Pete followed him, the truck bumping and lurching over the uneven ground. He pulled up beside Cade’s truck just as he and J.T. were leaving the cab and Pete rolled down his window.
“Is this Coyote Creek?”
“No,” Cade replied, settling his Stetson lower on his brow. “But the terrain gets a lot rougher about a quarter mile from here and given how bad the road is up to here, I don’t want to chance taking the trucks farther. We’ll ride the rest of the way.”
Pete nodded and switched off his engine. He glanced sideways at Mariah and a boyish grin lit his face. “Well, girl, it’s time to cowboy-up.”
She laughed, rolled her eyes at him, and shoved open her door. “I’m ready, ace.”
His deep chuckle reached her ears as her boots hit the ground and she headed for the back of the horse trailer.
Mariah stayed out of the men’s way as they unloaded mules and horses from the trailers and strapped loaded pack boxes on the mules. She backed her own mare out of the trailer behind Pete’s truck and walked her several yards away from the busy area in front of the trucks. She’d loaded Zelda into Pete’s trailer saddled and haltered for transport; now she stripped off the mare’s halter and slid the bit between her teeth, buckling the straps. Zelda stamped and nudged her muzzle against Mariah’s shoulder, whickering softly.
“Patience, Zelda,” Mariah whispered. “We’ll be moving soon.”
The air was chilly and she tucked her chin into her muffler for warmth, leaning into Zelda’s warm side. The mare whuffed in acknowledgment but didn’t look at Mariah, her intelligent brown gaze fixed on the activity as Cade, Pete, J.T. and the four Turner brothers tightened cinches and checked the load distribution on the backs of the two mules.
“We’re ready, boss,” Pete called.
Cade ran an assessing glance over the mules, horses and riders. Mariah felt the heat of his gaze for a brief moment before he looked away.
“Well, Zelda,” she muttered so only the mare could hear. “That’s one way for a woman to warm up.” The horse’s ears swiveled in response but she stood rock still as Mariah put her foot in the stirrup, grabbed the saddle horn and swung into the saddle.
“Everybody else ready to leave?” Cade asked, one swift glance confirming nods of agreement before he stepped into the saddle. Jiggs danced beneath him, eager to be gone, but Cade controlled him with a quiet word and a firm hand on the reins.
Mariah’s mare was well mannered and stood calmly while the others swung aboard. Cade led the way, followed by J.T. and the four Turners with the pack mules, while Mariah and Pete brought up the rear.
The crisp early morning air was invigorating. Bundled as she was in coat, hat, gloves and muffler, Mariah was comfortable and able to enjoy the ride. Still, she was ready to step down when they reached Coyote Creek and dismounted to set up camp. The small grove of trees lining the creek widened here and a holding pen made of weathered poles crossed the banks to enclose a section of water. New wood stood out in several places against the gray older poles, silent testimony to the hours Cade and J.T. had spent making the fence sturdy over the last few days.
Within an hour, the crew had unloaded the pack boxes, set up camp, hobbled the mules and were ready to hunt cows.
“We’ll split up in teams of two and work the west quarter of the pasture nearest camp,” Cade said, handing each of them a sheet of paper with the pasture fence lines clearly drawn and the acres divided into fourths. “Drive any cattle you find back here and into the holding corrals. Anybody want to volunteer to break early and come back to start supper?”
“I will, boss,” Pete responded.
“Thanks, Pete. Anybody have any questions?” Cade’s gaze met each of the others and got a shake of the head each time. “Then let’s split up.”
“I’ll go with Pete,” Mariah chimed in. During the drive from the house, Pete had agreed to partner with her.
Cade looked at the old cowboy and Pete nodded his head in agreement.
“All right. J.T., you’ll come with me.” He looked at Jed and grinned. “Which of your little brothers are you taking with you?”
There was an instant chorus of derisive comments from Ash, Dallas and Grady Turner and Jed grinned.
“I’ll take Grady,” he drawled. “He’s least likely to fall off his horse.”
There were more pithy comments and Mariah hid a smile at the creative swear words. The Turners were still heckling their oldest brother when they left the group, two by two, to search their assigned section of land.
She reined Zelda after Pete into a sagebrush-dotted stretch of prairie, bisected by the indent of a winding coulee.
Pete paused, standing in his stirrups to sweep the open land with a searching look. “Hard to tell what’s out there. What do you say we follow the coulee for a while?”
“Seems like a good place for cows to hide,” Mariah agreed.
They ate lunch sitting in their saddles, keeping an eye on the six cow-calf pairs and three steers they’d located. By the time they herded the day’s collection back to the corral, the number of cattle had grown to twelve mama cows with twelve calves at their sides and six steers.
“I’m surprised at the number of cattle we found,” Pete said as he swung the corral gate closed. “I sure didn’t expect this many.”
“Me, either,” Mariah said, hope surging. “If everyone else has this much luck, Cade should be able to generate a solid profit for the Triple C.”
“Yep.” Pete nodded, his blue eyes gleaming with satisfaction. He lifted his battered cowboy hat, rubbed a hand over his thinning hair, and resettled the brim back over his brow. “We’d better get dinner started. The crew’s bound to be hungry by the time they get back.”
“Let’s make a pot of coffee for us first,” Mariah said, falling in step with him as he walked toward the camp. “There ought to be some benefits to pulling kitchen patrol tonight.”
Pete glanced down at her and grinned. “Girl, I like the way you think.”
The sun was hovering on the horizon when Cade and J.T., the last of the crew to arrive, drove more than a dozen head of cattle toward the corral.
Mariah and Pete, Jed, Grady, Ash and Dallas were gathered around the campfire, tin mugs of coffee in their hands. The noise of cattle had them getting up to head to the corral. Dallas pulled open the gate as the small herd neared and Cade and J.T. drove them inside.
The two riders swung off their horses, lifting stirrups to hook them over the saddlehorns so they could unbuckle girths.
“How many did you find, Cade?” Jed asked.
“Twenty-two.” Cade glanced over his shoulder, his green gaze sweeping the men until he found Mariah. He raked her from head to toe with a quick glance. Then he turned back to Jiggs, pulling saddle and pad off the big black to carry them to the cleared space around the fire. “How about the rest of you?”
It turned out Mariah and Pete had found the most with their thirty. Nevertheless, the total of all the cattle was far higher than anyone had expected.
Cade’s green eyes gleamed with satisfaction. “If every section has this many cattle, this drive is going to be well worth the effort.”
“Damned straight,” Pete commented. “And it’s a good thing because I’d hate to be doin’ this much work and sleepin’ on hard ground for nothin’.” His matter-of-fact tone didn’t entirely conceal his delight that he and Mariah had brought in the highest number of cows. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder, indicating the portable camp stove and the tripod with an iron Dutch oven suspended over the fire. “Supper’s ready. Better come and get it while it’s hot.”
The rest of the crew had eaten earlier but they filled mugs with hot coffee and sat around the fire while Cade and J.T. ate plates of stew and baking powder biscuits.
“I wasn’t sure it was possible Joseph would really have ignored strays and let cattle run wild. But after the number of cows we saw today, I’m starting to believe that’s exactly what he did.” Dallas Turner sat c
ross-legged on the saddle blanket he’d spread on the ground, cradling a hot mug in his hands. “What I don’t understand is—why?”
“Maybe he didn’t need the money,” Ash said, venturing a guess at a possible answer to his brother’s question.
“No.” Pete shook his head. “That’s not it. Joseph was dead broke when he died.”
“If he needed the money, it makes even less sense.” Dallas turned his gaze on Cade. “Do you know why your dad didn’t round up cattle out here, Cade?”
Cade shook his head. “I’ve been gone for thirteen years. I have no idea why Dad did what he did, or didn’t do, during that time.”
“You never talked to him?” Grady’s keen gaze studied Cade.
Mariah expected Cade would show some reaction to being questioned about Joseph, but she could discern no emotion at all on his features.
“No.”
“Huh.” Grady stared into the fire, apparently baffled by both Joseph and Cade. “What about your brothers? Did any of them talk with him?”
“Not that I know of.”
And he would know if they had, Mariah thought with sudden conviction. Although Cade had told her the brothers got in touch only once a year or so, she had the impression that they remained close.
The conversation moved on to other subjects, the night falling full dark around them. Much as she enjoyed listening to the others, Mariah soon found herself stifling yawns. She’d been awake before dawn, spent a long day riding in crisp fresh air, and with her stomach full of hearty food, weariness was catching up with her.
“I think I’ll turn in,” she said during a lull in the conversation. “It’s been a long day.”
“Good night, Mariah.” Grady Turner’s deep drawl was polite, a friendly smile lighting his handsome face. “I sure hope you’re making the coffee again in the morning, ’cause if Dallas does it, none of us will be able to drink it.”
“Aw, hell,” Dallas said with disgust. “Don’t listen to him, Mariah, my coffee’s just fine.”
“Neither one of you can make decent coffee,” Jed put in. “If Renee hadn’t banned you two from the kitchen, we’d have shot you both years ago.”
Mariah laughed and walked away from the campfire, leaving the Turners good-naturedly wrangling. Cade watched them with an amused half smile, J.T. seemed baffled by their friendly harassment and Pete chuckled.
Several yards away from the crew, Mariah crawled into her sleeping bag, spread out next to Pete’s. Cade had dropped her saddle there earlier and she rolled up her jacket, tucking it against the leather saddle seat for a pillow. She lay with her feet stretched toward the fire and at the moment, was toasty warm. Nevertheless, she suspected that after midnight, just before dawn, she’d likely have the down bag pulled over her chin to stay warm.
She stared up at the black bowl of night sky. A quarter moon had risen and rode just above the horizon while myriad stars glittered and sparkled across the dark arch of sky, so clear and bright that Mariah would swear she could touch them.
But she was too tired to stretch out her arms and try. Her eyelashes weighted her lids and they drifted lower. At last, they became too heavy to hold up and her eyes closed. She drifted to sleep with the deep murmur of men’s voices and Cade’s occasional laughter the last thing she heard.
Chapter Eight
Much to her delight, Mariah woke the next morning to find a warm wind blowing. A Montana chinook had brought warmer temperatures overnight and the remaining snow was melting quickly beneath sunshine and wind. By noon, she’d shed her coat and tied it behind the saddle.
The day was spent much like the prior one and Pete beamed at the number of cows they collected in their section of pasture. Late that evening, Mariah left the rest of the crew around the campfire, swapping stories about roping steers. Each tale grew more outrageous and bursts of laughter reached her as she brushed Zelda. Dusk had fallen and she’d pulled on a hooded red sweater to ward off the chill of evening.
“Tired of hearing roping stories?” Cade’s deep voice came out of the darkness.
She glanced over her shoulder to see him walking toward her from the far end of the horse enclosure. He carried the enamel coffeepot, droplets of water falling from the blue surface as he walked.
“No, I wanted to brush Zelda before I went to bed.” She pointed at the wet enamelware. “Are you taking over kitchen duty?”
His chuckle sent a shiver of awareness over her sensitized skin.
“No, not hardly. I volunteered to rinse out the pot upstream.” He set the container atop a fence post and shoved his hand into his jacket pocket, pulling out a carrot. “Hey, Zelda,” he murmured. He snapped the carrot into pieces and laid a chunk on the flat of his palm before holding out his hand to her. “Want a treat?”
The mare immediately reached out and lipped the chunk from his palm.
The clip-clop of shod hooves sounded and Mariah looked past Zelda’s hindquarters. Jiggs walked toward them, ears swiveling, his dark intelligent eyes fixed on Cade.
“Hey, boy.” Cade fed him a chunk of carrot and rubbed the stallion’s head beneath his forelock.
“He’s very smart, isn’t he?” Mariah spoke softly, continuing to stroke the brush over Zelda’s tangled mane.
“I think so.” Cade fed the two horses the rest of the carrot. “That’s it, Jiggs, no more.” He took a brush from the bucket outside the fence and joined Mariah, sweeping long strokes over Zelda’s hide. Zelda swung her head to look at him, bumped her muzzle against his shoulder, and faced front again, her eyes half closed with pleasure.
Cade grinned at Mariah. “She likes being brushed?”
“Oh, yes. She loves it.”
The two worked in companionable silence, one on each side of the mare, until Mariah ducked under Zelda’s neck and unintentionally came up within the spread of Cade’s arms.
She froze, the mare at her back and Cade only inches away in front of her.
Mariah lifted her gaze, feeling her eyes widen as she saw his green eyes reflect surprise before they darkened, heat swirling in the emerald depths.
Zelda shifted, bumping Mariah forward and against Cade.
“I’m sorry,” Mariah whispered, trying to move back but unable to because of the bulk of the mare.
“I’m not.” His voice rasped, rougher, deeper.
The sound of it shivered over her skin, rippling against nerves already strung taut.
His head lowered, his mouth nearly touching hers.
She was dizzy with the scent of leather and faint aftershave, clean soap and the slight tang of coffee on his warm breath where it brushed her lips.
“Hey, Cade! You out there?”
Mariah jerked backward, bumping Zelda, who reacted by nickering with surprise and sidestepping.
Cade caught Mariah’s waist and pulled her away from the mare, shifting her sideways and behind him.
“Yeah—what do you need, Pete?”
“Just wanted to see if you’re done rinsing my coffeepot—I want to fill it before I head for bed,” the old cowboy called back.
“Be right there.” Cade turned, looking down at Mariah.
“I’d better go,” Mariah said quickly. She slipped under the fencing and picked up the bucket. “Good night,” she said over her shoulder, her gaze meeting his for a fleeting moment before she walked away.
She returned the bucket of brushes and hoof picks to its place by the pack boxes and called good-night to the men around the fire before crawling into her sleeping bag.
She was sure he’d been about to kiss her. Lots of men had wanted to kiss her. But she’d wanted Cade’s kiss. Badly.
She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Nor how she’d feel if he never tried again.
The warmer weather held over the following days as the crew combed the far-flung acres in search of more cattle. The herd held in the corral grew larger by the day. Each morning, the crew left the camp in twos, pairing up to ride the breaks, hills, prairie and coulees.
“I’ll be damned. I don’t believe what I’m seeing.” Cade thumbed the brim of his Stetson back and stared at the small herd of cattle in the draw below them.
“Those are longhorns—and Brahmas. I didn’t know Joseph had any—everything we’ve found so far are Herefords,” Jed said, studying the big bull and his harem of cows. The massive male was clearly a mixed breed with a Brahma hump, longhorn ears and mostly brown coat mottled with white. All of the females had young calves at their sides.
“Look at the horns on that bull.” Cade pointed at a huge bull. “They must be five feet from tip-to-tip, easy.”
“At least,” Jed agreed. “Damn. He’s somethin’, isn’t he?” He grinned and looked at Cade. “I’d hate like hell to get near those horns. That bull could skewer a man like a barbecue spit.”
“And he could gut a horse from chest to tail with one twist of his head.” Cade muttered an oath. “I have no idea how many like him are out here but I don’t want anybody getting hurt so nobody goes near the longhorns, especially not Mariah or J.T.”
“Makes sense,” Jed conceded. “They won’t complain if you ban all the crew from chasing the longhorns but if you single those two out, you’ll catch flak.”
“Then none of us will round them up.” Cade didn’t want Mariah anywhere near the potentially dangerous cattle. “We’ll get as many of the Herefords as we can find and after we’ve trailed them home, plan another trip to get the longhorns. And we won’t bring Mariah with us.”
“Sounds good,” Jed said.
“Let’s head back. We’ll pick up the others and comb the draws to the east of here. Tonight I’ll tell them about the longhorns.”
Cade waited until dinner was over and the eight wranglers were sitting around the campfire, cradling cups of hot coffee, before broaching the subject of the longhorns.
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