Whispers of the Heart

by Woster, Barbara

  “It’s not required, is it? I mean, we don’t have to go if we don’t want to, right?”

  “Absolutely not, Miss Chloe,” Dalian said, “however for those who do want to go, we’ll be leaving later this morning, so after breakfast, we’ll meet up and go over the preparations needed for an extended stay away from the ranch. If you don’t have what you need, don’t fret over much. I’ll see to it that you get it. Okay?”

  Everyone nodded in unison. “Good. Anyone besides Miss Chloe planning to stay behind?” Dalian held his breath in hopes that Kat didn’t raise her hand. He let it go when she didn’t; however, he was surprised to see two men raise their hands. In all his years running the dude ranch, he never encountered a man that didn’t want to go out on the range. That’s why they came to a dude ranch, after all – to play the part of a cowboy. “Okay, appears most everyone else is going to brave the trip, so for now, enjoy your breakfast; and meet me next to the barn in an hour,” Dalian took his place in the breakfast line. He looked over to where Chloe was busily bending Kat’s ear about whatever women talked about and again breathed a sigh of thanks that she’d decided to go, and that Chloe decided to remain behind. That meant he could focus his attentions on Kat without all of Chloe’s irritating interruptions. He hadn’t known Kat but a week, but something about her sent his senses haywire. He knew she was attracted to him as well, but for some reason, expressing herself wasn’t something she cared to do. He’d love to know why. He’d also love the time to find a way to break down those barriers he perceived surrounded her.

  Marsha came into the room bearing a fresh pot of coffee and he sighed. He was especially thankful that Marsha wouldn’t be going. She was even worse than Chloe about her intentions. His eyes widened slightly when he saw that she was heading in his direction.

  “Dalian. Good morning,” Marsha’s tone was just barely pleasant, which meant she hadn’t gotten over his perceived snub yesterday. “Mrs. Guthrie said to tell you that everything will be ready in less than an hour.”

  “Thank you, Marsha,” Dalian said. “Please inform her that Chloe, Cal, and Max won’t be accompanying us, so arrangements will need to be made for their meals while we’re gone.”

  “Oh, well, I was kind of hoping that I could...”

  “No!” Dalian interrupted. “Employees don’t go on drives, just hands; and since Mrs. Guthrie hired you to work here, that makes you an employee. Sorry.”

  “No you’re not, Dalian,” Marsha whispered. “You know something? You’re a real jackass,” she said, wanting everyone to hear, but knowing that it wouldn’t be wise.

  Dalian’s gaze narrowed and he lowered his head so that only she would hear, “A jackass, Marsha? Why? Because I won’t fall into your daddy’s trap? No! Don’t say another word! You’ve said quite enough, and I’ve tolerated your antics long enough, but I will say this,” he grasped her by the elbow and led her from the room. She wanted to pull away, but her humiliation would be too great, so she went along meekly. He pulled her far enough into the foyer, so he could be certain the guests wouldn’t hear. “I’ve put up with your pursuit for longer than I should have, young lady, so we’re going to put a stop to it once and for all. Understand me?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Marsha said sullenly. “I can’t help it if I love. ...”

  “Stop it, ya hear!” Dalian snapped, his temper threatening to break. “Damn it, girl! I know what’s going on. Does your dad really believe I’m some naive school kid without a lick of sense? Don’t you think that at my age, I wouldn’t know a genuine attraction when I ran across it; that I don’t know that your attentions are all just an act? Now, I’m telling you straight – I’m not interested in you that way. To me, you’re just a kid, and I don’t mess with kids. And if that ain’t plain enough, then I’ll put it this way – leave me the hell alone and tell your daddy to do the same. If you want to keep working here, I don’t give a rat’s behind, but I’ll fire your ass if you keep acting like a lovesick puppy. Is that plain enough for you, Marsha?”

  “It’s that Kathryn McMurray isn’t it?” Marsha sniffled dramatically. “She’s taking you away from me...”

  Dalian grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, then shoved her away from him. He closed his eyes and counted to ten as his frustration mounted, then took several slow, deep cleansing breaths. When he opened his eyes, Marsha was watching him warily.

  “You’ve been duly warned,” he whispered, and then turned and walked back into the dining room.

  “I told you, Dad,” Marsha whispered, swiping the tears from her eyes. “I made one final attempt to get him to look at me, but he just ain’t interested. I only hope you forget about plan B.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Why didn’t you go on the drive?

  “I couldn’t.” The whispered reply shied away from the rebuke.

  It would have been fun, and you know I like to have fun. But you knew I’d pressure you into going, which is why you didn’t give me a hint of your intentions until they’d ridden out, you coward! You are weak and I’m sick of having to keep thinking for you, keep taking action for you. You used to enjoy life with me, now you seem to be fighting me every step of the way.

  “I’m not weak, and I’m not a coward.” It was a feeble attempt at a self-confident rebuttal. “I’m just tired of playing your games, is all, and this time we don’t have a chance of winning. You can see that, can’t you? We aren’t going to ensnare this one.”

  You should know after all of these years that I get what I want and it’s pointless to try to stop me. You have become a weak, pathetic, mewling excuse for a human being, but you’d better be prepared to step up when they get back from the drive, or I may just have to beat you into submission.

  “That won’t be necessary. I’ll be ready, I promise. Just tell me what you need me to do.”

  I always do.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Kat met the pseudo-drive as she did everything else in her life. It didn’t matter if she was good at it or not, she enjoyed herself to the fullest and tried her hardest; however, as with the lassoing, she seemed to lack the proficiency, which was just slightly frustrating. And frustration seemed counter to her objective to relax and unwind during her stay here.

  Of course relaxing would be a heck of a lot easier if Dalian Rivers didn’t make her so tense. Not that he was rude or horribly aggressive in his attentions – that she could handle or even possibly ignore. No. Dalian Rivers was kind, generous, charming, witty, and helpful to a fault...and she wished to high-heaven that he wasn’t.

  He was also laughing at her – again.

  “Need help?” He asked, watching her struggle with her equipment. They were supposed to leave soon, and she still hadn’t loaded everything onto her horse. Dalian had demonstrated the proper method, and she knew she wasn’t a slow learner – she just couldn’t fathom why her stuff didn’t stay on her horse the way his did.

  “Not at all, thank you.” Kat shifted away, trying to ignore his closeness.

  “Well, we’re heading out in ten minutes,” Dalian said, grinning, “so...”

  “I’ll be ready!” Kat interrupted, knitting her brow as she concentrated on tying down her bedroll on the horse’s rump.

  “Don’t forget to tie that like I showed...”

  “Do you mind?” She snapped around like a cobra ready to strike.

  Dalian grinned at the scorching look she gave him. She was also close enough to him that if he wanted to steal a kiss, he could – with only a slight tilt to his head. He grinned as her gaze widened – as if she’d read his thoughts. Or was it that she only just realized that by turning, she was closer to him than she wanted to be.

  Her complexion reddened. His grin turned into a teeth-bearing smile and he leaned in closer, “You’re in a whole heap o’ trouble, woman,” he said, his breath caressing her skin like a lover’s touch.

  Her eyes fluttered closed, and she tried desperately to steady her runaway p
ulse, “Please, Dalian,” she said softly, keeping her eyes closed.

  “Please, what, Kat?” Dalian whispered next to her lips. He literally felt her nerves jump as her eyes flew open.

  “Are you two going to sit there making gaga eyes at each other all morning, or are we going to head out soon?” One of the other guests asked, laughing.

  Dalian laughed and took a step back from Kat, “Sorry, Jason. I guess I just have a hard time keeping away from Miss McMurray.”

  “Can’t say as I blame you,” Jason grinned, and then laughed when Kat muttered something unintelligible beneath her breath. She turned in a huff and started working on her supplies again.

  “Sorry, Kat,” Dalian said, taking the rope from her hand, “but it’s time to head out, so I’m going to have to make these adjustments for you. Watch what I do, and before long you’ll be a real pro.” Within minutes, Dalian had all of her gear tied down, much to Kat’s chagrin. He turned and held out a hand, but Kat merely stood staring at it.

  “I’ll help you mount, and before you object,” he said quickly, “we really need to get going.”

  “You’re enjoying the hell out of this, aren’t you?” Kat snapped.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Dalian said, tenting his fingers for her to use as a stepladder. He hefted her into the saddle and then stood until she glanced down at him. “I’m enjoying this a whole hell of a lot.” He laughed, and then turned and quickly mounted his own horse. “The cattle we’re going to be herding are waiting for us in the north pasture, so everyone just follow me and we’ll get this show on the road.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  They were into their second evening on the range, when Dalian approached the campsite on horseback. “We have a calf that’s gotten separated from its momma. Anyone up to trying to rope it and bring it back into the fold?” What he didn’t say was that he had ranch hands following nearby that deliberately removed the calf from its momma and separated it from the herd, specifically as a way of giving the guests the opportunity to test their skills. It was something that they would do many times over the next couple of days until every person had participated in roping. He didn’t mention any of that to them though, because he didn’t want to ruin the fun, which it would if they knew it was all staged, so to the group he said, “Don’t worry if you don’t get a chance right now. There will be plenty of cattle that go wandering during this week, so everyone will have at least one chance of bringing home a stray.”

  Four of the men stood, ready to tackle the challenge, but as soon as Kat stood too they started to sit back down.

  “Ladies should have first crack at it,” one of them said at her look of confusion. She blushed and murmured a quick thank you, and then headed over to where she’d tied down her horse. She saddled the docile mare, collected her rope, and then used a nearby stump to help her mount. She gave her gear a once-over, and as soon as she was certain she was prepared, she rode over to where Dalian was patiently waiting.

  “This will be good for you, since it’s just a calf, but if you get into trouble I’ll be nearby, okay?” Dalian’s tone was professional, which put Kat at ease. She nodded, and then pulled on her reins, turning the horse to follow Dalian out of camp.

  It wasn’t until after they topped a small rise that she realized that she and Dalian were away from camp, and very much alone. She glanced over at him, half-expecting that he would wriggle his eyebrows absurdly like the villains used to do in 1920’s silent movies, but he seemed extremely focused. She realized then that he took his job at protecting the herd very seriously.

  “There it is,” he said after a moment, pointing to an opening between some bushes. He looked at Kat, but there was none of the desire or teasing that usually filled his gaze. “Think you got this?”

  “We’ll find out.” Kat slid from the saddle, collected her lasso, and slowly walked toward the calf, careful not to startle it into running. She started spinning the rope out in front of her, and as before, felt confident when it didn’t droop. She lifted it over her head and almost stopped the momentum when memories flooded of the last time she’d been doing this so close to Dalian. She ended up lassoing herself. She forced herself to concentrate only on the calf. When she was certain she was close enough and her aim was true, she let the lasso go. She held her breath and waited as it soared through the air the short distance to the calf, then let out a whoop and a holler when it landed over his head. With a quick tug, the lasso tightened.

  Her shout of victory and the sudden tug on the lasso, startled the calf, and it bolted, nearly yanking Kat from her feet. She took off at a run after it, wrapping the end of the rope around her hand and elbow as she’d been shown, to provide needed leverage. When she was certain she wouldn’t lose her grip, she stopped dead and dug in her heels, leaned back, and pulled with all of her might.

  She would have toppled onto her face if Dalian hadn’t suddenly appeared behind her, leaned around her, and grabbed hold of the rope. “We’ve got this,” he encouraged. “Now lean back with me and pull.” Together, they tugged. Dalian slowly wrapped the rope around his arm, as slack permitted, until the calf appeared around a bush. Its struggle lessened, but it still objected to them pulling it in a direction opposite to its will. Kat was leaning so far back, that when the calf started moving toward them, instead of fighting against them, she fell completely against Dalian.

  “Whoa, I’ve got ya,” he laughed, releasing one hand from the rope, and wrapping it about her abdomen. He pulled until she was standing upright again – and flush up against him. “There you go. Steady footing again,” he said, then returned his hand to the rope; his focus again on the calf. When the baby was standing next to them, Dalian lifted his arm, raised the rope above Kat’s head, and stepped around her. He knelt down next to the calf and stroked its neck, “Let’s see about getting you back to your momma, shall we, little one?” He murmured soothingly. Kat felt her heart melt over his gentle caring tone.

  He stood suddenly, startling her, “Let’s get this baby back. Sun’s going down and we want to get back to camp before nightfall. It tends to get dark fast around these parts.”

  Kat nodded and turned to follow him to the horses. He attached the lead rope to his horse’s pommel and then mounted. As soon as he was certain that Kat was saddled and ready to go, he tugged on his reins and headed back to camp.

  Kat kept her gaze pinned on his back, suddenly intrigued with Dalian Rivers. During the whole episode with the calf, even when she found herself so close in proximity to his body, he hadn’t once flirted or pursued. His attention had remained focused on the safety of the calf. Even his tone when assisting her, while playful, was professional. She looked down at the calf, following faithfully alongside Dalian’s horse, a feeling sweeping over her that she’d be willing to follow him anywhere, just like this baby. It was a feeling that startled her and angered her slightly, because she’d never once felt that loyal to Robert.

  Although she’d enjoyed being married to him – her best friend – he didn’t elicit feelings of ardor and devotion. Because of that, she often ruminated, as she was doing now, about their relationship; however, right now her reflections were questioning why this near stranger stirred feeling within her that Robert never did?

  By the time they entered camp fifteen minutes later, she was no closer to solving the riddle of Dalian Rivers’s magnetism, but the sound of applause distracted her and she felt relieved to be back among the other guests.

  Dalian raised his hands to silent the noise. When all was quiet, he addressed his guests, “Remember, we need to keep our noise down, or we’ll be chasing after cattle all night.” The guests laughed softly, and then Dalian continued, “Kat did herself proud. Wrangled the calf all by herself – well, for the most part.”

  “If it weren’t for Dalian’s timely assistance,” Kat interjected, “I would have come back needing a bath. That calf was a mighty strong opponent considering how young it was.”

  “You still did a fine job for bei
ng a petite miss,” Dalian said, tipping his hat. “I’ll just take this baby over to the herd. You get yourself settled by the fire.”

  Kat nodded, and then led her horse back to where she’d tied it down earlier. She removed her saddle, gave the animal a quick brush down, and then made her way back to camp. The sun had set rapidly, and everyone was already preparing to bed down for the night. She didn’t blame them. Although their task each day was simply to ride alongside the cattle to keep them from straying, it wasn’t as easy as it looked. Keeping constant vigil was exhausting. If any one person let their guard down, one of the cows could get away from the herd and end up injured, or a predator could attack it. Moreover, there was the risk of one of the horses stepping in a prairie dog hole or other rut in the ground if the rider didn’t remain alert, which could lame the mount. That was why one of the ranch hands followed nearby, a supply of horses at the ready.

  Having to remain hyper-alert was more exhausting than Kat ever imagined it could be, so when she finally settled onto her bedroll next to the fire, she was more than ready to go to sleep with the sun.

  She lie down and gazed up at the stars, enthralled at the beauty. It was something she rarely witnessed back East, where the pollution generated tended to obliterate sight of the night sky. She hadn’t seen the stars in so long that she’d forgotten how beautiful the night sky could be. She recalled her mother telling her that ancient astronomers divided the stars into named groups, like the Big Dipper, but she’d only seen samples of these groupings in her encyclopedia. Now, try as she might, she couldn’t distinguish any of the groupings she’d studied long ago, so she rolled over onto her side and thought about her earlier roping experience with the calf.