wilted, accepting the letter from his hand, folding it carefully, almost feeling like she needed to preserve the latest threat to her welfare. “I’m not. Not really, Hogan. I’m just worn-out. I knew better than to count on Peter for any help. I guess I just didn’t think he’d be such a hindrance.” Her lips curved in a rueful smile, a gesture of apology to the man standing before her who worked so hard for so little recompense.
“Things’ll get better,” he said staunchly. “The herd looks good this spring, and you’ve got pret’ near two dozen mares already dropped their foals. There’s more calves out there than I can count—”
“And not enough hay to see us through to the first cutting,” she reminded him glumly. “We need a good spring rain to green up the pastures. At least the river’s running good, and we don’t have to tote water.”
“I arranged for a load of hay from Hale Winters on my way to town,” Hogan told her. “He’ll deliver it tomorrow.”
Chloe sighed and turned from him to walk up the porch steps. “Maybe Jasper Thomas Flannery will be old and fat and not long for this world. Do you suppose he’ll be willing to spring for a load of hay?” She laughed, a harsh sound unlike her usual cheerful demeanor. “Maybe when he discovers he hasn’t won a gold mine, I won’t have to put up with him for long.”
“Yeah, and maybe those hogs out in the pen will take off flyin’ any minute now.” Hogan lifted his gaze to a puff of dust in the distance. “Either we got company comin’, or that’s a dust devil whirlin’ up the road.”
Chloe turned back to follow his pointing finger, and then turned to meet his gaze. “Jasper Thomas, himself. How much do you want to bet?”
His horse was trail-weary, his saddlebags nearly empty, and his stomach in need of a good home-cooked meal. The bank in Ripsaw Creek was richer for the deposit he’d just made, and unless he missed his guess, the woman standing in front of the white ranch house a hundred yards ahead was his new partner.
A firm believer in fate, he’d sat in on the poker game on a hunch. Weary of wandering, his spirit yearning for a place to call his own. Now, at thirty-two, he’d decided to sink his funds into a homestead, settle down and think about a future. One that didn’t include a deck of cards. California was calling, a nebulous dream of home, and maybe even a family, luring him.
Four jacks. Four pieces of heavy, well-worn paper, had put the Double B Ranch in his pocket. Only half of it, he reminded himself. But with a woman as his partner, he’d still be in charge. Another look at the female watching him diluted the strength of that assumption.
J. T. Flannery touched his hat brim, lowering it a bit, the better to shade his eyes, and stiffened his spine. Trouble. He could smell it three hundred feet, dead ahead. The boy had been a soft touch, a weakling of the first water, a traitor to his family’s heritage.
The sister looked to be another story altogether.
She was short, but sturdy, with a neat compact body tucked into a pair of trousers and a dark shirt, and from her stance, he’d say she was halfway to being in a temper. Not that he could blame her any. He’d warrant she was expecting him, given the fact that the man pointed out as her foreman had collected the mail in town, and J.T. was dead certain Peter’s letter was contained in the batch. Generally, a barkeep knew everyone in the area, and the one J.T. had quizzed was free with information.
He’d watched as the lean cowhand rode from the bank to the general store, where the post office occupied one corner, noted the scowl on his face as the man examined the outside of the single envelope among the various catalogues and periodicals he held in his hand. An hour seemed like a reasonable length of time to dally along the way, assuring the letter would be read before they rolled out the welcome mat at the ranch. And at that thought he’d grinned privately, before lifting his considerable length into the saddle, and set off for the ranch.
“What do you want, stranger?” The woman asked as J.T. rode within six feet of her, refusing to back off as the big stallion snorted and stretched out his long neck to check her scent. She was brave, he’d give her that much.
“J. T. Flannery, ma’am, coming to claim my winnings.”
From the look in her eyes, it might not have been the brightest opening he could have come up with. She looked as though she were wishing for a shotgun to aim in his direction, and he tried in vain to restrain the satisfied grin that curved his lips. “I take it you’re not happy to see me,” he continued smoothly. And then he answered his own query with a slow shake of his head.
“Naw, I didn’t think you would be.” Watching her, he wondered at his own lack of caution. She wasn’t armed, but the man behind her wore a gun and she looked capable of snatching it from the holster and aiming it in his direction.
“You thought right, mister.”
Her voice was calmer now, but no less threatening for all its softness. He’d met more women than he could shake a stick at, but this one was in a niche of her own. No fussy ruffles for Peter Biddleton’s sister. No curls adorned her head. No paint or powder covered the freckles that thrived on her cheeks and across her nose. She was pure female, all right, but didn’t bother to dress up the packaging. Her long, dark hair was braided, the thick plait wound around her head, and her eyes were the icy blue of a winter sky.
She stuck her palms into the back pockets of her trousers and he almost grinned again at the picture she presented. If she only realized how her stance emphasized the lush lines of her bosom, how her neat little figure was revealed by the pose she’d taken, she’d no doubt shoot his eyes out for the liberties they took.
“So you’re the rotten bastard who cheated my brother out of his inheritance,” she said, her gaze narrowing as she took his measure. “And I suppose you think I’m going to welcome you and show you around, don’t you?”
He shifted in the saddle, and in a swift movement slid to the ground, facing her head-on. His jaw set, he fisted his hands against his hips, the better to control the sudden urge for battle her remark had brought to the surface. “Number one, ma’am—” his hesitation was just a bit longer than a heartbeat “—my mother and father were duly married when I was born. I take it as an insult to the lady who changed my drawers to be named illegitimate.”
He caught a glimpse of regret in her eyes, and then it vanished as quickly as it had come to be, and he softened his stance. “As to the other, no, I don’t expect a welcome. But—” this pause was longer, and he included the man beside her in his lingering look “—but I do expect to have full access to every single speck of property I own a half share of. That includes the house, the outbuildings, and every living creature in the barns and out of them.”
She inhaled sharply, and her face was white beneath the freckles now. “I’ll be seeing a lawyer in town as soon as I can make arrangements, Mr. Flannery. If your claim is valid—”
“It is, ma’am. I assure you the transfer of deed was accomplished by a genuine attorney in Silver City, Nevada.”
“Was that where you met my brother?” she asked tightly.
He nodded. “He was in a poker game in Molly’s Saloon, and I sat in on the action. Trust me, lady. If it hadn’t been me, he’d have lost the ranch to someone else. He was headed for disaster when I walked in, and I just sat there and waited for it to happen.”
“I told you the boy couldn’t play poker for crap,” the tall ranch hand said harshly.
