Their sister had married a merchant who’d invited their mother to live with them. They weren’t rich, but they were happy. “I’ve always been grateful that you convinced Warren to let me live here.”
“I had to beg before he would agree. Do you have any idea how humiliating that was? And this is how you repay me?”
She had repaid her by doing all of Dolores’s work for the last nine years. “It’s not a question of my repaying you. It’s doing what I think is right.”
Dolores paused in her perambulations around the room, her eyes flashing in anger. “Do you think it’s right for one sister to abandon another? Do you think it’s right for Rafe to separate a mother from her child, for me to be cast out of my only home without enough money to feed myself?” With a flourish, Dolores sank into a chair, laid her head on the table, and burst into tears.
Dolores had overdramatized the situation, but she had the crux of it correct. She was being forced from her home and separated from her son and sister. That would have been very difficult to endure for a person far less self-centered than Dolores.
Dolores stopped crying abruptly and looked up at Maria. There were few women who could cry without looking red-faced and blotchy. Incredibly, Dolores looked even more beautiful. “You’re not going to help me, are you?” she demanded.
“I can’t leave Luis.”
Dolores’s expression hardened. “You wouldn’t have to leave Luis if you convinced Rafe that the best place for him is with his mother.”
Maria couldn’t do that because she knew it wasn’t true.
Apparently interpreting Maria’s silence as a refusal to help, Dolores rose from her chair. “I don’t need your help. I’ll find a way to get Luis. You can have Rafe. I don’t want him.”
With that, Dolores marched from the room, leaving Maria to wonder if her sister was making an empty threat or if she really would try to find a way to take Luis with her.
Maria’s first impulse was to warn Rafe. Her second was to put it out of her mind as just another of Dolores’s ploys to get her way. Dolores enjoyed picturing herself as a loving mother, but she didn’t love anyone but herself. Maria wondered if Dolores would even want Maria to go with her if Dolores hadn’t needed someone to do all the work of setting up and managing a new house hold.
It had taken Warren’s death and Rafe’s arrival to force Maria to face the truth about her sister. Sadly, it would be better for both of them if their lives continued along separate paths. Though it was hard for Maria to turn her back on her sister, Dolores needed to grow up and learn to be an adult.
And Maria would finally be free. She felt a little guilty for feeling that way, but she’d lived her whole life to please someone else. Hadn’t she finally earned the right to please herself?
Rosana entered the breakfast room. She looked around before returning her gaze to Maria. “Have you finished eating?”
Maria realized she hadn’t eaten anything, but she wasn’t hungry. “Dolores and I were talking.”
Rosana picked up the plates Rafe and Broc had left. “I just passed her in the hall. If I hadn’t moved out of her way, she would have knocked me against the wall.”
“She’s very upset.”
“I know. Rafe has told her she has to leave the house.” Rosana loaded Luis’s plate on the tray with the others. “It was a cursed day when she came to Rancho los Alamitos.”
Maria understood why Rosana felt that way. She couldn’t think of anything suitable to say so she didn’t say anything.
“Are you going riding with the men? The stable is in a bustle. The hands haven’t had this much to do in years.”
Maria hated to think of what a dispirited place this was going to be when Rafe and Broc went back to Texas. Luis would be devastated. She refused to think about how she would feel. She’d known from the first that her attraction to Rafe could only cause unhappiness. She would mourn his loss like everybody else. But it would be all the harder for her because she was the one person who would have to mourn in secret.
“Come with us today?”
Maria looked up from her breakfast to meet Rafe’s gaze. It had been nearly a week since Dolores had left the house to take up temporary residence in Cíbola.
“Why would you want me to go with you? I don’t ride as well as you and Broc. Even Luis has outstripped me.”
Luis grinned with pride. “Broc says I ride like I was born to the saddle, but Rafe says not to believe him, that Broc is just trying to flatter me so I’ll let him live here.”
“Would I do something like that?” Broc acted hurt.
Luis laughed at Broc. “Rafe says Broc is such a fine actor, I have to question everything he says.”
“Which is a nasty way for a friend to give a backhanded compliment,” Broc said to Rafe.
It seemed Luis couldn’t say two sentences in a row without prefacing one of them with Rafe says. In his eyes Rafe could do no wrong. Maria felt the same way much of the time. Despite the tension created by Dolores’s departure, everybody was happier.
“You can’t use the excuse that you have too much work,” Rafe said to Maria. “Rosana has promised to keep an eye on everything.”
“Please come,” Luis begged. “We have the most fun.”
Maria didn’t see anything fun about galloping about the ranch, but Luis wasn’t happy unless he was riding as fast as he could. Maria guessed she wasn’t cut out to be a horse woman. It was just as well that Rafe was going back to Texas, where even women knew how to ride from the time they could sit astride a horse.
“I’ll come if you promise not to gallop everywhere you go.”
Luis laughed. “You’re just afraid your hair will get tangled. Broc says that wouldn’t happen if you would wear a bonnet.”
“Brat!” Broc exclaimed with an apologetic grin at Maria. “You weren’t supposed to mention that.”
Maria fixed Luis with an amused grin. “I can comb out tangles. Broken bones are harder to repair.”
“Will you come if I promise never to exceed a moderate canter?” Rafe asked.
“If you promise I don’t have to gallop, I’ll ride with you.”
Luis gave a cheer, Broc breathed a sigh of relief, but it was Rafe’s slowly forming smile that meant the most to her. She cautioned herself not to put too much meaning into the continuing signs that his interest in her was more than social, but she’d given up on her heart paying any attention. Their shared kiss made an appearance in her dreams at least once a night. His smile never left. She was slowly becoming obsessed with him. Her only hope was that she could hold out until he left. Then she’d have no recourse but to get over her foolish fascination.
“Can you be ready in half an hour?” Rafe asked.
Maria thought she could manage it in less time than that but decided she could use the extra minutes to counsel her unruly heart. It beat so rapidly whenever he smiled at her, she felt dizzy. Dizziness combined with being on horse back didn’t sound like a good way to spend the morning. “I’ll meet you at the stables. Just make sure I get a lazy horse.”
Rafe inspected the cinch on Maria’s horse to make sure it was tight. He didn’t really doubt that the stable hands could saddle a horse without his checking their work, but he still checked Luis’s pony unless Broc had already done it. He supposed that was a carryover from the war, when it was essential to check and recheck every detail before setting out on a raid. Even a tiny mistake could cost lives. He decided to examine his own mount’s feet, which accounted for his being unaware of Broc’s approach until he spoke.
“Why did you insist that Maria ride with us today?”
When Rafe straightened, Broc was frowning at him. “I didn’t insist.”
“You kept at her until she agreed. I call that insisting.”
“She still could have refused.”
“Did you expect her to after the way you smiled at her?”
Rafe wasn’t aware that he had smiled at Maria in a way that was significantly different f
rom the way he smiled at everybody.
The soft nicker of a mare in a nearby corral caused Rafe’s mount to stamp his foot and give an answering whinny. The young groom tightened his hold on the reins. Rafe reminded himself that he had meant to ask Miguel about his breeding plans for the young stallion. But that would have to wait for a time when Broc wasn’t questioning his motives. “What are you trying to say?”
“That it looks like you’re trying to make her fall in love with you. Since you intend to go back to Texas, that doesn’t seem fair.”
A frisson of anxiety snaked down Rafe’s spine. “Are you in love with her?”
Broc’s laugh restored some of his sunny mood. “I like Maria a lot, but I’m not in love with her. Not that it would do me a lot of good, with her mooning over you.”
Rafe tried to tell himself knowing that didn’t please him, but it was useless. He had asked her to ride with him, Broc, and Luis because he was certain she wouldn’t have agreed to go with him alone. “You’re mistaken. She doesn’t moon over me.”
Broc rolled his eyes. “Surely you haven’t been ignoring women for so long that you can’t remember how they act when they’re interested in a man.”
The smell of sweet hay and saddle leather drifted from the barn, but not even the memories evoked by those comforting aromas could distract him from the troubling present. “Maria keeps a safe distance between us even when we’re not alone.”
“She wouldn’t do that if she didn’t feel threatened.”
“I’m not threatening her.”
“You kissed her, didn’t you?”
“Just once.”
“For some women, that’s all it takes.”
Rafe was becoming annoyed. “You’re working up to say something, so go ahead and spit it out.”
Now it was Broc’s turn to look annoyed. “If you don’t mean to stay here and marry her, stop acting like you do.”
“Are you saying I ought to be rude to her?” He saw Maria emerge from the house.
“No, not that you’d have any trouble.”
“I like Maria, I think she’s good for Luis, and I hope she will stay here as long as he needs her. She’s upset about Dolores leaving. I’m just trying to mend fences.” Was that truly all he was doing? If he was only trying to mend fences, would he be thinking of kissing Maria again?
“I’m not a fool and neither are you,” Broc retorted in a low voice. “You’ve got to stop playing with her emotions.”
Maria was too close to continue the conversation, so Rafe just frowned at Broc. He hadn’t intended to smile at Maria, but his lips seemed to curve into a welcoming greeting on their own. “Right on time.”
“I couldn’t expect you to keep your promise if I didn’t keep mine. Are you sure this horse would rather be in bed than out riding?”
He couldn’t repress a laugh. “I promise to take hold of his bridle if he gets the least bit rambunctious.”
“That won’t do much good with your horse doing its best to tear off at a gallop.”
“If I’m not up to the job, you can depend on Broc. He has lots of practice rescuing maidens in distress.”
“Only on stage,” Broc said with a grin. “This would be the first time I haven’t had to memorize the lines.”
Maria’s laugh was so genuine, so lighthearted, Rafe felt guilty for having put her through a difficult week.
Maria looked around. When she didn’t see Luis, she asked, “Where is Luis?”
“He was too impatient to wait for us,” Broc answered. “I told him he could ride ahead if he didn’t go beyond the first field.”
Rafe could see Luis a few hundred yards ahead, riding his pony at an easy canter. He was comfortable allowing his brother to ride alone as long as he stayed on ranch land. He turned back to Maria. “Are you ready to mount up?”
She gave him a tight smile. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
Broc held the horse while Rafe helped Maria into the saddle. Once she was settled, Broc handed the reins over to a stable hand while they both mounted. Maria took the reins into her hands and they were ready to ride.
“Where did Luis go?” she asked when she saw the lane ahead was empty.
“He probably rode to the far edge of the field,” Broc said.
Which field? The acres of crops stretching far into the horizon never failed to give Rafe a sense of pride, but today he wished the valley floor had been barren. He searched as far as he could see but saw no sign of the boy. “Or he rode into the field itself. You didn’t tell him not to do that.”
“I never realized how many ways a boy could get into trouble and still stay within the rules,” Maria said.
“Didn’t you have any brothers?” Rafe couldn’t remember that he’d ever asked Dolores about her siblings.
“No. Just two sisters. And we were never allowed to play with our male cousins. My mother said they were too wild.”
“My mother said the same thing about my cousins,” Broc confessed. “Do you think all young men are the same?”
“Probably.” Maria glanced at Rafe, broke into a smile, and turned back to Broc. “According to Rosana and Juan, Rafe was an exception. They have led Luis to believe he was the personification of all virtues.”
Broc smirked at Rafe. “His father paid their wages. Did you expect them to say anything else?”
Maria laughed at Rafe’s frown. “Probably not. They were too afraid of his scowl.”
“I do not scowl,” Rafe stated.
Maria laughed harder. “It’s worse than that. When I opened the front door and saw you standing on the steps looking like—”
Rafe put his hand up for silence.
“What is it?” Broc asked.
“Luis. Something is wrong.” An instant later Rafe was thundering down the lane, his horse in a hard gallop.
Chapter Fifteen
Rafe’s brain was working its way through all the possible reasons for Luis’s cry while berating himself for paying more attention to Maria than to Luis’s whereabouts. Just then he heard another cry. It sounded like Luis was just beyond the cornfield rather than in it. Spurring his horse forward, Rafe rounded the edge of the field to see Luis struggling with a man trying to pull him from the saddle.
The man looked up when he heard Rafe approach, but he made no move to run away, just kept trying to pry Luis’s hands loose from the pommel. It was a simple matter for Rafe to throw himself from the saddle and land a punishing blow to the man’s jaw.
The man fell to the ground and lay there in an unmoving lump.
Rafe turned back to Luis. “Are you all right?”
Luis nodded, wide-eyed.
“Did he hurt you?”
Luis shook his head. “He said he didn’t want to hurt me, that he just wanted to take me to my mother.”
Rafe looked down at the man, who hadn’t moved. “Get up.”
The man lay still.
“I’m not going to hit you again unless you try to escape.”
The man continued to lie still.
Rafe would have pulled the man to his feet, but just then Broc rounded the corner of the cornfield, closely followed by Maria. “Who is that?” he asked.
“I don’t know who he is, but he told Luis he didn’t want to hurt him, that he just wanted to take him to his mother.”
Maria looked puzzled. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“A son should be with his mother,” the man mumbled.
The smell of strong spirits caused Broc to look at the man more closely. “Did you knock the sense out of his head, or is he just drunk?”
“I only hit him once.”
“Got to help a beautiful lady,” the man mumbled again.
Rafe directed his gaze to the man. “Who are you?”
The man made an attempt to sit up, then nearly fell back before managing to get upright. “My name’s Billy Cassius.” His words were slurred but understandable. “Beautiful lady was crying that she couldn’t see her son. That’s not right
. Offered to get him for her.”
Maria’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Are you saying my sister asked you to kidnap Luis for her?”
“Don’t know your sister,” Billy said. “Does she need a boy kidnapped, too?”
Rafe would have liked to take his anger at Dolores out on this guy by pounding him, but the man was drunk. It was frightening to think Dolores had this kind of power over men.
“My sister’s name is Dolores Jerry,” Maria told Billy.
Billy frowned, shook his head slightly. “Can’t be. My Dolores Jerry lives in Cíbola. Has a room at the hotel. Can’t be two Dolores Jerrys.”
Maria blushed at what that confession could possibly mean.
“I’m going to take him to the sheriff. Maybe he’ll be sobered up by the time we get there.”
“I’m coming with you,” Maria said.
“Me, too,” Broc added.
“Can I come?” Luis asked.
The boy had regained his color, but Rafe could tell he was still upset. “You’d better stay with Rosana and Juan.”
Luis looked both disappointed and relieved at the same time.
Rafe reached down and dragged Billy to his feet. “Are you sober enough to ride?”
“Rode all the way here,” Billy told him. “Then mount up. I’m taking you to the Cíbola jail.” “Can’t go to jail. Have to take the boy to Dolores.” It was clearly useless to talk to the man until he sobered up. “Fine. Just get into the saddle.”
Much to Rafe’s surprise, Billy mounted up without difficulty. Apparently riding drunk was something he did often.
Rafe had accomplished little by taking Billy to the sheriff. He said Billy was a likable young man who had appeared in Cíbola recently with enough money to pay for the whiskey he drank and the room where he slept. He would keep the fellow in jail until he sobered up, but he wouldn’t charge him with kidnapping because Billy was too drunk to know what he was doing.
Billy’s rambling conversation during the ride to town had convinced Rafe that Dolores had chosen the drunk because he was so idealistic, he was virtually brainless. She’d cried on his shoulder and like some quixotic character in a romance book, he’d charged out to avenge her. Rafe wished he could laugh at him and forget the entire episode, but he couldn’t forget it because he had no assurance Billy wouldn’t come after Luis again. If his garbled conversation could be trusted, he wouldn’t rest until he’d accomplished his mission.
Someone Like You (Night Riders) Page 16