Apache Summer sb-3

by Heather Graham

Tess stared at him. He obviously understood completely what was going

  on, but she didn't have the least idea.

  "What?"

  "Miss. Stuart," Cole Slater told her, drawing out a chair and sitting

  back in it, "the railroad is coming through here.

  That means that this property is going to go sky-high in value. If you

  wanted to sell some land straight, it would be worth a small fortune."

  "But there's more," Jon Red Feather told her softly.

  "If 9ou do sell just the necessary land, the rest of your property will

  still go sky-rocketing in value--you'll be able to send your produce

  right out from your own doorstep. Tess, you're sitting on the best land

  this side of the Mississippi. And that's why von Heusen has been so

  desperate to get rid of you. With this property in his hands, he could

  really control a good percentage of western Texas."

  Tess smiled slowly, looking at Jamie.

  "But--but he can't touch any of it now. He must know that! Half of it is

  in your name, and even if we hadn't returned" -- "Ownership would have

  come to Cole and me and our families," Malachi supplied for her.

  "Well, he must know that."

  "He does know that," Jon said. Gabe was sitting beside him, and he

  tousled the lad's brown hair to be rewarded with a fascinated smile. Jon

  smiled in turn, then gave Tess his attention again.

  "I let it be known that Jamie had found you and that he'd be bringing

  you home. I also went to see Edward Clancy and had him print up the

  arrival of Cole and Malachi--and I stressed the ability of the Slater

  brothers with their small arms."

  "A couple of von Heusen's men rode out here the other day. But we

  uninvited them quickly," ICRISTIN said, heaping mashed potatoes on a

  plate to pass to Jori. "Cole or Malachi scared them away?" Tess asked.

  "Oh, no, Shannon did," Kfistin said.

  "She's an ace."

  "I'm a decent shot," Shannon said demurely.

  "She can hit a fly's eye at a hundred yards," Malachi said drily.

  They all laughed, but' Cole sobered quickly and spoke to Jamie in low,

  even tones.

  "The point is, this von Heusen knows that scare tactics aren't going to

  work with Miss. Stuart anymore. No one can quite fathom what he'll pull

  next."

  "Well, he'll have more to worry about after tomorrow," Tess said firmly.

  "I'm going to go to the paper and I'm going to give Clancy another

  front-page story. It's going to be all about David and Jeremiah and Mr.

  yon Heusen's orders to see that I never returned."

  "There might be a few problems with that," Jon advised her.

  "Why?"

  " Tess asked.

  "Because Clancy and your printer gave in at last. Someone shot a few

  windows yesterday, and by last night, Clancy had thrown in the towel. He

  wanted you to know that he was sorry."

  Tess inhaled and exhaled.

  "I can do it myself," she said. "You won't have to do it yourself,"

  Kristin corrected her, sitting at last with her own plate.

  "Dolly and Jane can keep the children here, and Shannon and I will come

  in and help you with the press. If you give us directions, we can surely

  follow them. The three of us will go into town first thing in the

  morning" -- "NOV' Jamie said emphatically.

  "I have to," Tess began, turning, ready to give battle. "Jamie, I've

  told you" -- "The three of you aren't going anywhere alone," he

  intempted harshly.

  "It isn't safe. Dammr to hell, Tess! Don't you understand yet?"

  "I understand that the newspaper has always been my maj or weapon."

  "But right now it isn't enough. Okay, we'll go. You'll do your damned

  article, but we'll go together. Tess, what do I have to say to get

  through to you? When yon Heusen attacks again, it's going to be all-out

  war."

  She wanted to retort. She was furious. He was right, of course, but she

  still wanted to yell at him.

  Fighting desperately to hold her tongue, she looked at Jon.

  "How did you find all this out?"

  He shrugged.

  "I was still in buckskins when I came back, and I didn't change before I

  made a visit into town. Von Heusen had one of his guns follow me. I knew

  it, so I doubled back and got hold of him. As it happened, Cole and

  Malachi had been riding in to meet me." "And," Malachi said, grinning,

  "Jon just happened to be dressed for the occasion."

  Tess was still confused. Kristin sighed and explained. "Cole and Malachi

  convinced von Heusen's hired goon that Jon was scarcely more than a raw

  savage and that he actually delighted in human flesh. Between the three

  of them they barely had to touch the fellow before he was spilling

  everything he had ever known in his life."

  Tess smiled and glanced at Jamie.

  He was not smiling. She looked away quickly, pushing a piece of roast

  around on her plate. They were a lot alike, the Slater brothers. Cole

  was the darkest, with golden eyes--his little boy had those eyes, even

  though he had his mother's soft blond hair. Malachi was a golden blond

  with blue eyes, and Jamie was sandy-haired with his smoke gray and

  silver eyes. But the planes of their faces were similar, strong and hard

  and weathered. She realized suddenly that she would trust any of the

  brothers with anything she had.

  And she didn't really mean to keep fighting Jamie. It just kept coming

  out that way.

  He stood up suddenly, his chair scraping back.

  "That was a fine meal, Kristin, Shannon--Dolly?"

  "We all contributed," Kristin told him.

  "Well, thank you, but I think I need a little air. You got a good

  cheroot on you anywhere, Cole?"

  "Sure," said his brother, rising as well. He stopped by his wife's chair

  and kissed her tenderly at the base of the neck before following Jamie

  out.

  "Seems like we're splitting up here," Malachi said. "Well, don't stay on

  my account!" Shannon told him.

  He laughed, shrugged at Jon, and the two of them left. Hank followed

  them and the women were left--Jane, who had barely said a word, Dolly,

  who was unbelievably quiet, and Shannon and Kristin and Tess.

  "All this to make a meal, and then it's just wolfed down, and then

  everyone runs" -- "Ma," Gabe suddenly interrupted from the end of the

  table.

  "I cleaned my plate. Can I go join Pa?"

  Kristin threw up her hands, and Tess felt some of the tension leave her

  as she laughed.

  "Go!" Kristin told her son.

  He smiled, excused hun self politely to Tess and ran out of the house.

  "We might as well pick up," Shannon said. "Might as well."

  Things went quickly with five of them to do the clearing, the scraping,

  the washing and the drying. Shannon asked Tess what it had been like

  with the Apache, and by the time she finished with her story about Jon

  and Jamie appearing at just the fight time, they had finished the

  dishes. Jane and Dolly kissed Tess again and went to bed. Shannon and

  Kristin and Tess made tea and then sat around the kitchen table, staring

  at one another.

  "And then this Nalte let you go--just because Jamie asked for you? He

  let
you go to Jamie?" Kfistin said.

  Tess felt herself flush, wondering how to avoid saying the very thing

  the Indian chief had so clearly understood.

  "He, uh, he ..."

  "Oh, for God's sake, Kristin, they've been sleeping together and this

  Nalte man knew it!" Shannon exclaimed.

  "Shannon!" gris ting protested.

  "Well, all right, I'm terribly sorry, but Ktistin and I both married

  Slater men. I know. They're so easy to want to shoot, but at the same

  time ..." Her voice trailed away and she was really beautiful as she

  grinned.

  "Well, they are easy to sleep with. Seductive."

  Tess knew she had to be a thousand shades of crimson. Kristin sighed.

  "He's very much in love with you. I'm sure We'll see a wedding any day."

  "I'm not terribly sure about that."

  "He called us here. To protect your interests. He must love you."

  "I've turned over half the property to him. It's his own property he's

  protecting." "Urn. Did he bargain for anything else?" Kristin asked her.

  She didn't know why she was being so honest except that somehow she felt

  she had known the two women all her life.

  Maybe it was because they had all become involved with Slater men.

  "Maybe they just don't marry easily," Shannon suggested.

  "But you're both married," Tess began.

  "Cole had to marry me," gris ting said.

  "Oh, the baby?"

  "No!" gris ting 'laughed.

  "There was a horrible, horrible man after me.

  The war was going on and the only way he could count on some protection

  from some old acquaintances was to be able to say that I was his wife.

  He fell in love with me slowly; it took him a long time." She smiled

  sweetly at Shannon.

  "And Malachi had to marry Shannon."

  "Well, he didn't have to," Shannon protdsted. "The twins?" Tess asked.

  "No, a shotgun," Shannon explained ruefully. They both laughed, and

  Shannon took a deep breath and tried to explain that Kristin was her

  sister, and that Kfistin had been in trouble.

  She and Malachi had gone after her, and a kindly old couple had derided

  the two of them had to be married. "But they'd been in' love for years.

  They wouldn't admit it, of course, because they were too busy gouging

  one another's eyes out."

  "Oh, it never was that bad!" Shannon protested. "No, it was worse!"

  Kristin said. She stood up.

  "I think that we need a drop of brandy to go with this, too. Girls?"

  Shannon and Tess both agreed. Then Tess yawned and complained that her

  buckskins were filthy and that she felt as if half of Texas was covering

  her.

  The sisters quickly had the hip tub out and filled, and Shannon was

  racing upstairs for French bath oil, and before she knew it Kristin was

  presenting her with a lilac nightgown that matched her eyes. "I can't

  take these things!" Tess protested.

  "But you can. It's all in the family," Shannon told her. Tess shook her

  head.

  "I heard Jamie once. He said that no one would ever make him get

  married." Kristin shrugged.

  "They can't force him--but he just might choose to do so on his own."

  ' "Do you want him?" Shannon asked her.

  Tess f~it her heart beat hard and she closed her eyes. Yes! Yes, she

  wanted Jamie desperately. She had wanted him his eyes had first fallen

  upon her, since he had killed since he had told her in a soft voice that

  she was Since that day by the stream before the nightmare had begun and

  he had touched her and said, "I think I'm falling in love with you ..."

  But that had been before they had nearly been destroyea, before he had

  lost his beloved cavalry mount to retrieve her.

  She was trouble. He had told her that again and again. He had walked out

  at dinner because he had been so furious with her that he hadn't been

  able to stay at the table. "Do you?"

  Shannon persisted.

  "Yes," Tess admitted softly.

  "I want him. For keeps."

  "Then forget the arguments. Even forget the fact that you'll probably

  never get along. I have," Shannon said cheerily.

  "Forget von Heusen, forget everything, and cherish what time you have

  together in peace."

  "And get in the tub with the rose oil," Kristin suggested drily.

  "There's just nothing like a very sweet smell."

  "And a see-through lilac gown to match your eyes! Aren't they beautiful

  eyes, Kristin?" "And she's not jealous often," Kristin said, laughing.

  Feeling loved and protected, Tess stepped into the water and felt the

  steam surround her. It was good to be home.

  "I'm more worried now that I know just what this man is after," Jamie

  said.

  He was sitting on the rocker on the porch. Jori was perched on the

  railing with Cole, and Malachi was seated across from him on the swing.

  It creaked slowly in the night air.

  Jamie exhaled. He looked at his brothers.

  "Thanks for coming. I'm just wishing right now that I hadn't had you

  bring Kristin and Shannon."

  "Jamie, you've known the McCahy girls a long time," Cole said drily.

  "And you should know at this point that they wouldn't have it any other

  way."

  "I just don't know what this man might plan. I do know that he keeps

  twenty to thirty hired guns on his property at all times."

  "We've met up with bad odds~ before Malachi reminded him.

  "God damn it, don't you understand what I'm trying to say? I don't want

  you, your wives or your children killed on my account."

  Gabe came out then. He glanced at his father and it was obvious he had

  heard some of what had been said. He went straight up to his Uncle Jamie

  and took his trail-toughened face into his hands.

  "There's right and wrong, Uncle Jamie, and you know that. And my pa and

  my ma, they say you have to fight what's wrong, because if you just give

  in, it'll bury you in the end.

  I don't mind fighting. Not if it's the right thing to do."

  Jamie lifted his nephew and hugged him tightly. Cole smiled.

  "I rest my case."

  "Malachi, those twins of yours aren't quite three years old. You think

  they feel the same way?"

  "Jamie, we're here, and that's it," Malachi said flatly. "Now, what

  about Tess?"

  "What about her?" Jamie scowled.

  "She's the hardest creature to tangle with I have ever encountered,

  Yanks and Indians and rattlers included." "Think you're going to marry

  her?" Malachi asked pleasantly.

  "If he doesn't do so soon," Jon Red Feather supplied, "I

  "Damn you, Jon" -- I'll have to, to keep the poor woman honest." ,~

  Jamie ou know the lot of you, you may be but I'm " She's beautiful, very

  bright and has the will of a wildcat. Besides that, she's worth a damned

  fortune. He's already absconded with half her property," Malachi said."

  Wait a damned minute!" Jamie protested.

  "The least you could do is marry her," Cole said. Jamie threw up his

  hands.

  "Thank you, one and all, for coming. And now I'll thank you, one and

  all, to mind your own damned bus' mess Good night."

  He set Gabe on the rocker and headed into the house. He was halfway up

&nbs
p; the stairs before he realized he didn't know if he had a room in the

  house. His brothers and Kristin and Shannon and even the kids seemed

  very happily moved in.

  But where the hell he was supposed to be, he didn't know. He headed for

  Tess's room, wondering what her reaction was going to be. If she

  threatened to scream and bring the house down he thought he'd throttle

  her.

  He tapped on her door, then pushed it open.

  "Tess?" "Jamie?" She said his name softly, sweetly. Her voice touched

  the air like the fragrance of roses that seemed to be all around the

  room, light as stardust. Her whisper was sultry, as if he had awakened

  her.

  He strode across the room then paused, seeing how the moon entered

  through the window and glowed upon bet.

  Her hair was shining with greater splendor than any sunset, and it was

  spread out behind her as if each strand were a glorious ray of the sun.

  She was dressed in violet, a shade that matched her eyes in the darkness

  of the night. A shade that was barely concealing, a shade that managed

  to enhance every beautiful line and curve of her body.

  "Tess, where the hell" -- He paused, clearing his throat, wondering why

  the hell he was getting so damned angry.

  "Tess, where am I supposed to--oh, the hell with it!" he growled.

  He didn't see her smile as he dropped forcefully upon her, sweeping her

  into his arms. He didn't really see anything 271 except the color of her

  hair, entwining and tangling around him. He breathed in the clean, sweet

  scent of her, and he could barely contain his longings. The Apache had

  kept them apart for the last two long nights. He hadn't realized how

  badly he could need her after such a short time, how much he could crave

  her. She was like a sweet a man thought he tasted once, and yet wanted

  more and more once he knew the exotic taste. He kissed her fiercely, and

  he kissed her long, and he felt the frantic rise of her breasts against

  his hand as she lost her breath. Only when she trembled and gasped did

  he raise his head and stare at her.

  "I'm staying here. We're doing it my way, remember?"

  She returned his stare. Her arms wound around him, and she pressed her

  lips to his, then she shoved him slightly away from her and started to

  open his shirt buttons. Slowly, achingly slowly, she opened them one by

  one, pressing her lips against his flesh. And when his shirt was east

  aside she tenderly nipped and kissed his shoulders while she tugged at