“Which arrived just in time,” Ox said with an answering grin. “Now all we have to do is get them to Silver Springs Gulch and worked into the operation.”
“Any ideas on how to keep our spies from figuring out what we’re up to?”
“I’m leaving tomorrow to find more horses to replenish The Flying T herd.”
Angel raised a brow. “That will throw them off track all right, but won’t that defeat our purpose? The last thing we want is fresh horses for The Flying T.”
“It might if I had any luck, which I won’t. The few horses I’m able to find won’t be any threat to The Silver Springs Express. What they probably will be is expensive.”
“And The Flying T is already low on cash,” she said with satisfaction.
“Low enough to write to your father and my grandfather asking for more money?”
“I think so.”
Ox gave a low whistle. “I can hardly believe we’re there already. Luckily, they’re both mad enough neither will send us a penny.”
“Right, and we’ll have no choice but to start selling off Flying T assets, just as we planned.”
“The question is, will The Silver Springs Express be able to buy them?”
“Not all of them,” she admitted. “Our plan is progressing twice as fast as we anticipated.”
“I know. Thanks to your father and his sick horses, we’re months ahead of schedule. I expected to be more solvent by the time The Flying T had to start selling off equipment. Buying everything they were forced to sell would be sweet revenge.”
“Oh well,” she said. “Maybe it’s better to pick and choose anyway. We really don’t want any of The Flying T coaches. The Silver Springs Express has a reputation to uphold.”
“I guess as long as we accomplish our final goal, it doesn’t matter how much we irritate them in the process,” Ox said philosophically.
“I know, but I would have loved to rub their noses in it.”
Ox chuckled. “If you don’t sound just like your sister.”
“Angel and I agree on many things,” she said with a toss of her head.
“And you’re far more alike than I think you realize. The conversation I overheard when I first arrived sounded so much like her, I thought it was Angel in here giving Weston a piece of her mind.”
“You thought I was Angel? When did you...?” Her voice trailed off.
“When did I realize you were you?” Her mood was so uncertain, Ox didn’t know quite how to answer. He wasn’t even sure if she wanted him to apologize for the impromptu kiss or not. He certainly couldn’t tell her she kissed exactly like her sister. Obviously, a noncommittal answer was his best bet. “I knew as soon as I smelled your lavender perfume. Angel always wears rose water.” He gave her a jaunty grin and picked his hat up off the corner of the desk. “Guess I’d better get moving if I’m going to get cleaned up before dinner. I’d rather face wild Indians than have to explain to Martha why I’m late.”
“Coward,” she said with a chuckle.
“I’ve always valued my skin far more than my pride.”
“With Martha, it’s a matter of survival.” Angel smiled as she sat down at the desk and pulled the ledger toward her. “You’d better hurry if you’re going to get a bath.”
“Am I being dismissed?”
“No. It’s a gentle hint.”
“Are you saying I look like something the cat dragged in?”
“Certainly not. I would never say anything so unladylike. I was merely suggesting that you might want to...ah...freshen up before dinner.”
Ox laughed. “Freshen up, eh?” He slapped his hat against his thigh and sent a cloud of dust billowing into the air. “I reckon I could do with some tidy’n up at that. Don’t you fret none, Miz Smythe. I’ll do you proud.”
“See that you do,” she said with mock ferocity. “Now get out of here. I have work to do.”
Ox was still grinning as he eased himself down into a steaming hot tub at the bathhouse. Their scheme to undermine the patriarchs of their respective families was bringing out the best in Alexis. The irritatingly silly socialite he had first met when he came to Cheyenne had nearly disappeared. In her place was a self-assured woman of keen intelligence and astonishing business savvy.
With a sigh, he leaned his head back against the edge of the tub, closed his eyes, and relaxed. He found himself looking forward to dinner with Alexis. It was sure to be entertaining. Instead of the inane conversations they’d had at the beginning of their relationship, they might discuss anything from finance to politics. As often as not, they’d wind up trading flirtatious banter back and forth. He looked forward to it with great anticipation as the steam curled up around his face.
Chapter 29
“Whoa there, Sabin.” The horse pranced nervously, taking exception to the bright red pony cart careening down the road toward them. Ox had his hands full trying to keep the spirited animal from bolting.
“Mr. Treenery, you’re back!” Shannon nearly tumbled out of the cart as she leaned forward to wave.
Jared brought the cart to a stop in front of the barn, his grin nearly splitting his face. “Goes pretty darn fast for a pony, huh?”
“Sabin thinks so, anyway,” Ox said dryly as the horse rolled his eyes in terror. “Unless you want to see him blow sky-high, I suggest you lower your voices and drive yourself very calmly around the corner, so I can put him in the barn.”
“Sure thing, Mr. Treenery.” Jared’s smile was unrepentant as he snapped the reins against the pony’s back. “Giddyup, Lightning.”
In spite of Sabin’s displeasure, the children’s delight in the fat little pony brought a grin to Ox’s face. He was still smiling when Jared and Shannon joined him in the barn a few minutes later. “I see you’ve mastered the fine art of driving, Mr. Brady.”
“Yep, and Lightning’s almost as fast as a real horse.”
“Lightning? I thought you were going to call him Butterball.”
Shannon made a face. “That was your idea.”
“Angel liked it.”
“She’s a grownup,” Jared said with disgust. “Besides, she’d like anything you made up.”
“I’m flattered you think so,” Ox said, pulling the saddle off Sabin’s back and turning him into an empty stall.
“We decided to give him a regular horse name,” Shannon went on. “So he’d think he was a real horse, instead of just a pony.”
Jared nodded eagerly. “It worked, too. He goes twice as fast as any other pony.”
“All because of his name?”
“Yep. Angel believes it, too. In fact, she said you should think about renaming your mules.”
Ox stopped in the middle of shutting the gate. “Angel? When did you see her?”
“Actually, we didn’t see her at all,” Shannon explained hurriedly. “It was Alexis. I was thinking Angel because of the mules.”
Ox laughed as he finished latching the gate. “Now, why would mules make you think of Angel?”
“Angel likes mules,” Shannon said promptly. “In fact, last summer I heard her tell Alexis that the best looking male animal she knew was a skinny mule named Ox.” She looked confused. “Do you have a mule named after you?”
Ox nearly choked on his surprise. “Uh...no, but I did have one named Angel.”
“‘Cause it was stubborn?”
“Stubbornest, most contrary critter I ever tried to drive,” he admitted with a grin. And he’d named it Angel because it was the same beautiful smoky gray as her eyes.
Shannon eyed a bouquet of flowers he’d set down on a nearby barrel. “Are you going to give those to Alexis?”
“I suppose I’d better. You and Betsy are too young for them, and Martha would probably throw them in my face.”
“Alexis likes roses better.”
“Maybe so, but I couldn’t find enough for a bouquet. Somebody in town has stripped every bush.” He picked up the flowers and gave the two children a questioning look. “Hadn’t you
better put Lightning away and get cleaned up for dinner?”
The two exchanged a guilty glance, then turned identical pleading looks on him. “Will you distract Martha for us?” Jared asked earnestly. “She said if we were late again, she’d tan our hides.”
Ox gave them a wry look. “I suppose I can try to distract her, but you’d better hurry, or it won’t do you a lick of good.”
He watched them scurry around the side of the barn, then walked toward the house whistling. So, Angel was attracted to a mule skinner named Ox, was she? The thought filled him with a warm glow of satisfaction.
He knocked on the door and mentally braced himself for thirty pounds of hurtling four-year old. But when Martha answered the door, Betsy was nowhere to be seen.
“Heard you were back,” Martha said gruffly.
“I guess that proves the old saying, good news travels fast.”
“Some might think so anyway. Better come in so I can close the door,” she said, stepping aside.
“How thoughtless of me to stay out here on the doorstep,” Ox said. “The last thing you want is the house full of flies.” He thought he saw the hint of a grin as he walked across the threshold, but he couldn’t be sure.
Martha glanced at the bouquet in his hand. “I suppose you’ll want me to put those in water.”
“If you don’t mind.”
“The place is beginning to look like a blooming garden party,” she muttered, taking the flowers from him. “You may as well go in. They’re in the parlor waiting for you.”
“Thanks, Martha,” Ox said as she turned away.
“I live to please.”
Ox smiled. It was one of Angel’s favorite sarcastic remarks. “I know you do, Martha. That’s what I love most about you.”
“Flattery like that might turn Angel’s head, but it won’t turn mine.”
“You really think it would work?” His eyes twinkled as he grinned down at her. “Maybe I’ll have to try it the next time I see her.”
“You do that,” she called over her shoulder as she stalked off toward the kitchen.
Ox grinned and crossed the hall to the parlor. Again, he braced himself for Betsy as he opened the door, but Alexis and Jessie were the only occupants of the room.
“Ox!”
Alexis’s welcoming smile wiped out all thought of anything else, including Betsy. He was still basking in its warmth when he saw the flowers. Every one of Cheyenne’s missing roses appeared to be sitting in a huge vase near the window. “That’s quite a flower arrangement,” he said, hoping they were Jessie’s.
If anything, the welcoming smile grew brighter. “It is rather wonderful, isn’t it? Someone has been sending me roses for the last three weeks,” she said, gazing at the flowers fondly. “Whoever he is, I hope he knows how much I’ve enjoyed them.”
“You don’t know who it is?”
“No.” The smile on her face softened to one of pure adoration. “But I have a pretty good idea.”
Sudden jealousy knifed through him like a sword. For the first time, Ox began to wonder if Alexis really did have a fiancé.
“Supper will be on the table in half an hour,” Martha announced, showing Sam into the room. “Everybody’s here but those two scalawags, who are upstairs scrubbing the dirt off.”
“It’s my fault they’re late,” Ox said, suddenly remembering his promise to cover for them. “I asked them to show me their driving skills.”
“Uh-huh, and I’m the pope’s mother. I know darn good and well they got here just after you did. I saw them out the window.”
“Oh,” Ox said sheepishly.
“I never thought I’d see you getting pulled into their shenanigans, Ox.” Angel said. “But better you than me.”
“Humph, you’re more likely to be the leader. Here are some more flowers for you from Mr. Treenery,” Martha said, setting a vase on the mantel. “Good thing nobody around here has hay fever.”
“Better add mine to the rest,” Sam said gruffly. He held out a small bouquet of wildflowers. “Figured if I was supposed to be courtin’ Jessie, I oughta bring flowers.”
“They’re beautiful, Sam.” Jessie took them from him and held them to her nose. “Thank you.”
He blushed. “They ain’t much.”
“I love flowers.”
Sam smiled. “So did your mama.”
“You knew Jessie’s mother?” Ox asked in surprise.
Jessie nodded as she tucked the flowers into her coiled hair. The effect was predictably stunning. “My mother was a good friend of Angel’s sister. That’s how Sam met her.”
“A friend of Angel’s?” Ox glanced at Sam’s mortified countenance. “I see.”
“No, you don’t see,” Angel said. “You don’t see at all.”
Ox was startled by the unwarranted attack. “I didn’t mean—”
“Mr. Treenery!” The door burst open as the small cyclone Ox had been expecting ran in and headed straight toward him. Steeling himself for the inevitable collision, Ox blinked in amazement when Betsy screeched to a halt two feet from him and performed a little curtsy. “I’m so pleased you could...could...” She looked at her older sister for guidance.
“Join us,” Angel prompted in a whisper.
“—could join us for dinner.” She gave him a cherubic smile. “I practiced.”
“Why, thank you, Betsy,” Ox said formally. “That was nicely said. You’re a very polite young lady.”
She stared up at him expectantly for several moments, then gave a deep sigh. “I don’t think I like being polite. When I was a rascal, I getted hugs.”
Ox laughed and scooped her up in his arms. “Who said you were a rascal?”
“Alexis.”
“Is that so?” Ox glanced at Alexis and was rewarded with a smile that warmed his blood and set his heart pounding in his chest. His interaction with the youngest Brady obviously pleased her.
“That’s an understatement,” Martha said severely. “Now stop bedeviling Mr. Treenery, and run see what’s keeping your brother and sister.”
“All right.” She gave Ox a noisy kiss on the cheek, then squirmed to get down. The minute her tiny feet hit the floor, she was running for the door.
“You’ve made a conquest there,” Angel said with a smile.
Sam chuckled. “Either that or Betsy has. Best look after your betrothed, Alexis, or your sister will be stealing him right out from under your nose.”
“If you ask me, her sister already has; she just won’t admit it.”
“Very funny,” Angel said, glaring at the two of them. “It seems to me we have some rather important business to discuss, and we’d better get to it. Don’t let us keep you, Martha. I know you have a great deal to do in the kitchen.”
Martha’s lips twisted into a knowing smirk. “Truth hurts,” she said over her shoulder as she left the room.
“I hope you’re here to tell me you got the mules,” Sam said hopefully.
“Yes,” Ox said, “and they’re safe in a pen just outside of town.”
“Good. I don’t think we could have lasted more than another few days the way we are. How soon can we get them to Silver Springs Gulch?”
“That’s a good question. We need to figure out some way to make the transfer without getting anyone’s suspicions aroused. If I deliver them straight to you or if you take them directly from my pen, the connection will be obvious.”
“So somehow, we have to make my father think you bought them for The Silver Springs Express and your grandfather think my father did it.”
Sam shook his head. “Sounds impossible to me, especially since we don’t know who the spies are.”
“Maybe we only have to muddy the waters a bit, so no one can be exactly sure what’s going on,” Ox said. “The question is how do we do that?”
“Why don’t you just have the outlaws steal the mules?” Jessie asked from her place by the window.
The other three turned to stare at her in astonishment. They had
almost forgotten she was there.
Jessie continued embroidering as she went on. “That way, when they show up on The Silver Springs Express, no one will know if Ox provided them, or if Sam bought them from the outlaws.” She made a knot and bit off her thread before looking up expectantly.
“You know,” Ox said, “it just might work.”
“Of course it will work!” Angel said enthusiastically. “It’s brilliant. All we have to do is get word to Mother Featherlegs, and it’s as good as accomplished. I’ll send the message tomorrow morning and—” She broke off as the door opened.
“Alexis, Martha needs to see you for a minute,” Shannon said, as she and Jared came into the room. “She says it’s urgent.”
Angel frowned as she rose to her feet and headed for the door. “That’s odd. Martha isn’t one to get excited over burnt sauce. I’d better go see what she wants.”
Ox stared at the vase of roses for a long moment. “Has either of you ever met Brandon?” he asked the children.
“You mean Alexis’s friend?” Shannon asked.
Ox’s heart sank. “Right.”
“We only met him once when we were with Alexis and ran into him downtown,” Shannon confided.
So much for the theory that Alexis had made him up. “What do you know about him?”
“Only that he owns a big ranch,” Jared said. “He told us we could come out sometime and help him work cows.”
“And he doesn’t get to town much,” Shannon added.
“Often enough to send more flowers than a woman could possibly make use of,” Ox muttered darkly as he glared at the roses. “The man obviously has more money than sense.”
“Sam, you’ve got to get out of here,” Alexis said, hurrying into the room.
Sam jumped up. “What’s wrong?”
“Disaster!” She grabbed his arm and dragged him toward the French doors that led to the garden. “You can go out this way, and nobody will see you.”
“For God’s sake, Alexis, what’s the matter?” Ox asked.
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