Jenny (17 page)

"The scenery is so beautiful. I never dreamed it
would be this wonderful," Rose said as they drew
near the ranch. "No wonder you wanted to come
home."

"I know. There's just something about Colorado
that I love."

"I understand, and I'm beginning to think I should
have told the others it would be two hundred dollars
a week instead of just one hundred."

"What are you talking about?" Jenny asked, puzzled.

"I guess I forgot to mention it in my letter but I told Richard and Aubrey that it would cost them one
hundred dollars a week to come here. I'm sure they'll
be paying you once we get to the house. I have our
money right here," she said, patting her purse.

"I didn't expect any of you to pay," Jenny protested.

"Don't be ridiculous. We're going to be eating your
food and living at your ranch. It's costing you money
to keep us. It's only fair that we should pay for our
room and board."

"But-"

"Hush!" Rose cut her off. "If you won't let me pay,
we'll leave right now. Although, I have to tell you, I
don't think I want to leave. Just look at this scenery.
I can't wait to try to capture that feeling in my photographs!"

"So you brought all your equipment with you?"

"Yes. The more pictures I take, the better I can
convince people when I get back home of just how
wonderful the Lazy S Guest Ranch is. If this ride out
to the ranch is any hint of how beautiful things are
here, it's going to be easy to sell. Easterners will be
flocking to Colorado just to visit you."

Jenny looked thoughtful. "You know, I enjoyed the
time I spent living in Philadelphia, but my heart has
always been here."

"I can certainly understand why. The scenery is
breathtaking, and if all the cowboys look as good as
the one I ran into at the mercantile, single women
will be beating a hasty path to Durango!" Rose laughed. "If I can manage it, I'm going to track that
man down and take a photograph of him."

"I don't know if he's from the area or not," Jenny
said thoughtfully, trying to remember if she'd ever
seen the man around town.

"Well, I'll just have to go looking for him. You
said there were going to be hunting trips," Rose said,
grinning wickedly. "I'll go hunting, but the game I'll
be after won't be four-legged!"

Jenny laughed out loud. "You'd better be careful
Aunt Tillie doesn't hear you. She might lock you in
your room and not let you out without a chaperon the
whole time you're here."

Rose affected an innocent look. "There would be
no need for that. I'm going to behave myself"

"That'll be unusual," Jenny teased.

"I want to capture the true flavor of the area. I want
to let everyone know what it's really like here," she
declared primly. "And my cowboy would be perfect."

"Your cowboy?" Jenny questioned.

Rose grinned at her. "I'm calling him mine until I
find out he belongs to somebody else."

As they drew closer to the house, Tillie leaned over
to speak to Jenny.

"So this is your home?" Tillie asked.

"Yes, and-" Jenny started to explain that they
would be staying in the newly renovated guest house
when she saw Cole come out onto the front porch.

She stopped talking, startled by his unexpected appearance. Her pulse began racing, and she was sud denly nervous. Jenny told herself she was certain he
was there only for some business reason, but she
couldn't deny that her heart had skipped a beat at the
sight of him.

"And just who is that splendid example of Western
manhood?" Rose asked breathlessly as she, too,
caught sight of Cole. "I tell you Jenny, you do know
how to grow good-looking men out here."

Jenny knew there was no avoiding telling Rose the
truth. She had confided in her friend about her broken
engagement, and so she blurted out. "That's Cole
Randall."

Rose swung around and stared at Jenny in open
disbelief. "That's Cole Randall? The Cole Randall?
Your Cole Randall?"

"Yes."

"Oh, my," she breathed. "Cole gives my cowboy
some real competition."

"I agree with you," Melanie put in. She'd been
quiet for most of the ride, but was eyeing Cole with
open interest now, too. "He's the man you were engaged to once, isn't he, Jenny?"

"That was a long time ago." Jenny tried to sound
nonchalant, though she was still a bit breathless. "I
think I may have mentioned in my letter to you, Rose,
how my father appointed Cole to be the executor of
the estate, so we're working together now to keep the
ranch going."

`Working together,' are you?" Rose's eyes were
twinkling with devilish delight.

"Yes, working" Jenny insisted with dignity, although the memory of his forbidden embrace lingered
in the back of her mind. She mentally pushed it away,
wondering why he had to pick today of all days to
show up at the ranch. "Ours is a `business only' relationship."

"He's been very helpful to Jenny," Evelyn put in.
"He even approved of her idea about the guest ranch."

"Your Cole must be smart then, too. I like that
combination in a man," Rose said with delight.

All laughed, except Jenny, though she did manage
a slight smile. She was tempted to correct her friend's
idea that Cole was in some way "hers" but didn't
bother. Any protest she offered would probably have
drawn even more notice than just letting the remark
pass.

Jenny reined the carriage horses in before the house
and quickly jumped down.

"Hello, Cole. Are you here to meet my first
guests?" she called out as she looped the reins over
the hitching post.

"Actually, I rode over because I had some papers
from Andrew Marsden to deliver to you, but I'm glad
to meet your friends," he responded, descending the
porch steps to help the other ladies out of the carriage.

"I'm Rose," Rose announced as she put her hand
in Cole's and allowed him to assist her.

"It's nice to meet you, Rose," Cole said.

"Why, thank you, sir." She eyed him appreciatively and thought he looked even better up close if that
were possible.

Cole grinned at her.

Rose found herself automatically smiling back. She
instinctively liked this man and found herself wondering how her friend could ever have left him standing at the altar.

Had she been physically stronger, she would have
been tempted to throw him over her shoulder and
march off to a preacher with him. Rose wondered
where all these wild ideas were coming from. She
knew that a lot of people thought her outrageous, but
she'd never been this outrageous before. She decided
there must be something about Western males that
appealed to her, and whatever it was, she liked it-a
lot. This was definitely proving to be a wonderful trip,
and they had only just arrived.

"Let's go inside the main house," Jenny directed.
She didn't know why watching Rose flirt a little with
Cole bothered her, but it did. "Tom, will you see that
the luggage is taken over to the guest house?"

"Yes, ma'am." The ranch hand hurried off to do as
he was told.

Jenny quickly made the introductions. Cole shook
hands with Richard and Aubrey, and then they all
went inside.

"I've been expecting you!" Frances announced
with delight as she met them in the parlor. "Welcome
to the Lazy S.I'm Frances. If you need anything,
anything at all, you just let me know."

As Frances served refreshments, they settled in
around the dining room table, and Jenny explained all
she had planned for their visit.

"Do we ever get to rest?" Tillie asked, smiling in
amazement at all the activities they could participate in.

"Don't worry, Tillie," Evelyn laughed. "You and I
can just sit up here on the porch of the main house
and watch the rest of them having their fun."

"Now that sounds more like a wonderful, relaxing
vacation to me," Tillie agreed.

"You two can relax all you want, but there's a
whole new world out there that I want to explore!"
Rose told them, then looked at Jenny. "And I'm very
serious about taking a lot of photographs, Jenny. I
want to use them to convince everyone back home
that they should come to the Lazy S for a visit. Will
we be going back into town any time soon?"

Jenny knew exactly what and who her friend was
thinking about. "If you'd like to, we can go to the
dance this next weekend."

"That would be wonderful," Melanie said. She
wasn't averse to all the outdoor activities that had
been planned, but she would definitely enjoy going to
a dance much more.

"Richard? Aubrey?" Jenny looked at the two men
and found Richard's gaze upon her.

"Of course," Aubrey answered, pleased that there
would be something civilized to do.

"Any time I can take you to a dance, I'm de lighted," Richard told Jenny in an intimate tone that
did not go unnoticed. "It gives me an excuse to hold
you in my arms."

She found herself blushing a bit at his bold statement. "We'll plan on going, then."

Rose casually glanced Cole's way just then and
noticed that, although his expression never changed,
his jaw tensed during Jenny and Richard's exchange.
Since Cole hadn't said a word yet, Rose decided this
was as good a time as any to draw him into the conversation.

"Cole? Will you be attending the dance?"

"I usually do unless ranch business interferes," he
answered.

"Then I will be expecting to dance with you," Rose
declared.

Cole couldn't help smiling at her. He'd never met
anyone quite like Rose before. "I'll be looking forward to it."

"Why don't we go over to the guest house and let
you get settled in while Frances fixes a late lunch?"
Jenny suggested.

They all agreed. As they started to get up, Rose
looked over at Cole.

"Will you be staying to eat with us, Cole?"

Jenny was surprised by her friend's question, but
knew she shouldn't have been. Rose was always
straightforward, and Jenny had long found it one of
her most endearing qualities. If Rose wanted to spend more time with Cole, far be it from Jenny to stand in
her way.

"Cole?" Jenny asked.

"Thank you, but no. I've got some things I have to
attend to. If you'll excuse me, I'll be heading out
now." He looked over at Jenny. "I left the envelope
with the paperwork from the lawyer in it on the desk
in the study. If you've got any questions about it after
you've had a chance to read it over, just let me
know."

"Thanks."

With that, Cole was gone.

Rose and the others were slower leaving the house,
but Rose could still see Cole in the distance as he
rode away. She stood for a moment, admiring the
powerful yet solitary figure he made. Cole was certainly an intriguing man, and she was determined to
learn more about what was going on between him and
Jenny.

"There's a rider coming in!" one of the hands on the
Jameson spread shouted to Wayne Jameson when he
spotted Cole coming up the road toward the main
house.

Wayne hurried out of the barn to take a look.

"Shit!" he cursed. "It's that damned Randall!"

"Miss Mira's going to be happy to see him," the
man chuckled.

"Shut up," Wayne snarled. "Randall's timing is terrible."

"What do you want us to do?"

Wayne glanced around to see if anything looked
out of place. "Just go on about your business. Where
is Mira? Have you seen her lately?"

"She was up at the house last time I talked to her,
but that was a while ago."

Wayne nodded and headed for the ranch house. No
doubt Cole had come to see Mira. From what his
sister had been telling him, he had been sniffing at
her heels pretty regular lately, and that was good.
Cole was rich, and they could use his money.

Mira heard the shouts outside that someone was
riding in, and she rushed to the window to look out.
She recognized Cole immediately. Cole had come to
see her! Her plan just might work after all. She only
hoped that the men went on with their work as if
nothing unusual was going on. Dropping what she
was doing, she went out to meet him.

"Afternoon, Mira," Cole said as he dismounted and
tied his horse out front.

"Hello, Cole," she replied.

She was tempted to throw herself in his arms and
kiss him full on the mouth, but didn't. After the rebuff
she'd suffered the other night at his house, she was
going to be a little more aloof from now on. Besides,
she could see her brother coming up to speak with
Cole.

"It's so good to see you," she told him. Doubts had
been haunting her about the possible success of all that she was planning, but now Cole had come to her.
Mira's confidence returned.

"It's good to see you, too." Cole smiled as he
looked over at Wayne. "Afternoon, Wayne."

"Cole." Wayne nodded and shook hands with him.
"What brings you out our way? It's been a while."

"This is strictly a social call. I just stopped by to
see if your sister would do me the honor of going to
the dance with me in town next weekend."

"I'd be delighted," Mira answered without hesitation. "Why don't you come on inside and have a cool
drink?"

"Sounds good to me," he agreed, following Mira
and Wayne indoors.

It was nearly an hour later when Cole finally rode
for home. He was feeling quite satisfied that Mira
would be his date for the dance in town. He tried to
keep his thoughts focused on the conversation he'd
just had with Mira and Wayne, but his thoughts kept
drifting back to his visit to the Lazy S.

From the first, he hadn't liked the looks of the guest
named Richard. When he'd heard the man's remarks
about going to the dance with Jenny, he'd known his
gut reaction to him had been right. He definitely
didn't like the man, and he considered himself a good
judge of character.

Not that it really mattered what he thought about
him. He didn't have to deal with Richard. Richard
was Jenny's problem.