Heart of a Texan (9 page)

Roberta watched as four men gave Nate directions on how to get in the buckboard without injuring himself. Whoever he listened to, if he listened to anyone at all, he climbed into the buckboard without any trouble. He waved to her as Carlin drove away, then he turned his back and saw her no more.

Roberta stood in the doorway, watching the four men disappear in the distance. She had expected to feel relief, not loss. She hadn’t anticipated the emptiness that settled over her. She felt cut off, separated, left behind. Shaking her head to dispel the disquieting feelings, she turned and entered the house. She should put all thoughts of Nate behind her because she had work to do. She would probably visit to see how he was progressing, but it would be a visit like she would make to an ailing friend or neighbor. Nate Dolan had not needed her for the first thirty-one years of his life.

Nothing had changed.

***

“I don’t see why you won’t work for Boone,” Blossom McCrevy said to Roberta. “It’s easier than working in these fields. Look at you. You’re covered with dirt, you’re exhausted, and it’s not even quitting time.”

After Nate left, Roberta had spent most of her day digging potatoes, the one crop that had suffered the least damage in the attack. She’d never realized what a backbreaking job it was. Her father had chosen a hard way to make a living. Nate had suggested that he raise blooded bulls and sell them to the ranchers to upgrade their herds. After several days of working in the fields, she wondered why her father hadn’t accepted Nate’s suggestion.

She hefted the basket of potatoes and headed toward the house.

“I’d offer to help carry those,” Blossom said, “but I can’t afford to ruin this dress.”

“I have a string of reasons for not working for Boone, most of which you wouldn’t understand or agree with.”

“I understand Boone’s crazy about you and would marry you even looking like you do now.”

If Boone was as crazy about her as he said, why had he never told her she was beautiful? “I’m not ready to get married.”

“Why not? You’re practically an old maid.”

“I’m only nineteen. You’re three years older. You’ve never been married, and I know you’ve been asked.”

The potatoes were getting heavy. She wished she’d asked Joe to carry them up to the house, but she didn’t want to stop him from working in the corn.

“I don’t have the kind of reputation that would attract a man like Boone or Nate Dolan.”

Roberta wondered why Blossom mentioned Nate. “So what are you going to do? Be an old maid with me?”

Blossom’s laugh wasn’t wholehearted. “One of these days a decent man will come along who’s so desperate he’ll overlook a bit of tarnish, and I’ll snap him up before he has time to think twice.”

“Don’t you want to love the man you marry?”

“Love is for women who look like you. Women like me marry a man who’ll have us, one we hope we can stand until he goes looking for amusement elsewhere.”

“I’d rather stay single.”

“What are you going to do when you get old? Crazy Joe can’t work for you forever.”

Roberta was relieved to reach the house and set the potatoes down on the porch. “I don’t know what I’m going to do about a lot of things, but right now I want to wash up and have some coffee.”

“You wash up, and I’ll make the coffee. And don’t think I’m done trying to make you see sense. It’s not likely that another man half as good as Boone will come along and want to marry you.”

She was sure a better man was close at hand, but two obstacles stood in the way of anything developing between them. He was determined on a revenge that could put a noose around his neck. And she was going back to Virginia. She couldn’t live in a state where people killed each other just because they couldn’t agree.

***

Nate surveyed the men gathered in his house but failed to believe any of them capable of murdering Robert Tryon. He had owned his ranch slightly more than three years, but he had been away at least half of the time, so he didn’t know any of them well. He sensed a simmering resentment that money had enabled him to purchase what they hadn’t been able to achieve by hard work.

They had gathered at his house on an errand liable to ratchet up the resentment if not turn it into outright anger. It was foolish to think he had any influence over Roberta merely because he’d spent four days recovering at her home.

When they fell silent, he could tell they had gotten past the preliminaries of asking how he was doing and hoping his recovery would be rapid. Their gazes shifted from one to another, all of them waiting for someone to start. It didn’t surprise him that Frank Porter was the one to break the silence. The pompous little man believed he spoke for all the ranchers.

“You know why we’re here,” he said.

“I can guess, but I won’t know until you tell me.”

“Has Roberta said anything about rebuilding the dam?”

“She intends to continue with the farm, so she’ll need water to do that.”

“You’ve got to talk to her. We can’t let her rebuild that dam.”

It annoyed him that they expected him to deliver their complaint to Roberta. If they had anything to say, they ought to say it to her. “If she does build it, will you blow it up a third time?”

“We didn’t blow it up the second time,” Ezra Kemp said.

“Then who did?”

“I don’t know.”

“Who else would have a reason?”

Ezra turned red in the face. “Are you calling me a liar?”

“I merely asked a question. You blew it up the first time.”

“I didn’t do it by myself,” Ezra protested.

“It doesn’t matter which one of you lit the dynamite. You’re all responsible. How about the raid on her farm?”

Three men spoke at once. “We had nothing to do with that.”

Nate studied the men one by one. He believed them, yet who else would have a reason to destroy the crops and the dam? “Somebody ordered an attack that killed Robert Tryon. The sheriff is going to be looking for the culprit. Roberta has said she won’t stop until she knows who killed her father.
I’m
going to be looking as well.”

“I helped blow up that dam the first time,” Ches Hale admitted, “but I’d blow up a hundred dams before I’d even think of shooting a man in cold blood.”

“Somebody did, and unless the sheriff finds a reason to go after somebody else, the four of you are going to be the prime suspects. I would go so far as to say the
only
suspects.”

All four men voiced vigorous protests, but eventually they fell silent.

“We came here in hopes of persuading you to talk Roberta out of rebuilding that dam.”

“You’re the only one she’ll listen to,” Mead Ryan added.

“What makes you think she’ll listen to me?”

“She knows you weren’t involved in blowing up the dam the first time.”

He had been in Colorado searching for Laveau at the time. “I’m not going to try to talk her into or out of anything. In fact, I’m sending some of my men to help rebuild the barn.”

“We don’t give a damn about the barn or the crops,” Mead said. “We just can’t let her rebuild that dam.”

“If you’re smart, all of you will keep far away from Roberta Tryon. You’ll stop making threats and start trying to find who’s responsible for the attack. Maybe you got together and hired someone to do it for you. Maybe one of you lost patience and decided to act on your own.”

“You start spreading that kind of talk around town, and you’ll be the one in trouble,” Mead threatened.

“Don’t be a bigger fool than you are,” Ezra said to Mead. “Don’t you understand what Nate is saying?”

“He’s saying one of us killed Robert Tryon.”

“He’s saying everybody believes one or all of us are responsible because we destroyed the first dam, and we’ve been telling everybody what we intended to do if Tryon rebuilt the dam. Well he did, and somebody blew it up
just
like
we
said
we
would
. Only that somebody killed Robert Tryon. I know I didn’t do it, but I can’t vouch for anyone else.”

“I was at my ranch that night. My hands will vouch for me.”

“Of course your hands will vouch for you. If they don’t, it means they were involved.”

The argument that followed got so heated the men might have come to blows if Nate hadn’t spoken up. “Standing around accusing each other won’t do any good. If no one in this room is responsible, you need to come up with some information, supported by facts, that point to someone else.”

“But who?” Frank asked. “Where do we start looking?”

“Why should we do anything?” Mead asked. “That’s the sheriff’s job.”

“I don’t like being suspected of murder,” Ezra said.

Ches Hale and Frank Porter agreed.

“Do it very quietly, but talk to everyone in the county. Somebody must have seen something. Somebody around here had to be involved. There were eight men in that attack. They didn’t materialize out of nowhere.”

“There’s got to be two hundred men in and around Slender Creek,” Mead pointed out.

“Counting your families and the men working for you, you’ve got more than two dozen people who can start asking questions. Somewhere, somehow, somebody knows something.”

“What if it’s one of us?” Ezra asked.

“Then I’ll do everything I can to make sure he hangs.”

***

Roberta didn’t want to get up. It didn’t matter that birds were chirping, or that the sun was already over the horizon. The world wouldn’t stop if she stayed in bed a little longer. If Joe wasn’t here already, he soon would be. He could feed the animals just as easily as she could. Probably better. He liked doing it. He was patient, even talked to the mules and the cow. He had named the pigs and knew exactly how many chickens she had. She was impatient of anything to do with the livestock. Watching corn waving in the breeze or seeing tomato vines heavy with fruit didn’t cause her heart to beat faster. Neither did it fill her with a desire to rush out and plant more rows of corn and tomatoes. She didn’t have strong feelings either way about beans, but she could live happily without ever seeing another potato unless it was cooked and on her plate.

But her parents had bred into her a sense of responsibility, had instilled in her a strong work ethic. It didn’t matter that her body ached, or that she had lain awake half the night wondering if the boys were taking proper care of Nate. She had work to do, and she couldn’t do it lying in bed. Groaning in frustration and from the muscle aches in virtually every part of her body, she sat up and swung her feet to the floor. She was tempted to put on a housecoat over her nightgown, but that would only encourage her to take longer to leave the house. Stepping out of her nightgown, she reached for a clean work dress and pulled it on over her head. She pulled on a pair of slippers. She wouldn’t put on her boots until after breakfast.

She went to the kitchen and was about to make coffee when she heard shouting in the distance. She couldn’t remember that Joe had ever raised his voice, but a sudden outburst from two more voices convinced her something was wrong. She hurried out of the house and toward the lane that led to the barn. There was a tangle of men on the ground. Breaking into a run, she arrived to find Joe fighting Grady, Webb, and Carlin. A badly bruised Webb flew through the air and landed at her feet. He scrambled up and would have plunged back into the fray if Roberta hadn’t stopped him.

“What is going on?”

“The boss sent us to help fix your barn, but Crazy Joe won’t let us. He said Miss Prudence told him not to let anybody set foot on your farm.”

Nate saw her coming when she was a small figure in the distance. He knew it was Roberta even before he knew the men with her were Webb, Grady, and Carlin.

“Benny,” he called. “Get in here.” His Italian cook’s name was Benito, but he preferred Benny. He said it made him feel more American.

“What’s wrong, boss?” He was of medium height and build with light olive skin and an unruly shock of black hair.

“I’m going to have a guest. A lady. Fix something for her.”

“I never cooked for a lady. What should I fix?”

“I don’t know.” Nate tried to remember some of the things Pilar had fixed when she and Cade had guests. “How about some cakes? Maybe a custard. Do we have tea?”

“This is a cow ranch,” Benny replied. “The men would dump me in the horse trough if I tried to serve them tea. What day is the lady coming?”

“She’ll be here in less than ten minutes.”

Benny’s skin went pale. “I can’t get the stove going that fast.”

“I don’t care what you do, but do something.”

Benny turned and fled, his mane of hair bobbing behind him.

Nate hoisted himself out of his chair. He was nervous about Roberta’s reaction to his house. Having never had a female guest, he’d never really looked at it. It was just like any other with furniture, pictures on the walls, and rugs here and there. There was nothing distinctive about any of it. It was just
there
. He’d bought the ranch from a man who’d lost his wife early in life and had given the house a thoroughly male atmosphere. Leather and wood dominated, giving every room a dark if restful feeling that was only partially relieved by the light from the windows. He wondered when he’d become so aware of his home’s appearance. It must have been the four days he’d spent in Roberta’s house.

A picture flashed in his mind of the hacienda where Cade and Pilar lived, the home he’d shared with them for four years. It reflected the people who lived there. The heavy Spanish elements had been diluted by the Texas openness with both being refined by French elegance. He wondered why he’d never realized his house had none of that. He’d brought nothing from Arkansas. That home was tainted by bitter memories he wanted to forget.

But he had no memories to put in their places. When he worked with Cade, he’d been absorbed into Cade’s family. After he bought his ranch, his life had been dominated by his search for Laveau. There was nothing of him anywhere. Who was he? What was unique to him? He wasn’t sure he’d recognize himself if he met himself coming down the street. He had a name, a body, a place to live, but none of that had given him a sense of self. So here he was, eager to meet a woman who appealed to him as no other had, and he didn’t even know who he was. She was bringing her buggy to a stop in front of the house. He went out to greet her.

“I hadn’t expected to see you here so soon.”

Grady helped her down from her buggy while Carlin tied her horse to the hitching post.

“I hadn’t planned to come so soon, but we ran into some trouble this morning.”

He figured that when he saw the boys with her, but she looked okay, and that was all that mattered. “Come in. We can’t stand talking with the sun bearing down on us. I’m pleased you were concerned enough to check on me. I’m sure you have plenty of work to keep you busy.”

“That’s what I came to talk about,” Roberta said.

He didn’t know why he should be so excited to see Roberta and so disappointed that she hadn’t come purely because of her interest in him. Nothing of a romantic nature had passed between them.

“Have a seat,” he said. “You boys go see if Benny needs any help.”

“I’d like them to stay. They need to hear what I have to say.”

Any eagerness he’d had to see Roberta slipped away with the elusiveness of a daydream. He settled back in his chair and waited for her to tell him she didn’t want his help. After the ruckus Russ kicked up, he wasn’t sure he could blame her.

“I appreciate you sending the boys to help with the barn. You know I like them and would have been glad of their help.”

“Did they do something wrong?”

“It’s Prudence. I didn’t know this, but after the trouble yesterday, she told Joe not to allow any man on the place. When the boys showed up this morning, Joe tried to make them leave. When they wouldn’t, he fought them.”

“All three of us,” Grady told Nate.

“He tossed us about like we were children,” Carlin added.

“Now I see why nobody causes trouble in Riggins’s saloon,” Webb said.

“I tried to convince him it was all right for the boys to be there, but Joe worships Prudence. She’s always looked out for him. He’ll do whatever she says. He won’t let the boys be anywhere, except at the house, until Prudence tells him it’s okay.”

It was probably foolish of him, but Nate felt better. Roberta hadn’t rejected his help. What’s more, she’d been concerned enough to explain the problem in person. It might not seem like much to someone else, but it made a big difference to him. He turned to Grady.

“Ride into Slender Creek and find Miss Prudence. Ask her to go out to Miss Tryon’s farm and tell Crazy Joe it’s okay for the three of you to be there.”

“If you call him Crazy Joe, she won’t lift a finger to help you,” Roberta warned. “She’s more likely to run you off herself.”

“All three of you go,” Nate said. “That way you can look over the damage to the barn and make a list of what you need to begin work tomorrow.”

“There must be work here you need them to do.”

“Russ has taken the rest of the men to make a count of the steers that are ready for market. I wouldn’t know where to tell them to find him.”

The boys were gone in a matter of minutes, and he was alone with Roberta. He wondered if she was as on edge as he felt.

“Are you feeling better?” she asked.

“Yes. Benny has kept so close to your recommendations Russ swears I’ll die of starvation. The doctor has filled Benny’s head with so much praise he wouldn’t fix me a steak if I asked for it. It doesn’t matter. I’ve never had much of an appetite.”

“Considering what Russ thinks is suitable food, I’m not surprised.” She seemed to relax a little. “I don’t know how you survived. If I were cooking your meals, you wouldn’t be so thin.”

She looked as though she feared he might consider her remarks too personal, but it pleased him that she’d been interested enough to notice. “What would you feed me?”

“I’d have to find out what you like, what agrees with you, what is good for you.”

“That sounds like it might take a long time. Possibly years.”

“I could probably do it in a few months. Maybe even a few weeks.”

“When can you start?” He hadn’t meant to say that. He certainly hadn’t wanted to cause Roberta to look for a way to escape. He forced a laugh that he hoped would dispel the tension. “It would be nice, but I couldn’t get rid of Benny. Besides, Prudence would have to move in. The thought of you being on a ranch with nearly a dozen men would give her nightmares.”

Roberta’s laugh wasn’t entirely spontaneous. “I shouldn’t laugh. She has the best intentions. She just doesn’t trust any man.”

“She trusts Joe.”

“I do, too. He would defend me with his life.”

He wondered if she trusted him half that much.

“How long does the doctor expect you’ll be laid up?”

“That depends on what I want to do.” He was well enough to talk to her as long as she would let him.

“Do you think you’ll be well enough in a week to attend a dance?”

She couldn’t be inviting him to go to the dance with her. Everybody knew she’d been keeping company with Boone Riggins. “I never go to dances.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“I expect I’ll be well enough to dance some of the slower numbers, but I won’t be there.” He’d never been good in social situations. When he was growing up, attention had always centered on Caleb. It didn’t matter that Nate was bigger, stronger, and more of a leader. Caleb was better looking, more outgoing, and possessed that magic something that made him the center of attention wherever he went.

“Why not?”

“I don’t know anybody, and I don’t dance.” That was something else Caleb did better.

“If every bowlegged cowboy in three counties can dance, so can you. The best way to get to know people is to go to church or a dance.”

“Or a hanging.”

She laughed. “I wouldn’t know. We haven’t had one of those. One of the boys said you never went into town with them. Are you that busy, or do you dislike people that much?”

How did he explain that even though he liked Grady, Webb, and Carlin, he really had nothing in common with boys who were more than ten years younger? Nor did he have any interest in drinking too much or talking with women whose job it was to flirt with the customers so they’d spend more money. “I like those boys. They’re good cowhands, but they have few interests beyond doing their work, getting their pay, and spending it as quickly as they can. I have to think of the dozen people depending on this ranch for a living. If that weren’t enough, I spent four years fighting a terrible war and losing my family as a consequence. I wouldn’t be good company.”

Roberta studied him for a moment. “What happens when you find diViere, assuming he doesn’t kill you, or you don’t end up in jail? Are you going to stay here, or will you go somewhere else and avoid becoming part of that community?”

He knew Roberta didn’t approve of his pursuit of Laveau, but he hadn’t realized she disapproved of everything. “I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t stay here, assuming I have the choice.” But he hadn’t thought about the future, not about the ranch, not about the people of Slender Creek, not even the rest of his life. Everything had been focused on Laveau. What
would
he do when the search was over? “I expect I’ll stay here. Slender Creek seems like a nice little town.”

“Then you’d better come to the dance. You should consider going to church, too. There are several pleasant young women in Slender Creek. That would give you a chance to meet them. There are some nice young couples I’m sure you could make friends with.”

He didn’t have to ask why she thought he ought to meet eligible young women. Everyone thought a man should be married, especially a rich one. “How about you? How many of the
nice
young
men
have you met? Sorry. I forgot you’re engaged to Boone Riggins.”

She reacted like something had stung her. “I’m
not
engaged to Boone.”

“I heard he’d asked you to marry him.”

“You haven’t heard that I’ve said
yes
.”

“Is that because you’re going back to Virginia?” He had no right to ask that question, but he had to know the answer.

She didn’t meet his gaze, but she was quick with her answer. “No, but it would have been sufficient reason.”

She wasn’t in love with Boone. That shouldn’t have made him happy, but it did. “How about the other nice young men?”

“Why would I get involved with anyone when I’m going back to Virginia?”

“You might change your mind.”

“I’d have to change my mind about Texas first.”

“What’s so terrible about Texas?”

“What’s so good about it? Why did you come here instead of going back to Arkansas?”

Not even Cade knew what happened when he went home after the war. “There were too many unhappy memories in Arkansas. I came to Texas because my captain during the war offered me a job on his ranch.”

“Why did you buy a ranch here? You must have had the money to go anywhere you wanted.”

“Laveau and Cade grew up on neighboring ranches. Laveau’s family lost their land during the war, and Cade’s father took advantage of it. After the war, Cade married Laveau’s sister and took over the diViere ranch. Laveau hates the seven of us who survived the war, but he hates Cade most of all. I knew he’d come back sooner or later.”

“So every decision you’ve made is based on your hatred of one man.”

That wasn’t entirely true, but it was uncomfortably close to the truth. “He’s responsible for my brother’s death. I can’t forget that.”

“What if you don’t find him? What if he leaves Texas for good? Are you going to spend the rest of your life looking for him?”

He hadn’t thought about that. When he was at the ranch, he corresponded with several agents he employed to help trace Laveau. When he wasn’t at the ranch, his focus was on the chase. When that was over, he’d figure out what to do next. “Why do you care what happens to me? I’m a rancher, and you don’t trust ranchers. I don’t think you should rebuild the dam, and you don’t approve of anything I do. You never would have done more than speak to me in passing if you hadn’t shot me. You were relieved when I was well enough to leave, and you wouldn’t be here now if Prudence had kept her mouth shut.” He regretted the words as soon as they left his lips. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I have a temper that is made worse by my confinement.”

Roberta didn’t flinch, and she didn’t look away. “No need to apologize. I probably wouldn’t have gotten to know you if I hadn’t shot you, but I did. And now that I know you better, it bothers me to see you wasting your life. I know you don’t see it that way, but I do.”

She was interrupted by the entrance of Benny bearing a tray with coffee and a slice of pie.

“You didn’t have to go to so much trouble,” she said to Benny.

“The boss said I had to do
something
.” He sounded aggrieved. “I didn’t have time to make anything, so I cut the pie I made for supper.”

“You’ll spoil my lunch,” she said to Nate.

“After all the trouble I caused you, I couldn’t think of not offering you something.”

“Do you need anything for your coffee?” Benny inquired.

“No. I like it black.”

“Then I’ll leave you to enjoy your visit with the boss.”

“I don’t think you’re enjoying it very much,” Roberta said after Benny left, “not with me criticizing you all the time.”

“It’s not a problem.” He was used to it. His mother found even less to like.

“Can I pour you some coffee?”

“Thank you, but my nurse says I can’t have coffee until I’m completely well.”