I heard there were Milans and Calhouns who would discover each other searching for the treasure and the Milans would run the Calhouns off our land.”
“Did you ever hear if any were killed?”
“Yes, but truthfully, I was a kid and didn’t pay that much attention to talk about someone who had lived generations ahead of me and who I never knew.”
He sipped his beer before he continued. “According to the Calhoun version of the legend, wherever the treasure is buried, your ancestors and my ancestors had a gun battle. Two Calhouns were killed and three Milans. They’re buried in shallow graves where they had the gunfight. This goes back to the first generation of each family to settle here and it was before both families had their own cemeteries. Now we have our own burial ground and I imagine you do, too.”
“Yes, we do.”
“I want the bones of the Calhouns brought home. Hopefully, we’ll find the treasure, which is yours since it is on your land.”
“You want bones,” she said, frowning slightly. “You could search every day for the next ten years and never find graves or bones or treasure, if it even ever existed. I can’t imagine that’s what’s behind this dinner,” she said, beginning to sound angry.
“Just one more thing besides the bones. There’s supposed to be a deed one of our ancestors was carrying. It was a deed won in a poker game. According to the story my family tells, the deed gives the Calhouns rights to a large part of the McCracken place to the east of us all along the border of his ranch.”
“A deed to the McCracken land,” she said, staring at him while she seemed lost in thought. “If that exists, it’s worth more than any treasure you could possibly dig up.”
“Jeb McCracken is mean and ornery and has fought with every neighbor,” Jake replied.
“That includes my family. There are people in town he’s aggravated. He’s left unpaid accounts all over this county and he’s spent more than a few nights in jail for brawls on the weekend in town. No one would regret seeing you get a chunk of that property.” She stared at him with a speculative curiosity in her eyes. “My ancestors are supposed to have been in that gunfight, also. Suppose we find the deed with my ancestors. Are you still going to claim it?”
He gave her a faint smile. “Not if their name is on the deed or it’s in a bony skeleton hand.”
She had to smile then and he felt another punch to his insides. Her smiles and her laughter had always been his undoing. He ached to reach out and touch her.
“I have no intention of searching long. I want you to look at the map I have and see if you can recognize anything. You probably have aerial photos of your land, all sorts of photos. If anything seems likely, then I’d like a chance to see if the deed exists, see if a treasure is buried with them and get my ancestors’ bones to take back for a proper burial. I have time in my life for that now and it would please my grandfather.”
She laughed softly, shaking her head. “You don’t seem the type for this. Why do I feel as if I better look at this from all angles, that you’re up to something—like surveying my land to drill for oil or gas?”
“All I want is what belongs to the Calhouns—namely my ancestors’ bones and the deed to the McCracken land if that exists. I’m not going to do any surveying, I promise you.”
“According to the old legend, the treasure is what caused the feud in the first place. Your great-great-great-grandfather and my great-great-great-grandfather came out here after the Civil War. What I’ve always heard is they found gold in a deserted house in Tennessee during the war. Later, my relative stole away your relative’s fiancée right before the wedding and that’s when the feud started. Then they fought over the gold and the woman they both loved, but a Milan killed a Calhoun, so the Calhouns rode in at night a week later and burned down a house, killed a Milan and carried off the woman in question, adding to the anger between the two families. The fight has continued until present day. I guess we have a truce of sorts now.”
“That matches what I’ve always heard about the beginning of the feud,” he said. “That and when they fought, there were several Milans and several Calhoun brothers, plus an uncle.”
She shifted, recrossed her legs, distracting him totally. She sat quietly, so he remained quiet, letting her think about what he had said. She turned to the window and his gaze traveled slowly over her. She was twisted slightly in her seat, the neckline of the blue dress gaping a fraction, revealing the full rise of her breasts, her skin pale and creamy. The temperature in the plane jumped and he wiped his brow as images of long ago tormented him. Her waist was as tiny as ever. How well he could remember the feel of her in his hands. He had to stop thinking about the past, had to avoid erotic memories that set his heart racing.
Jake remembered her dad and that last night before he was going to elope with her, and the tantalizing memories vanished, replaced by anger, dulled by the passage of years, but still there.
She turned back while he was still looking at her neckline. She shifted slightly. “Jake, I have to think about this. We’ll be in Dallas before long, so we might as well go to dinner. I’ll consider your request and by this time tomorrow, I’ll give you an answer.”
“That’s great, Madison,” he said, feeling a stab of satisfaction. He was certain she wanted to discuss his proposal with her brothers. He hoped not her father.
Their pilot announced they were approaching Dallas and as they lost altitude, the sun was low on the horizon. By the time they were in the limo on the way to the restaurant, darkness had set in.
In a short time they were seated in a darkened corner table in a small private room. Lights were low, music from the piano player in another room was muted.
“So you got a private room for us. I didn’t know there was any such thing for just two people. I’m impressed.”
“That’s one reason I like this place. There are only three of these rooms.” He paused when their waiter arrived to take drink orders.
“Little chance of interruptions here by people who know either of us,” she said as soon as they were alone again.
“That’s right. You can barely see your hand before your face, much less who else is in the restaurant. Do you still like fried chicken better than anything else?” he asked, looking at a menu. He glanced up at her.
“No, like so many other things, my tastes have changed. I see lobster on the menu—that’s what I’ll have.”
“Excellent choice. I’ll have the steak,” he said, watching her while she had her head bent slightly over her menu. The candle flickering in the center of the table highlighted her shiny brown hair and rosy cheeks. Again, he wished she had worn her hair down the way he liked it best. He should forget what he liked best about her and leave anything personal a closed subject.
In minutes the waiter returned. He uncorked a bottle of white wine, gave it to Jake to taste and then poured two glasses after Jake’s approval.
As soon as they were alone, Jake raised his glass. “Here’s to finding the treasure.”
With a faint smile, she touched his glass with hers and heard the faint clink of crystal before she sipped. “That’s a safe, innocuous toast,” she said.
He
