The Texan's Dream (19 page)

“No.” She raised her gaze to meet his. He had kind eyes. Eyes that said he’d been all alone in the world and he knew of a better place to be.

“Well, we got the best cook in the county in our kitchen,” he began. “How about I take you and the little ones in to meet her? I’m sure Miss Kara is in good hands. We’ve got Luther, the best almost-doctor in the state.”

Mary Ann smiled shyly. “And you’re the best foreman?”

“That I am.” Newton smiled. “That I am.”

* * *

Jonathan carried Kara into the great room and lowered her gently onto the couch.

Angela rose from Cooper’s side and hurried to get a damp towel. “Is she hurt?” The cook shoved two cowhands aside so she could have a better look.

“I think she just fainted.” Jonathan couldn’t keep the worry from his voice.

Snort, who’d taken up residence in one of the comfortable chairs by the fireplace, moved closer. He nursed his arm as he asked, “You didn’t say anything to upset her, did you, Boss?”

Jonathan cut his eyes at the man. Why was it when anything happened to Kara, the blame was always placed on him?

“I didn’t even speak to her. She just fainted.”

Luther moved next to Snort. “She’s mighty pale. She was fine this morning at breakfast.” He lowered his voice. “Maybe it’s her time.”

“What time?” Snort asked, scratching his head.

“You know.” Luther’s voice was as low as he could get it and still be speaking. “Her time of the month.”

“What time of the month? What are you talking about?” Snort questioned. “You’re not making any sense.”

Luther looked embarrassed. “Don’t you know nothing about women?”

“I know plenty. I had a mother, and I had a wife for three days before she left with a piano player down in Fort Smith.”

“She left you for a piano player?” Luther said the last words as though that profession were one level above lice.

“Yeah, but he was a real good one from what I was told. I went out to have a smoke and a few drinks and when I come back, I was single again. She said at least with him, she’d always have music.” Snort shook his head. “Ain’t that the dumbest thing you ever heard? I missed that woman for a year before I figured out I was better off without her.”

“Gentlemen, could you finish reminiscing about your courting days somewhere else?” Jonathan complained.

Angela handed Jonathan a glass of water and shooed the old men aside.

Jonathan lifted Kara’s shoulders in the bend of his arm and touched the glass to her lips. He couldn’t get the way she looked when she saw Devin out of his mind. He wasn’t sure how to describe it, but she sure didn’t look happy to see the man.

“Come on, darlin’, take a drink,” he encouraged.

Kara swallowed once, then opened her eyes. “I thought I saw …”

She closed her eyes again. Jonathan set the glass down. He wasn’t sure where to put his hand. If he closed his other arm around her, he’d look like he was hugging her. If he placed his hand at her waist, he would be reminded of what was just above. If he held her too far away from him, the guards would start lecturing him. If he held her too close, she would probably slap him when she came to.

Jonathan decided he could never win.

When she looked up once more, he whispered close to her ear, “Your fiancé. Devin O’Toole is here.” From the way the man acted when he saw Kara, Jonathan couldn’t help but wonder if O’Toole knew he was the man she planned to marry.

“He’s not really here, is he?” She curled her face against his neck.

“I can get rid of him if you like,” Jonathan answered.

“You can?”

“I’ll have H. B. kill him.”

Green eyes opened wide in shock.

Jonathan’s smile let her know he was kidding.

“That won’t be necessary,” she reasoned. “I’ll talk to him.”

“I’ll put H. B. in reserve, just in case you change your mind.”

TWENTY-ONE

KARA STARED OUT ONE OF THE HUGE WINDOWS running along a wall of the great room. Sure enough, there was Devin O’Toole looking as out of place as a goose egg in a wolf den. She watched him for a while, wondering why she ever thought him handsome. His face was pale, pinkish really, his movements awkward, not smooth and fluid like Jonathan’s. He didn’t even look balanced without a Colt strapped to one leg.

“What are you going to do about the Irishman?” Snort asked from just behind her. “He means to take you home.”

“I know.” She didn’t add that her bags were packed and waiting. Until the wagons arrived, she planned to leave. Now, she wasn’t so sure.

“I think I’ll have a word with my friend before I ask Devin in,” Kara announced. “Angela said Mary Ann is in the kitchen.”

Snort nodded his approval. “No need to bring the Irishman in before dark.”

Kara left before she started laughing. Snort talked about Devin as though he were a houseplant.

In the kitchen, she found Mary Ann and her children drinking hot cocoa and eating Angela’s cookies. Newton entertained them with stories as if he didn’t have a ranch to run.

Kara hugged her friend again. Somehow, over the months of writing, they became close. She wasn’t sure why, but she’d written her feelings boldly when she might have hesitated had she been speaking directly to Mary Ann. And Mary Ann had answered with advice and understanding.

“I had to come when Devin dropped into the store asking if any of us knew a Karina O’Riley. He traced you from Miss Abigail’s Business School, who’d given him the lawyer Clark’s address. From there, Clark said you were working for a rancher named Catlin. Devin figured ranchers would have accounts at the mercantile. I think he said we were the fifth one he tried. He’s a determined man, I’ll say that for him.”

“And you told him I was here?”

Mary nodded. “I remember your exact words: ‘Unless the man’s name is Devin O’Toole, don’t tell anyone where I am.’ ”

Kara could barely remember saying the words. Over the months, Devin had become less and less real to her. In truth, she had just dreamed he might come to get her, but never believed he would. Most of the conversations she’d had with Devin had been in her imagination.

“What did he say to you?” Kara found it hard to understand why he came all this way for her when he wouldn’t take the time to come to the Pittsburgh train station to say good-bye. “How did you know it was Devin?”

“He said that he was looking for you.” Mary Ann’s face filled with sadness for her friend as she began to hear what Kara wasn’t saying in her questioning. “I asked him his name. He told me and so I helped him.”

Kara closed her eyes, knowing Mary Ann could see her unhappiness.

“I thought you’d be glad to see him,” Mary Ann whispered.

Kara wanted to ask if he’d said he loved her. Was he coming after her to marry her? Had he missed her dearly?

But Kara couldn’t ask. She knew the answer. Devin hadn’t said any words of endearment or Mary Ann would have shared them. He’d come after her, but she wasn’t sure why.

“You did the right thing,” Kara made herself say to Mary Ann. “You did what I asked you to do.” She couldn’t bring herself to add a thank-you.

Refusing to allow even one tear to fall, Kara squared her shoulders and walked from the room. It was time to face Devin.

She opened the front door.

“Well, it’s about time,” Devin snapped as he passed H. B., who still stared at him with open hatred. “I thought you planned to keep me waiting all day, and me with the worst cold a man could have.”

Kara led him to the office and closed the door behind them. She wasn’t sure where to start to tell him how she’d changed.

“I’m here to take you home, girl. I don’t appreciate you leaving me outside while you think about speaking to me.” He began even before she faced him. “I’ve traveled quite a way and gone to great trouble to track you down.”

She’d forgotten his temper. Her father once said it would get Devin killed one day if the man didn’t learn to control it.

“How is my father?” she asked.

“Fine. He asked me if you still had those papers he sent you out here with.”

Kara had to think to remember what Devin was talking about. The packet her father had given her that day was still in the bottom of her suitcase, but she thought it strange he’d mention it to Devin.

“I’ll have to look,” she lied.

“You’d better not have lost them, Karina, or there’ll be hell to pay.” He rubbed his nose on his sleeve. “Now, how soon can you be ready to travel? I’m ready to be gone from this country.”

“Did Papa send any word?” An uneasiness settled in the back of Kara’s mind. Devin treated her like a child, as he always had. He asked nothing of how she’d been. He didn’t even seem to want to talk to her more than was necessary.

“No. No message. Just that you’re to come home.” He said the last two words as if to end any further discussion.

Her father’s last words haunted her. He told her to disappear and to be very careful who she trusted. “How did you find me?”

“Your father said he received a note from Kansas City.” Devin rocked up and down on his toes as if breaking in new shoes. “I thought I’d have to ask every person in that town before I ran into anyone who knew you.”

“Didn’t Papa give you Mary Ann’s address?”

Devin hesitated a fraction too long. “He lost it.”

Something wasn’t right. Kara couldn’t make the pieces fit. If her father had told Devin from where her letter had been postmarked, surely he would have told the man the rest of her information. Maybe Devin only saw the envelope, nothing more. If he wanted to find her so badly, why was he so angry now? Surely, after all this time a few more days couldn’t matter.

“If you’ll have a seat, Devin, I’ll have tea sent in.” Maybe after he calmed down a bit, it would be easier to talk to him. He probably didn’t feel well either. The trip must have been hard on a man not used to being out in the weather.

“Well, aren’t you the high-and-mighty lady having tea sent in? You’d think you were the mistress of this grand house and not just the bookkeeper like the lawyer said.” There was a cutting frost in his voice.

Kara fought down a comment as she walked away. She never remembered Devin being so furious when he spoke to her. Busy, preoccupied, teasing, but never angry. Something had changed, and she wasn’t at all sure she liked the difference.

She asked Angela to take the Irishman a tray and hurried out the back door to find Jonathan. Maybe if she could talk things out, they would be more clear.

He was helping the men take care of the teams of horses. When Jonathan saw her coming he grabbed the reins of his horse and headed toward her.

When he reached her, he asked simply, “We need to walk?”

“We walk,” she agreed. They headed out the back gate into open pasture.

Like a prairie dog on open ground, she knew where her spot was. Jonathan would swear she stopped within a few feet of where they had their last walk. When she faced him, he couldn’t hide the smile. For once, her eyes flashed with anger, and he wasn’t the cause.

She hesitated, as though not knowing where to start. “How’s your head?”

“Sore.” He removed his hat. The knot had turned to a bruise, most of which was covered by his unruly hair.

She reached to push his hair away so she could see the injury, but he moved out of her reach. He didn’t want her to touch him. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if Kara touched him. The need to hold her had become a constant ache in his gut.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“That makes two of us, I reckon.” He carefully replaced his hat. “I didn’t mean to insult you last night.”

“I know.”

“If it’s any comfort, every man on the place volunteered to shoot me for making you cry.” He stared at her and wondered if his need for her showed in his eyes. “I probably shouldn’t be telling you this, but damn, Kara, if I don’t want to kiss you right now.”

She smiled. “You’re only saying that because there are no platters present.”

He grinned. “Maybe I am. But our fight last night isn’t the reason you brought me out here, is it?”

She shook her head. “It’s a long story, but I’ve got to tell someone.”

Kara didn’t have to add that she had no one else to alk to. Despite their fights, they trusted one another and he had no intention of ever breaking that trust. “We’ve got a few hours before sundown. Tell me about it.”

Kara told him of the battles in the mills between groups of workers. Of how her father was always one of the leaders. Of the secret meetings and the violence against families that was never solved.

Jonathan listened without interrupting. The two groups of Irishmen sounded like warring tribes, each trying to even the pain caused by the other.

When she finally relayed all her father had said on the day he’d put her on the train, Jonathan read what she didn’t say in her eyes.

“You’re not sure you want to go back with Devin,” he said.

Kara nodded. “I know I should trust him. He’s close to my father. I grew up with him dropping by the house.”

“But he came after you,” Jonathan interjected, “and no one is supposed to come after you until the year is up.”

“I wrote my father weeks ago. He hasn’t answered. But he must have gotten the letter. Devin knew it was postmarked from Kansas City.”

“Maybe it’s still not safe to go back,” Jonathan added. “Maybe your father doesn’t know Devin came after you.”

“I have no reason to mistrust Devin.”

“Maybe O’Toole couldn’t stand you being gone.” Jonathan already knew the truth. He’d known it the moment he’d seen Devin greet Kara without touching her. Any man who could do that was not in love or planning to marry.

“There’s something else I should tell you. Though he said honest and true he would marry me one day, I’m not sure he meant it. He always had more important matters on his mind. Maybe he just said the words in passing, teasing the little girl of his friend.”

“The man’s a fool.” Jonathan studied her closely. “Do you want to marry him, Kara?”

“I always thought I would, but now I’m not sure I even want to ride home with him. The real man I see today doesn’t measure up to the young girl’s daydreams I once had of him.”

“Let’s give him a few days. If there’s something rotten about his story, it’ll start to smell.”

Kara agreed. “Something tells me the idea of going back with the man isn’t going to grow on me.”

Jonathan swung up in the saddle. “Ready to ride back?”

“If you’ll go slower this time.”

“I promise.” Jonathan smiled as he reached down and pulled her up in front of him.

His arm rested around her as she leaned against his chest. “You’re a comfortable woman to be around, Miss O’Riley.”

“And so even-tempered,” she added.

“Aye,” he answered in a terrible Irish accent.

For a few minutes they were silent, then he added, “I’ll be riding out after supper. It’s a clear night, and some of the guard think it might be interesting to set a trap and see what triggers it. We’re not mentioning it to any of the ranch hands, but I wanted you to know.”

Kara didn’t say a word, but he felt her lean a little closer into him. She knew the danger. Two men recovering in the great room were proof of it. But the past few days had been calm, and Jonathan was ready to stop reacting and start acting.

“H. B. and the others think we should run the ranch as usual, only keep extra guards posted. We plan to be ready the next time strangers step onto Catlin land.”

“Maybe they’ll stay away until after Christmas?”

“With the McLains coming in a few days, they’d be fools not to. Wait ’til you meet the three brothers. Adam’s the kind one. Folks say he has healing hands. Wes, my brother-in-law, is meaner than a rattler, but there’s no other man I’d rather have covering my back in a fight. And Daniel, he’s the youngest. They kid him about being a preacher, but in truth he’s a teacher.”

Jonathan spread his fingers along her back as he talked of his family. “When you put the three McLains with Wolf no outlaw gang would stand against them.”

“You care for them dearly, don’t you?” she added.

He started to deny it, but finally admitted, “They’re a hard group to hate. Believe me, I’ve tried.” He slowed the horse and studied her face. “They wear honesty and pride and love for their women out in the open for all the world to see.”

He watched her green eyes fill with tears and he could almost read her thoughts.

Encouraging the horse he crossed the courtyard, sorry that there was no more time for them to talk … afraid of what he might have said if there had been.

Devin waited on the long porch. His arms were crossed like those of an angry father waiting for his daughter to come home.

Jonathan swung from the horse, then lowered Kara down slowly. He could feel the tension in her body and wondered if she were afraid of Devin.

Without turning around, Jonathan said, “You’re welcome to stay a few days, Mr. O’Toole. You might enjoy the holiday on Catlin Ranch. I’ll have Gideon fix you up a bed in the bunkhouse.”

“Karina and I will be leaving at dawn. One of the men with the wagons said he would take us as far as a town named Brady.” Devin snapped the words out like orders. Then as an afterthought he added, “But thank you for your offer. If we leave soon, we’ll be home well before the new year.”

Jonathan tensed as if preparing for a fight, but Kara touched his arm as she moved around him.

“If you must leave at dawn, Devin, I wish you God-speed home, but I won’t be accompanying you. I was hired for a year and I plan to hold to my agreement.”

“What?” Devin took a step toward her. “Your father wants you home, girl. You’ll leave when I tell you it’s time.”

Like shadows materializing into form, several members of the guard appeared. Jonathan guessed Kara hadn’t even had time to meet most of them, but they were there for her. H. B. stood at her side, his hand resting on his Colt’s handle.

Jonathan closed the distance between him and Devin. “Are you any kin to Miss O’Riley?” His voice was hard with anger. “A brother, a father, a fiancé?”