But he’d had the strength to draw back before anything happened, because he didn’t want complications. She wished that she could knock down all those obstacles he’d talked about. Life was so short. She’d go away, and he’d forget her...
“You might write to us once in a while. Let us know how you’re doing,” he said unexpectedly.
“Would you write back?” she asked hesitantly.
He nodded. “Sure.”
Her face lit up. It wasn’t going to be the end of the world.
He slanted his hat over his brow and searched her face. “I’ve got something for you.”
Her eyes sparkled. “For me?” she asked, surprised.
“It’s not a diamond brooch, so don’t get all excited,” he muttered. He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and unfastened the knotted end. Inside was a small silver ring inlaid with turquoise in the shape of a bird on its wide face.
“It’s beautiful,” she said softly.
“It has a history,” he said. He took her right hand and slid the ring slowly onto her third finger, cradling her slender hand in his. “Someday I’ll tell it to you. For now it’s something to remind you that life goes on in spite of our problems.”
“Are you sure you want me to have it?”
“I’m sure.” His thumb rubbed over it while his fingers tightened slowly around hers. “It isn’t worth much, but it’s as much a legacy as your Great-aunt Dorie’s pearls,” he smiled faintly. “So take care of it.”
“I’ll never take it off,” she promised. Her eyes went over it lovingly, and the expression on her face touched Cade. She was used to diamonds and pearls, but that little bit of silver seemed to touch her every bit as much as a mink coat would have touched her mother.
“You never were mercenary,” he said quietly. “Or a snob. Once you’ve gotten over your father’s death and learned how to manage your mother, you’re going to be a heartbreaker.”
She stared up at him quietly. “Be careful I don’t break yours,” she said with bravado.
Surprisingly he took her hand and put it over his heart. “I’m not sure I have one,” he said simply. “It’s been knocked around a good bit in recent years. But if you can find it, do your worst.”
She reached up her free hand slowly and touched his hard mouth and then, when he stood very still and didn’t protest, the rest of his lean, dark face.
“You won’t forget me, will you?” she asked.
Her soft hands on his face had been heaven. He’d been busy imagining them on his bare chest, his shoulders, and his mind had to be dragged back from the exquisite images it had been contemplating. He caught her hand and pressed its soft palm to his mouth roughly. “No.”
“I won’t forget you either.”
He sighed heavily, because this was harder than he’d expected. “Come on. Time to get going. I’ve got two more horses to break. I only rode over to say goodbye.”
She lingered at her horse, hoping that he might kiss her, but he didn’t. He put her up into the saddle and rested one hand on her jean-clad thigh, his eyes dark and unsmiling as he looked up at her. When he didn’t smile, that Comanche blood showed in his face, in the high cheekbones and stern expression.
“Remember what I told you about men,” he said shortly. “You can’t live like a hermit, but don’t let Gussie railroad you into anything. Just be careful about the people you trust.”
“You don’t trust anybody, do you, Cade?” she asked gently.
“I trust my family and you. That’s it.” He turned to get back onto his own mount, looking as much a part of the buckskin as the saddle on its back. He was an excellent horseman. His mastery of horses and his skill with a rope had made him a natural in the rodeo arena, but Bess still worried about him.
She stared at him hungrily, hoping for a last-minute reprieve. That he’d propose marriage. That he’d ask her to wait for him. That he’d say, “Don’t go.”
He did none of those things. He stared at her for one long moment and then he turned his horse without a word, not even a goodbye, and went back the way he’d come. She watched him until he was a pinpoint in the distance, tears streaming down her cheeks. At least, she thought, she had one sweet memory to put under her pillow at night. She touched the silver ring on her finger and kissed it softly. She didn’t really understand why Cade would give her a family heirloom when he hadn’t said anything about a commitment, but it was the most wonderful present she’d ever received. She’d never part with it. It would remind her of Cade and help her cope with the hardships ahead.
And she knew Gussie was going to be the worst hardship of all.
IT TOOK WEEKS for all the loose ends to be tied together, weeks during which Bess sometimes thought Gussie would drive her insane. She moped around the small apartment they’d taken in San Antonio, complaining about its size while she moaned about the loss of their fortune and grumbled about her late husband who was the cause of it all.
The sale of Spanish House was the final hurdle. A couple from Ohio bought it, and Bess breathed a sigh of relief when the papers were signed and the money advanced. Donald took over, paying out the last of the creditors. Gussie didn’t know that Bess had given him Great-aunt Dorie’s pearls, which were quietly sold to a jeweler for top dollar. She had to pay back Cade, so that he wouldn’t lose Lariat. Despite what he’d said about the legacy and heritage of those pearls, she’d rather lose them than let him lose his ranch.
The pearls were a small price to pay for the delight they were going to give Cade. But she made Donald promise not to tell him how she’d obtained the money. Let him think they realized a profit from the sale of the house and land, she told their attorney. She didn’t want to tell Gussie, but inevitably she noticed that the pearls were missing.
“Where are Great-aunt Dorie’s pearls?” she demanded petulantly. “They aren’t in your jewelry box.”
Bess was half angry that her mother should still be searching through her things after so many years. It was an old pattern that she’d always resented. “Why were you looking in my jewelry box?” Bess asked with faint indignation.
“Don’t be absurd,” Gussie said indifferently. “Where are they?”
Bess took a deep breath. No time like the present, she thought, to start as she meant to go on. “I sold them.”
“You said they were costume jewelry!”
“I lied,” Bess said with pretended calm. “We had debts to pay off...”
“The debts were already paid off. That man,” she began slowly, her temper rising. “You sold them to pay back Cade Hollister!”
Bess forced herself to breathe slowly. “I couldn’t let his family lose Lariat because
