread. Nate shouldn’t have anything that heavy yet.”

“Russ had the cook make that especially for the boss.”

“That’s exactly what I’d expect Russ to do.”

Leaving Webb to take that remark any way he wanted, she put two bowls on a platter and headed to Nate’s bedroom. Carlin was inside when she entered. “Your supper’s in the kitchen,” she told him. “Eat it while it’s still warm.”