Cody propped his boot on the lower step to follow her advice. “I know Mister Crandall sure is happy to have you home again, Miss Rana. You’re going to love it here. This is one of the finest ranches anywhere, and there’s nobody better to work for than Travis and your grandfather. I’ve been with them since I was knee-high to a weaning calf.”
Rana tried to keep the confusion that filled her at his unknown phrases from showing on her face, but she could only guess the gist of his words. She did not know how to converse with this sandy-haired, hazel-eyed male whose looks and manner were pleasing to the senses, so she remained silent and alert after she had smiled and thanked him.
Cody could not get over how exquisite she was, even though he had seen the portrait of Marissa and had been told she looked like her mother. To confront such radiance and beauty in person was stunning and gratifying. Unconsciously he indulged his stimulated senses. He had seen a few women who had been called ravishing, but all of them put together could not compete with this glorious angel before him. She looked so sweet and innocent to possess so much earthy sensuality. Everything about her seemed perfect, but it was her expressive gray-blue eyes and the fiery curls reaching to her waist that snared his attention time and time again. He wondered how Travis Kincade, who had traveled with her for weeks and was now living in the same house with her, could think about anything besides this bewitching creature. If he was not in love with Mary Beth Sims, he would feel compelled to pursue Nathan Crandall’s granddaughter.
Wanting to hear that voice again, which seemed simultaneously to be able to soothe and stimulate a helpless man, Cody inquired, “Has Travis shown you around the ranch yet?”
“We rode nearby this morning,” she answered slowly as she selected her words and tried to speak in the white man’s style. “Travis told… me the ranch is too large to cover in one day. I have been away for many years and there is much to learn before I meet others.”
“I guess it is a scary thing for a woman to come to a new place with so many strangers. Don’t worry, Miss Rana; everyone here will help you in any way they can. You’ll make friends easily and quickly.”
Because of his tone and sincere smile, she did not take offense at the suggestion in his first sentence that women were prone to fear, nor did she correct him. “You are very kind, Cody Slade. Ra… I will need friends and help here. You are the first to speak with me; it is good to call you friend.”
Cody wanted to ask all about her and her absence of eleven years, but he knew that would be too intrusive and bold. “There aren’t too many girls your age around these parts. As soon as you get settled in, I’ll introduce you to a close friend of mine, Mary Beth Sims. She’s eighteen, and real nice. You two will like each other. She’s about this tall,” he related, indicating a height of about five feet, five inches. “She has green eyes and brown hair, and she’s real pretty. Her father owns a fancy hotel in town. She doesn’t have many friends her age, so I know she’ll enjoy meeting you.”
Rana observed the telltale glow that filled Cody’s eyes and comprehended how much this girl meant to him. She warmed to a man who could show such deep emotion without being embarrassed. “Soon, I will ask you to bring her to visit me. It is good to have a special friend.” Rana thought about Myeerah for a time and thrilled at the idea of making a good friend in her new home. If Mary Beth Sims was close to this pleasing man, she would be a very special person.
“Do you wish to sit with me until Grandfather returns?” she invited amiably, knowing he must feel awkward towering over her. Cody grinned and sat down on the middle step, within a few feet of her. “Tell me about… bronco-busting,” she coaxed to relax him. “I saw the wild horses this morning. Travis said I could watch.”
Cody eagerly slipped into an explanation of the taming procedure. As he spoke with knowledge and enthusiasm, he leaned against the next step and rested his elbow on it. Intrigued and attentive, Rana placed her chin on her hands, which were lying flat on her raised knees. Her head and Cody’s were very close as he shared tales of past events.
From the hallway, Travis eyed the rankling scene on the front steps. Consumed by a novel burst of jealousy and possessiveness, he joined them, halting to hunker down behind Rana so he could boldly display his claim on her by the way he stroked her hair, then rested his hand on her shoulder. “Just what is this cowpoke filling your ears with?” he inquired jovially, concealing his irrational feelings from them.
Rana half-turned to meet his gaze and to respond, “Cody is telling me about taming wild horses. Can I choose one to replace Mahpiya as you promised?”
Cody observed the way Travis looked at Rana and trailed his finger across her flushed cheek as he nodded. His foreman and friend appeared to be mesmerized by those remarkably alluring eyes. Smiling, he decided that the two were deeply attracted to each other. He was pleased for Travis, for he felt this man deserved the best in a woman.
“As soon as we get them broken in, you can take your pick. Were you looking for me, Cody?” Travis queried, glancing his way.
Cody stood up and nodded. “I hired those men we talked about last night. You want to meet them and give ‘em orders while they’re getting settled in at the bunkhouse?”
“I’ll be right along,” Travis replied in a dismissing tone.
Cody smiled at Rana and told her, “It was a real pleasure meeting you, Miss Rana. If you need anything, just give me a holler.” Cody noticed the way Travis tensed and frowned. Chuckling, he said to the half-blooded foreman, “See you at the bunkhouse, boss.” Grinning broadly, he turned and strolled off at a jaunty pace, whistling.
Rana pondered why Travis was looking and acting so strangely. Wondering if he thought she might have said something wrong to Cody Slade, she related the entirety of their conversation. “Are you angry with me? Was it wrong to speak with your friend?”
Travis calmed himself, for he knew he had overreacted. “No, I’m not mad at you. It was all right to talk with Cody, but you have to be careful when you meet strangers. Cody might not have been a friend.”
“But you and Grandfather spoke of him many times.”
“I know, micante, but what if that man hadn’t been Cody Slade?”
“Eyes do not lie, Travis Kincade. I read friendship and kindness in his. I like your friend. He is a good man, one who loves a woman named Mary Beth Sims,” she reminded meaningfully.
Travis shrugged and mischievously asserted, “Must be that Indian blood acting crazy inside me. Can White Eagle help it if he’s jealous and possessive of his wife, Wild Wind, when he can’t claim her publicly?”
Rana laughed. “You do not trust your friend or your wife?”
“Trust any man around you? No, ma’am. You stay right here until I see my new hands.” Travis chuckled heartily when her eyes filled with that now recognizable bewilderment. “Not these hands, micante; the men who work for us. They’re called hands, cowpokes, wranglers, cowpunchers, cowboys, and a few other names.”
“This white man’s tongue will be hard to master. So many names, for one thing. Explain Cody’s words, ‘knee-high to a weaning calf?”
Travis explained what calves and weaning were, then tried to explain slang. “He was saying he’s been working here since he was a young boy, fourteen to be exact. Nate used to take in lots of young boys after their parents were killed, usually by Indians. You were right about Cody being a good man. I’m surprised he wasn’t occupying the place Nate gave me. The same can be said of Mace Hunter. Those two are my best friends. I don’t know how to explain the bond between me and Nate. As soon as we met, it was like father and son, and Nate insisted on making it legal so I wouldn’t have any trouble getting the ranch after he died. ‘Course the ranch is yours by right of blood. I was damn lucky Nate hadn’t taken Cody or Mace as his son, or they might have doctored me and left me in Missouri and we wouldn’t have met. Lordy, woman, listen to me rambling on and on. I never used to talk this much. Something about you just opens me up, makes me feel real
comfortable, like a good pair of leather boots.”
“It is the same with me, Travis. I feel I can say anything to you, and you would understand. It is good to be so close with you.”
Travis gazed into her entreating eyes and stated mysteriously, “Soon, there’ll be something I have to get straightened out before we can have a serious talk about our life together.” He knew Rana did not realize the importance of the fact that he was legally Nathan Crandall’s son and she was Nathan’s granddaughter, making her his niece by law and making marriage between them impossible. Somehow he would have to find a way to void those adoption papers so he could marry Rana. Trouble was, he dared not start any obvious legal proceedings until lawyer Harrison Caldwell was out of their way. So many things appeared to be complicating his life these days, especially the matters concerning her.
Rana stood on the porch until Travis had vanished into the bunkhouse. She wanted to be near him all the time. She received so much pleasure just by looking at him or being near him. The sound of his voice seemed to tease over her entire body when he spoke. His caress and his scent enticed her, and his consuming gaze inflamed her from head to foot. She wanted to touch him, to taste him, to see him, to hear him, to enjoy him, and to share all things with him. She could not seem to get enough of him. He made her feel so calm, yet so stimulated. He made her feel as if he were everything, yet with so much more to explore or obtain. He was open, yet a mystery. He could satisfy her completely, yet leave her hungering for more. So many complex emotions filled her body, and they all centered around Travis Kincade.
Travis returned sometime later to tell Rana not to wait for him, for he was needed to instruct the new men and to make plans to overcome these new problems that had arisen. He suggested that she join her grandfather. Disappointed, Rana entered the house and headed for Nathan’s office.
Nathan Crandall was leaning back in his chair and staring at the map over his desk, the one that had been altered today to indicate the unexpected enclosure of his lands by Harrison Caldwell. Over the years, Caldwell had added Sam Kelly’s Box K Ranch and Harvey Jenkins’s Lazy J Ranch to his Circle C holdings. Nathan had not truly been worried about Caldwell succeeding with his dream to forge a new cattle empire until James McFarland had sold out while he and Travis had been gone. If he had been here, he could have helped and advised his old friend. After his talk with Wilber Mason at the Mid-Texas Bank in Fort Worth, it had become clear from the terms of the sale and the price that Harrison Caldwell had practically stolen the Flying M Ranch, though legally, as he had supposedly acquired the other two spreads. Except for the river boundary, which was one reason why the Rocking C Ranch was so prosperous and coveted, Nathan’s land was now encircled by that devious, determined rival who wanted his land and whose daughter wanted his son. They would never get either, Nathan resolved confidently.
It was hard for Nathan to imagine that he and Harrison had been genial acquaintances many, many years before. Not that they had ever been good friends, but they had been neighbors and their wives had been close. In fact, Harrison’s wife, Sarah Jane, had been with his beloved Ruth when she had suffered her worst bouts of fever shortly before her death in ‘39. The poor creature had never recovered from that trying period, and she had been unable to face him again before her own demise in ‘44. One would have thought two neighboring widowers with small girls would have become good friends, but it was never to be, for Harrison Caldwell was nothing like Nathan Crandall.
Nathan admitted that perhaps he had kept to himself too much after his cherished wife’s death, for he had not realized what Harrison Caldwell was plotting until the man’s plans were well underway. Before he knew or suspected a thing, Caldwell was the owner of three of the four ranches that bordered Crandall holdings. While he and Travis had gone to recover his granddaughter, the last spread had been gobbled up. Ever since Caldwell’s return from back east around the time Marissa had married and left home, the man had seemed bent on obtaining his ranch. It was almost as if something terrible had happened to Harry around that time to rile and embitter him, for he had become worse than ever after his return home. In the past few years, the guileful lawyer had made three offers for the Rocking C Ranch.
Nathan’s mind drifted back to the day of his last overture. Caldwell had offered him any price for his ranch, saying Nathan could buy another ranch anywhere and still have plenty of money to spend. Harrison had told him how important it was for a big rancher to own lots of connecting property with plenty of water and grazing land. They had talked, then argued, with Nathan vowing never to sell and Harrison claiming he would own this entire area one day.
Nathan slammed his fist down on his desk. If only he and Travis could find evidence to prove that Harrison Caldwell had driven the other ranchers away illegally. Somewhere papers and altered branding irons had to exist, as Travis had suggested on several occasions, and somewhere there was a witness who could be compelled to tell the truth. The trouble was, Harrison Caldwell was getting desperate and was playing dirty by hiring gunslingers. Nathan hated to imagine the things happening on his ranch that had taken place on McFarland’s. He could easily understand why the older man had given in to such malevolent forces.
What made things worse, if anything could be worse, was the fact that the two hirelings were the same two men from Travis’s past. This posed the danger that Travis’s personal feelings would get in the way of his thinking clearly. They could not expect any help from the sheriff—that had become obvious at their meeting this morning—unless the incompetent lawman was forced to take sides because of undeniable proof against Caldwell and his cohorts. If anything, the sheriff would turn on him and Travis for taking over his job and doing it efficiently and correctly. It had become a touchy situation that had to be handled gingerly as well as secretly.
Nor could he expect any help or leniency from Wilber Mason. The man had come right out and admitted that his bank would foreclose on Nathan’s loan after six o’clock on August first, if the debt was not paid in full. Of course, the lawyer for the bank was none other than Harrison Caldwell. Wilber Mason had even refused to discuss extending or renegotiating the loan. Clearly Caldwell was pressuring the banker. The only way he could repay the loan and pay his hands was with the money from the cattle sale in Sedalia. He shuddered in horror when he thought of the possibility of that money being stolen. His men, under Mace Hunter and Todd Raines, had always been careful and loyal, but he was glad Travis had ordered Cody Slade to send more men and a warning to guard the cashbox.
He could still envision Caldwell’s gloating face as it had been when they had met in town earlier today. He had vexed the Circle C owner by refusing to comment on his lengthy absence or to show concern over McFarland’s bad luck during that absence. Neither had he told Harrison about the return or existence of his granddaughter. The insidious man would make that discovery soon enough, as would his daughter, Clarissa. Maybe news of Rana would shock the malicious vixen into…
“Grandfather?” Rana called to him. “Do you wish me to do some work for you? I do not understand the chores of your lands and home, so I laze here with nothing to do.”
Nathan cast aside his troubling thoughts to spend time with her. “There’s nothing that needs doing today, Rana. We’ll let everything go until Rachel returns next week; then she can teach you about the house.” In an attempt to keep her from being disquieted or embarrassed during the seamstress’s and teacher’s visits on Tuesday, Nathan went over what would be expected of her and the important purpose each would serve. He then gave Rana another tour of their home and explained its features in greater detail.
By the time Travis returned, she and Nathan had supper ready and waiting. It was after the evening meal was eaten and the dishes had been washed and they were drinking coffee in the sitting room that an unexpected, though anticipated, incident took place. Clarissa Caldwell arrived to see Travis, having learned of his return from her father. Even though it was nearing bedtime, the audacious wo
man had ridden over, after realizing with some annoyance that the handsome foreman was not coming to visit her on his second day home. To ensure their privacy, Clarissa had sent one of the hands to the house to fetch Travis to the yard.
After answering the summons at the door, Travis returned to the sitting room. He sent Rana a wry grin before he explained the rankling situation to Nathan. “Harrison Caldwell’s daughter is outside and she wants to see me privately. What do you think, Nate?” he inquired casually, wondering how they should deal with Clarissa’s immodest visit. Knowing that James McFarland had been squeezed out during their absence, both hoped that, in her eagerness to snare Travis, Clarissa might carelessly drop a clue about her father’s activities. Yet, Travis dreaded conversing with the conniving vixen and being forced to enlighten Rana about her. He wished he had already told Rana about Clarissa and had explained their predicament with the Caldwells, especially the reasons for his past and present pretenses. He hated to imagine what Rana would think and feel about this oversight and his behavior toward Clarissa. In a way, he had promised not to deceive her or withhold vital information again, and nothing could be more vital to their relationship than a woman who was trying to captivate him while he pretended she might succeed. There was no way they could keep her from learning of the problems they were facing, and it would be in her best interest that she be well informed about them and about the people involved. He would have to see Clarissa, he decided, and get this distasteful matter over with tonight.
Neither of them wanted to subject Rana to Clarissa Caldwell this soon. That was an introduction both men wanted to put off as long as possible. Nathan saw Travis’s reluctance and vexation, and he was slightly curious, for his adopted son usually enjoyed matching wits with both Caldwells, even if he could not stand either one. Maybe Travis wasn’t in the mood for clever games tonight, Nathan mused. These past two months had been hard on his adopted son, and now he was facing more ghosts from his past and more danger from Harrison. Still, this task had to be done, and the sooner the better. “Considering what’s been happening while we were gone, I think you should see her. Maybe you can learn something. Tell her whatever you think is best; just don’t bring her inside.”
Sweet Savage Heart Page 35