Hunter's Moon (Hunter Family Saga; Half-Moon Ranch 1) (16 page)

"You want to talk to Ruby? Why?"

"Who's Ruby?" Abby interrupted.

"She's a friend," Brent answered. "I met her in
San Antonio and then found out last night that she's
working here in Diablo now. I invited her out to the
ranch today for a visit."

Abby was astonished. Brent had never done
anything like that before.

When did you do that?" Jack asked. He didn't
remember Brent having any conversation with Ruby
about making a trip to the Half-Moon.

"After I put you to bed at the hotel, I went back
to the Lone Star to see her."

Abby was staring at her brother as if he'd lost his
mind. "And you're going to bring her to our home?"

"That's right."

"A woman who works at a place like the Lone Star?" Abby was shocked. It wasn't like Brent to
bring any woman home, and especially not one who
worked in a saloon.

"It's not what you think," Brent admonished,
seeing her reaction. "Ruby is a singer-that's
all."

"And she's here at church? Where is she? I want to
meet her." Abby was suddenly curious about this
woman who so intrigued her brother. This Ruby
couldn't be respectable, but then again, if Brent
cared about her...

"You're just about to meet her. She should be
coming out any minute now," Brent said, watching
the folks leaving the church.

"You tell Ruby I'll see her in a little while. Right
now I'm going on back to the hotel to get packed up
so we can leave," Jack told them, eager to get away.
The townsfolk he had known for years were walking
past him without speaking to him, or even
acknowledging him.

"We'll meet you back there."

Brent waited with Abby off to the side of the
church entrance for Crystal to come out. Before
Crystal could exit, though, Melinda appeared before
them.

"I am so glad you had time to attend services this
morning, Brent. I was hoping I'd get to see you again
before you had to go back to the ranch," Melinda
cooed, gazing up at him in open adoration and
completely ignoring Abby. Even though the other girl had donned a dress this morning, Melinda
wanted nothing to do with her. She was only after
Brent. "I had a wonderful time with you at the dance
last night."

"I'm glad." Brent peered past her, trying to catch
sight of Crystal.

"Are you heading back home soon?" Melinda
asked brazenly.

"Yes, it's time to go back to work." He gave her
his attention for a moment, but then saw Crystal
come out of the church. "Excuse me, Melinda."

Brent walked off without another word, leaving
Abby to deal with Melinda.

"Where's he going?" Melinda asked, testy at being
so easily dismissed.

"There's someone he wants me to meet," Abby
said, as curious as Melinda was.

Melinda watched as Brent walked up to a pretty
young woman with red hair.

"Who is that?" she asked Abby, annoyed.

"A friend of Brent's from San Antonio," Abby
offered. She rose up on her tiptoes so she could see
over the crowd and get a better look at the woman
with Brent.

Melinda stiffened. Jealousy shot through her as
she saw Brent greet the woman with warmth and
familiarity. Melinda didn't know who the other
woman was, but she planned to make it clear that
Brent was hers.

"Brent!" Crystal was surprised to find him standing
before her as she came down the church steps. "I
didn't know you were here."

"We were sitting farther back than you were." He
looked at her companion and smiled. "Good
morning, Mrs. Pals."

"Morning, Brent," Anne replied. "So you two
know each other, do you?"

"Yes, we're old friends," Brent answered her, and
then turned back to Crystal. "My sister, Abby, is
here. I'd like you to meet her, and then we can get
ready to leave for the ranch."

"All right." She turned to Anne. "Thank you for
inviting me to attend church with you. I'm going
out to the Half-Moon for a visit, so I probably won't
be back to town until later this evening."

"Have a good time," Anne said before going on
her own way.

Brent escorted Crystal over to where Abby was
waiting. He was irritated to see that Melinda was still
standing there.

"I'll introduce you as Ruby for now, since
Melinda is there."

"Who is Melinda?"

"Just a friend." They reached the two women, and
Brent made the introductions. "Abby, this is Ruby.
Ruby, my sister Abby."

"Hello," Abby said tentatively. She'd never met
anyone who worked in a saloon before, and she
found herself staring at the woman's red hair. Though she was wearing it attractively styled, the
color was too bright to be natural.

"And this is Melinda Barton," Brent added.

Melinda was seething that he was treating her so
cavalierly-almost as an afterthought. She covered
her fury with a polite smile. "Hello, Ruby."

"Melinda," she returned.

"You're new in town?" Melinda asked.

"Yes, and it's wonderful to see Brent again."
Crystal gazed at him.

"You've met before?" she asked tersely.

"Oh, yes," she answered, but offered no
details.

Melinda did not like the way the woman was
looking at Brent. Brent was hers!

Abby sensed Melinda's mood and grew
uncomfortable. They had already given the
townsfolk enough to gossip about, with Papa being
back. They didn't need any unpleasantness right
there in front of the church.

"Brent, are you ready to go? We should leave
now," Abby urged her brother.

"Leave?" Melinda butted in.

Abby handled her easily. "Ruby's going to spend
the day with us at the ranch, so we need to get
started back."

"I'm ready," Crystal told her.

"Good. Well, 'bye, Melinda," Abby said as she
started to walk away.

Brent gave Melinda a quick, dismissive smile be fore following his sister and Crystal. "I'll see you
later."

Melinda was glaring at Brent's back as she
stood there, watching him leave. Outrage roiled
within her at being so ignored. Melinda's
jealousy was tinged with hurt, too. Brent had
invited Ruby out to the ranch for the day, but he
hadn't invited her.

Melinda didn't know who Ruby was or how she
had come to know Brent, but she intended to find
out.

"Where's your father?" Crystal asked. "Didn't he
come to church with you?"

"Pa was here, but he went on back to the hotel
right after the service. He'll be riding out with us,"
Brent explained.

"It'll be nice to see him again."

Since he had told her the truth about his father
last night, Brent had expected her to react like
everyone else in town did. Crystal had proven herself
to be truly different.

"Abby?" Brent said. When his sister looked his
way, he quickly explained, "Ruby's real name is
Crystal."

"Crystal's a pretty name. Why do you use Ruby?"

"Because of working in the saloon. I thought it
was better to have a stage name." Crystal told herself
her answer wasn't really a lie, but she felt a twinge of
conscience anyway. "Please call me Crystal."

"All right." Abby glanced at her brother. He
seemed apprehensive about her reaction to this
woman, and she realized it was important to him
that she accept Crystal. She managed a small smile.

"Thanks."

Brent relaxed, glad that the two women seemed to
be getting along.

"So how did you two meet?" Abby asked Crystal,
still unsure of her opinion of her.

"I'll tell you all about it on the ride out to the
ranch," she said with a grin.

Abby met Brent's gaze. "This should make the
ride much more interesting."

They went to the hotel, and Crystal waited
downstairs in the lobby while Abby and Brent
went up to their rooms to get their belongings. Brent
returned quickly with Jack.

"Good morning, Crystal," Jack greeted her with a
big smile. Brent had already told him the truth
about her name.

"Hello, Jack. It's good to see you again."

"Brent tells me that you're coming out to the
Half-Moon for a visit today."

"He was kind enough to invite me," she
answered, looking up at Brent with a smile.

"It's our pleasure, believe me," Jack said. "I hope
you like our place."

"I'm sure I will," Crystal assured him.

"I'll go get Storm and the buckboard, Brent, and
meet you out front," Jack told them.

"Where's Abby?" Crystal asked Brent once Jack
had gone.

"She's changing clothes. She'll be along in a
minute.

Brent paid the hotel bill, and Abby appeared by
the time he was finished.

"I'm ready to go," Abby announced, coming
down the steps carrying her bag.

Crystal's eyes widened in shock at the sight of her.
"You're wearing pants!"

"Yeah, I only wear a dress to church," she
answered, then changed the topic. "Where's Papa?"

"Outside waiting for us," Brent told her.

"Let's go." She was more than ready to go home.

Brent ushered them out of the lobby.

"Why don't you take Abby and Crystal in the
buckboard?" Jack suggested to Brent. "And I'll ride
Storm."

"Sure." Brent wasn't about to object. The thought
of sitting next to Crystal all the way to the ranch
definitely appealed to him. He helped the women
up, then took the seat between them and grabbed
the reins.

"We're on our way," he said, urging the team on.
Jack rode alongside, keeping pace with them.

The miles passed quickly as Abby encouraged
Crystal to tell them how she had met Brent in San
Antonio. She was surprised to learn how her brother had saved the singer from being robbed that fateful
night.

"It's wonderful that Brent showed up when he
did," Abby said. "Were you hurt?"

"I was fine, except for a few bumps and bruises,
but Brent was cut on his arm during the fight. I was
worried that it was serious, but he said it was only a
scratch."

Abby looked at her big brother and frowned.
"You never told us you were hurt."

"It was nothing," he said, dismissing her concern.
"I was just glad I was there to help Crystal."

"So was I," Crystal agreed. Then she asked, "How
much longer until we reach the ranch?"

"You've been on Half-Moon land for the last
twenty minutes," Brent told her, slanting her a grin.

It was a wicked, almost devilish smile, and it
reminded her all too clearly of the heated kiss they'd
shared the night before. She was suddenly very aware
of him physically. Her heart skipped a beat. "Really?
The Half-Moon must be a really big ranch."

"Not big enough," Jack said. "My dream has
always been to make it the biggest and best horse
ranch in Texas."

Brent knew all about his father's dreams of glory,
but he said nothing. He didn't want to ruin a
perfectly good day by starting an argument.

"It's good to have dreams, but you've already been
blessed to have a home like this." She looked around
the countryside. Live oaks grew in magnifi cent splendor, and the rolling hills were beautiful
and lush.

"So what would you like to do when we get to the
house, Crystal?" Brent asked.

"Anything you want," she answered easily,
looking at Brent.

Her innocent answer sparked heat deep within
Brent. The memory of her kiss the night before
had kept him awake long into the night, and he
was hoping to spend some time alone with her
that day.

"Frances won't have dinner ready until five, so
we'll have plenty of time to show you around,"
Brent told Crystal.

"I'm looking forward to it."

Abby remained quiet, wondering at their
relationship as they talked.

When the main house, outbuildings, and corrals
came within view, Crystal was even more impressed.
The Half-Moon looked very prosperous.

Jack rode on to the stable, while Brent reined in
before the house. Abby jumped down from the
buckboard easily on her own; then Brent climbed
down and turned to help Crystal descend.

"Crystal, let's go inside," Abby said.

Crystal looked at Brent to see what he planned to
do.

He waved her on with Abby as he unloaded
their bags and put them on the porch. "I'll take
care of the horses and be back in a few minutes."

Abby grabbed her own bag and led the way into
the house.

Frances heard them outside and was on her way
out to help bring their things in from the porch
when Abby and Crystal came inside. Abby quickly
introduced them.

"If my brother's planning on showing you around
the ranch, I think you'd better change into
something a little more practical," Abby told her.

"But I didn't bring anything else to wear."

"Come with me." She started to usher her down
the hallway toward the bedrooms.

"Abby-" Crystal stopped as she caught sight of
the portrait hanging over the fireplace. There was no
doubt about the family resemblance. "That's your
mother?"