Out of Control

by Mary Connealy

  Ethan had gone home yesterday to see how the Kincaid Ranch was running.

  Not being able to go and see to his ranch was driving Rafe out of his mind, too.

  His whole life was generally shaping up to turn him into a lunatic.

  Ethan returned from the ranch in the early morning hours with two horses in a string, loaded down with supplies.

  “Steele hired on a few more men.” Dismounting, Ethan grinned, his usual charming self. “He wasn’t happy when I told him I was taking over. I think Steele might want to come and work for you at your new ranch.”

  Rafe figured that had to pinch, but Ethan didn’t show it. “You keep him over there. He knows how I run things.”

  “I thought I was running things.” Ethan said it like he was joking, but Rafe remembered Ethan’s resentment and knew his little brother wasn’t real happy.

  “Sorry, yeah, sure. I expect you to do things your way.” Except Ethan didn’t always do things the best way. He was too casual. Rafe couldn’t just turn the reins of the ranch over to him completely. “Just ask Steele if you want to know how it was before. I might want a few men working my place after we start running cattle over there. But first I’ve got to figure how best to drive the cattle in. I didn’t even get a chance to scout the big gap on the south.”

  Because he’d been running like a scared rabbit.

  “But hired hands and cattle both have to wait until we’ve caught that varmint who’s skulking around. Are the men coming today?”

  “We had a chunk of the herd run off last night during the thunderstorm. A couple of men will come as soon as they can. But they had to do some rounding up. None of us got more than a couple hours of sleep.”

  Rafe looked closer at Ethan and realized that under the usual grin, his brother was exhausted. The lines of fatigue were there, but Ethan had shown up just as Rafe had ordered. He’d started out long before sunup to get here this early.

  “Were any cattle hurt?” Rafe almost grabbed a horse and ran for his ranch. He should be there. He should just drag Julia and her family home and forget that beautiful mountain meadow. But it was a long, rough ride for Audra. She hadn’t had any more labor pains, but they were all making an extreme effort to keep her sitting down.

  Still, he itched to manage his ranch. Handing it over to Ethan wasn’t easy.

  “None we’ve found. But about two hundred of them ran until they were tired out. We’re still combing them out of the woods and moving them home. Steele said he’d come with a few of the men as soon as he could.”

  Rafe didn’t like it. Especially since he needed to go in that blasted cave again. “We’ll wait a while to explore the mountain valley. Otherwise I’ll have to go alone. We can’t both go because someone needs to stay here and watch the women.”

  “No one”—Rafe winced at the sound of Julia’s voice—“is going to watch the women.”

  He squared his shoulders and turned to face her. Her red hair was loose, curling around her shoulders, and her green eyes flashed with annoyance and intelligence and stubbornness.

  Where is that parson?

  “Now, Julia, honey—”

  “We’re coming with you.” She jerked some no-nonsense riding gloves on her graceful hands. She had a satchel hanging from her wrist that Rafe suspected contained her hammer and chisel. She had on the same worn shirtwaist she’d put on to replace her green one with the bloodstain, and her same green skirt. The woman needed some more clothes, and Rafe couldn’t wait to buy them for her.

  “That’s not a good idea.” He used the same tone to calm a nervous filly. “I don’t want you and Audra and the baby over there until we’re sure it’s safe.”

  “Well, if you don’t want us there”—Rafe relaxed; she was going to be reasonable—“then you are doomed to be disappointed.”

  He sensed he was facing a lifetime of disappointment.

  “Because we’re going.” She tossed her head and raised her chin defiantly.

  She was a contrary little green-broke filly, and he still wished the parson would hurry so he could toss a lasso on her for good. A gust of wind sent her red hair to curling and dancing. Rafe clenched his fists to keep from reaching for her. When he’d kissed her, every time he’d kissed her, he hadn’t spent enough time touching her hair. Her temper sent a little thrill of fear up his spine, and he knew he was gonna have his hands full teaching her about how a wife needed to obey her husband. But she was a bright little thing. She’d admit that was the way things should be.

  Eventually.

  He hoped.

  If he was real lucky.

  He looked at those pink lips and knew he was. Real lucky.

  When he caught himself wishing that Ethan, who’d been waiting for him impatiently, would go away, Rafe knew he was turning into a locoweed.

  “Fine.” Rafe was already learning which fights to bother with. He’d pick a nice, safe cave with no tunnels and no breakable floor, and set her to chiseling. He’d explore it thoroughly for danger before he left her there with Audra resting and Maggie napping and a posted guard—Ethan.

  She’d be fine. Probably.

  Rafe thought of that black tunnel he was going to have to explore today. And it looked like he’d have to do it alone.

  For a few seconds he wrestled with a fear so strong, he wasn’t sure he could control it.

  It occurred to him that maybe it wasn’t fear. Maybe it was a warning from God. Which might mean the devil really was in that cave.

  Rafe had a very unmanly urge to give the whole idea up and drag the womenfolk back to the Kincaid Ranch for good.

  But he wanted that mountain valley, and he couldn’t move Julia and her family there until he was sure it was safe.

  “Can Audra make it over there?” Ethan asked.

  “Probably, if we go slow.” Rafe was worried about Audra, too. “And you carry her on your lap and Julia carries the baby.”

  “I don’t want to carry that woman on my lap.” Ethan’s scowl looked strange on his face. Ethan never so much as frowned.

  “And I don’t want to sit on your lap, Ethan Kincaid.” Audra came around the corner, looking so fragile and overburdened that Rafe started forward to take Maggie.

  Julia beat Rafe there, handed Maggie off to Ethan, and slid an arm around her stepmother’s waist.

  Rafe thought of that meadow and the vents. That man he’d barely seen with the heavily bearded face. He thought of Julia and Audra and little Maggie in some tunnel with a madman climbing up out of a pit to drag them down. The chill that raced up his spine wasn’t a bit like the cool control he liked.

  Maggie grabbed for Ethan and yelled, “Papa!”

  Ethan almost dropped her. He thrust the little one back into Julia’s arms. “I’ll unload these supplies.”

  Ethan led the packhorses toward the cabin at a near run. Since his own was still saddled, along with the two he’d led over, that left one horse to get ready, unless Maggie started hollering that she could ride alone, too.

  As Ethan walked away, Maggie waved wildly, whacking Julia in the face. The little tyke screamed, “Bye-bye, Papa!”

  Papa?

  It was an idea with merit. Someone needed to marry Audra. Rafe decided he’d get himself hitched to Julia first, then turn his attention to his brother. Who’d be the father of two about the same time he got married.

  That oughta wipe that fool grin off Ethan’s face.

  That was a distracting enough thought that Rafe shook off his dread of the mountain meadow. He was smiling as he saddled his horse.

  Rafe had as good as dragged her through that vent without giving her a second to study what she was sure was a large fish.

  The tyrant.

  She also really wanted to explore the tunnel Rafe had abandoned her in chasing that man. There were quite possibly more vents to be found. Perhaps more fish. At the top of a mountain. How did it get up here except maybe during a massive flood? The Great Flood. Noah’s Flood.

  She’d wri
te a book.

  It made her almost desperate for the cavern she’d gotten stuck in the day she’d met Rafe. She hadn’t been back, and it made her edgy to think of all she wanted to see in that bigger cavern.

  Instead they’d rushed through the vent and ridden straight to the big arched gap they could see all the way through. There were no tunnels or fossils to be found here, though she hadn’t examined it closely.

  Smiling, she realized she could happily live in this area for the rest of her life.

  “Look at that.” Rafe pointed down the slope. “No one would know you could ride up here. But it’ll be easy. We can drive the cattle with no problem.”

  The four of them stood beneath a stone arch ten feet high and twenty feet wide. The rock overhead looked solid though it was only a few yards wide. It reminded Julia of the rainbow God had sent as a covenant with Noah.

  “I can’t believe someone hasn’t climbed in here before to settle.” Ethan shoved his hat back on his head and studied the steep mountainside. “But from down there, I’ll bet this opening isn’t even visible because of the ledge.”

  “Such a beautiful place.” Audra stood beside Julia.

  Ethan had Maggie sleeping in the pack on his back.

  “Audra, let’s find a spot where you can sit down and rest while Maggie takes her nap.” Julia rested a hand on Audra’s shoulder.

  “We’re going to make this work.” Rafe nodded, no doubt planning every minute of their lives for the next fifty years. Julia felt a bit savage as she wondered when he’d inform her of how things were going to be.

  “But first we need to find whoever is skulking around this place.”

  The man clearly had a list of their activities all laid out. She thought scornfully that if she chose, she could live quite nicely without ever having to think again.

  Rafe turned from the beautiful view in front of him to look across the meadow. Julia turned with him. The whole thing was oval-shaped, with edges reaching up all around nearly one hundred feet to the jagged top of the caldera.

  This big opening was on the south. The vent they’d come in through was on the east side within a couple of miles of her cabin. Julia wondered where else they’d find caves in here. Rafe wanted to live here. Her heart began pounding to think of all she could find. A caldera—she could research that for a long time.

  She had some ideas about volcanoes and earthquakes and the Great Flood. The Bible said water had come from rain, but it had also erupted from the deep. Who was to say this was formed by a volcano. Maybe floodwater had exploded upward with the force of lava.

  It would be easy to spend her life writing it all down. Definitely a book of her own, instead of contributing to magazines and books written by others. Or maybe someone would serialize it. A lot of magazines and newspapers carried stories that way.

  She’d agreed to marry Rafe. Or at least she hadn’t put a stop to the idea. Her heart sank as she thought of tying herself to another man who didn’t love her. It had taken her years to shield her heart against her father. Now she needed to make this choice so there would be a safe place for Audra and the children.

  Rafe . . . Well, Rafe wanted her. But mainly he wanted to run her life. He was protective by nature, and he’d decided she was his responsibility. Whether he would ever love her, Julia didn’t dare to hope. Julia pictured the years ahead in a loveless marriage. She’d write. She’d explore. She’d care for Audra and Maggie and the new baby.

  If she didn’t marry Rafe, she’d have to leave this mountain, which dashed her dreams of writing a book. She’d have to get to a town somewhere, find a job, earn enough money to care for her little family. It wouldn’t be easy. In fact, it might well be impossible.

  She needed help and Rafe was willing to give it. Her chin lifted. It was practical. Julia knew a dream was dying. The dream of one day finding a man who would love her. But she wasn’t a woman for foolishness.

  Audra needed what Rafe could give her, and Julia loved Audra and the babies enough to do what needed doing. At least she wouldn’t be as lonely as she’d been growing up.

  She looked around the valley that was very possibly going to be her home, and her eyes were drawn to that dark crack in the east side where Rafe had been so scared. It might be another cavern like the one she’d been exploring when Rafe found her.

  “I want to go look down there.” It was truly a wondrous place they planned to live.

  “This is a terrible place.” Rafe turned to look where she pointed, and his jaw stiffened. “How can I ever make it safe?”

  Julia shook her head at Mr. Dark Cloud. “Let’s go. You’re determined to explore all of it. Hunt down the man we saw, right? We might as well start there.”

  How many caves might there be? How many fossils. Yes, they’d seen a man. And someone had been in that cavern with her and frightened her badly and tampered with her rope so she couldn’t escape. But they’d hunt that man down. Run him off or have him arrested. Then this treasure trove would be hers, all hers. Well, and Rafe’s, but he’d be busy with cattle. Just like her father, he’d be gone more than home, even if they were both in this valley together. All she lacked was a way to get to town and mail her papers back East. Rafe could run that errand for her.

  She struck off toward that low cave. She had so much to explore, she almost couldn’t get it done in a lifetime.

  But only almost.

  She had a feeling being married to a bossy man who didn’t love her was going to make for a very long life—she’d find time for everything.

  Her pulse picked up, as she got to the clump of aspens. There had been some fossils right inside. Glancing behind her, she saw Rafe glaring at her, almost daring her to charge in without him.

  Giving him her sweetest smile, she did her best to conceal her impatience, though she caught herself standing with her arms crossed and her toe tapping on the stony ground. Would Rafe notice her impatience?

  If it had just been Rafe, she might have scolded, even gone in. But what could she say when he had Audra leaning on his arm?

  “Just calm down.” Rafe didn’t seem to have a problem scolding. And yes, he noticed her attitude. That didn’t exactly make him a genius.

  “I’m perfectly calm.” Well, she wasn’t going in without him, which wasn’t the same as calm, but it was the best he was going to get.

  “You and Audra stay out here.” Rafe let go of Audra, took a step toward the crevice, and pulled his gun from its holster. There was a loud metallic crack as he cocked the pistol. A shiver of fear touched Julia for the first time. His eyes fixed on the dark opening.

  She grabbed at Rafe’s arm as he approached the cave. “Do you really think you need that gun? I don’t want you to be in danger.”

  The intense expression on his face relaxed as he turned to look at her. “Worried about me, sweetheart?”

  Julia huffed but held on. “Of course I’m worried about you. If you think you need to be ready to shoot, then there’s something to worry about.”

  Rafe shrugged. “We saw a man in here. A man who ran when he spotted us. Not only that, but a cave can hide a bear or a mountain lion or a rattlesnake. It makes sense to be braced for trouble.”

  Ethan came up, still carrying Maggie. He’d staked the horses to grass and stripped their saddles, all with a sleeping baby on his back and that vapid smile on his face. “Got shootin’ trouble, big brother?”

  “Stay with the women.” Rafe turned back to the cave.

  Julia hung on to Rafe. With one impatient look at her grasping hand, Rafe yanked himself free and headed for the cave.

  Julia took one step after him.

  “Oh no you don’t.” Ethan’s hand landed on her shoulder.

  Rafe looked back, saw Ethan had a hold of her, and smirked before he headed on.

  Julia tugged against Ethan’s grip. He held on. “Just give him a minute.”

  Then, still holding her shoulder and toting a baby, he turned to Audra. “Why don’t we get you settled on
the grass by those trees?”

  “I don’t need to sit down all the time.” Audra plunked her fists on her greatly expanded waist.

  “Well, could you take the baby?” Ethan’s smile faded.

  Julia wondered why the man who never stopped grinning was suddenly gruff with poor little Audra.

  “I’m tired of carrying her and I thought you could help.”

  Audra pinked up with temper and a bit of embarrassment. “Of course I’ll take my baby.”

  “Well, sit down first. We’re gonna be here awhile and you don’t want to try and sit once you’ve got her. I’ll just have to take her again while you settle in.”

  Somehow Ethan made it sound like Audra standing made more work for him and it’d be a kindness to him if she’d sit.

  Audra sat on the plush grass in the shade of the aspens. Ethan arched one brow at Julia. “Can I let go of you without you running into that cave?”

  Which reminded Julia of how much she wanted to run into that cave. “Of course.”

  Ethan’s eyes narrowed, but he released Julia to gently swing Maggie around and ease her out of the carrier. Then he knelt in front of Audra.

  “How are you feeling?” Ethan’s words were spoken so quietly they might have been to not bother the sleeping baby, but Maggie hadn’t stirred and he’d been speaking in his regular voice before. Now, it sounded . . . intimate.

  “I’m fine.” Audra sounded exasperated as she reached for Maggie.

  “I know you’re fine.” Ethan kept murmuring as he crouched beside her. “Why do you have to fuss at me so? I’m just trying to make things a little easier for you.”

  “How would you like everyone treating you like you were incompetent? A burden. How would you like it if no one would even let you make your own decisions?”

  Ethan smiled and went from crouching to kneeling. “You mean like a bossy big brother?”

  Audra reached for Maggie, and as their arms touched, bound together supporting the little toddler, Audra looked up. Her irritable expression faded and she smiled. “Yes, I guess it’s just like that.”

  Julia wondered if a bossy stepdaughter qualified.

  “I know just how I’d feel.”