A Rancher's Vow Read online

  “Of course you do, Son,” Emmett mumbled. “I don’t know what I was thinking.” He was looking at Alcina when he said, “So you’ll be staying at the house while Bart and my grandkids are gone.”

  Startled by the suggestion, Alcina said, “I have a house right here.”

  “But you’re going to be moving to the ranch eventually. We’ll add a wing to the house and—”

  “Pa, whoa!” Reed said. “Hold on. Where we live is between Alcina and me. We haven’t had any time to make firm plans for the future.”

  “The Curly-Q is your future!” Emmett insisted, coughing. And then with a wheeze he added, “And the future of the kids you’re gonna have.”

  Emmett turned his stare toward Alcina’s father when he made that particular announcement.

  Mortifying Alcina.

  She and Reed hadn’t even talked about living arrangements…or children…or anything!

  “We haven’t made a toast yet,” Felice suddenly said as if to undercut the growing tension. “Who can open the champagne?”

  “I believe that’s the best man’s job,” Chance said, rising.

  On the buffet, three bottles awaited in a silver champagne bucket.

  The conversation went more smoothly from there, but Alcina felt a renewal of the edge between Reed and Emmett. At least her father had kept his promise to keep the peace. She sensed he’d wanted to say something strident to Emmett more than once. Instead, he’d said nothing at all.

  Thankful for that, she smiled at him, and he smiled at her in return.

  Alcina sighed. Maybe all the tension at the table was in her own head, she thought, her own guilt casting shadows where there were none.

  Meeting her husband’s steady, serious gaze comforted her. Everything would be all right.

  It had to be.

  REED WASN’T CERTAIN how he managed to get through his own wedding party. The ceremony had gone well enough, but immediately afterward, Pa had managed to set him on edge. For one heart-stopping moment, he’d thought the old man was going to face down Tucker about the mortgage right there in the midst of the celebration.

  Thank God for Felice.

  Now the guests had gone, all but Tucker. Even Josie had vacated her room for the night—Bart’s woman was bunking in with Lainey to give them a night of complete privacy.

  As the time for him to be alone with his new wife approached, Reed was experiencing a different kind of tension, one he couldn’t quite delineate. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t had his share of women, after all.

  “Daddy, you can’t drive home,” Alcina protested when Tucker tried to get his coat from the hall closet. “Not on those roads in this snow. There’s no rush for you to get back to Taos, anyway. And we have plenty of rooms available, as you well know.”

  “But this is your first night together as man and wife,” Tucker protested. “I don’t want to impose.”

  “You’re not imposing. You’re family. I expect you to stay. So does Reed. Right, Reed?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  There went the complete privacy, but how could he argue with her logic?

  “All right, sweetheart, anything you say.”

  “Good. Then let me show you to your room and make sure you have everything you need. And if you’re hungry, I can zap something in the microwave and bring it up to you.”

  “That’s very thoughtful,” Tucker said. “I could use some food with a little substance.”

  Reed watched father and daughter ascend the stairs, arm-in-arm. Alcina glanced back once and made a what-else-was-I-supposed-to-do face at him.

  So they wouldn’t be alone, after all, Reed thought. Great. As if he didn’t have enough to strangle his gut as it was.

  His motive for asking Alcina to marry him in the first place hadn’t been pure, a fact that had been eating away at him all week, even though he’d put it to her as a business deal. That still wasn’t totally honest, which she deserved. She would never have accepted if she’d known he’d only asked in an attempt to save the ranch through leverage with her father. And he’d done so at Pa’s suggestion. He feared he was more like Pa than he wanted to admit.

  And the business part bothered him, anyway. It didn’t seem like business to him when he’d held Alcina in his arms. Kissing her had been very, very personal…as was what would happen between them once she got her father settled in.

  He’d been awake most of the previous night.

  Thinking about holding Alcina in his arms…undressing her…exploring her lush body to his heart’s content. The imagining had made him hard with raw hunger for her. He’d wanted to make her moan…make her beg for more…make her cry out in completion.

  And now they wouldn’t even be alone.

  Unable to relax, Reed paced the length of the parlor, trying to determine the best way to approach the awkward situation. He hadn’t considered having to discuss anything with Alcina.

  A drink in front of the fire…one kiss leading to another…her rubbing against him like a cat in heat…him carrying her up the staircase to the bedroom…

  That’s how he’d imagined it would happen.

  “Reed?” Alcina called from the top of the staircase. “Are you all right?”

  He turned to look at her, even more stunning than she’d been a couple of hours before when he’d married her. If that were possible.

  “I’m just thinking,” he said. “Trying to shake the tension of the big day.”

  She descended quickly but kept some distance between them. “What’s wrong? It’s Daddy, isn’t it? Should I have sent him on his way?”

  “No, you were right about the weather.”

  Suddenly, the moment was here and he was struck dumb. He had to say something to get the ball rolling. Sweat trickled between his shoulder blades and down his back. He felt as impotent as he had so many times with his father and brother, when he’d wanted to assert himself but just couldn’t.

  Reed told himself not to panic…that logic had worked with the marriage proposal…

  “Don’t worry,” he said, “I won’t let your father’s presence interfere with my…uh…my husbandly duties.”

  She laughed. “Your what?”

  Her expression made him cringe inside. He’d been getting himself tied in a knot and she was amused.

  “I know we both think of this marriage as a kind of business deal, but—”

  “But what?” she asked, her amusement vanishing. “Are you saying that you’re willing to put yourself out to seal the deal, so to speak?”

  Hell, he’d gone and said the exact wrong thing. He’d never been good with fancy words. He was better at doing. Stepping toward Alcina, he slipped his arms around her back and brushed her lips with his. At least she didn’t turn away her head.

  “You’re my wife now,” he said simply. “And we both have our…physical needs.”

  Stiffening, she flattened her hands on his chest and pushed him away. “Well, I can control mine!”

  Heat rose along his neck. He wasn’t doing too well here. Nor was she.

  Her stance reminded him of what she’d been like that first day he’d been home, all prickly and ready to fight at the drop of a hat.

  “As long as our marriage is strictly business,” Alcina said, her tone unnaturally sweet, “that precludes anything from happening in the bedroom.”

  An idea that hadn’t occurred to him.

  “Wait a minute!” he said indignantly. “I thought you wanted to build a life together.”

  And as far as he was concerned, that life included sex. With her.

  “I do want to build a life together,” she insisted.

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  “Business partners don’t bed each other.”

  “But we’re more than business partners. We’re married. We have a certificate that says so.”

  “A piece of paper means nothing in a relationship!” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Can you honestly say you have any true feelings for
me?”

  Reed shifted uneasily. He liked Alcina…most of the time. He cared about what happened to her and wanted the best for her. But if she was asking for a declaration of love, he couldn’t give that to her. He didn’t know her well enough to be in love with her and he wouldn’t outright lie about it to get her into bed with him.

  Omitting the whole truth about his proposal had been bad enough.

  “I can control myself, as well,” he muttered.

  “That’s what I thought.” Alcina laughed again, but this time he heard a definite chill in her tone. “Until your heart is in this marriage—if that ever happens—you can sleep in one of the other bedrooms, Reed Quarrels.”

  “What will your father think?”

  “Whatever Daddy thinks doesn’t matter. He won’t interfere. This is between you and me.”

  Reed fisted his hands at his sides. “Well, I’d rather not sleep in another bedroom.”

  “Then sleep anywhere you want, for all I care. But it’s not going to be in bed with me!”

  “Then it’s not going to be in this house!”

  “Fine!”

  “Fine!”

  Reed stormed over to the coat closet and pulled out his leather jacket and Stetson. He wouldn’t stay where he wasn’t wanted.

  And it was obvious that Alcina didn’t want him.

  She waited until he reached the front door before asking, “Reed, where are you going?”

  “Home. To my trailer,” he amended, thinking his home should be with her. “We can talk about our situation after we’ve had time to cool down and discuss this reasonably.”

  Though Reed was certain that Alcina could be cool to him as long as it suited her.

  Chapter Eight

  Late that night, unable to sleep or to stand Reed’s walking out on her any longer, Alcina dressed for the weather, wrote her father a cheery note so that he wouldn’t worry about her and left the house.

  She wanted Reed badly enough to go after him, but she’d been serious about requiring his heart be in their relationship before she would share a bed with him. And winning his heart would be difficult to accomplish long distance.

  So, deciding to brave the weather that had let up earlier, she dragged an overnight bag out to her car and threw it in the trunk. Then she found her brush and scraper and proceeded to clean off the snow.

  She was nearly finished, when a movement nearby caught her by surprise.

  Her pulse charged and she stared down a darkened Main Street, where against the moonlit glare of snow, she saw a large silhouette suddenly bolt between two abandoned buildings.

  No other movement on the street, not even a vehicle.

  No light.

  So what had he been doing there?

  Watching her? she wondered. Or watching the bed-and-breakfast?

  Whomever she’d seen was undoubtedly a transient, she told herself. Just someone passing through town, maybe looking for work or a handout. Nothing to worry about.

  But she found herself worrying, anyway.

  Her pulse wouldn’t settle and her stomach knotted. And when she got behind the wheel, she locked her doors before starting the engine. She fixed her gaze on those abandoned buildings and drove slowly by them.

  But her extra caution went unrewarded. She saw nothing to alarm her. Thankfully. Whomever she had seen had simply disappeared.

  Breathing a sigh of relief, wondering at her attack of big-city paranoia, she returned her thoughts to her purpose.

  Reed’s walking out on her had been devastating at first, but she’d gotten over feeling sorry for herself and chose instead to consider herself challenged.

  She was going to make her husband fall for her.

  Whatever it took…

  Like Temporary, she would make him see that he didn’t want to be without her. She would lavish him with attention and affection and, if it didn’t nauseate her, adoration, to boot. Undoubtedly, both Pru and Josie would have some cogent thoughts on the matter.

  She could use all the help she could get.

  Once on Curly-Q land, she followed the back road that would take her to Reed. A five-minute drive and she was there. Unfortunately, even the pristine snow and moonlight couldn’t make art of the ratty old trailer that Reed called home.

  Groaning, Alcina banged her forehead against the steering wheel, but even the pain didn’t knock some sense into her. She remained set on her purpose.

  Slipping out of the car, she heard barking from inside the trailer. Then the door suddenly opened and Temporary leaped out and rushed her.

  Even as she bent to pat the dog, Reed said, “Alcina, what the hell are you doing out here in the middle of the night?”

  He was framed in the doorway, barefoot and half-nude. He’d pulled on jeans but hadn’t even zipped them all the way. As her mouth went dry, she licked her lips and forced her gaze from the splash of hair revealed below his waist up to his face. He appeared confused. And annoyed. His hair was sleep-tousled around his unusually harsh features.

  And her knees were weakening.

  Taking a big breath, Alcina drew herself together and pulled a case from the back seat. “I’m moving in with you. We’re married, remember?”

  “I believe I reminded you of that fact earlier, and you said you didn’t intend to sleep with me.”

  “I still don’t. I assume you have a couch.”

  He groaned and asked, “What’s this all about?”

  “Appearances,” she said, knowing that he had a conscience as big as his heart but far easier to manipulate. “I won’t have people sneering at me behind my back because my husband up and left me on our wedding night.” When he didn’t say anything, she shivered and said, “It’s cold out here. Are you going to let me in or not?”

  “C’mon.”

  Reed stood back from the door and Temporary shot through the opening before her.

  With a sense of growing irony, Alcina crossed the threshold of her new home on her own two feet.

  ENSCONCED COMFORTABLY in his office chair late the next morning, door closed against accidental eavesdroppers, Emmett Quarrels faced down his former partner, who sat on the other side of the desk.

  “You’ve got a lot of nerve, Tuck, coming here after threatening to foreclose on the Curly-Q.”

  “Emmett, if this weren’t your ranch, and if I didn’t have a sentimental streak a mile wide, I would have foreclosed long ago,” Tucker informed him.

  “Sentimental? Hah!”

  “I’m a banker, not a social worker. But I respect the past even if we’re no longer friends. I’m here to make you an offer you shouldn’t refuse.”

  “What kind of offer?” Emmett asked.

  Wouldn’t do to sound too interested.

  “Assistance so that you can put enough in your bank account to catch up on the mortgage payments.” Emmett tried not to show his glee. His plan was already working. The very day after Reed married Alcina, the old goat was ready to open his bank account to ensure his daughter’s future.

  “What kind of assistance would that be?” he asked, making the question sound gruff and disinterested.

  “Help in dividing up your holdings and selling some of them off.”

  Emmett stalled out on that one. He sat there in shock. Not at all what he’d expected to hear.

  He’d never cared for the wealth provided them both by the played-out silver mine. Only the independent life he’d managed to grab onto had ever mattered. The small-town boy with holes in his pockets had turned himself into a land-rich rancher. He’d taught himself what he needed to know to live off his land. And for that, he’d always considered himself wealthy.

  “Can’t do it,” he said tightly. “I incorporated all my holdings into a family deal. Everything is tied together and in the hands of my boys.”

  “Then talk to them and get Howard Siles in on the deal. Get it all untied!” Tucker told him.

  “Why is this so important to you?”

  “It’s not important to me!
It’s important to you and your family. You may have a failing ticker, Emmett, but you aren’t blind, deaf and dumb, even if you’re acting like you are. Unless you do something and fast, you and your boys are going to be looking for a place to live.”

  Suspicions about his former partner rising anew, Emmett asked, “So what did you have in mind, Tuck?”

  “I can put you in touch with a developer who wants to build houses on horse properties for people with too much money in their pockets.”

  “I’ll bet you can,” Emmett muttered.

  “And he could use some of that property in town, as well,” Tucker continued. “People with money expect amenities close at hand. A sparkling new convenience store. A fancy coffee shop. That kind of thing. If you think about it, it’s a perfect plan. You would only lose part of the ranch and you could be solvent again, at least for a couple of years.”

  Familiar words that he’d heard only the week before. From Vernon Martell…

  Furious, Emmett wondered if Tucker was in cahoots with the neighboring rancher, who’d made no bones about wanting to get his hands on some of the Curly-Q land. The thing about the horse properties could be nothing more than a cover so that he wouldn’t know where the offer was coming from.

  Emmett stared at the man who once had been his best friend.

  A lifetime ago, he and Tucker and Noah Warner had been young and full of big dreams. After finding a huge new vein of silver, they’d reopened the abandoned silver mine and had worked it until it paid off. Then they’d rebuilt the ailing town. Noah hadn’t lasted that far—not a man of vision, he’d preferred gambling to backbreaking labor. He’d let himself be bought out early on, had taken his share of the profit and run.

  But Emmett Quarrels and Tucker Dale—by God, they’d been some team!

  Until their relationship dried up, just as the mine had.

  And when things had gone sour between them, Tucker sold out, returning to a more genteel and profitable life as a banker like his daddy before him. And like his wife Nancy’s people, as well, for that matter.

  Their parting had not been amicable.

  And now Emmett had new doubts about his former partner. “What is it, Tuck? Old age making you live in the past? All these years, you waited for a little revenge.”