“Yeah, I guess you could say that.”
Tilly nodded. “When I arrived on a wagon train from Saint Louis and met my husband for the first time, he said he’d always wanted a Southern belle to grace his table.” Her laughter rang out. “He was looking for a dainty little creature with curls and a sunbonnet to keep her skin all nice and pale. Instead he got me, with my Georgia tan and a body almost six feet tall.”
“I’ll bet he wasn’t disappointed,” J.T. ventured, enjoying the tale she wove.
“Not after a week or so,” Tilly admitted with a grin.
“Bless his heart, he decided I was a lot of woman, just what he needed. And he gave me three handsome boys and a pretty baby girl, about half my size, once she got to be full grown.” She eyed J.T. intently. “If you don’t have specks of y’all hidden under that nice Western drawl of yours, I’ll eat my hat.”
“You may be right,” he conceded. “My mama was a Southern lady.”
Chloe perked up at this bit of news. This was the first time she’d heard one word about his background. He’d insidiously wormed detail after detail from her about the running of the ranch, about Peter’s affinity for poker and about the sudden attack that had brought her father to his knees.
She’d relived that afternoon with barely concealed tears as she spoke of John Biddleton’s death. She’d told of his gasping for air as his skin took on a bluish cast and his breathing became tortured, and J.T. had halted her before she reached the final part of her story. Reaching to place long fingers on her forearm, he’d squeezed gently to get her attention, then shook his head to halt her words, seeming to understand her pain.
And now, from that silent, closemouthed man, Aunt Tilly had managed, with blunt queries and canny insight, to learn more in two minutes than Chloe had gotten from him in almost two weeks. She leaned toward him. “Where do your parents live?” she asked. “Still in the South?”
His eyes met hers and she felt his withdrawal even as she finished her question. “They’re buried on the home place,” he said shortly. “The house caught fire and neither of them got out.” He picked up his cup and drank deeply of the hot coffee, seemingly immune to the scalding heat.
“How old were you?” she asked quietly.
“Old enough to be on my own,” he answered. “It was a long time ago. No sense in raking up the past, to my way of thinking. I’ve traveled a long way from that life.”
And that was probably all she’d ever hear about it, Chloe thought, totaling up her scant store of knowledge. The man was a gambler, and he knew horseflesh. Beyond that, and the small addition of facts he’d just offered, he was a puzzle. His dark eyes held secrets, and his long, lean body bore muscled strength. Sharp featured and equally sharp spoken, he was arrogance in its finest form, she thought ruefully.
And more of a man than she’d ever come across in all her twenty-two years of living. The thought of his hands against her skin, or his mouth touching hers, was enough to bring her to a level of anticipation she refused to consider. Even during the dark hours before midnight, when she tossed restlessly in her bed, reliving the single kiss that burned in her memory, she’d been aware of the insidious attraction of his presence.
Foolishness on her part. He was her partner. And didn’t seem inclined, as far as she could tell, to press her into a more intimate situation.
“You ever been married?” Aunt Tilly’s words caught Chloe unaware and she stiffened, certain that J.T. would take umbrage at the bold query.
Instead he grinned, an expression that totally changed the stern lines of his face. “A man who keeps on the move doesn’t need to tote a woman along with him.”
“You’re not on the move anymore,” Tilly pointed out. “Seems like a fella who owns half a ranch ought to be thinking about putting down roots and looking to the future.”
Chloe choked on a half-chewed piece of beef and pushed her chair back from the table. Coughing and gasping, she headed for the back door, aware of J.T.’s chair scraping across the floor. She bent over the porch railing, catching her breath and felt his warm hand against her back.
“You all right?” he asked, concern mixed with amusement as he bent to peer into her face. “I think your aunt kinda threw you there, didn’t she?”
“I can’t believe she was so brazen,” Chloe managed to gasp. “The next thing you know, she’ll be arranging a wedding for you.”
“Nah,” he said, drawling the word in a teasing tone. “When I decide to tie the knot, I’ll do my own arranging, partner.” His hand slid up her back to rest against her shoulder, and he squeezed lightly. “And trust me, Miss Chloe, you’ll be the first to know.”
Chapter Four
“There’s a dozen or so cattle missing, boss.” Shorty Kendrick swung down from his horse and stood before J.T., his fists clenched, one still holding his reins. Aware that Shorty still considered him an unknown quantity, and unwilling to spew his anger on the unwitting messenger, J.T. received the news with barely a show of emotion, only gritting his teeth against the fury that welled up within him.
“From the range beyond the far pasture?” he asked tersely. “You sure of the count?” Not that Shorty couldn’t be depended upon. He was probably the best all-round cowhand on the ranch. Hogan and Lowery’s talents leaned toward the training of horses, but when it came to cattle, Shorty was tops.
“Pretty much so. We’ve been keepin’ a good eye on them, what with calves droppin’ right and left.” His shoulders lifted in a shrug. “I left Tom and Corky out there last night at the shack, but they said they didn’t hear anything.”
“How reliable are they?” J.T. asked, wishing he’d made it his business to know the answer to that question sooner.
Shorty’s mouth twisted as he shrugged again. “About as reliable as any other two roving cowboys. They’ve only been here for the winter. Chloe took them on when the weather got bad, and they’ve been workin’ for keep and five dollars a month.”
“Hardly enough to make it worth their while.” And maybe incentive enough to steal a few head of cattle, figuring they had the right.
“Winter wages are always low. And Chloe’s fair. They didn’t complain none, but then, they knew she’d up the ante once work picked up.”
Obviously the men, other than Hogan, weren’t aware of Chloe’s dearth of funds. From what the foreman had had to say, there was but a scant supply of money beneath her mattress. She’d probably scraped up their five dollars a month from there.
“I’ll take a ride out and look things over,” J.T. said. “We’ll need to be culling the herd anyway. Might as well start right now.”
“You plannin’ on doing something with that stud today?” Shorty asked, his eyes flickering to the corral where the new stallion was pacing the barriers to his freedom.
“You’re a cattle man,” J.T. said with a grin, his mind captured for a moment by thoughts of the horse. “What do you care about my new stallion?”
“He’s gonna throw some dandy colts,
