Someone Like You (Night Riders) (14 page)

“I don’t mind your enjoying yourself, but must you ask people like Laveau di Viere to bring you home?”

“I don’t
ask
men to bring me home. They offer. What’s wrong with Laveau? You don’t believe what Rafe said about him, do you?”

Maria took the time to put her dress in the closet before she answered. “I could see the anger in Rafe’s eyes, see the pain the memories caused him.”

Dolores clapped her hands with delight. “That’s exactly why he’ll marry you. You believe everything he says.”

“I don’t—” She began, but she couldn’t remember that he’d lied to her. “This conversation is absurd.” She removed her petticoats and draped them across a chair. “Now, I’m tired, and I have to get up early. Rafe is taking Luis for a ride, and then we’re going into Cíbola to buy clothes. Apparently according to Texas standards, the boy doesn’t have anything decent to wear.” She knew nothing about Texas, but if Rafe and Broc were any example, Texans knew how to wear clothes that made a woman acutely aware of their physical presence.

“Don’t let Luis get on his nerves. I don’t want him to drive Rafe away before he does something about that horrible will.”

“Rafe seems to enjoy the boy.”

“No man enjoys being around children.”

“I’m not going to argue with you. I’m too tired.”

Dolores pushed herself up and stood. “Think about what I said. If you married Rafe, you’d be a rich woman.”

“I don’t want to be rich badly enough to marry Rafe. Now go to bed. You don’t want wrinkles or bags under your eyes.”

Only concern for her looks could sidetrack Dolores from a goal. In the meantime, Maria would get a reprieve from thinking about Rafe.

“How soon will I get my new boots?”

Luis should have been tired after spending an hour in the saddle, but buying new clothes had him dancing with excitement. Maria wondered how Rafe thought he was going to leave the boy behind when he went to Texas. The relationship between them seemed so natural, she ached to tell them they were father and son.

“They’ll probably be ready in a couple of weeks. You can wear the others until then.”

Luis looked with disapproval at his pair of ready-made boots. “They aren’t real boots.”

Maria nearly laughed aloud. Luis didn’t know anything about boots, but if they weren’t like Rafe’s, they were not real.

“They’re fine boots,” Rafe assured Luis.

“Did you ever wear ready-made boots?” Luis asked.

“When the war was over, I had to wear my army boots for nearly a year. I thought my feet would never recover.”

Why was it so hard for her to remember he hadn’t always been the pampered son of a rich man?

“Did you have a horse?” Luis persisted.

“My friend’s father had lots of horses. All we had to do was catch them.”

“Weren’t they in a stable?”

“No. They’d been allowed to run loose during the war. It was more than a month before most of them stopped bucking every time we saddled up.”

“Did your horse buck?”

“Sure did.”

“Did you fall off?”

“I came close a couple of times, but I’d been riding almost since I was able to walk.”

“Papa said I was too little to ride.”

Maria wished she had known riding was so important to Luis. He had always been such a biddable child. He never questioned what people told him. She hadn’t wanted to admit it, but it hadn’t seemed normal for a healthy boy to be so content to stay inside and read. What was she going to do with him after Rafe left? There was no one else on the ranch who could take him under his wing, and she didn’t want Luis to be drawn to the men Dolores brought to the house. She needed to convince Rafe to stay. At least for a while.

“Where would you like to eat?”

Rafe had promised Luis he could choose the restaurant, but there wasn’t much choice in Cíbola. After looking inside two restaurants that placed platters of food on long tables to be fought over by the patrons, he settled on the hotel. It was fun watching Luis order his first meal. It was
even more intriguing to watch Rafe guide him through the process. When he asked about the difference between dressing made with oysters and dressing made with clams, Rafe drew the waiter over to explain how the dish was prepared. Luis decided on pork chops with clam stuffing, something he’d never had before. Maria hoped he didn’t hate it.

“I’ll have chicken,” Rafe said.

“Maria likes beef,” Luis informed Rafe. “We have it a lot.”

“We also have pork, poultry, and fish.”

“I know, but we have beef a lot.”

Apparently she needed to vary their menu.

“I imagine you have beef a lot because you raise cows,” Rafe said. “It’s easier to eat what you raise.”

“We also have pigs and chickens,” Luis responded. “Broc said he saw a flock of geese. Do we have geese?”

“We raise geese, ducks, and turkeys—whatever people will buy,” Maria answered. “We—”

“What a quaint family gathering.”

Maria looked up to see Laveau di Viere approaching their table. Rafe stiffened and all the animation went out of Luis.

Laveau’s smile was falsely amiable. “I’d invite you to join Dolores and me for lunch, but our table isn’t big enough for five.” He indicated a table for two tucked away in a discreet corner. “Should I ask for another table?”

“We’ve already ordered.” Rafe’s voice didn’t reveal the anger Maria could see in his eyes. “Our food would be cold before yours arrived.”

“You always were so sensible.” Laveau subjected Luis to a momentary scrutiny. “Is this your son?” he asked Rafe.

“This is my half brother. Dolores married my father after my mother’s death.”

“I suppose your being brothers explains the extraordinary resemblance.”

Maria wanted to say something, to do something to ease the tension, but she suspected the animosity between these two men went too deep for her to change it. Rafe had his
temper well in hand, but she could see the effort it took. Laveau, on the other hand, appeared to be frustrated that Rafe wasn’t responding as he had hoped.

“I look like my father,” Luis told Laveau.

Laveau scowled. “I would have said you looked like your mother.”

“You would have been wrong,” Rafe said. “But then you should be used to that by now.”

It pleased Maria to see a momentary tightening around Laveau’s mouth. Just then Dolores entered the hotel.

“I was hoping you would still be in town,” she said with a satisfied smile. “Now we can all have lunch together.”

Dolores was wearing a stylish new outfit topped off by a hat with a feather that curved provocatively against her chin. Maria didn’t need to ask the price to know it had cost more than Dolores could afford.

“We’ve already discussed that,” Rafe told her. “Your table is too small, and our food is already on the way.”

“We can get a bigger table.”

“It would be impolite to eat before you were served, but our food would be cold before yours arrived.”

Dolores continued to argue with Rafe while he calmly explained why each of her proposed solutions wouldn’t work. Considering how much he disliked her, Maria was amazed at his forbearance.

“I’m reluctant to say so, my sweet, but I think Rafe prefers your sister’s company.”

“You do occasionally get something right.” The words were spoken calmly, but Rafe’s eyes were hard as agate. “You should claim your table before someone else is seated there.”

“The hotel has reserved that table for me for the duration of my stay.” Laveau’s smile was sickly sweet. “They value my patronage.”

“Then don’t give them reason to change their minds.”

Though she didn’t like him, it was hard for Maria to envision Laveau betraying his entire troop. She could easily believe
he had poor character, but it was hard to imagine him causing the deaths of men who’d been his constant companions for three years.

“I don’t like that man.” Luis’s eyes had followed Laveau across the room. “I wish Mama didn’t, either.”

“I’m sure she doesn’t really,” Rafe said, “but he thinks your mother is very beautiful, and she likes to be admired.”

Maria smiled at Rafe. He had made some mistakes in the past, but bless the man for doing his best to shield Luis from the imperfections of his mother’s character.

Luis appeared to be considering something. He pursed his mouth, looked at Laveau, who had said something to make Dolores laugh, then looked back at Rafe. “Mama is very pretty, but I don’t think he cares about that.”

Rafe glanced at Laveau’s table; he paused before responding. “Mr. di Viere lost something he valued very much. He likes to make other people as miserable as he is.”

“What did he lose?”

“His home, his inheritance, and the vision he had of himself.”

“I don’t understand.”

Maria wondered how Rafe would have responded, but the arrival of their food spared him. Ignoring his vegetables, Luis cut off a piece of pork, put it in his mouth, and chewed slowly.

“This is really good. Can we have this at home?” he asked Maria.

“I don’t know how to make it.”

“Can we ask the chef?”

“Some cooks don’t like to give away their recipes.”

“Could you figure out how to make it if you tasted it?”

“Maybe.”

Luis cut off a slice and put it on Maria’s plate. “Taste it.”

It was good, but Maria couldn’t identify all the spices. “I don’t know which seasonings are in the dressing.”

“I’ll give some to Rafe. He can tell you.”

Maria was certain Rafe had never been near a kitchen
except to steal a cookie or beg a bone for a favorite dog. She kept a straight face while Rafe carefully chewed the portion Luis had given him.

“It
is
good. I second Luis’s request that you have Rosana fix it for us soon.”

“If I can get the chef to share his recipe.” She frowned, pretending to ponder the spices. “I know he used nutmeg and parsley, but there’s something else.”

“I think he used a heavy sherry and a dash of tarragon. I would have used thyme.”

Luis looked from Rafe to Maria. “Is that right?”

She couldn’t believe Rafe even knew of such herbs. “Don’t tell me you spent your teenage years in the kitchen watching Rosana cook.”

Rafe grinned. “I talked to Rosana and nearly every woman on the ranch about cooking.” His smile faded. “I learned more during the war.”

“You cooked during the war?” Luis asked.

“All of us did. We were a mobile unit, so we cooked for ourselves in small groups. Most of the younger boys didn’t know how to boil water when they showed up. For a while, I did a lot of cooking. Now eat up. I’m going to show you one of my favorite spots when we get home.”

Luis’s eyes lit up. “Can we ride there?”

“We have to if we want to get back in time for dinner.”

Maria was so intrigued by the conversation between Luis and Rafe, she paid little attention to the food she ate. Maybe it was because Rafe’s being his older brother caused Luis to accept him so quickly. Maybe it was because he longed for the attention of a man he could look up to and admire. Or maybe it was that Rafe had immediately attributed to him a quality of masculinity no one else had seen. It could have simply been because Rafe treated him as an equal rather than a little boy. What ever the reason, Luis had a case of hero worship.

It was hard for Maria not to feel the same way.

Except for that momentary loss of control years ago, he
was the kind of man to cause any woman’s heart to beat faster. He was handsome, kind, and thoughtful. There didn’t appear to be much he hadn’t done or couldn’t do if needed. He gave her the feeling his life would be a carefully laid out mosaic instead of a series of accidental happenings. He acted like a man whose principles were so firmly fixed, he wouldn’t compromise even if he faced hardship as a result. A man who would fight equally hard to get what he wanted and to protect it afterward. She suspected his loyalty, once given, would never be taken back. In short, he was exactly the kind of man she could fall in love with.

Unfortunately he was the one man she couldn’t allow herself to love. It was good he was taking Luis off for the afternoon. She needed some time alone to get her feelings under control. She’d let Dolores’s foolish suggestion that she marry Rafe get lodged in her head, and now she couldn’t get it out.

“Do you think we ought to invite Maria to go with us?” Rafe asked Luis.

Feeling rattled by his question, she said quickly, “I’ve got too much to do.”

“Surely you can delegate your work or leave it until tomorrow.”

“You’ve never had to run a house hold,” she pointed out. “You don’t know—”

“When my mother was sick, I learned the list of things that really had to be done was short. The rest was just to make life more comfortable. I don’t put much stock in comfort anymore.”

The way he smiled at her caused her resistance to waver.

“Please come with us,” Luis put in. “Rafe said he’ll take us to his favorite place.”

How could she resist when Luis looked at her as if she alone had the power to grant the wish closest to his heart? Or when Rafe looked as if this was no polite invitation, as if he really
did
want her to go with them?

“I’ll do all my lessons before I go to bed,” Luis promised.

Rafe’s eyes were alive with amusement. “I don’t have any lessons, so I’ll groom all three horses when we get back.”

Her resistance, never strong, collapsed. “I’ll go, but we can’t stay long.”

Rafe worried that he might be on the verge of making a big mistake, but he wasn’t sure he could stop himself. The more he was around Maria, the more he was convinced she was different from her sister. He didn’t like to admit that Broc had been right, but he’d been attracted to Maria from the start. He knew he wasn’t beyond being made a fool of by a woman, but he’d studied Maria’s words, actions, even her expressions and the inflections of her voice, in search of discrepancies, of any careful concealment of her true nature, without finding any. He’d come to the conclusion that Maria was exactly what she appeared to be. And what she appeared to be was very attractive to Rafe.

So much so that his mind leaped all the way to thoughts of marriage.