Jenny (29 page)

"What do you have planned for the rest of your
stay at the Lazy S?" Dan asked.

"I think we're just going to stay at the ranch and
relax and enjoy ourselves," Rose told him, hoping
against hope that he could find a way to see her again.

"Would you like to come out for a visit, Dan?"
Jenny asked. "You could take Rose on a trail ride or
a picnic or something."

"I'd like that," he answered, looking at Rose.

"I'd like that, too," she agreed.

As Evelyn and Tillie looked on, they knew their
jobs as chaperons were not over yet.

"I can't wait," Rose said eagerly as they traveled the
last few miles to the ranch.

"Can't wait for what?" Jenny asked glancing over
at her friend. "You were so sad before because you
didn't want to leave Durango, and now you're excited
about getting back to the ranch?"

Rose blushed a little bit. "Well, I've been thinking,
and as soon as we get there, I can start developing
the photographs."

"Ah, that explains it." Jenny laughed goodnaturedly. "You want to see how your pictures of Dan
turned out. What will you do if they aren't right?"

"I'll be forced to go find him so I can take another
one," she answered, ready to use any excuse to see
him again.

"Dan did say he'd try to come out to the ranch to
see you this week."

"If he can make it."

"Rose-" Jenny began a bit hesitantly, not wanting
to pry but feeling curious about her friend. "What's
going on between the two of you? I mean, I know
you like Dan, but are you getting serious about him?"

Rose glanced at Jenny, her expression both elated
and perplexed. "I do like Dan very much, and there
is something special about him."

"Are you in love with him?"

Rose looked a bit guilty as she answered, "I think
so. But how can that be? I've known him for less
than a week, and I've only been with him a few
times."

"How does he feel?"

"He hasn't said. We've just been enjoying what
time we've had together."

"Well, I hope he can get out here to the ranch and
spend some more time with you before you have to
go home."

Rose sighed. "I hate the thought that we'll be leaving so soon."

"I know. In a few more days, you'll be gone. I'm
going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you, too. I'll tell you who else
is going to be missing somebody," Rose added in a
conspiratorial tone.

"Who?"

"Melanie," she said with a smile. "Did you notice how quick she was to offer to ride back to the ranch
in the buckboard with Tom?"

Jenny looked over her shoulder toward the buckboard which was following a short distance behind
them. She could see that Melanie and Tom were deep
in conversation as the young hand drove the team.

Jenny smiled. "Interesting. I guess it's unanimous:
we all like Western men."

The two women shared a laugh as they pulled to a
stop before the ranch house.

"Why don't you use our extra bedroom to develop
your pictures?" Jenny offered.

"I'll do that. I can't wait to see how they turned
out."

The photo developing was a lengthy process, but
worth every minute especially to get to see her picture of Dan.

As soon as everything was unpacked, Rose went to
work while Jenny arranged for Richard's and Aubrey's luggage to be delivered to them in town.

Dinner time came and went, but Rose did not join
them to eat. She worked on, not emerging until much
later when all her photographs were finished. She was
smiling as she came downstairs to where they were
all waiting for her in the parlor.

"Well?" Jenny asked excitedly when Rose appeared in the doorway.

"Come take a look," Rose invited.

They all followed her upstairs.

At their first look at her work, they were in awe of her talent. The photographs were magnificent. She
had captured the mountain scenery expertly, and the
portraits from town had turned out better than she'd
ever hoped. The picture of George in front of the
mercantile was wonderful, and the photographs she'd
taken at the High Time with Dan and Fernada were
perfect.

"Are you happy with them?" Jenny asked.

"Very.,,

"Your father's going to be impressed, too. Once
he's seen them, I bet he'll help you set up your own
studio in no time."

"I hope so," Rose said excitedly. "That's been my
dream for ages."

As she thought about it, though, she wondered for
the first time if that was what she really wanted to
do. All her dreams about a studio back in Philadelphia
had been before she'd met Dan.

It had been late when Cole had finally ridden home
the night of the dance. He'd arrived back at the
Branding Iron long after midnight and didn't get
much sleep, rising at dawn to take care of ranch business. He deliberately worked hard all day long, concentrating on getting things done, wanting to tire
himself out so he'd get some rest that night. It seemed
that no matter how busy he kept himself, it was impossible to ignore the image of Jenny reaching out to
him, inviting him to her bed.

"You all right, boss?" Fred asked late that after- noon, noticing how distracted Cole had become.

Fred's question interrupted Cole's deep thoughts,
and he forced his attention back to the business at
hand.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just a little tired, that's all,"
he answered shortly, irritated with himself.

"Too much partying in town last night, huh, boss?"
the ranch hand joked.

Cole wished that had been the case, but the one
thing he hadn't been doing was having fun. "You finish up here. I'm going on back to the house."

He wheeled his horse around and rode away.

Cole was angry with himself. He'd always taken
pride in his self-control, and the fact that Jenny could
haunt him this way day and night disturbed him. He
had known working with her might be awkward, but
he'd considered himself a mature man who could handle it smoothly. Ever since he first set eyes on her the
day she'd returned, though, his life had not been the
same.

He had believed he was over her.

He'd believed he didn't care about her.

He'd believed he didn't love her anymore.

He'd been kidding himself.

He still loved Jenny.

Cole was shocked as he finally admitted the truth
to himself He wondered how he'd had the strength
to walk away from her last night.

Damn, but she'd looked gorgeous lying there on
the bed waiting for him. He could only imagine how wonderful making love to her would have been if
he'd given in to his desire for her.

Cole cursed under his breath in frustration as he
continued to ride toward the house. Sometimes pride
was a good thing, but sometimes a man's pride could
stand in the way of his true happiness.

He would not let that happen to him.

Jenny had already told him she loved him. Now it
was his turn to acknowledge the truth of what was in
his heart.

He made up his mind.

It was too late to go to Jenny tonight and profess
his love, but he would ride for the Lazy S first thing
tomorrow.

Cole reached the house and passed an uneventful
night. He got little sleep, but didn't mind so much
this time. It was his excitement about the prospect of
seeing Jenny and telling her he loved her that kept
him awake.

He was in a good mood in the morning when he
rose and got cleaned up, ready for his trip to see
Jenny. He was certain that after today, his life would
never be the same.

"Cole!" Shorty Parkins came running up to the
main house.

"What is it?" Cole asked, hurrying out on the porch
to see what the trouble was.

"Word just came in the rustlers have hit us
again."

"Where?"

Shorty quickly told him everything he knew.
"Down in the south range. It looks like about fifty
head are missing. Some of the boys are trying to track
them down, but I don't know if they'll have any luck.
Every other time this has happened, they've gotten
clean away."

Cole was furious, but realized there was nothing
more he could do right now. His men were already
on the trail.

"I've got to ride over to the Lazy S this morning,
so I'll check to see if any of their stock are missing,
too. I'll tell them to keep a look out for anything
suspicious. Let Fred know that I'm going, and ask
him to keep an eye on things while I'm away. I should
be back tonight."

"I'll tell him."

Cole rode off to see Jenny. But his excitement was
tempered by the news that the rustlers had returned.

"It looks like the boys did a fine job while we were
in town," Wayne bragged to Mira as she came out to
the stable. "They just told me they hit both the Branding Iron and the Lazy S again."

"Good," Mira said, glad that she was able to strike
back at both Jenny and Cole in some way.

"Where are you going?" Wayne asked as she
started to saddle up her horse.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I have a
few things to say to Jenny that won't wait."

"You sure you should be doing this?"

"Oh, yeah." She smiled coldly at him as she tightened the cinch and swung the stirrup down. "I've had
enough of her, and it's time she knows it. I' 11 be
back."

"Rose! You've got company coming!" Melanie called
out as she entered the main house. She had been down
at the stables and had seen the rider coming in.

"I do?" Rose's heartbeat quickened. She hurried
outside just as Dan reined in before the porch.

"Good morning, Rose," Dan greeted her, his voice
warm and deep.

"What brings you out to the Lazy S?" she asked,
smiling brightly at him. She'd feared that he wouldn't
be able to get away from the High Time and was
delighted to see him.

"There's this young lady who's staying at the
ranch, and I needed to see her," he said as he dismounted and tied his reins over the hitching rail. As
he took a step toward her, he dropped his voice and
said in a more intimate tone, "I've missed you, Rose."

All she wanted to do was throw herself into his
arms. How she controlled the impulse, she would
never know.

"I've missed you, too, Dan. Would you like to
come inside and see everyone?"

Truth be told, he didn't want to do anything but
grab Rose and run away with her, but he behaved
himself. "Of course."

Rose took his arm as he mounted the steps, and she led him indoors. Dan doffed his hat when he entered
the house and was greeted warmly by the ladies.

"I've developed all the pictures," Rose told him.
"Would you like to see them?"

"Yes, I'd love to. When I saw Fernada this morning, she told me to ask you about them."

"I think she'll like the way they turned out."

They excused themselves from the others and made
their way upstairs to the room she'd used for her
work. The minute she opened the door for him, he
took her by the wrist and drew her inside. Alone with
her at last, Dan pulled her into his embrace and kissed
her.

Rose had been anxiously hoping for just this moment, and she eagerly surrendered to his mastery.
When he parted her lips, her tongue met his in a
heated exchange. Her pulse was racing as his kiss
ignited a fire of desire within her. They clung together, unable to get enough of each other, desperate
for these few moments of privacy.

When Dan finally ended the kiss, he simply stood
there, holding her close. He needed to let the fever of
their nearly out-of-control passion cool.

"You had some pictures you wanted to show me?"
he murmured. He did not want to let her go, but
feared someone might happen upon them at any minute.

"I did?" she answered dreamily. She did not make
any move away from him. She was perfectly content
in his arms.

"That's what I heard," he said with a grin. "Of
course, if you can think of something better to do
while we're up here alone, I could forget the pictures-"

"You tempt me sorely, sir," Rose said, reluctantly
moving away from him. "But come look at my work."

She had the pictures spread out about the room,
and she took Dan's hand and led him to the first photograph of the mountains. He studied it seriously, then
looked up at her. He was amazed by her ability to
capture the beauty of the scenery with her camera.

"You really are very good."

He was sincere in his compliment. He had known
Rose was an intelligent woman, but he'd had no idea
she was so talented.

"Thank you."

He viewed the rest of her work, and his respect for
her grew even more. Her portraits of people were as
impressive as her landscapes.

They wanted to linger there in the room longer, but
the sound of a rider coming up to the house at a gallop
drew them back downstairs. They saw Jenny on the
porch, deep in conversation with Louie. She looked
so serious that they waited in the parlor for her to
come indoors. When she did come back inside, it was
obvious from her expression that she was angry.