by Nora Roberts
“I’ll be staying the night.”
She nodded. “No sense in me asking Bess to make up a guest room, is there?”
“No. I’ll do a shift on guard, and use Tess’s room.”
“Take whatever gun you want.” Turning, she moved to Ham. “I want a twenty-four-hour watch, Ham. Two men at a time. Nate’s staying, so that makes six of us tonight. I want Wood to stay home with his family. They shouldn’t be alone. Billy and I’ll take the first, you and Jim relieve us at midnight. Nate and Adam will take over at four.”
“I’ll see to it.”
“Tomorrow I want you to find out how soon we can sign on the two hands from High Springs. I need men. Offer them a cash bonus if you have to, but get them here.”
“I’ll see they’re on within the week.” In a rare show of public affection, he squeezed her arm. “I’m gonna tell Bess to make coffee, plenty of it. And you be careful, Will. You be careful.”
“No one’s killing any more of mine.” Her face set, Willa turned, studied the women huddled together at the corral fence. “You get them inside for me, will you, Ham? Tell them to stay inside.”
“I’ll do that.”
“And tell Billy to get a rifle.”
She shifted again and watched the flames shoot into the black winter sky.
PART THREE
SPRING
A little Madness in the Spring . . .
—Emily Dickinson
EIGHTEEN
B EN LOOKED OVER THE OPERATION AT MERCY, THE STEADY activity in the pole barn, so like the activity he’d left back at Three Rocks, the piled and tattered snow in the corrals, the gray puffs of smoke from chimneys.
Except for the blackened circle well beyond the paddock, there were no signs of the recent slaughter.
Unless you looked closely at the men. Faces were grim, eyes were spooked. He’d seen the same looks in the faces and in the eyes of his own hands. And like Willa, he had ordered a twenty-four-hour guard.
There was little he could do to help her, and the frustration of that made his own mouth tight as he gestured her away from the group.
“Don’t have much time for chatting.” Her voice was brisk. He didn’t see fear in her eyes, but fatigue. Gone was the woman who had flirted him into a date, who had laughed with him over a white tablecloth and wine, shared popcorn at the movies. He wanted to take her away again, just for an evening, but knew better.
“You hired on the two men from High Springs.”
“They came on last night.”
Turning, she studied Matt Bodine, the younger of the two new hands, already dubbed College Boy. His carrot-colored hair was covered by a light gray Stetson. He had a baby face, which he’d tried to age with a straight line of red hair over his top lip. It didn’t quite do the job, Willa thought.
Though they were nearly the same age, Matt seemed outrageously young to her, more like Billy than herself. But he was smart, had a strong back and a well of fresh ideas.
Then there was Ned Tucker, a lanky, taciturn cowboy of indeterminate age. His face was scored with lines from time and sun and wind. His eyes were an eerily colorless blue. He chewed on the stubs of cigars, said little, and worked like a mule.
“They’ll do,” she said after a moment.
“I know Tucker well enough,” Ben began, then wondered if he knew anyone well enough. “Got a hell of a hand with a lasso, wins at the festival every year. Bodine, he’s new.” He shifted so that his eyes as well as the tone of his voice indicated his thought. “Too new.”
“I need the help. If it’s one of them who’s been fucking with me, I’d just as soon have him close by. Easier to watch.” She let out a little breath. They should have been talking about the weather, the calf pulling, not about murder. “We lost eight calves, Ben. I’m not losing any more.”
“Willa.” He laid a hand on her arm before she could walk away. “I don’t know what I can do to help you.”
“Nothing.” Sorry for the snap in her voice, she slipped her hands into her pockets and softened her tone. “There’s nothing anyone can do. We’ve got to get through it, that’s all, and things have been quiet the last couple days. Maybe he’s finished, maybe he’s moved on.”
She didn’t believe it, but it helped to pretend she did.
“How’re your sisters handling it?”
“Better than I could have expected.” The tightness around her mouth eased as she smiled. “Tess was out here pulling calves. After the first couple, and a lot of squealing, she did okay.”
“I’d have paid money to see that.”
For an instant the smile spread into a grin. “It was worth the price of a ticket, especially when her jeans split.”
“No shit? You didn’t take pictures, did you?”
“Wish I’d thought of it. She cussed a lot, and the men—well, I got to say they appreciated the moment. We got her a pair of Wood’s cords.” Willa glanced over as Tess approached, in the cords, a borrowed hat, and one of Adam’s cast-off coats. “They fit her a sight better than that sprayed-on denim she was wearing.”
“Depends on your viewpoint,” Ben said.
“Morning, Rancher McKinnon.”
“Morning, Rancher Mercy.”
Tess grinned at him, adjusted her hat to a rakish angle. “Lily’s brewing up a few gallons of coffee,” she told Willa. “Then she’ll be out to help stick needles into cow butts.”
“You gonna pull some more calves?”
Tess eyed Ben, then Willa. From the expressions on their faces, she could see that her reputation had preceded her. “I figured I could give it another day, seeing as I’m going to be spending the weekend at the spa in Big Sky.”
Willa’s grin fell off her face. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Our little bet.” Gotcha, Tess thought, and smiled sweetly. “I pulled two more calves than you the other day. Ham was doing the counting for me.”
“What bet?” Ben wanted to know, and was ignored as Willa stepped into Tess’s face.
“That’s bull.”
“No, it was calves. Of course, some of them might have been bulls, but you’ll fix that in a few months—and that’s something I won’t lend a hand with. Mercy Ranch owes us a weekend at the resort. I’ve already made the reservations. We leave first thing Friday morning.”
“The hell with that. I’m not leaving the ranch for two days to go sit in some stupid mud bath.”
“Welsher.”
Willa’s eyes slitted dangerously, causing Ben to clear his throat and move, subtly he hoped, out of range. “It has nothing to do with welshing. After the trouble around here, I was hardly thinking about some lame bet. I had calls to make, the cops came out. I didn’t pull calves for more than a couple hours all day.”
“I did. And I won.” Tess shifted forward until the toes of their boots bumped. “And we’re going. You try to back out, I’ll make sure everyone within a hundred miles knows your word isn’t worth diddly.”
“My word’s solid, and anybody who says different is a liar.”
“Ah, ladies . . .”
Willa’s head whipped around, and her eyes seared Ben where he stood. “Back off, McKinnon.”
“Backing off,” he murmured, spreading his hands as he did so. “Backing way off.”
“You want to go when we’re hip-deep in this mess,” Willa continued, and poked Tess hard in the shoulder, “you go. I’ve got a ranch to run.”
“You’re going.” Tess poked her right back. “Because that was the deal. Because you lost the bet, and because Lily’s counting on it. And because it’s time you started thinking of the people around here with as much respect as you give the goddamn cows. I busted my ass to fix this. I’ve been stuck on this godforsaken ranch for nearly six months because some selfish son of a bitch wanted to play games beyond the grave.”
“And in another six months you’ll be gone.” Why that—simply that—should infuriate her, Willa couldn’t have said.
“Damn st
raight,” Tess tossed back. “The minute my sentence is up, I’m gone. But meanwhile I’ve been playing the game, sticking to the rules. You’re, by Christ, going to stick to them too. We’re going if I have to beat you senseless, tie you up, and toss you in the nearest jeep.”
“Rig.” Willa angled her chin up as if inviting a fist. “It’s a rig, Hollywood, and you couldn’t whip a blind three-legged dog.”
“Fuck your rigs.” Fed up, Tess gave her a hard shove. “And fuck you.”
That snapped it. The temper was there and full-blown before Willa could suck it in. Her fist was there, in full swing before she could pull it. It snapped Tess’s head back, left an ugly red mark on the side of her jaw, and sent her butt first onto the slushy ground.
Even as Ben swore and stepped forward, Willa was apologizing. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. I—”
Then her breath pushed out of her lungs in a whoosh as Tess bulleted up and rammed her, full body. They tumbled to the ground in a flurry of arms and legs and shrieks.
It took Ben about five seconds to decide to keep his own skin whole and stay out of it.
They wrestled into the piled snow, back onto the wet ground, grunting and punching. He expected hair pulling, and he wasn’t disappointed. Tipping his hat back on his head, he held up a hand as men came out of the pole barn to see what the excitement was about.
“Well, goddamn my ass,” Ham said wearily. “What finally set them off?”
“Something about a bet, a mud bath, and a rig.”
Ham took out his tobacco while the men formed an informal circle. “Will’s outweighed, but she’s mean.” He winced when a fist connected with an eye. “Taught her better than that,” he said with a shake of his head. “Will shoulda seen that coming.”
“Think they’ll start scratching?” Billy wondered. “Jeez.”
“I think they’d both turn on anyone who got in the middle.” Ben stuck his hands in his pockets. “That Tess has mighty long nails. I don’t want them raking over my face.”
“I say Will takes her.” Jim nipped back as the two women rolled dangerously close to his boots. “I’ll put ten on her.”
Ben considered, shook his head. “Some things you’re better off not betting on.”
It was the fury that made Tess forget all her self-defense courses, her two years of karate training, made her just fight like a girl in a playground brawl. The red haze over her eyes darkened every time Willa landed a blow. Here there was no defensive padding, no rules, no instructor calling time.
She had her face pushed into wet, muddy snow and spat it out of her mouth on an oath.
Willa saw stars explode in glorious color as Tess yanked her hair. Tears of pain and rage burned her eyes as she wriggled around and fought for leverage. She heard something rip and had time to pray it was cloth and not her hair coming out at the roots.
It was only pride that prevented her from using her teeth.
She regretted the pride when she found herself flipped headlong into the snow.
Tess had remembered her training and decided to combine it with inspiration—she sat on her sister.
“Give it up,” Tess shouted, fighting to stay aboard as Willa bucked. “I’m bigger than you.”
“Get your—fat—ass—off!” With one concentrated effort, Willa managed to shove Tess backward. She pushed herself away, swiveled, and struggled to sit up.
As the men stayed respectfully silent, the two women panted, gasped, and stared at each other. It was some satisfaction to Willa, as she wiped blood from her chin, to see the sleek, sophisticated Tess covered with dirt, her hair mashed and dripping into her eyes, and her mouth swollen and bleeding.
Now that she had time to breathe, Tess began to feel. Everything hurt, every bone, every muscle, every cell. She gritted her teeth, her gaze on Willa’s face. “I say it’s a draw.”
However huge her relief, Willa nodded slowly, then flicked a glance at the fascinated, grinning men. She saw money changing hands and swore under her breath. “Am I paying you worthless cowboys to stand around scratching your butts?”
“No, ma’am.” Judging it to be safe, Jim stepped forward. He started to offer a hand before he saw by the glint in Willa’s eyes that it was premature. “I guess break’s over, boys.”
At the jerk of Ham’s head, the men wandered back into the pole barn. The conversation and laughter came rolling out within seconds.
“You finished now?” Ham demanded.
Shrinking a little at the tone, Willa scrubbed at the dirt on her knee and nodded.
“That’s fine, then.” Ham tossed down his cigarette, ground it out with his heel. “Next time you want to get into a catfight, try to do it where you won’t distract the men. Ben,” he added, with a flip of a finger on the brim of his hat.
A wise man, Ben suppressed the grin as Ham strode off. “Ladies,” he said, with what he hoped was appropriate sobriety, “can I help you up?”
“I can get up myself.” Willa didn’t quite swallow the groan as she struggled to her feet. She was wet, freezing, filthy, her shirt was torn, and her left eye was throbbing like a bad tooth.
Thinking of teeth, she ran her tongue over them and was relieved to find them all in place.
“I’ll take a hand.” Like a princess at a ball, Tess held out her hand, let Ben pull her out of the heap of muddy snow. She wanted to shudder at what she was going to see in the mirror but managed a cool smile. “Thank you. And,” she added, aiming the smile at Willa, “I’d say that the matter is now settled. Friday morning, and pack a decent dress for dinner.”
Too furious to speak, recognizing the danger in uttering a single word, Willa spun on her heel and stalked into the pole barn. The laughter inside instantly cut off into silence.
“She’ll go.” Ben said it quietly, took out a bandanna, and gently dabbed at the blood at the corner of Tess’s mouth. “You got her on pride and honesty. She can buck just about anything but those.”
“Ouch.” She closed her eyes a moment, then gingerly fingered the rising lump on her temple. “It cost me more than I bargained for. That’s the first real fight I’ve been in since ninth grade, when Annmarie Bristol called me Wide Load. I cleaned her clock, then I went on a diet-and-exercise program.”
“It worked.” He bent down and picked up her crushed hat. “All around.”
“Yeah.” Tess set the hat on her dirty, wet hair. “I’m in damn good shape. Never figured she’d be so hard to take down.”
“She’s lean, but she’s tough.”
“Tell me about it,” Tess murmured, nursing her swollen lip. “She needs to get away from here. More than I do, more than Lily does.”
“I think you’re right about that.”
“I don’t know when she sleeps. She’s up before anyone else in the morning, spends half the night in the office, or out here.” Then she shrugged. “What the hell do I care?”
“I think you know.”
“Maybe.” She looked back at him, arched a brow. “I tell you what else she needs. A good sweaty, mind-emptying bout of sex. What the hell are you waiting for?”
It wasn’t something he cared to discuss. But even as propriety urged him to shut up, instinct tugged in a different direction. He glanced back toward the barn, took Tess’s arm, and led her farther away.
“Willa, you know . . . she’s never . . . she’s never,” he repeated, and then shut his mouth.
“Never what?” The narrowed, impatient look in his eyes tipped her off. Tess stopped dead. “She’s never had sex? Good God.” She blew out a breath, readjusted her thoughts. “Well, that puts a different light on the matter, doesn’t it?”
Despite her throbbing lip, she pressed a light kiss to his cheek. “You’re a patient, considerate man, Ben McKinnon. I think that’s lovely, and very sweet.”
“Hell.” He shuffled his feet. “I’m thinking maybe she never had anybody to talk to about, to explain things to her.”
Tess caught the drift instantly an
d shook her head. “Oh, no, uh-uh. No way.”
“I just thought maybe, you know, being sisters—”
“Oh, yeah, Will and I are like this.” Sarcasm dripping, Tess crossed two fingers. “Just how do you think she’d take to me giving her a crash course in Sexual Relations one-oh-one?”
“Yeah. You’re right.”
And you’re a frustrated, hungry man, Tess thought, and patted his cheek. “Just keep working on her, big guy. And maybe I’ll think of something. I’m going to go soak in the Jacuzzi for a day or two.” With a hand pressed to her sore ass, Tess limped off to the house.
“O H. MY.” IT WAS ALL LILY COULD SAY. ALMOST ALL SHE’D managed to say since they’d driven to the Mountain King Spa and Resort.
She’d never seen anything like it.
The main lodge spread for acres, glass and wood and clever pebbled paths through snow-dipped evergreens and heated pools where steam curled in dreamy mists.
She’d clutched the strap of her purse tightly as they checked in, her head swiveling in wonder around the plush lobby with its double fireplace, atrium ceiling, and lush plants. Her heart had begun to thunder as she’d thought of the expense, for surely any place so beautiful, so quietly sumptuous, would cost the earth even for an overnight stay.
But Tess had greeted the desk clerk with a friendly smile, called him by name, and chatted easily about how much she and her companion had enjoyed their stay earlier in the season.
He’d all but simpered over her, calling up a bellman to take care of their luggage and guide them to their private cabin nestled on a ridge behind curtaining pines.
Then the cabin itself had simply wiped her mind clean.
A huge wall of glass opened up the living area to the majesty of the mountains, offered a tempting peek at the private hot tub built cleverly into the rocks.
There was a fire already set and burning in a stone hearth, flowers, fresh and dewy, exploding out of pottery vases, a deep, curving seating area in buff, accented by jewel-toned pillows in front of an entertainment center complete with big-screen TV, VCR, and stereo.