myself on having committed the perfect crime!’
‘Or someone,’ he continued, as though she hadn’t spoken. He gave her no time to form a response. ‘What do you plan on doing with yourself while you are here? Your brother’s going to be pretty busy.’
‘Real or manufactured jobs?’ Alex regretted the question the moment it was out, seeing the grey eyes suddenly harden, but it was too late to retract it. She made an effort to modify it instead. ‘You seem to have been piling on the pressure a bit hard.’
‘Been complaining, has he?’
‘Not in so many words. More an impression I gathered.’
‘You’ve been here all of three hours. You think that time enough to start making snap judgements?’
‘I don’t need to read a whole book to get an idea of the plot,’ she countered, abandoning the pacification. ‘I think you’re probably giving Greg the run-around in the hope of showing him in his true colours—or what you consider his true colours. He’s not the kind of husband you’d have chosen for Margot, is he?’
The hands had come down from behind the dark head, now, to rest on the arms of his chair, fingers curving the edge of the wood. Strong fingers, accustomed to controlling mettlesome horseflesh—among other things.
‘If we’re going in for plain speaking, no, he isn’t,’ came the blunt agreement. ‘If she had to marry anybody this soon it should have been someone she knew something about.’
‘Someone you already had in mind yourself, by any chance?’
‘Someone she had in mind before meeting up with that brother of yours!’
Blue eyes clashed with grey, holding fast through sheer effort of will. ‘Obviously not in any serious sense. If she’s old enough to be married at all, she’s old enough to make her own decisions.’
His lip curled. ‘I guess you’ve been making yours most of your life!’
‘Only since I realised it was my life.’
‘Never made any mistakes?’
‘Nothing radical.’ It was a long way from the truth, but Alex was in no mood for ethical debate with herself. ‘Anyway, it isn’t me we’re talking about.’
They were drawing attention, she realised, catching a couple of speculative glances. Her smile was purely for effect. ‘I think we’d better leave it at that.’
Cal inclined his head. ‘For now.’ He got to his feet in one lithe movement, raising his voice to be heard over the others. ‘Early start for those taking the all-day ride. Anybody not saddled up by six-thirty gets left behind!’
Groans greeted the announcement, though no one seemed seriously perturbed. To Alex, a full-day ride sounded tempting but, having not been on horseback for several weeks, she knew it would be wiser to harden up a little first. The last thing she needed was saddle-soreness.
In any case, she thought wryly, she hadn’t been invited.
Cal went on indoors without a backward glance, leaving her to reflect on her lack of wisdom in calling him out the way she had. She hadn’t set out with that intention. Not consciously, at any rate.
Wise or not, Alex was pretty certain she was right about his motives in putting Greg through the mill. He could even be hoping that, given enough of a hard time, his unwelcome brother-in-law would take off for pastures new. Greg’s motives in marrying Margot might not be all they should be, but, the way she so obviously felt about him, she would be devastated if he did up and leave. That surely had to be taken into account.
Submerged in her thoughts, Alex started when one subject of them dropped into the chair recently vacated.
‘Feeling the effects?’ asked Margot sympathetically. ‘I’ve never flown the Atlantic myself, but I can imagine what it’s like to have all those hours’ difference. What time will it be in England now?’
Glancing at the watch she had altered on the domestic flight from Denver, Alex did a quick calculation. ‘Around five in the morning,’ she hazarded, suddenly aware of it now. ‘I’ve been on the go more than twenty-four hours!’
‘Time you got some sleep, then, I’d think.’
Alex smiled at her. ‘I think you’re right. I want to be fresh for the morning.’
‘Greg might not be around until evening, but I’ll be here if you’d like some company.’
‘I’d be glad of it. I’ve never been on a working ranch before. I’ve never been on any kind of ranch before, if it comes to that. It’s all quite new to me.’
‘You have some big farms in England, though, don’t you? I’d have thought they were much the same kind of thing.’
‘The biggest would hardly fill a corner of this spread. They don’t use horses either—not for moving the cattle, at any rate. It’s a whole different world.’ Alex paused a moment, viewing the interest in the youthfully lovely face opposite. ‘Greg must bring you over to visit,’ she said on impulse. ‘My flat isn’t very big but we’d manage.’
‘I’d love it!’ Margot sounded genuinely enthusiastic. ‘I always wanted to visit England.’
If Margot and Greg did come over, it was hardly going to be in the immediate future, Alex told herself. Time enough to get her life back in order first. Not that she imagined either of them would condemn her out of hand even if they did discover her secret. Cal was the only one likely to give no quarter.
She smothered an involuntary yawn with the back of her hand, aware of weariness infiltrating both body and mind. ‘I’d better go on up before I fall asleep right here.’
‘I’ll come up with you,’ said Margot. ‘Nobody keeps late hours. Early morning is the best time of day.’
Alex could agree with that. She had never been one for sleeping in herself. A few hours’ sleep and she would be ready to tackle anything—including Cal Forrester!
Others were already drifting away. Engrossed in conversation with one of the guests, Greg spared her the briefest attention when she paused to say goodnight.
‘See you in a little while, honey,’ he added to Margot, at her back. ‘Charlie’s giving me the low-down on the insurance business.’
‘Good line to be in,’ said Charlie. ‘Sure has been for me, at any rate. Way to go!’
For him, perhaps, Alex reflected, catching the expression in her brother’s eyes and hoping he wasn’t already contemplating a change of direction. Ranch life may not have turned out to be all he had anticipated, but the Lazy Y was Margot’s home. Two months was hardly a fair trial, in any case.
She was reading too much into too little again, she chided herself, continuing on her way indoors. After eight years she could hardly hope to know her brother’s mind on any level.
There was no sign of Cal inside. No sign of anyone, if it came to that. Margot said goodnight at the top of the stairs, looking, Alex thought, a little too determinedly cheerful.
