by Ginna Gray
Lying motionless, she stared at the fire through the glass in the stove door. Zach couldn't have made his feelings clearer if he had spelled them out on a marquee: he wasn't interested.
Oh, he wasn't adverse to a roll in the hay when the opportunity presented itself. After all, he was a man. That didn't mean his emotions were involved. Men didn't necessarily equate sex and love. She might be a novice when it came to romance and male/female relations, but she'd spent her life almost exclusively among men. She'd overheard them talking enough to know that much.
Zach certainly wasn't interested in any sort of serious or permanent relationship. Not with her.
It shouldn't matter. In fact, she ought to be delighted, but the truth was, she wasn't. His rejection hurt.
Willa's eyes filled with tears. It was time to admit the truth, she thought dejectedly. At least to herself. Like it or not, welcomed or not, her feelings toward Zach had changed dramatically.
For two months, ever since that cold February night in the barn when he had kissed her, she had been restless and edgy, filled with a vague hunger that seemed to grow more insistent with every passing day. At first she had adamantly refused to admit that the encounter with Zach had been the cause, or that it had affected her at all. She simply had a bad case of spring fever, she'd told herself. It would pass.
However, instead of fading, the raw nerves and undefined yearnings had intensified. They tugged at her constantly, haunted her dreams, distracted her at the most inopportune times, made her feel vulnerable and desperate.
She'd tried to deny the feelings, tried to banish them by constantly whipping up her anger against Zach, but that ploy had failed miserably.
Now she realized that his kiss had stirred slumbering passions in her that, once awakened, would not be pushed aside.
Ever since that night, she'd wanted to feel his lips on hers again, wanted to experience that exquisite, heart-stopping pleasure. She'd buried those yearnings deep and had refused to acknowledge them. Until now … when it was too late.
A tear spilled from the corner of her eye and soaked into the mattress. A sad, wry smile twitched the corner of her mouth. What a fool she'd been all these months.
Like an idiot, she'd told Zach about Lennie's stupid suspicions, and now any chance of him developing feelings for her was lost.
* * *
Long after Willa had drifted off to sleep Zach lay awake, staring into the semidarkness, his mind and heart in turmoil. The more he thought about what she'd told him the more convinced he was that it was true. That cantankerous old devil had set them up.
Oh, he'd been clever about it. He'd made J.T. and Matt beneficiaries, as well, so his scheme wouldn't be obvious.
Zach thought about the private detective's report he'd found in Seamus's file cabinet. It had contained a thorough dossier on each of them, including the most private details of his and his brothers' lives. The report had been dated three months after their first visit to the ranch. Had the discovery that one of his grandsons was single prompted the old man to hatch the scheme? Zach's mouth twisted. How convenient for him.
In her sleep, Willa made a small sound and shifted closer. The move put her enticing little bottom into firm contact with the fly on Zach's jeans. He nearly groaned when she wiggled into a more comfortable position, rubbing innocently against him.
In the faint light from the fire he studied the curve of her cheek, the delicacy of her eyelids and the way her lashes lay like lush ebony fans against her white skin. Gently, so as not to wake her, he tucked a loose tendril of hair behind her ear.
The hell of it was, he cared for Willa. She had become important to him in ways he could never have imagined. Each morning when he got up, the knowledge that she would be there made his day seem brighter. He looked forward to seeing her across the table from him at mealtime. Having her with him while they worked around the ranch, no matter how prickly she was, gave him an odd feeling of contentment. He like the way she looked, the sound of her voice, her laugh, the way she walked. He liked everything about her, even that fiery temper.
Just when he'd found a woman who meant the world to him, he finds out the old man had handpicked her for him. Just the thought of it made Zach see red. Damn you, Seamus, he raged silently.
The sly old coot had set a trap, and like an idiot he'd walked into it. But he wasn't about to take the bait.
* * *
Willa awoke alone the next morning. The fire had been stoked and was blazing brightly and a pot of coffee boiled on the stove. Zach's coat and slicker were gone, and she assumed he was seeing to the horses. Jumping out of bed, she made a dash for the chamber pot and sent up a prayer he would not return for a few minutes longer.
Twenty minutes later the door opened and he came in carrying another load of wood. He gave her a quick look and a muttered, "Morning," and went to the woodbox and dumped the split logs.
She polished off the leftover biscuit she was eating and washed it down with a swig of coffee before returning the terse greeting.
"That storm must have been just a freak weather system moving through," he announced as he straightened and dusted off his palms. "It stopped snowing around midnight, and now it's sunny and mild out there. The snow is melting fast. While you finish eating and tidy up, I'll go saddle the horses."
"We're leaving?" She had thought that they would probably be stuck there for at least another day or two. Not that she was complaining. The prospect of another day and night alone with Zach was painful to contemplate.
"Yeah. It'll be rough going in spots, but it should get easier the lower we go. The heaviest snowfall was above seven thousand feet. Besides, there's probably a search party out looking for us already. So get a move on."
Normally Willa would have bristled at his tone, but she was distracted by a stab of guilt. Until that moment she hadn't given a thought to how distressed the folks back at the ranch must be. Kate, in particular, would be worried sick about Zach.
They rode single file with Zach leading the way. The temperature had climbed into the high sixties, and the snow was mushy and wet and melting into little rivulets everywhere. Though the horses plowed easily through the rotten snow, Zach kept a slow pace, keeping a sharp eye out, knowing the slightest misstep could be disastrous.
An hour out, and barely a quarter of the way down the mountain they came around a bend and met the search party coming up the trail from the opposite direction. The group consisted of three of their oldest hands, and Zach's brothers.
"Zach!" J.T. called the instant he spotted them, and spurred his horse forward. "Man, are we ever glad to see you, bro." His gaze darted behind Zach to Willa, and his grin widened. "And you found Willa. Thank God for that."
"Are you two okay? Either of you hurt?" Matt demanded as he and the others reached them. They crowded around, adding their own words of relief.
"We're fine. We found the line camp before dark and spent the night there."
Matt's face remained stern but the relief in his eyes was obvious. "Girl, you scared us all witless," he barked, only to relent a second later, his hard mouth stretching into one of his rare smiles. "But it sure is good to have you back safe and sound. Just don't pull another stunt like this again. Okay?"
"I won't. I promise." She was stunned and amazed by the brothers' concern. She had expected them to be worried about Zach, but not her.
When they arrived at the ranch she was even more surprised by the greeting she received from Kate and Maude Ann. Amid tears and murmurs of heartfelt relief, the two woman and Maria crowded around her the instant she dismounted and hugged her fiercely.
"Oh, Willa, we've been so worried. Thank heaven, you're all right," Maude Ann declared.
"I don't think any of us slept a wink last night," Kate added. "But I knew if anyone could find you in that storm it would be Zach."
The children attacked her en masse, wrapping their arms around her waist and legs and clinging so tight she couldn't move. When they finally released her
, Pete stepped up.
He scowled and squirted a stream of tobacco juice into the dirt. "I oughta turn you over my knee, that's what I oughta do. Scarin' an old man thata way." Then he snatched her against his chest and hugged her tight, his gnarled hands clutching her as though he'd never let go.
"Willa. Oh, thank God."
She turned, and her eyes widened. "Edward. I didn't expect to see you here. Don't tell me they called you."
"No, no one called me. Although, I wish they had. I arrived this morning shortly after the search party left. When I learned what had happened my heart nearly stopped." He grasped her upper arms and inspected her. "Are you okay?"
Willa knew she must look as though she'd been jerked through a knothole backward after the past forty-eight hours, especially to someone as fastidious as Edward, but she smiled and shook her head. "Yes, I'm fine. But thanks for asking."
"Good. I've been pacing the floor for the past four hours. We all have." He looked at Matt and J.T. "Your wives filled me in on what else has been going on. Have you told them yet?"
Zach was instantly alert. "Told us what?"
"No, not yet," J.T. replied, looking uncomfortable.
Matt scowled. "We were going to give them a chance to relax and recover before we unloaded that on them. Thanks a lot."
"Oh. Sorry … I didn't realize—"
"All right, somebody tell me what's happened. Now."
"We got trouble, Zach." Matt said in a somber voice. "While you were gone yesterday someone shot our best bull and gutted him like a fish."
* * *
Chapter 10
« ^ »
The senseless attacks continued with no letup. A week after the storm, someone dynamited the stock tank that Willa and the men had repaired earlier in the spring. Ten days after that, Zach, Matt, J.T. and the rest of the men returned one evening to find every tire on every vehicle in the ranch yard slashed. Three weeks later, someone spray-painted a satanic symbol on the side of the barn.
As spring gave way to summer the vandalism began occurring more frequently. More troublesome, the acts, and the notes that were often found nearby, had begun to take on sinister overtones.
Cattle were slaughtered and left in the pastures to rot. Others were mutilated pitifully and in so much pain they had to be put down.
One morning, about to leave on a shopping trip to Bozeman, Maude Ann and the kids discovered one of the barn cats had been killed and left out on the windshield of her van. On the front seat was a note warning that one of them could be next.
After that incident, Zach, with the wholehearted support of Matt and J.T., issued orders that the women and children were not to go anywhere alone, not even into Clear Water for groceries. Wherever Willa worked on the ranch she was to be in the company of at least two men at all times.
The instant the edicts were issued Zach glanced at Willa. "Any objections?"
That he had expected her to balk at the restriction was obvious, and she admitted to herself that as little as two months earlier she would have done so automatically, simply to oppose him. Abashed, she shook her head. "No. It makes sense. Whoever is doing this is obviously unbalanced. I'm not anxious to be his next victim."
That earned her a long, considering look from Zach and almost comical, stupefied stares from everyone else sitting around the table.
All of the attacks near the house had taken place while the men and Sadie, the dog, were working miles away. Pete spent his days in and around the barn, but the old man was hard of hearing and too frail to be of much protection for the women, so Zach assigned two men, armed with rifles, to remain at the ranch headquarters every day and to patrol the grounds.
After the first animal was discovered butchered they all feared for Sadie, who had recently whelped a litter of six, so Zach moved the dog and her pups into the house, much to the delight of the children.
After each incident the sheriff was called. He spent hours at the ranch, going over the sites and conferring with the men, particularly Matt, but they had no leads, other than the notes torn from a spiral notebook, which Matt had saved as evidence.
A feeling of uneasiness permeated the ranch and everyone on it. You could see it on the somber faces of the men, the way everyone constantly looked over their shoulder and scanned the area around them everywhere they went.
It was standard procedure for every man to carry a rifle in his scabbard while out on the range. In the high country you never knew when you'd run across a cougar or rattlesnake or some other unfriendly critter. Also, if an injury occurred you could fire the gun to signal for help. Now, however, the men had started strapping on handguns, too. The cowboys looked like an armed posse out of a Western movie, Willa thought wryly.
The precautions made no difference. The attacks continued with more frequency than ever. A watering hole was poisoned and the vet had to be called out when over thirty head of cattle sickened. An unusual number of horses turned up lame, the result of blows to the legs. A prime pasture was set on fire, and Zach and the men battled the blaze for over thirty hours. They were staggering with exhaustion by the time they finally put it out.
Zach was furious, and though he did not say so, he was worried, as well. So were his brothers. They discussed sending the women and children away until whoever was responsible was caught, but Maude Ann and Kate flatly refused to budge.
"Forget it. There is no way I am leaving you, J.T.," Kate declared. "Anyway, Willa can't leave. If she does you all lose the ranch."
"That's right. And if she stays, Kate and I stay, too. We won't leave her alone here with no women for moral support. Besides, the ranch is our home now, and that creep isn't going to run us off of it," Maude Ann added.
The men argued and pleaded. Matt and J.T. even tried issuing ultimatums, but Kate and Maude Ann stood firm, and in the end their husbands had to accept defeat.
Since the night of the storm, Willa's feelings had changed, not only toward Zach, but toward his family, as well. The concern his brothers and sisters-in-law had shown for her safety when she and Zach returned after the storm had disarmed her, and once she lowered her guard and her prickly hostility began to fade she started to see all of them differently.
Gradually, Willa discovered that she truly liked both women.
Maude Ann, a born earth mother, was warm and open and utterly natural. Kate, though a bit more reserved, was friendly and pleasant and just as congenial.
Willa was still cautious and reserved around the brothers, but after months of listening to their conversations she began to understand how the events of their lives had shaped them into the men they were.
There was Matt, the former police detective, with his penchant for rules and order and doing what was right. On the outside Matt appeared stern and unapproachable, but Willa had witnessed his gruff tenderness with the children numerous times, and she had come to realize that behind the stern facade was an old softie.
J.T. was a charmer. His quick grin and easy banter made him appear a lightweight, but that breezy manner hid a keen intellect and a kind heart. Willa suspected the devil-may-care attitude, like Matt's penchant for order and constancy, was J.T.'s way of dealing with the pain of loss.
Then there was Zach – the strong, silent type, a stoic loner who carefully guarded his feelings. He was a difficult man to get to know, but Willa had learned enough about him to realize that Zach was a man of bedrock-solid ethics and morals, a man whom a woman could trust with her life – and her heart – if she could ever break through that protective wall he'd built around himself.
Of course, in her case, she admitted with a dejected sigh, even if she could manage to do that, he would probably still reject her, thanks to Seamus and his scheming.
Intellectually, Willa knew it was for the best. Neither she nor Zach would allow themselves to become Seamus's puppet. However, that message had not yet gotten through to her heart, or her body.
Whenever she and Zach were in the same room the air still hummed with
a sizzling awareness that seemed to grow stronger with each passing day. Sparks of electricity arched between them if they accidentally touched, and when their gazes happened to meet, the dark emotions swirling in his eyes made her weak in the knees.
Beyond those brief, isolated moments, though, Zach was so preoccupied with the troubles that Willa doubted he gave her more than a passing thought when he wasn't around her.
Unfortunately, she couldn't stop thinking about him. He occupied her mind nearly every moment of the day and she dreamed of him almost nightly. In her mind she relived that kiss in front of the fire over and over. She thought often about how wonderful it had felt to sleep in his arms, to cuddle next to that big, warm body.
During mealtimes or whenever Willa worked in Zach's vicinity, her gaze was drawn to him like a moth to a flame. And each time her heart did a crazy little dance.
The reaction made her feel foolish and lovesick, but she couldn't stop herself. He was so utterly masculine, at times just watching him walk across the ranch yard with that rangy, loose-limbed stride caused her to catch her breath.
One evening after dinner, when she spotted him in the main corral working with Satan, she couldn't resist strolling over to watch. The Dolans and the Conways and all the children were already there, and some of the hands had gathered to watch, as well.
Zach did not attempt to saddle the stallion or ride him. He didn't even put a bridle on the animal. He merely stood in the middle of the circular corral while Satan trotted nervously around the perimeter, ears back and eyes wild with hate and distrust. Zach merely turned slowly in place, keeping the enraged stallion in sight at all times, talking to him in a soft, calming voice while he gently tossed a soft rope made of loosely braided cotton rags over the horse's back and pulled it back. He repeated the action again and again, letting the animal grow accustomed to the touch and the sound of his voice.