“You can trust me.”
Maria’s heart started to melt. The child wanted very badly for Rafe to love him.
Rafe reached out, took Luis’s hand briefly. “I know that. We’re brothers. That’s even better than friends.”
“It is? Why?”
“Being brothers is like being part of each other. No matter what happens, brothers will—”
The sentence was cut off by a laugh coming from the front hall. Dolores was home. Judging from the murmur of a deep voice in response, she’d been escorted by one of her friends. Maria hoped the man was neither drunk nor an obvious miscreant.
“Come on in.” It was Dolores’s voice. “Rafe and Broc are from Texas, too. You might know them.”
Maria hadn’t heard much about Texas, but she did know it was so big, it was doubtful Dolores’s friend would have run into Rafe or Broc. She hoped the man would refuse the invitation.
“I really need to get back to town.”
“Then come in for just a minute. My sister likes to meet all my new friends.”
Maria never liked any of her sister’s friends. She had no reason to expect she would like this one.
“Okay, but just for a minute. I need to get back to my card game.”
“Haven’t you won enough money for one night?”
“One can never win enough money.”
Maria was pleasantly surprised when Dolores entered the salon followed by a tall, attractive, almost elegant, well-dressed man who smiled pleasantly to everyone in the room.
“Hello, everybody.” Dolores’s words were a little slurred. “I want you to meet my new friend, Laveau di Viere.”
Chapter Nine
Rafe had recognized Laveau di Viere’s voice from his first murmured response. He’d heard it for three years during the war, dreamed of it for three more. He stifled an impulse to rise up and strangle the man, to beat his head against the wall until he was as dead as their comrades.
He did none of that because Laveau was protected by the United States Army. Anyone who attempted to harm him would most likely be hanged.
He didn’t turn as he watched Maria rise from her seat to greet the visitor. He could tell from her expression she was relieved. Apparently Laveau was a cut above the usual man Dolores brought home.
He listened to the polite exchange of meaningless words, Maria’s welcome, Laveau’s polished response, and Dolores bubbling with drunken excitement over her new friend. Luis regarded his mother with a look of embarrassment; Laveau he regarded with dislike. Rafe wondered how many times he’d been forced to be polite to the men Dolores dragged home.
“You have to meet my son.” Rafe wondered if Dolores sounded happy because of the wine or the companionship of a person more evil and corrupt than she. “Come here, Luis. I want you to shake hands with Mr. di Viere.”
Luis glanced at Rafe, hesitated before getting out of his chair. Laveau’s compliments on Luis’s looks, size, and presumed intelligence sounded oily and insincere. He was an idiot to think even a nine-year-old boy would believe him.
“Don’t sit there scowling, Rafe. Come meet Laveau.”
Rafe stood and turned to see Laveau’s familiar face smiling at him, his black eyes revealing the nature of his soul. “There’s no need to introduce us. I know more than enough about Laveau.”
“I see you’re as friendly as ever.” Laveau’s smile was overtly insincere.
“I used to think we had something in common. It was a mistake.”
Dolores clapped her hands in delight. “I was sure you would know each other. Now you can stay, Laveau, instead of going back to your card game.”
“Dolores, it’s not fair to put pressure on Mr. di Viere if he feels he has commitments elsewhere,” Maria said.
“It wouldn’t matter whether he had commitments or not. Laveau isn’t welcome in this house now or at any other time.” Rafe turned to Laveau. “If you set foot on the property again, I’ll have you arrested.”
“Rafe!” Dolores exclaimed. “Are you out of your mind?”
“No. I’ve been so only once.”
“You can’t tell Laveau to leave. This is my house. I can invite anyone I want.”
“If you paid proper attention to the will, you’d know this is not your house.”
He ignored Dolores’s sputtered objections. He was more curious about the expression on Laveau’s face. It looked too much like triumph for his comfort.
“You should thank me rather than throw me out.”
“Why should I do that?” Laveau looked so pleased, Rafe knew he was about to hear something he wouldn’t like.
“I’m the one who sent Pilar that ad when I saw it in the Chicago paper.”
Rafe had wondered why it was sent anonymously. Knowing Laveau had been the sender made him even more apprehensive.
“I was certain my clever and curious sister would make you reply.” Laveau’s words virtually dripped with sarcasm. “She could never confine her interests to things that concern her.”
“Get out, Laveau. You’re fouling the air I breathe.”
Laveau’s smile deepened. “As charming as ever. In this world of change, it’s nice to know some things remain the same.”
“You can pat yourself on the back for having settled me with a load of responsibility I don’t want. Now, I’m sure your friends are growing impatient for you to return to the game.”
Rather than move to leave, Laveau seemed to grow more rooted to the spot. “Dolores tells me a friend of yours was shot while out riding this morning. I believe she said his name is Broc. I couldn’t be sure. It’s an unusual name, and Dolores is very fond of wine.”
“You know very well his name is Broc.”
“I trust he will recover soon. Dolores tells me you removed the bullet so quickly, he is strong enough to endure being read to.” He cast a condescending glance at Luis. “Broc must have remarkable powers of survival. But then his face is a testimony to that.”
Rafe had had all of Laveau he could tolerate. “It’s time for you to leave. I’ll see you to the door. Maria, would you ask Juan to send someone from the stable to escort Mr. di Viere to town? I wouldn’t want him to lose his way.”
Dolores grabbed Laveau’s arm. “I refuse to let you run him off.”
“If you enjoy his company so much, you can leave with him.” The sudden brightness in her eyes amused him. “Just know that if you do, you can’t return to this house.”
Dolores’s magnificent eyes flashed with anger, the first genuine emotion Rafe had seen in her since his return. “You know I can’t leave.”
“Then I suggest you allow Mr. di Viere to go on his way.”
She gripped Laveau’s arm tighter. “What will you do if I don’t let him go? Hit me?”
Laveau cast Rafe an amused look, then carefully removed Dolores’s hand from his arm. “It’s never wise to annoy the man who holds the purse strings. I think it’s best I go. Rafe doesn’t like it when he doesn’t get his way.”
It was a remark cast at random to catch anything that might be there to catch. Rafe’s expression didn’t change, but Dolores didn’t exercise the same control.
“He never has. Why do you think he ran away?”
Laveau’s eyebrows rose. “He ran away?” He turned to Rafe. “I’m sure it must be a fascinating tale.”
Dolores grinned. “I’ll be happy to tell you every detail.”
Laveau’s eyes glowed with anticipation. “When you’re next in town. Shall we say tomorrow at six?”
Dolores threw a satisfied glance at Rafe. “I’ll be there.”
Laveau brought Dolores’s hand to his lips. “Until then, my enchantress.”
Dolores was about to say something when Maria reentered the room. “Juan is at the door.”
Laveau nodded to Maria. “You’re most gracious.” He ignored Luis and turned to Rafe. “I’m sure we’ll see each other again. Give Broc my best wishes for a speedy recovery.”
Rafe said nothing becaus
e anything he wanted to say would have made the situation worse. Laveau seemed to understand and be amused by Rafe’s self-imposed silence.
“No final words to speed me on my way?”
Rafe didn’t move.
Laveau sighed dramatically. “He never was much of a talker.”
“How can you be so rude?” Dolores demanded when Laveau was barely through the doorway. “He said you were friends during the war.”
Rafe felt a sudden desire for a large whiskey, but getting drunk would solve nothing. “I’ve made two big mistakes in my judgment of people. You were one. Laveau was the other.”
“Everyone in Cíbola thinks he’s wonderful. You can’t believe the jealous looks I get because he has a preference for me.”
Rafe was tired of Laveau and tired of Dolores. “Laveau betrayed our troop to the Union soldiers. He compounded his treachery by stealing money from one of his fellow soldiers.”
His words had no effect on Dolores. “You’d say anything about him if you thought it would hurt me. Do you still love me that much?”
Rafe found it impossible to plumb the depths of Dolores’s powers of self-deception. Hadn’t she heard a word he’d said, seen the revulsion in his eyes when he looked at her?
“I don’t love you, Dolores. I got over that when I found you in my—” He remembered Luis was still in the room. “—when you decided to marry my father. What I said about Laveau is the truth.”
Dolores stomped her foot. “Everybody in Cíbola thinks Laveau is a perfect gentleman.”
“Everybody in Cíbola wasn’t sleeping in the apple orchard that night in the Shenandoah Valley. Everybody in Cíbola didn’t have to bury their friends the next morning.” He still felt the grief of those losses. “Laveau killed the man standing guard and rode out before the attack.”
“I don’t know why you’d lie about a man who was your friend, but I don’t believe you. I’m going to my room,” she announced to Maria. “I won’t be home for dinner tomorrow. Tell Juan I’ll need someone to drive me into town after lunch.” She left without saying a word to Luis.
“Can she drive a buggy?” Rafe asked Maria.
“I think so.”
“I’ll see she gets one.” If Dolores could drive herself to and from town, Luis and Maria would be spared having to deal with the kind of men who attached themselves to widows like Dolores.
“Why did he do it?” Luis asked.
Rafe turned to Luis. “He wanted to be on the winning side. His family had lost some land, and he believed the Union Army would get it back for him.”
“Did they?”
“No. Nobody on either side liked traitors.”
“Did you know all those people who died?”
Maria was visibly upset at the direction of the conversation. “Luis, I don’t think these are suitable questions for you to ask.”
“He already knows too much to stop now.” Rafe understood Maria’s concern, but Luis’s birth was the result of lies and treachery. He would have to learn things that would hurt him far more than hearing about the duplicity of strangers. “Yes, I knew them. We rode, ate, and slept together. It was like losing my family.” For a second time.
“It’s time for you to go to bed.”
Luis tried to protest, but Maria was firm.
“If you want to have enough energy to ride with me tomorrow, you have to get your rest,” Rafe put in.
Now that Rafe had given Luis a good reason for going to bed, the boy said good night, allowed Maria to kiss him, then left the room. Maria turned to Rafe, a worried look in her eyes.
“Do you think it’s wise to ride tomorrow?”
“Are you worried someone will shoot at us again?”
“Yes, it makes me nervous.”
“I’m not going to let the shooting confine me to the house. I’m not a coward.”
“No one thinks you are, but the rest of us haven’t gone through a war. We’re not used to having people shoot at us day and night.”
Rafe knew he shouldn’t smile, but her eyes flashed when she got irritated. It made her look even more attractive. “I never got used to being shot at, but sometimes it’s necessary to take care of my responsibilities.”
“But you don’t intend to take care of them. You’re going back to Texas and leaving us at the mercy of that lawyer.”
The outburst was unexpected. Maria usually seemed so calm, so controlled. Did this agitation mean she was changing her mind about him?
“I won’t leave you and Luis in such a risky situation.”
“But you won’t know if something dangerous happens, will you? Texas is a long way off.”
He could tell she was upset, but he wasn’t sure he understood why. He reached for her hand. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
Maria jerked her hand from his grasp. “I wish you’d never seen that notice. I thought we could go on for years by ourselves until Luis grew up. I don’t know why Mr. di Viere sent it, but I wish he hadn’t.”
“I don’t know why, either, but I’m sure it was for no good reason.”
“You don’t like Dolores, or me, either, for that matter, because you think I’m like my sister, and you don’t think I’ve done a good job bringing up Luis. Now you’ve got Luis determined to be just like you. Do you know he galloped his pony back to the ranch this morning? That brings me to Broc getting shot and my having to help you take the bullet out of his shoulder. You may be used to cutting into your friends, with blood everywhere, but I’m not. And all of this has happened in little more than one day.”
Rafe tried not to laugh, but he couldn’t help it. The more vulnerable Maria appeared, the more unlike her sister she seemed, and the more he was attracted to her. He took her hand again. She tried to tug it away, but not as vigorously as before. He didn’t let go.
“I’m sorry I’ve upset your life so badly. I never meant to do so.”
“I don’t suppose you did, but you did upset it, and you’ve kept on upsetting it, so your apology doesn’t do much good.”
She really was charming. There wasn’t any challenge she wouldn’t tackle, no person she wouldn’t confront, yet she also had an endearing quality of vulnerability that made him want to protect her.
“And now you’ve brought that terrible man down on us. And don’t pretend it’s not your fault that he’s here making Dolores think he’s some sort of paragon.”
Rafe was certain he was the reason for Laveau’s presence in Cíbola. He just didn’t know yet what the man hoped to gain. “You believe what I said about him?”
She looked directly into his eyes. “I can see the memory still gives you pain.”
He hadn’t expected that remark. He didn’t think she was insensitive, but he was certain she thought he was. “I’m sorry about Laveau. I don’t know what he’s doing here, but he’s as evil as his sister is good.”
“I can’t blame you. Dolores was the one who brought him here.” Maria eased her hand from Rafe’s grasp. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to go upstairs.”
“It’s not terribly late.”
“I have to make sure Luis is in bed. I’m certain I’ll get a visit from Dolores as soon as I go to my room. Before I can do that, I have to go over tomorrow’s house hold chores with Rosana.”
“You have too much to do.”
“You’re the first person to think so.”
“Your sister doesn’t know how fortunate she is to have you.”
“She does take me for granted sometimes, but that’s partly my fault. I was so grateful when she brought me to live here, I felt I couldn’t do enough for her.”
“Was your life so bad?”
“It was worse, but I don’t intend to tell you because I don’t want you to feel sorry for me. Now I really must go. Juan will close up after you.”
He could close up on his own, but he wanted to talk to Juan. It was time he learned more about Maria de la Guerra. It was time to throw out all his preconceived notions and start over again. Broc was right. H
e was interested in her.
Maria sighed when Dolores entered her room without knocking. She was tired, frustrated, confused, and angry at Dolores for bringing Laveau di Viere to the house. She couldn’t have expected Dolores to guess the man’s connection with Rafe or to have known about his treachery, but it was just like Dolores to bring home a man most women wouldn’t want their son or their younger sister to meet.
Not waiting to be invited in, Dolores settled herself on Maria’s daybed. “What were you and Rafe talking about for so long?”
Maria sat before her mirror and began to take her hair down in preparation for bed. “Nothing important. We can’t seem to agree on anything.”
“It had to be something. Rafe was never much of a talker.”
“You know him better than I do.”
“That was ten years ago.”
“I doubt he’s changed much.” Yet he must have. She couldn’t imagine Dolores falling in love with a man of Rafe’s serious disposition.
“He’s completely changed.” Dolores waved her hand as though pushing aside any remnant of the past. “He used to be so in love with me, he would do anything to get me to marry him.”
“He doesn’t want to marry you now.” She hoped Dolores wasn’t going to ask her to help rekindle Rafe’s old feelings for her. It was impossible, but she wouldn’t have participated in such a scheme in any case.
Dolores shrugged. “I could get him to change his mind, but I’ve decided I don’t want to marry him. He’s turned into his father. You ought to marry him.”
Maria removed the last pin from her hair and turned to face her sister. “Setting aside my feelings as well as his, how could you suggest that I marry the man who raped you?”
Dolores studied her hands. “He was young and upset.”
Maria picked up a brush and began to work the tangles out of her hair. “Nothing can excuse an act of such brutality.”
Dolores met her sister’s gaze. “He wouldn’t do anything like that again. He’s much too dull.”
Maria gave her hair a hundred strokes each night. She began counting. One, two, three… “It wouldn’t matter if he got down on his knees and begged your forgiveness. I still wouldn’t marry him even if I loved him. In fact, I find it hard not to dislike him.” No, that wasn’t the truth. She tried to dislike him. She thought she ought to dislike him, but she couldn’t.
Someone Like You (Night Riders) Page 10