Yours Again (River City Series) (11 page)

Both
of his brothers jumped to their feet.

“Now
maybe you should calm down a bit, Taos.” Charlie moved toward Samantha and
slowly took her other arm. “We can talk about this.”

“You
keep your hands off her.” Taos pulled her behind him. “Talk is over. Disappear!”
Rage oozed from him as his brothers stood perfectly still.

They
stared at him like he was a mad man. The same way people in town did. She
cooked this up to go against him and in less than two days he had already lost
the battle with his own family. He stalked down the hall and up the stairs,
Samantha in tow.

“Gee,
Pa, am I being sent to my room?” she squealed.

He
didn’t find her sarcasm one bit funny. “Yes. And you’re going to stay there
until I figure out what to do with you.” He stopped in front of the door to her
room and grabbed both of her upper arms. He brought her face within inches of
his.

“Well,
Cinnamon had a few suggestions of what you could do with me.” She pressed her palm
on his chest and moved toward him with a seductive smile.

Taos
just stared. He thought, no dreamed, about her looking at him with that smile
all day. Now, it scared him to death. If she asked him for anything right now
she just might get it. Samantha rubbed her hand across his shirt. The movement
snapped Taos out of his stupor. He shoved her into the room.

The
door slammed shut and the lock clicked. His footsteps echoed down the stairs.

Samantha
breathed a sigh of relief, then giggled to herself. Maybe she had overdone it a
little, but he certainly seemed convinced. There was no way he’d let anyone
near her now.
Mission accomplished.  

She
tried the adjoining door. It opened and she moved silently through Taos’s room.
The large glass knob on his door to the hallway turned slowly. Unlocked. He was
so mad he never even thought about it. Well, she certainly had given him a
thing or two to think about.

She
returned to her room and slumped against her side of the door, emotionally
drained and exhausted. It had been a long, eventful day. The last ray of light
disappeared from the window as she slipped out of her dress.

The
shirt of Taos’s she had worn last night still hung inside the armoire. She
passed up the new white nightgown and robe she’d purchased and instead slipped
the cotton shirt on again. It was soft and comforting. She pressed her nose
into the fabric. It smelled like him, and she imagined him wrapping his arms
around her, holding her close.

That
thought startled her a little, since she had just spent the better part of an
hour purposely getting him as angry as possible. It was necessary, she
reasoned, and it had been exciting in a way. Even while he was yelling at her,
the intensity of his gaze made that strange tingle rumble across her skin. She
was a little sorry he wasn’t still here screaming at her. What if he was? What
then?  

The
adjoining door to his room squeaked open as she poked her head in once again. He
was still downstairs. She sat on the edge of his bed in the quiet as the
darkness grew and tried to sort out her tumbling emotions. Her hand smoothed
across his pillow and the image of his head lying here in this exact spot gave
her the oddest sensation, as if she were made of warm honey.

Lady,
if you were the only woman in a thousand miles I would never . . .

The
haunting coldness of his words reverberated in her mind and made Samantha
shiver. Cinnamon said he would pretty much take anybody.
Am I really that
bad?
She had been told she was pretty. Maybe there was a difference in what
was pretty and what he wanted. What about the way he reacted when she touched
his shoulder? It had been the same when she put her hand on his chest. He liked
it; she knew he did. But then a strange expression came across his face.

At
first she thought it was fear, but it was ridiculous a man—especially one of
his size—would be afraid of her. No, he just wasn’t used to anyone touching him.
He must have been surprised, that’s all. Who could blame him? She had been
nothing less than a shrew to him since she arrived. Well, he would be more
surprised tomorrow. Not only would this house be scrubbed to bare wood, but now
that he believed Samantha’s threat and insisted she stay, she could relax and
be herself.

Those
thoughts sapped the last of her strength and she laid her head on his pillow
and breathed him in.

Chapter 11

Taos
watched the amber liquid swirl in the bottom of his glass. The leather of his
chair squeaked as he propped his boots up on the desk. The alcohol took a
little of the edge off, but not much. The house was quiet as most everyone had
called it a night.

Taos
heard soft footsteps upstairs that could only be hers. They were like two
combatants plotting their next move.
What the hell am I going to do with
her?

Samantha
was serious about her intentions, no question. He stared out the window as the
last purple glow disappeared over the horizon. She was out of harm’s way
temporarily, but he couldn’t keep her locked up.

Well,
maybe he could.
The frustration made him want to believe it. He ran his
fingers through his hair. It wouldn’t work. Just one more battle he would lose.
Next thing would be a newspaper ad for a husband or some other such nonsense. Taos
envisioned a long line of men with hats in hand stretched clear around the
barn, and him the guard dog. He tossed back the last of his drink.

How
was it that he sat in this same chair two days ago a different man? Successful
rancher, good father. In complete control over his life and those around him. Now
he was on a runaway train screaming at a deaf conductor. She was good and deaf,
too.

She
was the most headstrong, stubborn woman—no, make that
person
—he had ever
met. Even a logical argument “didn’t count.” How could it not count? Logic and
reason made the world go ’round. For everyone but her.

Didn’t
even make the list of decent lovers.
How could they tell her that? Wasn’t
there a code of silence or something with whores? Some kind of confidentiality
thing like with lawyers and preachers? He knew he wasn’t a bad lover, it’s just
that it’s different with women like that. It’s not worth the effort to please
someone who’s being paid. They probably didn’t explain the difference, if they even
knew the difference.

She
actually went to Miss Sadie’
s. He couldn’t even imagine her in that place. She
had more brass than most men and certainly more than any woman he’d ever met. Samantha
was full of surprises, but then she had always been. Memories of a skinny
little girl floated through his mind. She was all knees and elbows then, and
she had attracted trouble like a flame attracts moths. That part hadn’t changed.
 

Come
to think of it, she had the ability to cause trouble from the time she was
about four. She and Darren were usually in it together, though. The tobacco
incident was a prime example. A slow smile crossed his face. He pictured a blonde-haired
little girl with the brown juice dribbling down the front of her dress. Darren said
she told him that real men spit tobacco and they decided to learn together. Darren
swallowed most of his and was sick as a dog. Not her though. She learned and
could spit nearly as far as he could. Her father, Sam, had threatened to drag Sammy
to the woodshed many times, but he never did. Maybe he should have.

Taos
poured another drink and sat back, staring out the small window into the
darkness. He had watched the train pull away, taking her to Boston nine years
ago. The memory still haunted his dreams sometimes. She waved from the window,
but her eyes held the deepest sadness he had ever seen. She was the closest
thing to a sister he ever had, and it hurt like hell to see her suffer like that.
He wanted to run after the train, to stop her from going, but he couldn’t. Jake
and Mattie had decided New Mexico Territory was no place for a young girl to be,
and just like that Samantha was on that train to Boston. Mattie had obviously
taken care of her better than a bunch of cowboys ever could.

If
only he’d recognized her right off, then things would be different. He would
never have touched her lips or caressed her soft flesh. Now that he had, there
was no escape from the desire to touch her again. Knowing she was upstairs just
a few steps away from his room, his bed, drew his imagination like a magnet.

The
sultry invitation she’d presented this evening almost broke down any defenses
he had. Her touch lit a torch in his chest, and those sparkling green eyes made
promises that it seemed she was fully ready to keep. The scent of flowers was
so heavy he could almost taste it. He shook his head. His mind teased and
tormented, not caring if he was awake or asleep, sober or drunk. It was a cruel
trick that he had no power over.

Charlie
appeared at the door. “Is it safe for me in here?”

“I
haven’t decided,” Taos frowned.

Charlie’s
face broke into a wide grin “Good.” He shrugged at Taos’s reproach and slouched
into the chair in front of the desk. “Ain’t like you to be in the firewater.”

Taos
took another sip. “She brings out the worst in me.”

“I’d
say it goes both ways.”

“I
have to talk some sense into her.”

“I
remember you trying to talk sense into Sharisse. That was a disaster. What
makes you think you can get anywhere with Sammy?”

Taos
remembered, too. He’d failed miserably with Tommy’s mother. Every conversation had
ended in an argument, most of the time over nothing. The last argument, though,
that one had cost him more than he could have ever imagined at the time.

With
Samantha, he would just have to find the right words and practice his speech. She
would come around. “It has to work. It’s for her own good.”

Charlie’s
expression conveyed his skepticism. “Hers, or yours?”

“What’s
that supposed to mean?”

“That
maybe you‘re thinking about her.”

Taos
grunted.

”Thinking
about her . . . and you?”

Taos
ignored the comment. “She’s dead set on getting her hands on that ranch.”

“No,
she’s not.”

“What
do you mean she’s not?” Taos perked up.

“She
told me. On the way to town. She doesn’t want anything. She just wants to
stay.”

“She’s
lying. She knew you would tell me.”

“She
has money.”

“Then
why did she come all the way out here?” Taos asked himself as much as Charlie.
If she didn’t want the land, and she didn’t want the money, then what? He
thought for a minute. The answer hit him suddenly like a rock breaking a
window. “A man.”

“A
what?” Charlie laughed. “I think that’s the whiskey talking.

“No,
it makes perfect sense.”

“How
do ya figure?”

“She’s
not planning to go back to Boston.” It was such a simple answer, he had never
even considered it.

“She
can’t. That guy, John Larson, Lawton—”

“Lawson?”

“Yeah.
He’s after her. She’s in danger.”

“She
said
she was in danger. If she were really in danger, Mattie could have
fired him and called the law immediately. There was no need to send her away.” Taos
leaned forward. “She’s damn near a spinster at this point and she has to know
the clock is ticking. What if she just ran off and Mattie has no idea where she
is?”

“Why
would she have to come here to get a man?” Charlie’s tone reflected his
disbelief. “Don’t you think she had lots better choices in Boston?”

“She
knew she had to have a husband to get her inheritance and that’s what she’s
here for, she’s trying to get herself married . . . to me.”

Charlie
howled with laughter, slapping his hat on his knee. “You have lost your mind!”

“It’s
the first sense I’ve been able to make of this whole mess.” Taos voiced his
confidence.

“You
can’t believe what you’re saying.”

“Yep.
I do.” Taos got up and paced behind the desk. “She wouldn’t be able to get her
hands on the ranch without a husband, right?

“Right.”

“Then
she wouldn’t be able to run it without help, right?”

“Right.”

“She
said all she wants is to stay here with us for a while and then go back to
Boston, right?

“Right.”

“Then
don’t you see, if she tricks me into marrying her, she gets the whole ball of
wax.”

“Which
is?”

“A
husband to take her off the spinster list, her inheritance, plus part of this
place, and a bunch of men to run the whole thing and send her money the rest of
her life. It’s a perfect plan.”

“Farfetched
is what it is. She isn’t that kind of woman, and you know it. Why would she
think you would ever fall for that?”

“Cause
it worked on me once before.”

“She
didn’t know about what happened with Sharisse until I told her.”

“So
she said
. There’s one way to find out.” Taos rummaged through the
drawers of the desk. He found the ink and a piece of paper.

“What
are you doing?”

“Letter
to Mattie.” Taos looked at the pile on the desk. Extending his arm, he shoved
the mess to one side. An avalanche of paper slid to the floor. He ignored it
and tapped the pen on the table, thinking of what to say.

“But
Sammy said we can’t contact Mattie or Lawson will know where to find her.”

 “
She
said
he was after her, and
she said
we can’t contact Mattie, which
means we have no way to verify her story at all.” He dipped the pen in ink. “Dear
Mattie.” He spoke quietly as his pen scratched across the paper.

“You
have lost your mind. What if Lawson shows up?”

“There
is no Lawson, never was—and even if there might be, Mattie will confirm it for
us.”

He
folded the page and searched for an envelope. He banged the drawers and searched
part of the pile remaining on the desk. He finally sat back in frustration and
tapped the edge of the letter against his knee.

“What?”

“No
envelope. I’ll have to buy one in town before I send it.” He frowned. If he
sent it tomorrow, it would take an easy week or two to get there, another week or
two at least to get any reply. Three, maybe four weeks, minimum. Too long. He
wouldn’t last another few days the way things were going. In two weeks he would
be a stumbling drunk or a shotgun groom. “A telegram.”

“A
what?”

“A
telegram. We’d know in just a few days.”

“Perfect.”
Charlie said sarcastically and walked to the door.

“You’re
not going to say anything about this?” Taos warned.

Charlie
feigned innocence. “Me? Why would I want to keep you from making a complete jackass
out of yourself?”

“Not
a word to anyone.”

“I
won’t have to say nothin’. By the time the door of the telegraph office hits
your butt everyone in town will know.” Charlie disappeared.

   Taos
shoved the letter in his shirt pocket. Charlie had a point. Everyone knew
everyone’s business in River City. Fine. He’d send the letter and wait. He
could always ask Mattie to reply by telegram. He pulled out another piece of
paper and revised his letter, tossing the first one under some papers. Either
Samantha was telling the truth, or she wasn’t. If she was lying, they would all
know in a few weeks. Then she would leave. His mind refused to dwell too long
on that possibility. She needed to leave. He needed her to leave—for his own
sanity, if nothing else.

What
about Tommy?
She had been here such a short time, and he already thought
she hung the moon. How did she do that? Of course Taos was a grown man and
couldn’t stop thinking about her either, but for very different reasons. Tommy
was only seven. He was defenseless and she’d already taught him to swim, which
made the bond even stronger.

The
magic of seven.
Such a simple thing to convince a boy that he has the power
to do anything he sets his mind too. He wished he’d been there watching her
teaching his son to swim for the first time. No doubt Tommy needed a mother. He
wasn’t much older than Tommy when his mother died. He didn’t remember much
about her except that she left a very large hole in his life that never went
away. Tommy didn’t know the difference. Or did he? He was already a changed boy,
and he followed Samantha around like a shadow.  

What
I need is some magic of thirty, and whisky ain’t it.
So what was? His mind
drifted back to her soft body and warm lips. How her eyes lit up and flashed
when she was mad. He stared at the liquor bottle. She made a sober man drunk in
a hurry.

He
had to admit it was a little incredible to believe that she was after him for a
husband. Sharisse made it clear that he was no prize. Samantha would find out
soon enough. If she couldn’t get him, she just might try Charlie or Darren. He
didn’t think he could stand to see any man touch her, even a brother. He would
just have to manage until he figured out what to do.

Taos
poured another glass and thought about what Charlie had said. What if she
really just needed his protection like she said? He quickly pushed that idea
aside. It couldn’t be that simple or that easy; life just wasn’t like that. He
could feel the warning bells sounding in his head. If he allowed his resolve to
crack even the slightest bit, he’d never be able to let her go again. He didn’t
want to even contemplate what that might mean.