“You all right?” Brooks sidled a glance her way.
Keri sighed. “I wish people would quit asking me that.”
He was quiet for a while. His elbows rested on his knees, and the reins dangled loosely from his fingertips. “It’s just that you looked a bit uncomfortable when you were talkin’ to that Peters guy.”
“My ankle was hurting some.” That was the truth, but certainly not the whole of it.
Brooks turned in the seat and snagged her gaze. “If he’s pestering you, you let me know. I’ll take care of him.”
The thought of Brooks Morgan walloping Carl wasn’t altogether unpleasant, and she had no doubt that he could. His shoulders were substantially wider than Carl’s, and she’d felt the strength of his muscles each time he lifted her in and out of the buggy. A tiny smile teased her lips. How odd that this man who’d stolen her home was willing to become her champion.
Brooks stewed on what Peters could have wanted all the way home. Keri was being tight-lipped and not talking, which left him to speculate, although seeing how Peters had her cornered up against the wall, it was obvious what he wanted. Keri.
He wish now that he’d thought to ask Marshal Lane about the man. He had no real reason to dislike him, except for a gut feeling and the way Peters acted around Keri—like he owned her. If she were sole owner of the ranch, he might understand Carl Peters wanting to marry her—so he’d gain a sizeable ranch as well as a mighty pretty gal. But something just didn’t sit right. Peters reminded him of a fox slinking around a henhouse.
Brooks clamped his back teeth together. Why should he care if some man wanted to marry Keri? If someone did, at least he’d get to sleep in his house for once.
But the thought of her marrying someone else rubbed him as raw as old, dried leather. He didn’t like the idea at all.
He felt Keri stiffen beside them as they rode into the ranch yard. A horse was hitched out front, and a man sat reclining in a rocker, holding one of the cups from the kitchen.
Nate paced in front of the house and hurried toward them as soon as he saw them. His cheeks were red from the exertion of his pacing, and his shirt was sweat-stained. “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but Saul Dengler is here.”
“What is that man doing on my land?” Keri lifted the brim of her hat and stared toward the porch, her body rigid.
Her land? Brooks had no idea how he was going to get her to understand the land was his now, but he had worse things to deal with now. “Did he say what he wanted?”
“Nope. Just that he wanted to talk to the owner.”
“Tell him I’ll be right there as soon as I park the wagon.”
“Tell him we’ll both be there.” Keri hiked up her pert little chin, and her expression dared him to disagree.
Brooks exhaled loudly and clucked to the horses, driving them around to the back of the house. Unloading the food supplies would be easier that way, and he’d just as soon not let Dengler know any more of his business than the man already did.
After parking the wagon and helping Keri down, Brooks checked to make sure his gun was loaded, then followed her through the house to the porch. Dengler stood when he saw her and smiled, reminding Brooks of a weasel that had stolen the last hen from the coop. Brooks glanced at Nate and nodded his thanks for keeping an eye on the man. Nate moseyed back toward the barn, but Brooks had a feeling he’d keep his rifle handy in case there was trouble.
“Welcome back, Miss Langston. I trust you had a good time while you were away.”
“There’s no point in polite social talk, Mr. Dengler. Why don’t you just tell us why you’re here?” Keri plastered her hands to her hips and tapped one toe.
“There’s no reason to get in a huff. I’ve come as a neighbor paying a call on another neighbor.”
Brooks stepped in front of Keri. “Friendly neighbors don’t block the downstream flow of a river. You denying that you did that?”
Dengler stroked his short beard and lifted his gray brows. “Which river would that be, Mr.—”
“The one that runs through Raven Creek land. The one that’s nearly dried up, thanks to you.” Brooks mentally forced himself to relax his hands. “And the name is Morgan.”
“Well, Mr. Morgan, just make sure you keep your cattle off my land. I don’t want my Herefords mixing with those scrub cattle of yours.” He glanced at Keri. “Or are they your cattle, Miss Langston?”
“They’re ours,” she responded.
“So.” Dengler glanced down his foxlike nose. “You two are married then?”
Brooks glanced at Keri, growing uneasy with the direction Dengler was leading the conversation. They could throw insults at him all day, but he didn’t want anyone besmirching Keri’s reputation. “That’s none of your concern.”
Dengler’s lips curled up in a vile smirk. “I see how it is.”
Brooks vaulted toward the man, and Keri screeched. He shoved Dengler against the wall, knocking the man’s hat off. “You see nothing. I think it’s time you go.”
Dengler stiffened and glared at Brooks. “Careful, Mr. Morgan. I’m not a man to trifle with.”
“Why are you here?” Brooks growled out, giving the man’s lapels a shake.
“If you’ll release me, I will show you.” Brooks turned loose of the snake, and the man brushed his lapels, then pulled a paper from his vest pocket and held it out. “From what I’ve heard, this goes to you.”
He shook the folded page open and scanned it. A bill of sale. For Raven Creek. For twice what the last offer was. Brooks passed it to Keri. “Why do you want this little piece of land so bad? You’ve already got more than ten times the acreage we have. You couldn’t possibly need this land.”
“Doesn’t matter if I want it or need it.”
“It matters to me.” Brooks tugged the paper away from Keri, wadded it up, and tossed it in the dirt.
Dengler’s jaw worked as if he were struggling to chew up a tough piece of meat. “If that’s the way you want it.” He nodded at Keri and stomped down the porch steps to his horse then turned. “That’s my top offer, and don’t expect to see it again.”
Keri rushed to the porch and placed both hands on the rail. “Our answer is no—today, tomorrow, and next year. And you can expect the marshal to be paying you a visit soon.”
Dengler mounted, and his horse turned toward the road. He reined it back around, his expression dark. “The marshal has no beef with me.”
“No, but I’d bet he’d like to talk to the two men who tried to hang Mr. Morgan, all because he wouldn’t sell Raven Creek.”
Brooks moved up beside her and shushed her. She seared him with a scalding gaze.
“Those men no longer work for me, Miss Langston. I don’t tolerate workers who do what they did.” He tipped his hat. “Good day.”
Brooks’s skin crawled as he watched the man ride away. He had a strong hunch that Dengler had gotten rid of the men who’d tried to hang him—not because of their heinous deeds but because they’d failed to accomplish their mission.
“You shouldn’t goad a man like that, Missy.”
She spun on him and slugged him in the arm. “Stop calling me that. Only Uncle Will and Nate have ever referred to me by that name.”
He grabbed her arms and pulled her close. Her warm breath fanned his face. “What name would you like me to call you?” Sweetheart. Sugar. Honey. That’s what he’d like, but he doubted she’d be too happy. At the alarming thought, he released her suddenly and stepped back, bumping against the porch rail. What had gotten into him?
Keri rubbed her arms. “I suppose since we see each other every day and work together, you might as well call me by my Christian name.”
He grinned, partly because he was glad to have permission to use her real name and partly to hide his confusion over his attraction to her. He’d learned long ago that if he smiled, most folks smiled back and went on about their business and didn’t stick their nose in his.
“Well, the sun’s setting,
and I’d better get something cooking, or we won’t have anything to eat.” Keri shuffled toward the front door.
“And I need to get the wagon unloaded. Don’t want to leave food out overnight, or the critters will get it.” He whistled for Nate, and the man walked out of the barn, followed by Jess. They were good men. He wished they would drop their guard and fully accept him, but he knew he’d have to earn their respect. Maybe bringing home a wagonload of food supplies was a move in the right direction.
Brooks hunkered down and ran to the next bush, hoping to get a better view of the dam Dengler had built. He’d sat there so long, the birds had started chirping again, but suddenly, they stopped. Brooks stiffened and looked over the hill. Had someone seen him and come after him? The grass rustled behind him, and he spun around, falling backwards as he drew his gun. Keri crawled through the brush, and her blue eyes widened when she saw him aiming a gun at her.
“I told you to stay back with the horses,” he hissed. “I nearly shot you.”
“I want to see what’s happening.” She scooted up beside him, and for once, he was thankful she didn’t have a dress on. She rose up and peeked over the ledge. “What did you see?”
Brooks jerked her back down behind cover. “You want to get that pretty head of yours shot off?” he whispered in her ear. His lips touched her skin, sending delicious tingles charging through him.
“You looked.” She didn’t seem affected by his nearness in the least.
“Yeah, but I have my hat on, which shades my face so they can’t see me as well as they can see you.”
“I have a hat too.”
“Yeah, with a bright red ribbon on it.”
She frowned and leaned back against a boulder. “So, what did you see?”
“They’ve blocked off the flow with a bunch of big rocks, then filled it in with dirt, best I can tell. There’s not even a trickle on our side.”
Keri clenched her fist and pulled a face. “Those lowdown skunks.”
Three gunshots rang out in the distance. Brooks shoved Keri down and covered her with his body. If they hadn’t been in danger of getting shot, being out here all cozied up to her would have been a pleasant affair. A horse whinnied, then Brooks heard what sounded like several horses riding away.
“Get off me, you brute.” Keri shoved her elbow in his gut.
“I will, but you stay down.” He peeked up over the top of the ledge and watched three riders as they stirred up a cloud of dust. It looked as if they’d headed in for the night. He rose up a bit higher and searched the area. He’d only seen the three horses earlier, and there were no signs of anyone else. “You can come up now, but keep low.”
“Why thank you, kind sir.”
He grinned and held out his hand. She smacked it aside and shinnied up beside him sticking up her head like a turtle. “I say we come back tonight and dynamite that dam.”
Brooks chuckled at her spunk. “They’d just build it back.”
“And we can blow it up again. It takes a lot less time to demolish a dam than to build one.”
“True, but it’s also a good way to get shot.”
She turned a frown on him. “I suppose you’ve got a better idea.”
He nodded. “I reckon I do. It will assure you of water at all times, and it’s a heap safer than using dynamite.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Three days later, Keri stood on the porch and watched a pair of wagons, each carrying two men and a load of wood and metal, pass by. She’d seen little sign of Brooks the past few days, other than at meals, but had watched him and their hands herd a half dozen cattle down the road the day before yesterday.
She’d poked and prodded to get him to tell her what happened to the cattle, but he just smiled and had said to cook a passel of food for lunch and dinner the next few days. A horse nickered, pulling her gaze to a buggy coming down the lane. Keri shielded her eyes from the glare of the sun and saw Lulu waving as she pulled up to the house.
Smiling, Keri jogged down the steps and tied the horse to the porch rail. “This is a nice surprise.”
Lulu climbed down, lifted out a package wrapped in brown paper, and hurried toward her, enveloping her in a hug. “Miles is coming over to help Brooks and the other men and said I could come for a visit. I thought you might could use some help baking for the men.”
“You have no idea how happy I am to see you. My cooking has improved a lot, but I’m not sure I’m up to cooking for a crew of men, even a small crew. Three is bad enough.”
They shared a laugh, looped arms, and Keri escorted her friend up the steps.
“Here.” Lulu shoved the package at Keri.
“What is it?”
“Open it and find out.” Lulu almost bounced on her tiptoes in her barely contained excitement.
Keri untied the twine and unwrapped the paper, revealing some brown tweed fabric. She unfolded the garment and shook it out, holding it up by the waistband. “A split skirt?”
Lulu nodded. “Yes. Isn’t it a wonderful creation? I’ve been wearing them when I ride astride—well, before I got pregnant. Miles insists I use the buggy for now. I thought you might like to have one of my pairs.”
The garment looked like the lower half of a dress to her, but she didn’t want to hurt her friend’s feelings.
“Don’t look so bewildered. It’s a skirt that’s made rather like a big, loose pair of trousers. It makes riding astride so much easier than in a dress or skirt, but it also allows you the modesty of a female. Now that you’re a woman, Keri, it would be better if you didn’t wear men’s pants.”
Keri turned her back to Lulu so she wouldn’t see her frown. Pants on women weren’t acceptable in polite society and places like town and church, but they were far more practical dress when one lived on the ranch.
“Don’t be upset at me. But there are things you don’t understand about men. I’ve learned about them since I’ve been married.” A becoming blush stole onto her cheeks. “Men like to gawk at women and fantasize about what’s under all those yards of fabric.”
“Lulu! For heaven’s sake.”
Holding up a hand, Lulu continued. “It’s true. God made men different than women. That’s why they stare at us so much. And when you wear pants, there’s nothing left to guess about.”
Keri hadn’t considered that. It was true that her shape was very obvious in the cut of the tight pants she wore, but she’d worn them most of her life and they felt comfortable. Still … she sure didn’t want men looking at her and thinking things they shouldn’t. “Thank you. I’ll consider what you’ve said.” She held her hand out, motioning at a porch rocker. “Have a seat and I’ll take your horse to the barn.”
“Oh no, I can tend him.”
“Sit.” She gently pushed on Lulu’s shoulders. “Jess is out there and can unhitch the buggy and groom your horse. Brooks likes to have a man around the house during the day, for some reason unbeknownst to be me.”
“Oh he does, does he?” Lulu waggled her brows and flashed a wily smile. “Sounds like a man protecting his woman.”
“Lulu! Don’t say such things. It’s nothing like that.”
Ducking her head, a shy grin danced on Lulu’s lips. She peeked up with an ornery grin, her hazel eyes twinkling. “Surely you’ve noticed what a handsome man Mr. Morgan is.”
The words to deny her friend’s comment were on the tip of her lip, but uttering them would be a lie. “Oh, of course I know he’s good looking, but he’s a ninny. Grinning all the time like a kid who snuck a whole pie from his ma’s pantry and ate it all by himself.”
“It’s good for a man to be happy and smile a lot. Miles is that way. Makes for a good marriage.” A pink blush rose up her cheeks.
Keri leaned back against the railing, half embarrassed to confide in her friend. “I had a marriage proposal yesterday.”
Lulu popped up and scooted to the edge of her chair. “Honestly? Do tell. Was it Mr. Morgan?”
Rolling her eyes, Keri sho
ok her head. “No, for heaven’s sake. Why would you think that?”
“I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”
“How?” She hated the way the word came out in an embarrassed giggle.
“Like a man who cares for a woman.”
“No, you’re mistaken. That man doesn’t have a serious bone in his body and only cares about himself.”
“Uh-huh.”
She wagged her finger at her friend. “Don’t uh-huh me.” She stood to go and tend the horse but Lulu grabbed her arm.
“Wait! Don’t leave me wondering. I’ll just die of curiosity, and then poor Miles would be a widower. Who asked you to marry him?”
Now she wished she hadn’t said anything, but then again, what would it hurt to talk to a friend about the situation? She needed another person’s perspective. “It’s Carl Peters.”
Lulu rested her hands in her lap and worry crinkled her brow. “I thought he repulsed you. Have things changed?”
Staring down at her boot tips, Keri blew out a sigh. “Many things have changed, but not how I feel for Carl.”
“I don’t understand.” Lulu rose and came to stand beside her. “If you still don’t care for the man, how could you consider marrying him?”
Turning to face away from the house, Keri grasped hold of the railing as if were a tether, holding her in place. “It’s a bit of a thorny situation.”
Lulu placed her hand over Keri’s. “I’m a good listener, if you need someone to talk to.”
Raw emotions swirled through her, and she fought to maintain control, but her eyes burned and tears ran down her cheeks. “Oh, Lulu. I don’t know what to do. Uncle Will lost the ranch to Mr. Morgan in a card game. I came home from school expecting for things to go back to the way they used to be, and found Uncle Will dead and my home lost to a charming stranger with a huge, irritating grin.”
Patting Keri’s back, Lulu cooed words of encouragement. “It’s not all bad. Mr. Morgan must be letting you stay in the house.”
“That’s true, but what happens when he gets tired of sleeping with the men and decides he wants to live in the house he owns?”
End of the Trail Page 11