Someone Like You (Night Riders) (23 page)

Determined to be equally colorful, Broc had unearthed a pair of green pants in Rafe’s closet and a bright yellow shirt. Maria thought it made him look like some kind of tropical bird, but she had to admit he looked extremely handsome.

As they approached town, the traffic increased. Men of all ages rode past in vividly colored clothes on horses covered with bright saddlecloths and saddles and bridles studded with silver. Women rode in carriages, some open and some closed, but nearly all of the occupants stared at the passing cavalcade and waved to friends and family.

In town, they saw dozens of booths set up to sell everything from food to clothes to equipment of all kinds. Chickens in cages and sheep and cows tied to trees and posts added their voices to the cacophony. People leaned out of windows, lounged in doorways, backed up against walls to watch the parade of riders. It was festival time, and everybody wanted to see and do as much as they could.

“When do the competitions start?” Luis asked.

“Not until tomorrow,” Broc told him. “I have one more day in which to enjoy my body without bruises and broken bones.”

Luis laughed, giddy from the excitement that filled him. “Rafe said you can ride anything with hair.”

“He’s the one riding. I have to wrestle a cow to the ground.”

“Do you wrestle cows in Texas?”

“All the time—bulls, too. They don’t know enough to lie down so we can chop off—” Maria nearly broke up at Broc’s effort to avoid saying they castrated the young bulls. “We have to slap a red-hot branding iron on their flanks. You’d think they’d be more reasonable, wouldn’t you?”

“They’re no less unreasonable than the horses that try to buck us off every morning even though we rode them the day before,” Rafe added.

Rafe and Broc continued to regale Luis with tales of Texas, each trying to top the other with the absurdity of their work, until Luis was laughing so hard he had tears running down his cheeks. Maria had never seen him so happy. It made her heart ache to think how miserable he’d be when the men went back to Texas. Though it would break her heart, she was beginning to think it would be best if Rafe took Luis when he left.

“There’s the hotel,” Luis pointed out.

Rafe had promised him they would stay in the hotel where Dolores had a room. Luis was nervous about seeing his mother, but when he insisted Juan pack a suit that his mother had picked out for him, Maria knew he missed her.

“Can I have my own room?”

“Rafe has already told you there aren’t enough rooms during festival,” Broc said, showing a rare sign of impatience.

Rafe brought the buggy to a stop in front of the hotel and went inside to claim their rooms. Broc vaulted out of the vehicle, grabbed Luis, and set him down on the boardwalk. When he walked back to Maria, he flashed a wicked grin. “I’d offer to carry you, but I don’t think you’d let me.”

“You’re right. Now stop acting like you’re Luis’s age and let’s go into the hotel.”

“I liked being Luis’s age. I haven’t had this much fun since then.” He held out his hand to Maria but was jostled aside by Rafe.

“You can’t let Maria get muddy.”

There wasn’t any mud in the streets, but Rafe picked Maria up before anyone had a chance to point that out, carried her over to the boardwalk, and set her down on her feet. He had a way of disconcerting her when her defenses were down.

The awkward moment was overshadowed by a cry from somewhere nearby. Startled, Maria turned to see Dolores coming toward them at a trot, calling the name of her son in a dramatic fashion guaranteed to make people believe she was nearly overcome with emotion at being able to see Luis again. She nearly smothered him in a motherly embrace.

“Let’s go inside. I don’t like being a spectacle for the public’s entertainment.” Rafe’s voice was calm and controlled, but Maria could see the anger in his eyes. When Dolores ignored him, he pushed the two of them through the hotel doors and over to a relatively private corner of the lobby. Once there, he told Dolores, “Now that we’re out of public view, you can stop acting.”

“How can you accuse me of acting when I haven’t seen my son for over a week?” Dolores demanded. “You can’t begin to know how many hours I’ve spent wondering if he was warm and fed, if he was safe and happy.” She subjected the wiggling child to another smothering embrace.

“You might as well save your breath, my sweet. Rafe is incapable of believing any person can care that much about another.”

Maria turned to see Laveau standing at the edge of their small group, impeccably dressed, and looking slightly sinister even though he was smiling.

“A mother is not just
any
person. You can’t know the agony I suffered because I couldn’t see my child.”

Luis had been trying to wiggle out of Dolores’s embrace, but he stopped at those words. “You could have come to see me at the ranch.”

Maria hadn’t expected Luis to be so blunt. From the blank look on her face, Dolores hadn’t expected it, either. “I wanted to, my darling, but I couldn’t bear to go back to a place that used to be my home, knowing I could never live there again.”

“You don’t have to come inside. We can go riding. Rafe says I’m good enough to go out on my own.”

Fixing Rafe with a horrified glance, Dolores clutched Luis to her. “I never thought you would encourage this child to ride out alone.” The sob that caught in her throat was a masterpiece of insincerity. “I can’t believe you could be so cruel, so greedy, that you’d put his life in danger so you could have the entire ranch for yourself. You must come live with me,” she said to Luis. “I’ll keep you safe.”

“Why don’t you and Broc go up to our rooms,” Rafe said to Maria, his expression unchanged. “I’ll bring Luis up when he’s through visiting with his mother.”

Dolores was losing her grip on the struggling child. “I’ve hardly seen him.”

“If you want to spend more time with Luis, you can join us for a picnic,” Maria said.

“I’ll go to your picnic,” Dolores said with an air of one making a great sacrifice, “but I want him for the rest of the day. I’ll bring him back after dinner.”

“It causes me great pain to disagree with you, my sweet.” Maria wondered why her sister couldn’t hear the insincerity in Laveau’s voice. “I can endure a child in some bucolic setting where he’s able to run about and work off some of that annoying surplus of energy, but I can’t endure a child at dinner. I regret to say that I must leave you on your own.”

Luis finally succeeded in wiggling out of Dolores’s embrace. He moved next to Rafe.

“It would be best if he eats dinner with us,” Rafe said to
Dolores. “He needs to get to bed early so he’ll be rested for tomorrow.”

“Rafe and Broc need rest, too.” Luis turned to his mother. “They’re going to race horses and fight bulls.”

Laveau’s smile was so haughty, Maria wanted to scratch it off his face. “Can’t resist showing off, can you?” He looked from Luis to Maria, then back again. “I wonder whom you’re trying to impress.”

“You,” Rafe said to Laveau. “I didn’t want you to think I’ve forgotten any of my skills.
Or anything else
.”

That must have been an unexpected answer. It took Laveau a few moments to regain his habitual appearance of disdain.

“Dear Rafe, I’m hurt that you would think I could have forgotten your many skills. I hope you don’t think I’ve forgotten what I know, either.”

“You have a remarkable mind,” Rafe said. “Unfortunately it’s cluttered with things that can hurt people.”

“It’s not my fault people are so vulnerable.”

“No, but it is your fault that you take advantage of their vulnerability.”

Laveau shrugged eloquently. “That’s the nature of things.”

“Just
your
nature.”

Apparently Rafe had scored another hit because Laveau’s eyes grew hard. He turned to Dolores. “As appealing as the invitation is, I believe I must forgo an afternoon spent with nasty insects and small woodland creatures. I’ll reserve our usual table for ten o’clock.” He kissed Dolores’s hand. “My eyes will be famished until then.”

Maria couldn’t believe any man actually talked like that, or that such saccharine words uttered in a patently insincere manner could cause Dolores to glow with pleasure.

“We have to change our clothes before we go on our picnic,” Rafe said to Dolores. “Will half an hour be enough time for you?”

“Not nearly enough, but I’ll hurry for my darling boy’s sake.” She tried to pat Luis’s cheek, but he moved out of
reach. Dolores stepped forward, gripped him by the shoulders, and gave him a kiss. “I’m so happy to see you,” she whispered. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you, too.”

Maria knew Luis really did miss his mother. She didn’t believe his mother had missed him at all.

Broc leaned against the wall outside their hotel room. “After that big dinner I’m so full I think I could fall into bed and not get up for two days.”

“You’ve got to fight bulls tomorrow,” Luis reminded him.

“Not fight bulls,” Broc corrected. “I’m just wrestling cows to the ground.”

“Isn’t it the same?” Luis asked.

“Not at all,” Rafe said. “Cows just try to get away. Bulls try to kill you.”

“Oh.” Luis’s eyes grew large. “Why would anyone want to fight a bull that was trying to kill him?”

“A good question,” Broc said.

“Mama says bullfights are exciting.”

“A lot of people agree with your mother,” Rafe said.

Maria thought the afternoon had been one of the most nerve-racking of her life. She had been so angry at Dolores’s postures and lies, she had been on the verge of returning to the hotel on the excuse that she needed to lie down and rest.

In addition to clutching Luis in a too-tight embrace so often he finally wouldn’t go near her, she had done her best to thwart Rafe’s attempts to make the afternoon enjoyable. A long walk was too difficult in her shoes. Climbing low cliffs and walking across the shallow stream on protruding rocks was too dangerous. Exposure to the sun was undesirable because it would ruin her complexion. Any activity more strenuous than a slow walk was too tiring. Any person talking to Luis other than herself was limiting the little time she had with her son. Maria was tempted to tell Dolores to stop
pretending and go back to the hotel. Broc
did
tell her. She acted as though she hadn’t heard him.

Amazingly, Rafe never lost his temper. He achieved this miracle by ignoring Dolores. Luis soon followed his example. That had left Maria to bear the brunt of Dolores’s complaints about Rafe’s treatment of her, and her needling questions about whether Maria was in love with Rafe and if he had kissed her again.

“Luis needs to go to bed now,” she told Rafe. “You can fill him in on all the details tomorrow.”

“I don’t want to go to bed,” Luis protested. “Broc says I’m not a little boy anymore.”

“I don’t think Maria puts much faith in my opinions,” Broc commented.

“Are you going to bed?” Luis asked Broc.

“I think so.”

“Are you going to bed, too?” Luis asked Rafe.

“Not just yet.” He looked at Maria. “Maria and I are going for a walk.”

M
aria hoped her expression didn’t reflect her shock at Rafe’s statement. She hadn’t been alone with him since the evening Dolores had burst in on them in his father’s room. She had tried to make sure there wouldn’t be any reason for anyone to accuse them of impropriety again. She had thought Rafe felt the same.

She scolded herself for immediately thinking Rafe’s intentions might be romantic. He was her employer. She was his house keeper. They were joint guardians of Luis. There had to be at least a dozen things he could want to talk to her about that had nothing to do with their feelings for each other. Maybe she ought to change that to
her feelings for him
. He might consider a few innocent kisses merely an amusement for two people who were attracted to each other.

She felt very much at a disadvantage when he looked at her with that smile that always caused the muscles in her abdomen to tighten.

“I have to put Luis to bed.” Taking care of Luis was part of the job for which she was now being paid. She was nervous about leaving him alone in a hotel room. What if another of Dolores’s drunken admirers tried to kidnap him?

Broc glanced at Rafe with a raised eyebrow before turning to Maria. “I’ll see the little brat is tucked safely in bed.”

“I’m not little, and I’m not a brat,” Luis informed him.

“Maybe I’ll even read him a story to put him to sleep.”

Luis’s eyes danced with excitement. “Will you tell me more stories about Texas?”

“I’m not sure I know many more stories.”

Luis looked disappointed, then added. “What about the war?”

Broc’s expressions sobered. “I think I can remember a few more stories about Texas.”

“If you’re really good,” Rafe said to Luis, “maybe we can talk Maria into letting you enter the pony race.”

Luis practically bounced with excitement. “Can I?” he begged Maria.

She’d have to talk to Rafe about pulling surprises on her, especially when saying no would make her seem like the meanest woman in California. “We haven’t talked about that,” she told Luis. “It could be dangerous.”

“Rafe says I’m a good rider.”

Clever of Luis to put her on the defensive because of her lack of knowledge about riding. That was something else she’d have to bring up with Rafe. “I’ve never ridden in a race,” Maria said, “but I’m sure it’s very different from riding around the ranch.”

“It is,” Rafe said, “but Luis will be fine as long as he remembers everything I’ve taught him.”

“I can stare down the other riders,” Broc offered with a wink. “With this face, they’ll be so scared they’ll let Luis win.”

Luis looked unsure whether to laugh. “I don’t want to win unfairly,” the boy said with surprising maturity. “I don’t really care about winning. I just want to race. I’ve never done anything like that before.”

“We’ll talk about it tomorrow.” That was all Maria was willing to concede at the moment. “But you have to get a good night’s sleep for me to consider it.”