Sandra Chastain (13 page)

“But you didn’t have to do this. I mean with a ring. What do I care what all these people think about me? I’ve always done what I wanted to do, and they don’t expect any different.” But she did. His gesture touched her. He understood more than she wanted to admit.

“I think you do care, darling. I’m going to help you make them sit up and take notice of the future Mrs. Cade McCall, owner of Silverwild Ranch.”

Darling?
Rusty liked the sound of that word. She leaned forward and flicked on the overhead light. Inside the box she found an engagement ring. A gold filigree setting held a stone that was unlike anything she’d ever seen. It was a ruby, yet its color was almost fire red, and it caught the light and shimmered like a meteor disintegrating as it fell from the sky.

“Oh, Cade, it’s beautiful. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. How could you—I mean it must have been very expensive.”

“It was, and you’d better not lose it. It isn’t paid for yet.”

“Oh, where did you buy it? I’ll send a check.” Rusty immediately wished she could take back the words. Cade’s expression changed from intensely tender to thunderous.

“No! I don’t know exactly how you intend to pay my salary, but I assume I get one. I’ll take care of the ring myself. Now hold out your hand.”

Rusty complied contritely, watching as Cade lifted the ring from the box and slid it on her finger. It felt hot. It would be, for it had been in his pocket. He’d warmed it up for her, concealing it
next to his body. She caught her breath and lifted her eyes to meet his.

“Thank you, Cade. This is the loveliest thing I’ve ever owned, and I’ll be the most envied woman at the ball.”

“Oh, it’s not that big.”

“It isn’t the ring,” she confessed shyly as she placed her hand on his rough cheek. “It’s because I have you and everybody there will want what I’ve got. But you’re mine, Cade McCall,” she said in her normal to-hell-with-the-world voice. “I’ve already put my claim on you.”

Cade waited a long time before he answered her. Then the only answer he could give was the truth. “And you’ve already put your mark on me too. Eugene says that I’ve been branded with fire.”

Will Fleming was tall and blond. He directed the transfer of luggage (that Cade hadn’t known they were carrying) and his passengers into his plane, larger than Rusty’s. There was another passenger already inside, a blond-haired, blue-eyed beauty who introduced herself as Will’s wife, Ann-Marie. She took one look at Cade, and her eyes opened wide.

Will and Ann-Marie were already dressed in dinner finery. After Will gave his final instructions to his men on the ground, he strapped himself into the pilot’s seat and began the checklist to leave. Less than twenty minutes later they were landing at the Salt Lake City airport and transferring to the black limo waiting at the runway.

Once inside the limo, Rusty moved close to Cade. He was pleased that she did so naturally, as
if they truly belonged together, as if they were a couple.

“That’s the Mormon Temple,” Ann-Marie said, calling Cade’s attention to a stark white block-long building bathed in light.

“It’s spectacular,” Cade admitted. “Like a castle in a fairy tale.”

“It’s the heart of all Mormon life,” Will said seriously. “Parts of it are never opened to outsiders. Ann-Marie and I were married there.”

Cade took Rusty’s hand and absently rubbed his thumb across the engagement ring as Ann-Marie pointed out the Sea Gull Monument; the Beehive House, home of Brigham Young, the Mormon leader; and the Eagle Gate, which used to be the entrance to Brigham’s estate.

“You know the story about how the sea gull came to be the state bird?” Will asked.

“No, I don’t believe I do,” Cade admitted, wishing they were already at the dance so that he’d have an excuse to hold Rusty in his arms. Gone was the uncertainty and tension that had plagued them for the last few days. Tonight he was just taking his lady out on the town. He squeezed her hand, giving every indication that he was attentive to his host. Only Rusty knew that he was absently rubbing his middle finger back and forth across her palm. “Sea gulls in the middle of Utah?” Cade’s voice was disbelieving.

“Yep,” Will answered. “They thought the Great Salt Lake was the ocean. A plague of crickets swept across the valley. They were destroying the first crops that were to carry Brigham Young’s people through the winter. Suddenly a flock of sea gulls
appeared and ate the crickets. The crops were saved, and the gull became our state bird.”

“Enough sight-seeing,” Ann-Marie interrupted. “Rusty, Will told me that Cade is from Alaska. I suppose that he—oh my, look at your ring, a ruby—” She stopped herself and looked up at Rusty with excitement in her eyes. “Rusty, that’s an engagement ring, isn’t it? You and your mystery man from the land of ice and snow are engaged.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Cade said, lifting Rusty’s fingertips and planting a kiss across her knuckles. “We most certainly are.”

“Will, did you know that Rusty was getting married?”

“Yes. Well, not exactly.” Will leaned back and gave Cade a measured look. “But Cade did drop by the other day. We had a little talk about raising cattle and breeding bulls. Have you set the date?”

“In about six months,” Rusty answered.

“And then again, maybe sooner. It all depends on—well, let’s call it fate,” Cade answered with a long measured look at Rusty.

“Yep,” Ann-Marie said smartly, “he’s a goner, all right. Well, I can understand you importing him. Will was the last eligible bachelor in Utah. And I got him, didn’t I? How’d you find Cade?”

Rusty blushed. “Let’s say if you’re looking for a man, you have to look in the right place and use the right kind of inducements.”

Ann-Marie tilted her head and examined Rusty carefully before turning to Cade. “Oh? And what kind of inducements did you have to offer?”

“We met in an airport,” Cade answered, “and she
didn’t need any bait. Let’s just say I’m partial to bossy redheads.”

The limo came to a stop under the famous porte cochere outside the imposing red brick structure with the unlikely name Little America Hotel and Towers. The doorman, unexpectedly resplendent in a black tuxedo, hurried to open the door.

Cade left the car first, taking Rusty by the hand. As she raised her head and stood up, he pulled her close and whispered wickedly in her ear, “I’m very partial to bossy redheads with long legs and beautiful big—”

“Bank accounts, McCall,” she said under her breath, teasing him back and a dream that she’s willing to share.

“This is some place,” Cade commented as he took in the stained-glass dome overhead.

“The Towers is nothing like the Cattleman’s Hotel, where they used to have the ball,” Rusty said in disgust. “My daddy would have hated this.”

“Your daddy didn’t like change, Rusty,” Ann-Marie said. “If it were up to him, we wouldn’t even have a ski resort in Utah. He and Ben Middleton both wanted you and everything else in the state to stay the same—no tourists, no farmers.”

“You’re right,” Rusty agreed. “He thought the range belonged to the cattle.”

Cade kept silent as the foursome moved past the huge fireplace and through the lobby. Walt Wilder hadn’t liked change. He wanted to keep Rusty the same too. To that end he’d made her feel plain, ordinary, even picking a safe husband for her. But anybody seeing Rusty tonight would know that was no longer true.

Cade smiled. A sexy new dress wasn’t the only change Rusty had made. Old Walt would probably turn over in his grave if he knew that Rusty had found herself a husband.

Cade watched the startled looks of the other guests as they caught sight of Rusty Wilder. He could already discern that they hadn’t expected Rusty to attend, that the woman they were seeing was a Rusty they’d never seen before. One man after another did a double take, only to be reprimanded by the woman on his arm as he stood, gaping. Rusty smiled blithely at everyone. Only Cade knew that she was holding his arm in a death grip.

“Easy, Redhead,” he whispered. “I’m here to protect you from the wolves. Anybody who gets too close has to deal with me.”

“Is it that obvious?” Her voice was huskier than usual. Gone was her in-charge air, leaving a smile that was tentative.

The woman on his arm might look like the richest woman in Utah, but he could recognize that out-of-your-element feeling. He’d known it often enough as a mountain child in Tennessee. “Not to anybody else. But from where I stand, I’d say that you’d rather take on Pretty Boy than this group. Why are we here?”

“Because I need to hire Pretty Boy out for stud and I have to convince some people here that it’s a smart moneymaking move. Nothing breeds success like looking successful. That’s what my daddy always said.”

They reached the coatroom, where a sulky blond claimed Cade’s overcoat and Rusty’s fur. The look she gave him promised more than a claim check if
he was interested. Ann-Marie immediately stepped inside and found someone to talk with, leaving Will on one side of Rusty and Cade on the other. Together they stepped into the doorway and surveyed the noisy ballroom.

A hush fell over the crowd. It lasted only a moment, like a temporary glitch in a sound track, then the crowd exploded into new bursts of conversation.

A beefy red-faced man broke away from the crowd and started toward them. “Rusty, good to see you girl. Where’ve you been keeping yourself?”

“Russ?” Rusty straightened her shoulders and preceded Cade into the room, separating herself from him with a shudder. “I’ve been meaning to give you a call.”

“Oh? You’ve decided to accept my offer to buy that little piece of rock in the north corner?”

“No. What I had in mind was making you an offer.”

The jovial man looked at Rusty shrewdly, cutting his eyes from Rusty to Cade and back again. “Oh? You’re not going to sell it to Dale Briggs are you?”

“No, my offer has nothing to do with that. I don’t intend to sell any of Silverwild. What I want to talk to you about is my new bull.”

“Yeah, I heard about the ugly devil. Ought to be a good match for them buffalo up at Howard’s place. Howard, come over here. Rusty’s got a deal for you.”

Will Fleming, who’d followed them, snagged a canape from a passing waiter and eyed it with a grimace. “A Cattleman’s Ball ought to serve steak,” he commented.

A tall, thin older man detached himself from the
group he’d been talking to and walked over to meet Rusty.

“Howard Chandler,” he said holding out his hand to Cade. “Don’t believe I’ve met you, sir.”

“Cade McCall, and you haven’t.”

“A cattle buyer, Rusty?” Howard asked, taking a long look at both Cade and Rusty.

“No. You might say that I’ve been in oil.” Cade took a long look at Rusty. “But I’m looking around at other opportunities.” He slid his arm around Rusty’s waist and smiled at her possessively.

Rusty allowed herself to lean into him. She hadn’t expected that meeting these men would be so intimidating. She’d had business dealings with them over the years, but those encounters had been on Silverwild, on her own terms. Now she felt off balance. Except for Cade, whose arm told her that he was there for her. His strength was hers if she needed it. And she did.

There was no question about the man’s power. Or his magnetism. Already, Howard Chandler and Russ Long were uncertain. Every woman in the room had been watching him from the moment of their entrance. She’d seen the buzz of attention ripple around the room, and she traced it back to the man holding her. She could certainly understand their reaction.

She’d been worried that bringing Cade here was expecting too much. After all, if she couldn’t convince the other ranchers to use Pretty Boy, what could his presence add? He wasn’t even a rancher. Silverwild was her responsibility, and so was its future. Truthfully, Cade McCall wasn’t here to deal with the cattlemen. He was with her, not because of what he represented but because she needed
him. All her life she’d tried to please her father, with little acknowledgment of her efforts. After Ben’s death she’d decided that she would please no one except herself. And tonight—tonight it pleased her to be Cade McCall’s woman.

Cade stumbled slightly. He decided that if Rusty could have found a way to climb into his pocket, she might well have done so. He couldn’t tell whether it was from uncertainty about the men she was talking to or the women she kept eyeing uneasily in the crowd beyond. In either case he figured that his duties as a fiancée suited his purposes as well as hers. He dropped his gaze and gave Rusty a deep private smile as he slid his warm hand possessively up to her shoulder, pulling her back so that he could look into her eyes.

Shyly she reached up and caught his hand, squeezing it as openly as she returned his hungry look.

Russ looked at Howard and back to Rusty. “Oil, huh? Well, if you didn’t lost your shirt, maybe we could talk sometime, McCall. Rusty has all the land and water, but her French cows can’t compare with my herd.”

“Not at the moment, perhaps,” Cade answered evenly. He felt, rather than heard, Rusty’s inaudible intake of breath. “But the new bull is going to change all that. You’d do well to have a look at him, before his stud fee gets too high. In the meantime I’m hungry, darling. What about you?”

Rusty allowed herself to be led away. “Why’d you do that?” she asked. “We could have talked more about Pretty Boy.”

“Always make a man think you don’t want what
he’s offering. It makes him more interested in what he’s turning down.”

At the buffet table they were joined by Will and Ann-Marie. Filling their plates with little chunks of steak, potatoes, and melons, they found a seat and ate. Rusty and Ann-Marie identified various VIPs, including some people they’d gone to school with.

Rusty only picked at her food. Will complained that they ought to be eating real steak and potatoes, not little finger foods. Ann-Marie reminded both men that they’d elected to skip dinner and arrive in time for the ball.

“Speaking of the ball,” Cade said, “I think I’ll dance with my lady.”

Rusty found herself being turned expertly toward the dance floor, Cade’s hand guiding her through the crowd of people until he found a spot near the center of the floor.