“Why not?”
Johanna was beginning to get the distinct impression that Sophie didn’t want Johanna going out on her own. She wondered why that could be.
Sophie was completely ready now. She looked at Johanna. “Let’s go,” she announced.
That had all been too easy, Johanna reflected. It was almost as if Sophie had been waiting for Johanna to say she was going for a walk.
“Okay,” Johanna agreed.
They left the house and walked up to Main Street. As she turned the corner, Johanna couldn’t help peering up and down the street searching for any sign of Zane. But he was nowhere to be seen.
Disappointment tugged at her. Just like it always seemed to do, whenever Zane wasn’t making a fuss over her, or paying her compliments, or making sure she was okay. Had she become so used to his ways, that she now couldn’t pass a whole day without seeing him?
Sophie and Johanna made their way to the general store. Johanna recognized two women who were standing over by a long table, discussing the merits of some fabrics which had been laid out.
Sophie was standing at the counter, talking with Mr Murchison, the elderly owner. Leaving Sophie to deal with her business, Johanna wandered down the long passageway between two tall stacks of shelves which stretched up to the ceiling. Johanna ran her gaze over the stacks of tins and packets and boxes which filled the shelves.
Johanna reached the end of the passageway near the back of the store. It was a little darker back here. The aromas of foodstuffs mingled with the dryness of the dusty air. She moved around the wooden end of the shelving and came face to face with the last person she would have expected to see here.
Johanna gasped and clutched at the collar of her overcoat.
Brett Calhoun smiled at Johanna. For a moment, he looked surprised. Then he quickly composed himself.
“Miss Henderson,” Calhoun said in a quiet voice. “How nice to see you here.”
Johanna felt her throat tighten up. She felt the sudden impulse to go racing down the passageway and up to the safety of the front of the store. But, for some reason she couldn’t understand, her legs wouldn’t move.
“Mr Calhoun,” she muttered.
“I see you remember who I am,” Calhoun said. “I suppose I should be flattered. Or maybe others have been telling you all about me.”
Up close, Calhoun was every bit as unpleasant as she recalled him to be. Although he wore a finely tailored dark suit and waistcoat and broad-brimmed hat, there was something about him which made her uneasy. Maybe it was the snake-like eyes that caused that reaction.
Calhoun moved a few inches closer to Johanna.
Instinctively Johanna recoiled. “I must go, Mr Calhoun. Mrs Cameron is waiting for me.”
At least he would know she was not here on her own, she told herself.
Calhoun moved quickly, blocking her exit. “Just a minute, Miss Henderson,” he said. “I’ve been meaning to speak to you.”
“Me?”
Calhoun nodded. “About a matter which is quite important to me,” Calhoun said. “And to you.”
“What are you talking about?” Johanna said sharply.
With every word he uttered, Calhoun seemed to try to keep his voice low. Perhaps he didn’t want his voice carrying up to the front of the store.
“Really, Mr Calhoun,” Johanna said trying to push past him. “I must go to my friend.”
Calhoun stretched out an arm, completely blocking her way. This time she glared at him. “Please let me pass,” she demanded.
He shook his head emphatically. “I will, after I’ve spoken to you about Zane Buchanan,” Calhoun said.
Johanna felt the blood drain from her face. “Zane? What about him?” Johanna said sharply.
Calhoun glanced down the length of the passageway, as if checking that no-one else was near. He peered deeply into Johanna’s eyes. “There’s something you should know, Miss Henderson.”
“About Zane? Has something happened to him?” For a terrible moment, she imagined that Zane had been involved in some awful accident. Or that he’d been involved in some kind of disagreement with the very man standing right in front of her.
Calhoun shook his head. “What I’m going to tell you has nothing to do with how he is today,” Calhoun said. “It has everything to do with how you and he will be in the future.”
Johanna glared at Calhoun. “How dare you!” she said. “What are you suggesting?”
The corner of Calhoun’s mouth curled sardonically. “You know exactly what I’m talking about, Miss Henderson. It hasn’t escaped my notice that you and Zane Buchanan have become the best of friends in the short time you’ve been here.”
Johanna felt heat rush to her face. Indignation swept through her. “Let me pass, Mr Calhoun,” she demanded again.
“Not until I’ve told you the real reason he wants to marry you,” Calhoun said.
Johanna froze. She stared at Calhoun and felt her legs weaken. “What?”
“You do know he intends to marry you, don’t you?” Calhoun stated quietly.
Johanna felt her breathing tighten. She wanted out of this place. She needed to get away from this horrible man who seemed determined to cause her pain. Even if what he was saying was true, hearing those words coming out of his mouth somehow tarnished the whole notion of marriage to Zane.
“I know no such thing,” she managed to tell Calhoun. Her voice quivered with emotion.
Calhoun laughed quietly and shook his head. “I don’t believe you.”
“Where did you get such a foolish idea?” Johanna asked.
Calhoun ran his gaze down the length of Johanna’s overcoat. She shivered as he did so. “You’ve been brought here as a kind of mail order bride,” he said. “Isn’t that so.”
“That is none of your concern,” Johanna said, making sure she kept her voice low.
Calhoun shook his head. “I beg to differ, ma’am,” he said. “It is of a very great concern to me.”
In spite of the fact that her entire body was quivering with emotion, Johanna managed to force out her next words. “How is that so?”
Calhoun leaned closer to Johanna. “By marrying you, Zane Buchanan will prevent me from acquiring a significant part of his family’s ranch spread. That’s why he wants to marry you, Miss Henderson. To save the ranch. Or at least, a part of it.”
She felt a roaring in her ears. Johanna reached a hand out quickly, grasping onto one of the shelves with her gloved hand. For a moment, she was sure she was going to tumble to the floor. Her heart was racing furiously.
“I don’t believe you,” she snapped.
Calhoun said nothing. He merely continued to gaze at her.
Johanna looked into Calhoun’s dark eyes, searching for any sign that he could be lying. But she saw none. There was a steadiness in that gaze that convinced her that Calhoun was simply stating a fact.
“Zane wouldn’t do anything like that,” Johanna said. Her voice cracked with emotion.
“He would, Miss Henderson,” Calhoun replied with absolute certainty. “And I’m afraid I can’t let that happen.”
Now there was a fearsome look in the man’s eyes, Johanna told herself. She suddenly felt unsafe.
“This conversation is over,” Johanna declared. She pushed hard against Calhoun’s arm and managed to force him aside. Just enough so that she could move quickly past him. For a moment, she feared he would take hold of her. That he would try and stop her from gaining the safety of the front of the store. But he didn’t follow her.
She emerged from the narrow passageway and glanced back, expecting that he would be following her. Astonishingly, there was no sign of him. The passageway was empty. She heard the sound of a door being closed. Perhaps he’d found a back way out of the store.
She heard Sophie’s voice from behind her. “Johanna?”
Johanna turned and saw Sophie advancing toward her. There was a look of deep concern on Sophie’s face. “What’s wrong?” Sophie asked.
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Johanna ran a hand along the side of her face. “Nothing. I was just looking at what was for sale back there.”
“You look as white as a sheet,” Sophie stated.
“Really, Sophie. I’m fine.”
Sophie frowned and glanced down at Johanna’s ankle. “You didn’t trip on that, did you?”
“No,” Johanna breathed. “Everything’s fine.”
Sophie’s brows furrowed. She didn’t believe any of it, Johanna told herself.
Sophie paid for her goods. Johanna took one of the bags and started to walk back to the house with Sophie. She couldn’t speak. Her mind was full of a tumbling mass of thoughts. Surely what Calhoun had told her could not possibly be true. Zane would never be that mercenary. He would never betray Johanna like that.
Was Zane merely using Johanna? Was it as simple as that? Did that explain the urgency with which he’d been courting her? It sure made more sense than what she’d foolishly been trying to convince herself of these past couple of days. That he felt something for her. That he really liked her.
Emotion swirled in her chest. Her breathing was so tight, she could hardly breath. She slowed for a moment. Sophie peered at her. “Johanna?”
She swallowed and forced herself to smile. She moved the package she was carrying to her other arm and smiled weakly at Sophie.
They resumed walking. “I thought I heard some talking back in the store,” Sophie said.
Johanna thought quickly, Should she tell Sophie what had occurred? Would she even be believed, since Calhoun seemed to have found some way to sneak out the back of the store?
Johanna smiled weakly, but said nothing in response. At least she hadn’t lied, Johanna assured herself. She’d think about this some more and then share it with Sophie. But only after she’d considered it more closely. Only after she’d figured out what it could all mean.
For her and Zane.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Zane was frustrated. He’d intended to get away from the ranch in the early part of the afternoon, but there had been too much to do. And that had meant he’d had to postpone his visit to Johanna. Now, all the work had been completed and he was free to do what he really wanted to do.
Spend more time with Johanna. Talk with her. Try one more time to say what he had to say. The most important thing he’d ever said.
First, he had to get back to the ranch to clean himself up. He rode his palomino into the ranch yard. He got down off the horse and led it over to the stable. As he was settling the horse into the stall, he thought about what had happened the day before, down at the Cameron house.
A misunderstanding. That was what it had been.
Zane thought about the way she’d looked at him and shook his head. She’d been right. When it came to social calls and conversations, Zane had the ability of a novice. He didn’t have the slightest idea of how to conduct a polite conversation without giving the wrong impression. Or even being accidentally insulting.
He’d seen the look in her eyes when he’d started talking in such a way that it was obvious to both of them he was going to declare his growing feelings for her.
And tell her something else. The truth about how all this had gotten started. And, most importantly, how his feelings had changed. That was what he’d thought he’d been about to say.
But, it had turned out real bad. The complete opposite of what he’d intended. For some reason, he hadn’t been able to get the words out right. It had been just as well Sophie had turned up when she had. Her arrival had rescued Zane from making a complete fool of himself.
Finishing up in the horse’s stall, Zane heard the sound of wheels on dirt from outside in the yard. He closed the stall door and went to the stable entrance. Looking across the yard, he saw a buckboard drawing to a halt in front of the house.
And on the seat, with the reins in her hands was Johanna!
Zane’s heart leaped. He smiled broadly. He saw that she’d noticed him standing by the stable. She jumped down off the buckboard. Landing comfortably on both her feet, Zane could tell that there was nothing wrong with her ankle now.
However, something else wiped the smile right off his face. It was the look on Johanna’s face as she strode toward him. Her brows were deeply furrowed and her mouth was set in a grim expression. She looked angry.
Zane corrected himself.
No.
She looked furious.
Zane thought about going to greet her in a friendly manner. Anything to take the sting out of whatever was causing her to look at him like that. Maybe she was disappointed he hadn’t kept his word and gone to see her.
Johanna halted right in front of Zane, feet planted firmly on the dusty ground, and jammed her fists into her sides. “Is it true?” she barked. Her face was red and he wasn’t sure if it was because of the ride up from town, or something else.
Zane’s eyes widened. “Is what true?”
She glared at him and tilted her head. “You know exactly what I’m talking about, Zane Buchanan.”
Her voice was so loud he was sure it could be heard back in the big house.
“Calm down, Johanna,” he said lifting his hands.
She frowned. “Calm down?” Why should I? When you’ve just been taking me for a fool.”
He squinted disbelievingly at her. “What are you going on about?”
“This whole charade,” she snapped. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Tell you what?”
Johanna took a step toward him. “The real reason you want me to marry you.”
Zane froze and stared right into Johanna’s eyes. Her words sounded almost shocking. Marriage! She’d mentioned the word, casually, almost as if it was a foregone conclusion.
Zane gazed into Johanna’s eyes. There was fury there. And indignation. As well as a whole lot of other things. For a moment, he was completely dumbstruck.
He reached out, intending to take her hand, but she pulled it away from him.
“Let’s talk inside here,” he said turning to the stable.
Johanna folded her arms and glared at him. “Is it true, Zane?” she pleaded. Now there was a different kind of emotion in her voice. The kind that made him feel like choking up.
“Please, Johanna,” he said. “Come in here.”
Her jaw tightened and she glared at him. For a brief moment, he saw her furious expression soften. It was as if she understood that the conversation they had to have would need to be conducted in private.
He walked into the stable and was pleased when he saw her following him. Zane faced her in front of the stall where he’d just placed his palomino. As if sensing the tension in the air, the horse shifted nervously in the stall.
“You been talking to someone?” Zane asked.
“Calhoun,” she replied.
Zane felt his heart sink into his stomach. “What did he tell you?”
“Everything.”
Zane ran a hand through his hair and sighed heavily. “That good for nothing,” he murmured bitterly.
The Rancher’s Bride Arrangement (Brides 0f Inspiration Book 1) Page 15