Arizona Temptress

by Smith, Bobbi

  “It was just such a shock at first. I’m all right now.” She smiled up at him bravely and then stepped away to shed her gown and pull on her riding clothes.

  A few minutes later, they left her room and headed for the dining room. Jake and Chica were already there, but Todd had not yet made an appearance.

  “Good morning.” He greeted them brightly.

  “Morning, Jake, Chica,” Rick returned and then, deciding to dispense with the pleasantries, he asked, “Have either one of you seen Lucia this morning?”

  “No, why?” Chica wondered quickly what Lucia had done for she knew the other woman’s feeling about returning home.

  “That’s what I was afraid of. Some time during the night, she disappeared.”

  “What?”

  “Her bed wasn’t slept in,” Rick told them.

  “Have you checked on Pablo yet, Jake?” Jennie asked.

  “No. Not yet.”

  “Then I think we’d better make sure he’s still there.”

  “Do you think Lucia might have wanted him with her?”

  “As cunning as she is, I wouldn’t put anything past her.”

  “Let’s go then.” Jake was on his feet and heading for the front door. As he passed the gun case, he cursed long and loud. “She took some guns with her. It looks like two rifles and two sidearms.”

  With that news, they did hurry, and they were not surprised to discover that Pablo was indeed gone.

  “We’d better check on the horses. I’m sure they didn’t walk out of here.”

  One of the hands met them as they were approaching the stables.

  “Jake, there are two mounts missing.”

  “Out of the stable or corral?”

  “The stable.”

  “Thanks. We had a feeling that there might be. Get our horses ready for us. We’ll be riding out in the next half hour,” Jake instructed.

  “Yes, sir.” He hurried away.

  “I guess we’ll have to track them. I don’t know if they’d head for Mesa Roja or not.”

  As they started back toward the house, Chica finally spoke: “I can probably tell you what’s on her mind.”

  “Please do, Chica. It may help us to find them.”

  “I think they would go to town. Knowing Malo, if he’s alive, he might be there, and she is probably trying to find him.”

  “But why? After all the things he’s done to her?”

  “Who knows? Lucia is not happy with a normal life. If she was she’d be going home with me.”

  “Then as soon as we’re ready, we’ll try to pick up their trail in that direction. Do you mind waiting another few days before you go home?”

  “No. I am most comfortable here, and you’ve been very gracious.”

  “Good. We’d better wake Pa and tell him what’s happened,” Jennie remarked. “In fact, I wonder why he isn’t up yet. It isn’t like him to stay in bed so long.”

  They reentered the house, and while Jake and Rick went to get their guns ready, Chica went back to her room and Jennie went to awaken Pa, knocking loudly on the door to the master suite.

  “Pa! We need to talk with you right away.”

  When there was no gruff reply as she expected, she knocked again.

  Hildago woke at the sound of Jennie’s call and she hurried to answer the door. “Jennie? Is there a problem?”

  “Yes, is Pa up?”

  “No. I mean yes, but he is gone.”

  “Gone?” Jennie could not imagine where he could be at this time of the morning.

  “Yes, he left last night after you’d gone to bed. He’d received a letter while you were gone from an old friend who was in town, and he went to see him,” she lied, uneasily.

  “Last night? That late?” Hildago’s story didn’t ring true, but Jennie had little time to worry about it now. They had to start tracking Pablo or they would never be able to find him.

  Hildago shrugged. “I told him to wait’til daylight, but he was anxious to go. What is the trouble? Maybe I can help?”

  “Some time during the night, Lucia stole some horses and guns and freed Pablo. They’re both gone.”

  “Oh, no”

  “Chica seems to think that they might have headed to town to try to locate Malo, so we’re going to try to track them.”

  “Well, watch for your father. He told me he would be back early.”

  “I will, but if we should happen to miss him, tell him what’s happened and where we’ve gone.”

  “Who’s going with you?”

  “So far, Jake, Rick, and me, although Jake will probably get a few of the hands to ride along, just in case.”

  “You be careful,” she admonished, and for the first time that morning, Jennie realized how tired the older woman looked.

  “Are you feeling all right?” she asked, concerned.

  “Of course. I’m just a little tired after all the excitement yesterday, and then Mac’s leaving at such an odd hour.” Hildago smiled softly at her interest, but there was still a sadness reflected in her eyes that Jennie didn’t understand.

  “You’re sure?”

  “Of course, you go on. I’m just going to rest until Mac returns.”

  “All right,” she said, anxious that they should be on their way. “I’ll see you when we get back.”

  Jake and Rick were waiting for her in the hall near the gun case.

  “Where’s Pa?” Jake asked as he saw Jennie returning alone.

  “He’s gone to town.”

  “What?” He was astounded for their father never went anywhere unannounced. “When?”

  “Last night, sometime. Hildago said that while we were gone he got a message from an old friend, and he went into Mesa Roja to see him.”

  “That doesn’t sound like Pa. Taking off like that in the middle of the night.”

  “I thought it sounded strange, too, but she seemed to think that we’d probably run into him on his way home.”

  “I hope we do. I want him to know what’s going on. Are you ready to ride?”

  “Just about. Have you told Todd and Carrie where we’re going?”

  “Yes and Todd’s coming with us,” Rick told her. “Jake’s enlisted the help of several ranch hands, too, so I don’t think we’ll have a problem.”

  She was about to reply when they heard a horse approaching out front. Expecting the rider to be their father, they hastened outside to meet him.

  “It’s not Pa.” Jennie was certain it wasn’t her father, but she couldn’t make out who it really was.

  Rick and Jake came to stand by her side, curious, too, as to who would be riding out to the ranch at this time of day. As the man reined in in front of them, they finally recognized him as one of the men who worked at the livery in town.

  “Mornin’,” the rider said.

  “What brings you out to the M Circle C this early?” Jake took command of the situation as he stepped from the veranda. “Is there trouble in town?”

  “No. No trouble. I just got a letter here for Miss Jennie.”

  “A letter?” Jennie was intrigued, and she stepped forward to accept the offered envelope with her name written on it.

  “Who sent it?” Jake asked.

  “Don’t rightly know. They just paid me real good to bring it out here to ya.”

  “Well, thanks.” She smiled up at him. “You have time for a cool drink?”

  “No, ma‘am. I got to be gettin’ back, but thank you for the offer.”

  “You’re more than welcome,” Jennie answered.

  “See ya,” the messenger told them as he turned his mount and headed back toward Mesa Roja.

  “Well, that certainly was a surprise.” Jennie looked at Rick and Jake, bemused.

  “Who’s it from?” Her brother was growing more curious by the minute.

  “I don’t know. Let’s go inside and I’ll open it.”

  Leading the way, they reentered the house and went into the parlor. Jennie sat down easily on the sofa with Rick
and Jake looking on expectantly as she tore the flap on the envelope and pulled out the single page.

  She began to read it aloud, but suddenly her voice failed her as she skimmed ahead and she read the rest in silence.

  “Jennie?” Rick noticed how pale she had become and he went to her quickly. “What’s wrong, darling?”

  Rick saw the wild disbelief reflected in her eyes as she glanced at him quickly, before looking to her brother.

  “Jake?” There was a tremor in her voice, and her hand shook as she held the note out to him. “I think we’d better get Carrie.”

  “Why?”

  “The letter.” She swallowed in confusion. “It’s from our mother.”

  Chapter Thirty-four

  There was a stunned silence that followed her pronounc-ment as Jake looked from Jennie to Rick and then back again.

  “What did you say?”

  “Here—read it for yourself.”

  Jake snatched the letter almost violently from her and read it through twice before glancing back up, his handsome features contorted by a mixture of disbelief and anger.

  “This has to be some kind of a cruel joke. We all know our mother’s dead.” He looked to Rick for some kind of affirmation. “She died when Carrie was still a baby.”

  “That’s what Pa said,” Jennie said and then paused as the seed of doubt had been planted. “Jake, you don’t suppose he lied to us, do you?”

  “No. Of course not. Not Pa,” he answered fiercely.

  “I’ll go get Carrie.” She stood up slowly, still dazed by the news the letter contained, and any thoughts she’d had of chasing after Lucia and Pablo were momentarily forgotten. “Even if this is all a hoax, I think she should know about it.”

  “All right.”

  Carrie had taken her time with her toilette that morning, wanting to look her best for Todd, and she had just finished dressing when she heard the knock at her bedroom door.

  “Who is it?” Her tone was happy and quite carefree.

  “It’s me, Carrie, Jennie.”

  Carrie frowned as she wondered at the strained sound of her sister’s voice, and she hurried to let her in.

  “Good morning. I’m just about ready to come down for breakfast,” she said as she went back to sit at her dressing table.

  “Carrie.” Jennie wasn’t quite sure how to broach the subject.

  “What’s wrong, Jennie? You’re acting awfully strange. Nothing’s happened to Todd has it?” she asked, pausing in her primping.

  “No, Todd’s fine. It’s just that I got a strange message this morning.”

  “A message? What kind of message?”

  “A rider came out from town with a letter addressed to me.”

  “So?”

  “So, it’s supposedly from our mother,” she finally blurted out bluntly.

  For Carrie all motion seemed to stop as she stared at her sister in total astonishment.

  “What?”

  “The letter—It was signed by Eve McCaine.”

  “No,” she denied quickly, turning back to the mirror. “Mother’s dead. Pa said so.”

  “I felt the same way, but I thought I should tell you. Come and read the letter and tell me what you think.”

  Carrie slammed her brush down on the top of the dressing table. “I don’t need to read any letter! She’s dead, Jennie! She has to be!”

  Jennie was surprised by her vehemence. “Well, come on down and join us when you’re ready. We’re in the sitting room right now.”

  As Jennie left the room Carrie sat, staring with unseeing eyes into the reflecting glass before her. When she heard the door close, she blinked in bewilderment, and her mouth twisted into a grimace of emotion. It was impossible. Eve McCaine, their mother, had died. Surely, this was some kind of trick, although, for the life of here, Carrie couldn’t imagine what motive anyone would have for doing it.

  Getting up, she nervously smoothed the skirt of her dress, and for just a brief instant, she wondered if what Jennie had told her was indeed true. The pain that accompanied the thought proved almost unbearable for Carrie. She quickly tried to dismiss it, but she knew in her heart that if it was the truth, it would mean that their own mother had been alive all this time and never once made any effort to contact them.

  Wanting to know more, but afraid of what she might discover, Carrie headed slowly from her room. She hoped that Todd would be with the others when she joined them for she felt greatly in need of his supportive strength now.

  Jennie and Jake were huddled together on the sofa, trying to decide what to do as Carrie entered the room. When she saw Todd standing off to one side looking decidedly uncomfortable, she went straight to him and was enveloped in the warmth of his embrace.

  “They told you?” she asked, looking up at him after a minute.

  “Yes, but I don’t know if I believe it or not. It seems rather farfetched to me that Mac would tell everyone she was dead, if she really was alive.”

  “I know. It doesn’t sound like something Pa would do—but—”

  “Why don’t we ask Hildago?” Jennie suggested. “I can’t stand this not knowing. I’m sure if anyone knows the truth, it’ll be her.”

  “I’ll go and get her.” Jake left the room, determined to find out the truth about the mysterious letter.

  Hildago answered his call right away, and she wondered at his urgency. “What is it, Jake? Jennie’s already told me about Lucia and Pablo. Is there something else wrong?”

  “I’m not sure. We need to talk with you if we could?”

  “Of course. Just give me a few minutes to freshen up and I’ll be right there.”

  Jake returned to the sitting room to await her coming, and it didn’t take Hildago long to join them. Hildago sensed that something was terribly wrong as she entered the room and gazed at their expectant expressions.

  “You said you had something you wanted to talk about?” she asked as she sat down on the sofa next to Jake.

  “Hildago,” he began hesitantly, “a rider came out from town earlier with a letter addressed to Jennie.”

  Her eyes clouded at this unexpected news. “Yes?”

  Jake cleared his throat. “This may sound like a ridiculous question, but—Hildago, is our mother alive?”

  “Why do you ask?” She tried to keep all emotions out of her voice, but deep within she was trembling.

  “The letter,” Jennie put in. “While it was addressed to me, it was written to all of us, and the woman who wrote it claims to be our mother—Eve McCaine.”

  Hildago caught her breath. What had happened while Mac was in town? Had he allowed Eve to contact them or was she being devious and trying to stir up trouble for him? Hildago wanted to back Mac in his struggle to protect Jake, Jennie, and Carrie, but she knew she couldn’t deliberately lie to them about the other woman’s existence, now that they were adults.

  “Well, Hildago?” Jake pushed.

  Girding herself for the scene that she knew her next words were about to provoke, she looked at him steadily and answered. “Yes. Eve McCaine is alive.”

  “What?” Jake, Jennie, and Carrie gasped in unison.

  “It is a long—and sordid—story,” Hildago told them defeatedly. “But I suppose you are old enough now to understand.”

  “You mean Pa has known all these years that Mother was alive, and he kept it from us?” Carrie was completely shocked.

  “For a very good reason!” Hildago replied, almost angry in her defense of Mac. “Eve McCaine deserted this family when you were just a baby, Carrie.”

  “She left us?” Jennie was wide-eyed in her amazement.

  “That’s right. Your father had been out working all day, and when he returned to the house, she was gone. All she’d left behind was a note telling him that she couldn’t stand the ranch life anymore and that she wanted out.”

  “She deserted us,” Jennie whispered, lost in a sea of conflicting emotions.

  Her mother was alive! For a brief second
her heart sang, but then reality came crashing in. Her mother was alive. So what? She was a woman who had run off and left a husband with three small children to care for, and not once in all this time had she made any effort to contact them. Now, years later, she was back, and Jennie couldn’t help but wonder why.

  “What do you suppose she’s after Hildago?” Jennie asked so coldly that Rick glanced at her sharply.

  “I wish I knew.” Hildago sighed. “You know that friend I told you your father had received a letter from and went to visit in town?”

  “It was her.” Jennie’s eyes widened as she now understood her father’s haste to get to Mesa Roja last night.

  “Yes, and in the letter she sent to your father, she said she was ready to attempt a reconciliation, but, knowing what I do about her, I find that terribly hard to believe.”

  “She probably heard that Pa was worth money now, and she came back to claim her share,” Jake remarked cynically.

  “We won’t know for sure until we hear from your father.”

  “He told you he’d be back early, didn’t he?”

  “Yes, he promised me that he would return right away, but—”

  “That’s why you were looking so tired when I first talked to you.”

  Hildago smiled weakly. “It was a long night.”

  “Are they still legally married?” Carrie asked, stirring from the safety of Todd’s arms.

  “Yes, unfortunately.”

  “And that’s what’s prevented you and Pa from ever marrying?”

  Hildago nodded sadly. “There was no way we could marry. If he filed for a divorce from Eve then everyone would have found out that she was alive, and Mac didn’t want you to have to go through that trauma.”

  “Oh, Hildago, how awful for you,” Jennie said sympathetically.

  “It has not been easy.” She sighed. “I have always loved you as my own, and I tried to pretend that Eve didn’t exist. But, now that she is back—”

  “Yes,” Jennie said solemnly. “She is back and she wants to see us.” She looked from Jake to Carrie. “Well? What should we do?”

  “I’m not sure that Mac knows about this note you got from Eve, Jennie,” Hildago put in quickly. “When he left last night, he was adamant that I not tell you anything.”

  “Do you think she might be trying to drive a wedge between us and Pa?” Jennie asked.