CHAPTER ELEVEN
Time was running out and Richard knew it. He had to leave Promise and soon. It wouldn’t take Grady more than a few days to discover there was no money. The check Richard had given him was written on a closed account; it was going to bounce like a rubber ball, and when Grady found out… Nor would he be able to hold off paying his creditors much longer. All he needed was a week or so to get everything ready. No one would think to look for him in that old ghost town. He’d just quietly disappear.
Until then, he had to keep the wool pulled over his brother’s eyes. Even if it meant doing work he’d sworn he’d never do again. That morning Grady had insisted Richard fill in for one of his summer hands who’d suddenly taken ill. This time Grady wouldn’t listen to any excuses, and Richard was forced into what he considered slave labor.
“I don’t know how much good I’m going to be,” he told Laredo as he saddled Roanie.
“A little extra help is all Grady is looking for,” Laredo said.
Savannah’s husband hadn’t made any effort to disguise his dislike of him. It hadn’t bothered Richard to this point. He wasn’t a big fan of Laredo’s, either, although he had to admire the way the wrangler had finessed himself a partnership with Grady. Smith had apparently sold some land in Oklahoma and was investing it in stock for their quarter-horse operation. There’d been a celebration the day Laredo discovered his newly purchased mare was pregnant with Renegade’s foal. From all the fuss, anyone might assume it was Savannah who was pregnant, not some horse.
“Grady wants us to weigh calves and get them into the holding pens,” Laredo said as they rode toward the pasture.
“What for?” Richard demanded, bouncing in the saddle. He’d never been able to get comfortable on a horse. If he was going to be working his butt off, quite literally, then he wanted an explanation of his duties.
“They need to be weighed.”
“Is he selling them?”
“Eventually. He wants to be sure they’re healthy and gaining weight the way they should before we send them to market.”
Richard stifled a groan. Anyone looking at those smelly animals could see they were doing fine. Better than he was, Richard thought bitterly. Already his backside hurt. By the end of the day he was bound to have blisters in places people didn’t normally talk about—but then that was exactly what Grady had planned.
His brother was punishing him, Richard knew, for Grady was vindictive and a sore loser. He’d been jealous of Richard’s skills and talents for years. The only reason he’d insisted Richard mount up this morning was to get back at him for the embarrassment of being confronted by Max Jordan a few nights earlier.
It would do no good to complain about it now. He didn’t want to give Grady the satisfaction of knowing he’d succeeded in making him miserable.
After they’d ridden for several minutes, they came to the holding-pen area. Laredo told him to dismount, then had him sort through the calves. It was his duty to separate the steers from the heifers. No easy task, and it irked Richard that his son-of-a-bitch brother-in-law took such delight in the trouble he had. Even the dog seemed to be working against him, instead of with him. Laredo was at the gate while Richard herded the cattle one way or the other. All too frequently, Laredo had to correct him, but then, Richard had never been any good with animals. He hated ranch life, and Grady knew it. His brother was unfairly trying to make him pay for circumstances beyond his control.
When they’d finished sorting the calves, they broke the steers into twenty-head lots and weighed them. Nothing hurt Richard’s ears more than the sound of ill-tempered cattle thundering onto the scale. They weren’t any more interested in being weighed than Richard was in finishing the task.
“Are they loaded?” Laredo shouted.
“Isn’t it lunchtime yet?”
“No. Answer the question.”
“They’re on the scale,” he shouted back, waving his hand in front of his face. Not only were cattle stupid and nasty, their stench gave him a headache.
Laredo did whatever he did with the controls of the scale and checked the balance. Richard watched it bob back and forth until the correct weight was found. Then the steers were moved into the holding pen.
Laredo seemed pleased with the results. “They’ve gained an average of fifty pounds in the past twenty days,” he said.
“Whoopee.”
Laredo ignored him. “At this rate they’ll weigh around six hundred pounds by the sale date.”
“Great,” Richard muttered, seeing that his sarcasm was lost on the wrangler. He stared at his watch. “Isn’t it lunchtime yet?”
“Soon.” Laredo shoved back his hat with the heel of one hand. “When we’re finished here, Grady wants us to vaccinate the steers.”
“What? You mean my brother actually expects me to give them shots? With a needle?”
“So it seems.”
“I hate needles.” Damn it, Laredo hadn’t mentioned this earlier, and Richard just knew the omission had been on purpose. Probably figured he was saving the best for last, the bastard.
“I don’t suppose the calves are fond of being vaccinated, either.”
“Fine, then let’s skip the entire procedure.”
Laredo didn’t bother to respond, and Richard accepted that there was no help for it. But down the line, his big brother was going to pay for the trouble and humiliation he’d caused. Oh, yes. Grady had learned about the bill with Max, but he didn’t know about the others. Not yet. And by the time he did discover the amount of money Richard had charged…well, Richard would be long gone. Bye-bye Yellow Rose.
Who’d be smiling then? Who’d be feeling smug and superior? It was enough to carry Richard through the rest of the day.
***
Ellie spent as much time as she could with Glen, but not nearly enough to satisfy either one of them. A September wedding date had been set, and she was busy making plans. At the moment Glen and his brother needed to get the herd to market; that was their immediate priority and not something Ellie could help with.
“I thought I’d find you in here,” Glen said.
Ellie, who was in the sick pen with a couple of calves, smiled up at her fiancé. He wore his Stetson and cowhide chaps. His approach warmed her heart.
“Are these two going to make it?” she asked. Most calves had slick hair, bright eyes and big bellies, but the calves in the pen looked dull-eyed and thin.
“They don’t have anything a little bit of medicine and some tender loving care won’t cure.”
“Good.”
Glen joined her in the pen. “When did you get here?”
“Fifteen minutes ago. George is closing up this afternoon.”
He kissed her briefly. “Thank him for me.”
“He’s going to have to get used to it. When we’re married, I’ll be leaving early sometimes.”
Glen wrapped his arm around her waist. “I like the sound of that word.”
“Married?”
He nodded, and opening the gate, ushered her out of the barn and toward the house. “I like the sound of it more and more every day.”
“So do I,” she admitted softly. And she thought to herself that her father would have liked the idea of his Ellie married. To her friend, who was his friend, too. She imagined him smiling, telling her she’d chosen well. John Frasier had liked Glen and respected him. Her only regret was that her father wouldn’t be there to walk her down the aisle or dance at his daughter’s wedding.
“Give me time to shower,” Glen said as they entered the house. “I’ll be back before you know it.” He smiled down at her and then, as if he couldn’t restrain himself, kissed her once again.
While Glen cleaned up, Ellie went into the kitchen to start dinner. Since they’d made their engagement official, she’d stopped by the ranch two or three nights a week. It only made sense for them to eat together. She’d taken a few cooking lessons from Dovie on preparing basic meals. Meat and potatoes, mostly. Next thing, she’d tackle pies. She enjoyed practicing in the big ranch-house kitchen, especially with Glen there to cheer her on. Ellie found she begrudged every minute she couldn’t spend with him, and she knew he felt the same way.
She had a roast in the oven and was peeling potatoes when Cal walked into the kitchen. “Hey, Ellie, how’s it going?” he asked.
“Great,” she said, dropping a freshly peeled potato into a kettle of water.
“You don’t have to do this, you know. But let me tell you I appreciate every morsel.”
Ellie grinned up at him. She was discovering that she liked Cal. Actually she always had, but he could be a difficult man to understand because he often seemed so remote, and sometimes even gruff. She’d been spending more time with him lately, and they’d developed a comfortable rapport. Ellie had even talked him into attending the Fourth of July celebration with her and Glen. To all appearances, he’d enjoyed himself, although he hadn’t asked anyone to dance at the evening festivities. It was a well-known fact that he didn’t trust women, although he was obviously pleased for her and Glen.
“You’re welcome to join Glen and me for dinner any time after we’re married,” she told him. They’d already decided it would be most beneficial, considering her business, for Glen to move into town after the wedding and commute to the ranch every day. Soon they’d be setting up an appointment with a Realtor and looking at houses. Glen hoped to have the deal closed by August so that once they were married, they could move right in. Ellie hoped that was possible, too.
As soon as Glen reappeared, his hair wet and glistening from the shower, Cal quickly left the room. Glen’s arms circled her from behind and he kissed her neck. “Damn, but I love you.”
Now that he was comfortable with the words, he said them often; he seemed to delight in sharing his feelings.
“I love you, too.” The words had no sooner left her lips when she turned in his arms to face him. “I’m worried about Cal.”
“Cal? What’s wrong with my brother?”
“Nothing love wouldn’t cure.”
Glen frowned and took Ellie by the shoulders. “You’ve got that look in your eye. I’ve seen it in my mother’s and Dovie Boyd’s.”
“What look?”
Glen kissed the tip of her nose. “I don’t know what it’s called, but it’s what comes over a woman when she thinks she knows what’s best for a man.”
“I’m not trying to be a…a matchmaker, Glen!”
“But you think Cal needs a woman.”
“He needs to fall in love.”
“He did once,” Glen reminded her.
“Next time it needs to be with a woman who’ll love him just as much in return. Who’ll appreciate him for who he is without trying to change him.”
“And where do you intend to find such a woman?” Glen asked, his gaze holding hers.
“I don’t know, but she’s out there and just waiting for someone like Cal.”
Glen eased Ellie back into his embrace and kissed her with a thoroughness that left no question about his own love for her. “You’re a terrible romantic, Ellie Frasier-soon-to-be-Patterson.”
“I’m a woman in love and I want my almost-brother-in-law to find happiness, too.”
“He’ll have to look for his own partner if he wants to do a Texas two-step.”
Glen drew her closer still.
She smiled up at him. “Well,” she said, “that’s the thing about the two-step. There’s no changing partners if you do it right.” She raised her mouth to his in a teasing kiss.
“You can bet on that.” And he kissed her back.
* * * * *