A Rancher's Vow

by Patricia Rosemoor

  “It’s his father who’s the problem.”

  Remembering they’d once been best friends, she said, “Emmett Quarrels is ill, you know. As a matter of fact, his heart could fail at any time.”

  “What? Where did you get that idea?”

  Alcina faced her father. He appeared as shocked and appalled as he sounded. A good start.

  “Everyone in Silver Springs knows. That’s why he called his sons home and set up that family corporation. Reed and his brothers are very edgy, because of their father…and because of a lot of bad luck going around the ranch.”

  She hadn’t told him about the fire and her part in saving the horses. Some things were better left unspoken where parents who tended to worry too much were involved.

  “The Curly-Q’s got bigger problems than simple bad luck,” Tucker muttered. “The mortgage is more than two years in arrears and I can’t carry Emmett any—”

  “Please, Daddy.”

  So her father was considering foreclosure, Alcina realized. She’d been afraid of that. But maybe she could delay things until Reed could reconnoiter. She had the utmost faith in him. He knew what he was doing. He’d been running a bigger spread than the Curly-Q for the past several years. All he needed was time and the ranch would be in the black once more. She would try to buy him that time, but she didn’t want to ruin her wedding day with arguments.

  Keeping her voice calm, she remained reasonable. “They don’t need anything to compound their problems right now. I know I don’t.”

  “All right. This is your wedding day. Any unpleasant discussions can keep a while longer.”

  She stared at the man who’d raised her with nothing but kindness and respect, a man who still reeked with authority, though he was far past his prime. Unlike Emmett, who had the demeanor of an old and ailing man, Tucker Dale was in good health, fit and trim, silver-haired and handsome. His finely tailored gray suit was the exact shade of his eyes. She’d always known her father to be vain and a bit arrogant, but he’d also always been a good man and a better father, totally supportive of her needs.

  “Daddy, promise me something.”

  “Anything that’s in my power to grant is yours, you know that.”

  “Keep the peace with Emmett, no matter what.”

  “I won’t be starting anything.”

  “Well, don’t finish anything either, okay?” Alcina turned back to the mirror to fuss with wisps of curls that didn’t need fussing. “I want my marriage to start on the right foot. I want to make this marriage work, Daddy.” She wanted Reed to love her and surround her with the large family she’d longed for while growing up. “I want to make sure this lasts forever.”

  He came up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Then that’s what I want for you, too, darling.”

  Watching him via the mirror, she said, “My situation is already…complicated. And fragile.”

  “Complicated how?”

  “I haven’t told Reed about Jeffrey…and now I just can’t.”

  And she would never admit to her father that she’d accepted Reed’s proposal in the form of a business partnership.

  “Alcina, do you think that’s wise?” he asked reasonably. “Reed is bound to find out.”

  “Right, because I intend to tell him…sometime.” Alcina had convinced herself of that. Once she felt secure in her relationship, she could tell her husband all. “No one here but you and Pru know.”

  “I think you’re making a mistake.”

  “There’s no time!” She wouldn’t have Reed calling the marriage off, not before she had a chance at him. “I’m hoping that my husband and I will form the kind of relationship where I can find a way to tell him later…and he’ll find a way to understand.”

  Her father clucked under his breath but didn’t rail on as Alcina feared he might. Even so, tension made her fingers clumsy as she donned her single strand of pearls.

  “All right,” her father finally said, giving her shoulders a comforting squeeze. “I promise I’ll do my best to hold my temper in check no matter what that old buzzard Emmett Quarrels says to me.”

  Alcina sighed in relief. “Thanks, Daddy.”

  “I’d better let you finish up here. Shall I tell Pru to come back in?”

  “Please.” Her gaze fell on the small carved and gilded music box perched to one side of her makeup tray. “Wait a minute. Before you go, I need to ask a favor.”

  “Another one, you mean?”

  “Don’t worry, this one’s not a big deal.” She swiveled on her stool to face him. “Someone lost a diamond at Pru and Chance’s wedding. I’m holding on to it until that person comes forward to claim it. But it makes me nervous to keep it in the house.” The only bank in town had closed when her father had moved his business to Taos a dozen years before. “I thought maybe you could keep the diamond in one of your safe-deposit boxes.”

  “Of course. In the meantime, you’ve put it someplace prudent, I hope.”

  “As secure as it can be right here in plain sight.”

  Alcina picked up the music box and lifted the lid. As the mechanism tinkled an old tune, she fingered a catch that could only be pressed in once the lid had been opened. A cleverly secreted drawer slid out from the design on the back. Nested in the dark velvet-lined resting space, the facets of the trillion caught the light to stunning effect.

  “Good Lord,” Tucker murmured.

  He lifted the diamond for a closer look.

  Watching her father inspect the stone, Alcina noted that his eyes widened for a moment and his hand shook slightly. Then he cleared his throat, replaced the stone in its velvet setting and stepped back.

  “Very unusual,” he said, turning from her and moving toward the door. “And quite valuable, I’m sure. You’re right to want it in a safe. I’ll take the stone with me when I leave.”

  “Thanks, Daddy.”

  He threw a kiss her way and exited.

  The weather suddenly caught Alcina’s attention. Rising, she crossed to the windows. A cold front had come through the night before, and now the afternoon sky was nearly white with big, wet flakes. A light blanket already coated the street below. She wondered how it was that nature could so disguise ugliness—the abandoned buildings scattered here and there along Main Street—and make everything look so picturesque.

  Rain was a bad omen for a wedding day. She decided that snow must be a good omen.

  Not that she was superstitious.

  Alcina slipped out of her silk wrap and was removing her dress from the gown bag when she heard movement outside the bedroom door.

  The wedding plans were simple—a short ceremony in the parlor and a high tea to celebrate. Pru and Josie had helped her make the scones and pastries and finger sandwiches early that morning. They’d warned the men to eat a hearty lunch if they didn’t want to starve. Alcina only hoped the men had taken that advice to heart.

  Though she had a special late-night meal planned for her and Reed…and the plans for in between were even more special.

  “I’m ba-a-ack,” Pru called as she whirled through the door.

  “Just in time,” Alcina said, removing the cream-colored silk dress from its hanger.

  Pru helped her into the designer garment, zipped it and secured the two tiny fabric-covered buttons at the top. The dress was a case in slim sophistication with long tight sleeves and an asymmetrical neckline and asymmetrical calf-length hemline. Though Alcina had bought the dress before leaving New York, she’d never had the chance to show it off.

  Now she twirled before the mirror, checking her reflection from different angles.

  “Reed’s eyes are going to pop right out of his head when he sees you in that,” Pru said.

  “You don’t think he’ll be disappointed that I didn’t go the traditional route?”

  “Are you kidding? This is you, Alcina. I can’t imagine you disappointing any man in that dress. As a matter of fact,” Pru teased, “I wouldn’t be surprised if your groom f
alls madly in love today.”

  “From your lips…”

  Pru handed Alcina the small bouquet of cream and yellow roses that she’d fetched from the refrigerator. Remembering that Reed had set a flower in her hair, she pulled a yellow rose from the bunch and worked it into the twisted strands in back.

  “Perfect,” Pru murmured.

  Indeed, Reed appeared to be dazzled when, Pru having preceded her, Alcina stood on the landing of the staircase, alone, sans father. Her having Daddy give her away a second time would be hypocritical…though she really didn’t want to dwell on anything having to do with her first and disastrous marriage today.

  Obviously entranced with her appearance, Reed moved forward to watch her slowly descend the stairs.

  Gathered in the parlor chatting, the guests hushed as if they sensed the moment. Josie and Bart and his two kids, Pru and Chance, Emmett and Felice, Daddy, the Reverend and Mrs. Prescott—all eyes turned toward them.

  Reed took three steps up and held out his hand for her. Alcina placed her fingers in his palm and he quickly surrounded them, giving her a quick squeeze of reassurance. Thrilled by the gesture that Alcina felt went beyond business, she was delighted to let him guide her down to the foyer.

  “I didn’t think you could be more beautiful,” Reed said softly. “I was wrong.”

  Pulse racing, she murmured, “And I didn’t think you could be more handsome.”

  Beneath his black western suit, his white-on-white embroidered shirt was buttoned up to the throat, where a beautiful piece of rose and sage jasper clasped his string tie. A fancy silver buckle decorated his hand-worked leather belt, and he wore a watch whose thick silver band carried the same design. Sharply parted and slicked back, his reddish-brown hair complemented the pleasing symmetry of his face.

  Robert Redford had nothing on him today, Alcina thought as her stomach fluttered alarmingly.

  Reed led her to the parlor, the rose and cream wallpaper glowing with natural light reflected from the snow outside the windows.

  Pru had bought and set up the flowers as a special wedding present, and she’d gone all out, waiting until Alcina had been upstairs in her bath to assemble them. Different-size vases and pots and baskets of blossoms sat on every available surface. The flowers’ sweet scent mingled with that of the cedar burning in the fireplace.

  A setting she would never forget, Alcina thought, a little light-headed with pleasure and anticipation.

  “Please, everyone, sit,” she said, already loving her wedding before the ceremony had even begun.

  For she’d restored and furnished both parlor and dining room herself. A special place for a special event. She didn’t think she could have chosen a more memorable locale, no matter how long she might have had to plan.

  Reed hooked a hand behind her arm and drew her forward, closer to the blazing fire. The only people who remained standing other than the two of them were the Reverend Prescott and their witnesses, Pru and Chance.

  As unconventional as the rest of her plans might be, the words of the ceremony remained timeless.

  And when Reed promised to honor, protect and cherish her, to endow her with all his worldly goods, he sounded so sincere that Alcina couldn’t help but believe that, given time, they would build something deep and true together.

  Reed might not be in love with her—yet—but she knew fascination when she saw it. He couldn’t take his gaze from her face, not even when his brother Chance handed him the ring and Reed slipped the thick gold wedding band onto her finger. Nor when her best friend gave her his ring and Alcina finished the ritual, officially accepting him as her husband.

  “I pronounce you man and wife,” Reverend Prescott said. “You may kiss the bride.”

  Alcina’s heart thundered as Reed slipped his hands around her waist and tugged until she was flat against him. Eyes wide, she noted the tilt of his head, the suggestive sparkle in his eyes, the grin that parted his mouth, which then disappeared from view as it settled over hers.

  She opened to him, her acceptance a promise of things to come. Heat flared in her middle and quickly spread to her extremities, and she feared they were too near the fireplace, that she might go up in a blaze so bright that she would simply burn out and vanish.

  Reed held her tighter and deepened the kiss.

  Until the catcalls began.

  Oohs and aahs.

  A whistle.

  A childish snicker.

  Increasingly aware of their audience, they broke apart, the kiss over too fast for Alcina to savor properly. She felt a flush creep up her neck and noted that Reed’s complexion seemed a bit high, as well.

  Then the guests were out of their seats, surrounding the newlyweds, hugging and kissing the bride, shaking the groom’s hand and slapping him on the back, congratulating him on his good sense for marrying her.

  When Alcina glanced at her new husband—she could hardly believe it—he seemed to be beaming with the same happiness she was feeling.

  Finally, her father enveloped her in a bear hug, kissed her forehead and admonished Reed, “You see that my daughter is happy or else.”

  Reed’s smile tightened and Alcina’s pulse began to thread unevenly.

  But when he said, “I’ll do my best to honor her as she deserves,” emotion flooded her.

  “If you don’t,” Emmett said, moving in on them while ignoring his old partner, “you’ll have a lot to answer for.”

  Alcina felt a strange vibration between father and son, and Reed’s smile died altogether.

  What had just happened?

  Emmett got between her and her father, threw his arms around her and kissed her cheek. “You’re a Quarrels now, girl, just you remember that. Nothing more important than family loyalty and keeping the spread out of—”

  “Pa!”

  Alcina started at Reed’s near shout.

  The old man grumbled and coughed and avoided looking at his son or at her.

  The strained silence was short-lived, however. Felice saw to that. She marched up to her employer and took his arm.

  “Mr. Emmett, perhaps you should sit down until the refreshments are served,” she firmly suggested.

  “All right. You don’t have to pull on me.”

  Alcina raised her eyebrows at how docile Emmett became under Felice’s direction, and she suddenly wondered if there was more than an employer-employee relationship between them. Felice had worked forever for the man who’d been deemed impossible to live with both by three wives and three sons.

  “I’ve already put on the kettle,” Josie announced, coming through the swinging door between kitchen and dining area. She set a tray of finger sandwiches they’d made that morning on the buffet. “Pru and I will take over in the kitchen. We’ll be set with refreshments in about ten minutes.”

  “If you can call them little sandwiches eating,” Emmett grumbled.

  “Ten minutes is long enough for me to take some photos,” Lainey announced.

  As they obliged his niece, Alcina sensed the shift in Reed’s humor. He was less relaxed around her. Tight even, almost as if he was angry about something. Not that she could fathom his change of mood.

  And when he kissed her again, this time it was merely for the camera. None of the delicious heat she’d experienced at the end of the ceremony.

  Disappointed, not understanding what had gone sour, Alcina felt her spirits sink. And by the time Josie called them to the buffet, she had no appetite at all.

  Still, Alcina went through the motions, using an antique silver utensil to transfer the finger sandwiches—roast beef, salmon, egg salad and olive-pecan, which stood in place of the impossible-to-buy watercress. She added a warm scone, strawberry jam and cream to her plate.

  Different varieties of loose tea leaves steeped in three fancy silver serving pots Alcina had bought over the years. She poured herself a cup of Earl Grey.

  Sitting at one end of the table adorned in layers of silk and lace and velvet, set with fine china and cry
stal and silver, Alcina fidgeted. Opposite her new husband, who now appeared a bit down-at-the-mouth, she chafed to be alone with him, to have a private discussion, to find out what in the world was bothering him.

  She wasn’t left to her thoughts for long, however. The table soon filled. Crowded together as they were, the happy guests became rowdy, everyone seemingly talking at once. Not exactly the picture of any formal high tea she’d attended in the past, Alcina thought.

  But nice.

  She found herself relaxing.

  “Eeow, this stuff’s weird!” Lainey suddenly said, dropping half a finger sandwich to her plate.

  Olive-pecan, Alcina noted, lips quivering into a smile as everyone laughed.

  “So you two get married and we get to go on the honeymoon,” Chance said. “Remember we’re leaving for the National Rodeo Finals early Tuesday morning.”

  Where he would compete in the saddle bronc and bareback competitions, Alcina knew.

  “What about you, Josie?” Pru asked. “Have you decided to compete?”

  Josie barrel raced a flaxen-maned sorrel that she had hand-raised. Despite her having only entered a couple of rodeos since arriving in Silver Springs, she’d previously earned enough winnings to be in the top fifteen contestants in the country, so she, too, was eligible for the National.

  “I’m in.”

  “Which means you’ll be shorthanded, Barton,” Emmett muttered.

  “Actually, I might not be around, either,” Bart said. “I got a call this morning from the real estate agent handling the house. Seems that finally we have a serious buyer. If the contract and financing can be worked out fast enough, I may be taking the kids into Albuquerque for a few days, as well.”

  “I can see my friends?” Lainey asked excitedly. “Yay!”

  “If you had any friends,” Daniel said.

  Lainey threatened to poke him with her fork until Felice clucked at her.

  Only Emmett was obviously unhappy. “What are we going to do without you around the spread for days on end?”

  “I think I can manage, Pa,” Reed said dryly. “I have a little experience running a ranch, if you remember.”