“I’ve been the one asking all the questions,” she said. “Is there anything you’d like to ask me?”
As a matter of fact, he had been wondering about something. He asked, “Do you know if Tanner’s ever been to prison?”
He couldn’t quite forget the foreman’s cryptic comment the night before about understanding that the ranch was far better than prison.
“I’ve heard he spent some time in a Yankee prison during the war, but he doesn’t talk about it,” she said.
Jesse hid his disappointment. He’d been hoping that he and the foreman might have something in common. But if Tanner had fought in the war, he was probably close to being a hero. Jesse had never been and never would be a hero.
With an unexpected, delightful smile, Amelia leaned toward him. “I did something terribly wicked today while you and Robert were off at the barber’s. If I share it with you, will you promise not to tell a soul?”
Terribly wicked? The judge’s daughter?
Well, well, well. So maybe she wasn’t the prim and proper lady that he’d suspected her of being.
His mind reeled with the possibilities of what she’d done, and he was more than eager to hear about her notorious behavior.
“I won’t tell a soul,” he promised.
She smiled brightly, popped to her feet, and raced to the buggy. She came back carrying a package wrapped in brown paper.
“Papa forbids me to have these,” she confessed. “But when I saw this one, I just couldn’t resist.”
She tugged on the string, and Jesse’s interest increased. He couldn’t imagine what it could be, but whatever it was, she kept it well protected.
Carefully she folded back the paper, and there it was in all its decadent glory: a dime novel. Lariat Lorena.
“I’ve never seen one that featured a woman as the main character,” she told him. “I simply had to purchase it, even though Papa doesn’t think novels like this one are worth the paper they’re printed on.”
He couldn’t believe it. He absolutely couldn’t believe it. This was her excursion into wickedness? A book?
He couldn’t help himself. He laughed long and hard. Laughed like he’d never laughed in his life.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
“You think that’s”—he pointed at the book she’d clutched to her chest—“wicked.”
“But Papa forbade me to read these books. I thought…I thought…”
She looked at the book. Then at him. Tears welled in her eyes.
His laughter came to an abrupt end. He hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings. He didn’t know how to act around decent folks. Everything he did, everything he said was wrong. Maybe he did belong in prison, away from the world.
He watched with increasing horror as a solitary tear rolled down her cheek. He had no idea what to do around a weeping girl. He didn’t even have a handkerchief to give her. “Geez, don’t cry.”
She sniffed and swiped at a corner of her eye. “You must think I’m terribly stupid.”
“Not stupid,” he rushed to assure her, trying to think of something he could say to make her feel better. “My reading is just passable. I’ve never read a book like that one. I’m sure, if you say so, that it’s very wicked.”
She pouted out her lower lip. “It’s not really. That’s part of the reason I don’t understand why Papa objects to it.”
“What’s going on over here?” Robert yelled.
Jesse hadn’t seen Robert’s arrival, but he suddenly found himself jerked to his feet with a fist balled around his shirt and glaring dark eyes boring into him.
Robert shook him. “What did you do to make her cry?”
“Robert!” Amelia jumped up and placed a hand on her brother’s arm. “Let him go!”
“What did he do, Amelia?” Robert asked.
“Nothing,” Amelia reassured him.
Robert narrowed his eyes into razor-sharp slits. Jesse could see that the man was one wrong word away from throttling him—so he kept his mouth shut. Nothing to be gained by tossing a flame onto a keg of dynamite.
“Robert!” Amelia cried. “He didn’t do anything.”
“I knew this picnic was a bad idea.” Robert shoved Jesse against the tree before releasing him.
“I’m getting the horses and we’re heading home.” Robert pointed his finger at Jesse. “You don’t move from this spot until I have the horses hitched up. Do you understand?”
Jesse nodded. For a brief time, he’d foolishly forgotten that he was still a prisoner. “Yes, sir.”
“Robert, you’re acting crazy,” Amelia protested.
“Amelia, I’m taking care of this matter,” Robert ground out, his threatening glare never wavering from Jesse. “You’ve been manipulating me all morning. And don’t think I don’t know it. I’m in charge here, and unless you want Father to hear about this incident, you’ll do as I say. Now get to the buggy.”
Jesse didn’t dare look at Amelia, but he heard her indignant huff and the pounding of her footsteps as she trudged away.
“Don’t move from this spot,” Robert ordered one last time before going after the horses.
Jesse tried to calm his pounding heart, striving to tame his disappointment. All Amelia had needed to do was thrust her stupid book in front of her brother’s angry face, so she could explain what had happened.
But doing that would have meant exposing her little wicked disobedience.
No one had ever stood up for him before. He’d been a fool to hope that this one time, someone would.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The next morning Amelia saddled her horse Starlight and rode over the vast expanse of land that her family owned. Unlike her brothers, she had no responsibilities that involved the actual running of the ranch. She was responsible for the house—or more precisely, managing Colleen, who needed no managing whatsoever.
Amelia usually took care of any required correspondence, tended to matters that needed her attention, handled any problems that arose, and escaped from the house by late morning. With her father in town presiding over his courtroom or discussing legal matters with the town council, and her brothers working around the Lazy H, her time was pretty much her own. Her father had no problem with her riding over the ranch as long as she didn’t wander too far from the main house.
Of course, too far was a relative term. What her father considered too far, she often considered not far enough. She found it incredibly inconvenient that he kept such a tight rein on her activities. He would argue that he placed restrictions on her because he loved her and wanted to protect her. A part of her understood his feelings.
But another part of her longed to rebel.
Perhaps that was the reason she’d urged Starlight into a canter and guided the mare along the western portion of the ranch.
Earlier in the morning she’d spotted Tanner in the wagon with Jesse. She figured he planned to put Jesse to work on the fence. Barbed wire was relatively new in this area of the state. Her father wasn’t particularly fond of it; cattle tended to get cut up before they realized the twisted tines on the wire could hurt them.
But since her brothers had convinced him that the days of the open range were dwindling, he’d agreed to the investment.
Like her brothers, she usually didn’t have much trouble convincing her father of anything. But there were rare exceptions: Jesse being one; Duchess being the other.
Her father was no longer certain the horse was worth keeping. Duchess was proving to be too much for anyone to handle. Amelia hated the thought of losing her. The mare was usually gentle unless someone attempted to ride her. Then she went a little crazy—a mild word for the horse’s reaction, considering one cowboy had broken his arm and another had busted his leg while trying to tame the beast.
Amelia released a sigh. If only the horse weren’t so beautiful with her black, shiny coat that looked almost blue. If only Amelia didn’t already care about the animal so much.
She lifted a hand
to shield her eyes from the harsh afternoon sun. In the distance she saw a man working on the fence, wire coiled around his feet. It was Jesse, and he was alone, the wagon nowhere in sight. Usually two or three men worked on the fencing, but she imagined no one wanted to work beside the outlaw.
Still, she was surprised Tanner had left him alone. Although Jesse couldn’t cover any great distance quickly by walking—which made an escape attempt impossible—she thought it seemed a little unkind to expect him to labor with no companionship.
As though he was…well, what he was. An outlaw.
Although she sensed that even if he were surrounded by a dozen cowboys, he’d still look lonesome. He’d seemed so uncomfortable yesterday during the picnic. She’d hoped by sharing her book with him that she’d be able to get him to relax. Instead she’d managed to get him into trouble.
She thought about heading back to the house. Jesse intrigued her, but she’d expected to find others here. Talking to him by the corral knowing that Tanner was watching was one thing. Spending the day with him while Robert kept vigil was also acceptable. But approaching Jesse here, where she would be completely alone, might be foolhardy.
Although she truly didn’t believe he’d harm her. Of course, there had always been someone near enough to keep him tethered.
Quickly she looked around to make certain he was alone. No one was in sight. She’d have to talk with him another time. She lifted the reins to turn her horse at the same time that Jesse glanced back over his shoulder.
Even with his hat shadowing his face, she sensed his intense gaze settling on her. Too late. She couldn’t leave now without appearing to be afraid of him, and she certainly wasn’t afraid of him.
At least, not terribly frightened. Still, she couldn’t forget that he’d admitted he was guilty. Jesse Lawton was about as bad as they came. He wasn’t a stray puppy to be taken in and cuddled. He was an outlaw serving out his time under her father’s strict rules.
He went back to work, pulling the wire tight before hammering it into place against the post with a nail. Simply dismissing her as though she were nothing more than a bee buzzing around.
She couldn’t leave now, not after he’d seen her. She didn’t want him to think he had any power over her at all. But as she nudged her horse forward, her stomach quivered as though she’d swallowed a field of butterflies.
She brought Starlight to a halt a short distance away from Jesse. With each of his movements, his shirt stretched taut across his back. When he twisted slightly, she saw that he’d loosened several buttons, giving the gentle breeze the opportunity to cool his skin. He’d rolled up his sleeves, revealing the corded muscles on his forearms and the scars on his wrists.
“I was looking for Tanner,” she lied, not willing to admit she’d actually been hoping to find Jesse.
He stopped hammering, tipped his hat off his brow with his thumb, and challenged her with his gaze. “He’s not here.”
“Well, I can see that. Do you happen to know where he is?”
He shrugged. “I reckon he figured I didn’t need to know his business.”
“I’m surprised he left you alone.”
She thought he could cut through the barbed wire with the narrowed gaze he shot at her.
“Surprised he trusted me not to run off?” he asked.
She shifted over the saddle. “No.” Although that had been the first thought that had flashed through her mind.
“I’m surprised he left you alone to do a job that usually two or three men handle. Isn’t it difficult to hold the wire and hammer it into place at the same time?”
She knew that typically one man stretched it while another nailed it to the post. Two men usually dug and planted the posts.
He shrugged. “I’m handling it.”
“But it doesn’t seem fair—”
“Life’s not fair,” he interrupted.
She completely understood that sentiment. If life were fair, her mother wouldn’t have died. Still the outlaw baffled her. “Why are you working so hard?”
He blinked, and she could see his dark eyebrows drawing together as though her question confused him.
“Tanner said he needed the fence put up.”
“You could take a nap, and he’d never know. You could simply sit against a post—”
“The day would go too slow. I’ve got over eighteen hundred days to serve. The more quickly they go, the sooner I can get on with things.”
Almost two thousand days of being watched, of being told what to do and when to do it. Perhaps her life wasn’t the prison she’d always thought it was.
“What will you do when you’ve finished your time?” she asked.
“That’s my business.”
He reached out and snagged his canteen off a nearby post. She watched with fascination as he tipped his head back and slowly drank. Sweat beaded his throat, and his Adam’s apple slid up and down with each swallow.
He brought the canteen away from his mouth. His lips were damp. He really had very nice lips. She remembered the way they’d looked in laughter. But she hadn’t seen him simply smile with enjoyment.
“Do you ever smile?” she asked.
He presented her with his back. “Look, I’ve got work to do.”
“You can be sociable for a little while,” she said, more tartly than she’d intended. She didn’t much enjoy being ignored.
He spun around so quickly that she jerked back on the reins. The horse whinnied and sidestepped.
“Don’t you understand that if the judge finds out that I’ve been talking with you, he’ll send me back to prison?”
“I’d explain that it wasn’t your fault.”
He glared at her. “Like you explained yesterday?”
Her stomach quivered at the reminder that she might not have stood up to her brother as she should have.
“I told Robert nothing happened,” she snapped in her own defense.
“Maybe you didn’t notice, but he wanted nothing more than to pound his fist into my face.”
“But he didn’t do it, did he? Because I convinced him not to,” she told him.
“You didn’t convince him of anything. You were too worried he’d find out about your wicked little book,” he retorted angrily.
“It’s not a wicked book,” she said tartly. “Father simply prefers for me to read something else.”
Snorting, he shook his head and went back to work. “And I prefer for you to be somewhere else,” he muttered.
Strangely, at this moment she wanted to be right where she was. Especially since he was actually giving her more than two words at a time. She’d prefer they weren’t laced with anger, but at the moment she was willing to take whatever she could get.
“If I’d truly thought Robert was going to hit you, I would have explained exactly what had happened,” she assured him.
“Sure you would have.”
“I would have.” She wanted to stomp her foot, but that was a little hard to do when it was resting in a stirrup.
She almost felt as though she were arguing with one of her brothers. But her feelings toward Jesse didn’t run along the lines of sibling rivalry.
He intrigued her because of the things he’d experienced that she never would. He’d apparently been on his own at an early age, experienced freedom she could only imagine. That he’d chosen to squander his opportunities amazed her. Perhaps his reticence was partly to blame. His social skills were sorely lacking. She decided that if she had to, she’d force him to be sociable.
“What’s it like living in prison?” she asked.
He stilled, the thick gloves he wore to protect his hands curling around the wire. “You don’t want to know.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Why?” He glared at her over his shoulder.
“I’m simply trying to be friendly.”
“Lady, you don’t want to be friends with me, and I don’t want to be friends with you. All I want is to serve my days in peace.”
“If you keep snapping every time someone asks you a question, you’ll serve your days alone.”
“Which is fine by me.”
He straightened out the wire, tugged on it, and proceeded to nail it into place on the next fence post. The more he ignored her, the more she didn’t want to be ignored.
She couldn’t fathom why she was fascinated with him. A couple of the cowboys who worked the ranch were nicer. None had ever been to prison. They all enjoyed her company.
So why was this one so cantankerous? She’d figured he’d welcome a little conversation.
“You don’t mean that,” she stated emphatically.
“Why wouldn’t I mean it?” he asked.
“Why would you choose to be alone?”
“So I wouldn’t have to listen to you harping at me all the time.”
Indignation caused her to sit straighter in the saddle. “I do not harp.”
“You do, too.”
“I do not.”
“You’re harping right now.”
She tightened her hold on the reins. Was she harping at him?
“I’m trying to engage you in a conversation,” she told him.
“I’m not interested.”
“How can you not be interested?”
“Because being interested can get me sent back to prison,” he ground out.
“So it’s not that you don’t like me; it’s that you don’t like prison.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes to stay out of prison. And if that means ignoring you, then I’ll ignore you.”
Well, she supposed she couldn’t fault him for that attitude. Still, there was no one to see, so where was the harm in having a little conversation? If he learned to be a bit more sociable, everyone might accept him more, and she wouldn’t have to sneak around in order to speak with him.
She waited patiently while he stretched the wire over to the next post and nailed it into place. Then she blurted out what had been troubling her all morning. “My father’s decided that if Duchess isn’t broken by the end of the week, he’s going to get rid of her.”
The outlaw stilled and turned to her slowly, as though he knew it wouldn’t take much to make her burst into tears.
Amelia and the Outlaw Page 6