A Rancher's Vow Read online

  “And how do you propose I do that?”

  “Simple.” Emmett beamed as he warmed up to his plan. “You stop the old goat from foreclosing on us by marrying his daughter.”

  Chapter Four

  “You want me to marry Alcina Dale?” an incredulous Reed asked.

  “Why not? She’s a fine-looking woman, like her mama,” Emmett said. “And she’s smart. Resourceful. But she’s also a handful as I hear it, scared off every good man who was ever interested in her.”

  “So that made you think she’s right for me?”

  “Now, don’t you get on your high horse, Son,” Emmett said. “It’s more than time you settled down yourself and—”

  “Whoa!”

  But Pa was on a roll. “—got yourself a family. So you and Alcina have something in common. It’s not natural, a woman her age being single and childless. For a while, I thought she and Barton might make a good match, but then Josie came along and turned his head.”

  Bart again…

  “Pa, you can’t be serious,” Reed said, even as he grew irritated at the thought of the beautiful, spirited blonde with his brother.

  “You don’t think I’m serious about hanging on to the Curly-Q? If you and Alcina get hitched, Tucker would never foreclose, not when this spread will be his daughter’s home and part of his grandkids’ future.”

  “Now we’re having kids?” Reed choked out.

  “Alcina’s a fine figure of a woman. Good childbearing hips. Of course she’ll give me more grand-kids!”

  Where had this spate of imagination come from? Reed wondered. He’d never shown any romantic interest in Alcina. And he’d never known his father to believe in fairy tales.

  “Why, with you and Alcina as man and wife, old Tucker might even throw in the back mortgage payments as a wedding present!” Emmett enthused.

  Reed was stunned. If the hopeful expression on Pa’s face was any indication, he was serious. And it didn’t sound as if this was a spur-of-the-moment idea. It sounded as if he’d planned it all out in detail.

  Is that why Pa had wanted him home? Not to run the ranch—Bart’s province, even though his older brother’s heart wouldn’t be in it—but to save the place from financial ruin through marriage?

  “Alcina has something to say about who she marries…” Reed said tightly, “if she even has any interest in giving up the single life.”

  “You can convince her. That she’s the town spinster has got to be eating away at her. And by now, that biological clock of hers should be a time bomb ready to go. A woman couldn’t do better than you for a husband and father for her children, that’s for certain.”

  As glad as he was that Pa thought so highly of him, Reed wasn’t so sure that Alcina would agree with that flattering opinion.

  “But she doesn’t love me.”

  Given that they hadn’t been able to have a conversation without exchanging heated words, he guessed she might not even like him, for that matter. And why was he even having this ridiculous conversation in the first place? Reed wondered.

  “And I don’t love her,” he added anyway.

  Being interested wasn’t anywhere close to the kind of emotion he should have for the woman with whom he meant to spend a lifetime.

  “Romantic love isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, Son,” Emmett said, “as I well know. I made my share of mistakes. Three disastrous marriages all because I thought I was in love.” He shook his head. “Maybe a different approach to choosing a mate isn’t such a bad idea. Real love, the kind that lasts forever, can grow from respect…at least, so I’ve been told.”

  “What respect?” Reed protested. “Alcina and I don’t even know each other anymore.”

  “That can be fixed right quick,” Emmett insisted. “If you want it to be, that is.” His expression suddenly stricken, he stared at Reed for a moment before adding, “You don’t have to decide now. Take some time to ponder on it.” Then he sighed and his voice softened when he said, “Only, I suggest you don’t take too long or there won’t be anything to save, and I know the Curly-Q means as much to you as it did to me.”

  Which reminded Reed that the old man had a finite number of days left in this world. And that he himself had little time to win the approval and respect of the father who had seemed to look over him at every turn to favor Bart.

  Trying not to let past hurts intrude on the present, Reed noticed his father was absently rubbing his chest. His gut clenched.

  “Pa, are you all right? Your heart—”

  “Will last a while longer. At least long enough to see you make me proud. No doctor can fix what’s wrong with me. Doc Baxter crabs about me taking it easy. And I want to be easy, especially in my mind, Son. Believe me, I want to last on this earth as long as I can. That means being able to spend my remaining days on this earth on the Curly-Q. I just need to know that you won’t let me down.”

  The burden of his dying father’s last wish resting squarely on his shoulders, Reed immediately said, “Don’t worry, Pa, I won’t let you down.”

  A rash promise he’d probably live to regret.

  ALCINA GROANED as she tossed aside her crochet-trimmed sheets the next morning. Carefully, she slipped out of bed and tested her body parts. The Jacuzzi might have helped but it hadn’t cured what ailed her. Her right shoulder was stiff and her left hip and buttock were bruised and sore from the fall.

  Sun streamed brightly into the room and she realized she’d overslept, a fact confirmed by her clock. How could she have forgotten to set the alarm? She’d planned to make a special breakfast for Pru and Chance.

  Then, again, the newlyweds might still be in bed, she thought with a grin.

  After twisting her sleep-mussed hair high and securing it with a clip, Alcina jumped into the shower long enough to let some hot water pulse and pound her shoulder to loosen up the tight muscles. She supposed she’d have to make an ice pack and sit on it for relief in her other quarter. At least she was awake and feeling more energetic. In a hurry to scope out the breakfast situation, she threw on a comfortable old bathrobe and a pair of fuzzy slippers.

  Heading downstairs, Alcina ran her fingertips along the carved wooden railing that she’d restored with her own hands. She derived joy from what had been a project of love for her—turning her old family home where she’d been raised into the Springs Bed-and-Breakfast.

  Every detail had come from a combination of research and her own fertile creativity.

  In New York, overseeing similar interior design for other vintage-property owners, ones with unlimited budgets, hadn’t been nearly as satisfying. And although it was true that she’d had to make do for herself with more inexpensive replicas than antiques, she would add subsequent pieces of the real thing as time and her tight budget allowed.

  Nearing the swinging door between dining room and kitchen, Alcina was lured by the scent of coffee so rich that it made her salivate. She guessed Josie had beat her to it.

  But as she stepped into the kitchen, she saw only Pru on a stool at the counter, fully dressed and sipping a mug of coffee. The redhead looked thoughtful rather than sparkling, as a bride should be after her wedding night.

  “Morning.”

  “Oh, Alcina.” The furrow crossing Pru’s forehead immediately smoothed out. “You’re awake.”

  “Is Chance still asleep? I was planning on making you two a breakfast feast.”

  “I know, and it’s so sweet of you. But Chance is already gone. He headed out to the Curly-Q with Josie a quarter of an hour ago,” Pru said. “Double damnation! A fire.” Her face paled a little, making her freckles pop. “Now the barn has to be rebuilt. What next? Chance couldn’t get back to the ranch fast enough.”

  “Some bad luck, huh?”

  Pru frowned again. “A lot of that going around lately.”

  “So Josie has been telling me.”

  “She also told me that you were a heroine last night.”

  At least everyone but Reed Quarrels believed that,
Alcina thought. Though why his opinion of her should matter so much, she didn’t know.

  Shaking the aggravating man free of her thoughts, she said, “I’m glad you and Chance had already left. I wouldn’t have wanted anything to spoil your memories of your wedding day. Now…how about that breakfast?”

  “Nothing for me, thanks. I want to get home.” Pru slid off the stool, put her mug in the dishwasher and pulled car keys from her jeans pocket, her engagement ring sparkling, reminding Alcina of the diamond Reba had found.

  “Missing your little girl already?”

  Pru grinned. “How did you guess?” She kissed Alcina on the cheek. “Thanks for last night, though.”

  “The wedding night went well, then?”

  “The details would make you blush.”

  “You might be surprised—you’d have to go some.”

  “Oh, we did, believe me.”

  The women laughed and hugged. Then, having already hung her wedding dress in the new sport-utility vehicle Chance had bought her for a wedding gift, Pru left the back way, dancing around Josie’s cat, who’d come from the ironing room.

  “Hey, Miss Kitty,” Alcina purred.

  Though the feline’s real name was Peaches, Alcina preferred the one Josie had given her in the throes of her amnesia in her early days in Silver Springs.

  “What are you looking for? Attention or food?”

  From the frantic meow, undoubtedly both, so Alcina picked up the cat and carried her into the mudroom where she poured some fresh crunchies into a bowl, then slid a hand down the little beast’s back and up her tail while the cat took the first bite.

  Hungry herself, Alcina decided to make an omelet. She was digging in the refrigerator, gathering ingredients, when she heard someone at the back door.

  “Come on in,” she called.

  Hands filled, she elbowed the fridge door closed and turned to find Reed Quarrels planted in the middle of her kitchen.

  The breath caught in her throat for a moment. Then she said, “Reed…if you’re looking for Chance, you must have missed him somehow. He and Josie headed for the Curly-Q about twenty minutes ago.”

  “I’m not looking for my brother. I’m here for you.”

  Her pulse fluttered alarmingly, and she allowed her gaze to drift from his Stetson to the work shirt buttoned straight to his neck, then down to the wash-softened and faded jeans that hugged him so deliciously.

  Licking her lips, she lifted her gaze to find that he was eyeing her, as well—the toppling hair, old robe, fluffy slippers. Some sight she must make in comparison. But when their eyes met, she saw something in Reed’s that made her a little light-headed.

  And before she knew what happened, Alcina lost hold of an egg. It plopped right out of her hand and onto the kitchen floor.

  “Great,” she muttered, setting the rest down on the counter and grabbing a wad of paper towels. Self-conscious, she bent over to clean up the mess. “Go ahead and say it.”

  “Say what?”

  “Whatever’s on your mind.”

  Rising, Alcina could see that Reed was swallowing a smirk and trying to hide it below his pale gray Stetson. The darn hat didn’t hide everything though. She knew he was laughing at her. Again. Red-faced, she wondered how it was that she gave him so many reasons to do so.

  He said, “I was just thinking you have an unusual relationship with food.”

  Ridding herself of the evidence, Alcina looked Reed in the eye. Well, as best she could with him wearing the hat and all.

  “So what is it that I can do for you?” she choked out, feeling pressurized by his very presence.

  “It’s what I’d like to do for you—thank you properly for saving the horses.”

  “I had the distinct impression that you thought my heroics were stupid and uncalled for.”

  “I was merely more worried about your safety than I was about the horses.” He flicked the Stetson back from his forehead. Eyebrows arched, he asked, “All body parts functioning properly?”

  “Uh…uh-huh.”

  And some not so properly.

  What would Reed think if he knew her breasts were tightening and a warmth was rushing down her belly and along her thighs?

  “When I said ‘thank you properly’ I meant with more than words,” Reed went on smoothly. “I’d like to take you out on the spread late this afternoon.”

  An odd suggestion…

  Suddenly realizing that she was naked beneath the robe, Alcina wrapped her arms around herself and tried to will away the sensation spreading through her like wildfire.

  “If you think you’ll get another good laugh at my expense, be warned that I did learn to ride when I was going to school out East,” she informed him. “And I do mean ride. I even won a few ribbons jumping.”

  “I would never plan to make you look foolish,” Reed assured her, his expression serious. “And I wasn’t thinking about our going horseback riding…unless that’s a deal-breaker. I had something a little different in mind.”

  Details of which were not forthcoming, Alcina noticed. He was waiting quietly for her answer.

  Why not?

  She was unable to resist the curiosity that got the best of her.

  “All right. We’ll play it your way, whatever that is. One question though,” she said, her pulse humming merrily, but her practical brain asking for boundaries. “This outing with the two of us together, how would you define it exactly?”

  “I don’t understand.”

  Wondering if he was being purposely dense, Alcina asked, “Would you call it a…a date?”

  She said the D-word delicately, as if that would soften the blow when he denied it.

  “A date.” Thoughtful for a moment, Reed nodded. “You could call it that.”

  Her pulse went straight to overdrive, but she wanted to kick him for making her feel so uncertain of herself. Either it was a date or it wasn’t. You could call it that…real helpful. And now he was staring at her, his warm brown eyes filled with something that made her knees weak.

  Wanting to control the situation, if not her own reaction to Reed, Alcina said, “Since it’s on Curly-Q property, shall I meet you at the house?”

  “The bunkhouse—my staying there is a temporary arrangement.”

  They settled on a time later that afternoon and then Reed took his leave. Alcina followed him only as far as the mudroom, but she watched through the back windows, Miss Kitty jumping on a work table to join her.

  Reed climbed into the driver’s seat of his truck with difficulty. For inside the cab, Temporary was all over him, trying to show him how much he meant to her. The dog was practically turning herself inside out with joy. Gaze pinned to the dog’s activities, a far more sedate Miss Kitty growled deep in her throat.

  “Oh, hush.” Alcina scratched behind the cat’s ears. “Temporary’s not so bad. She’s probably got a heart as big as her owner’s.”

  For Reed was hugging the dog and talking to her and she in turn was licking his face and making him laugh. He certainly was even more appealing when he wasn’t so serious…as long as he wasn’t laughing at her, of course.

  Continuing to watch dog and man, Alcina figured Reed would have a difficult time giving away anything that gave him that much affection and pleasure.

  “Maybe that’s something for me to keep in mind,” she said before turning back to make her breakfast.

  “THE INSURANCE ISN’T up-to-date, so we get squat there,” Bart told his brothers when the three of them met in the main room of the bunkhouse a half hour later. “Pa said he couldn’t afford to keep up the coverage.”

  “I’ll pay for the materials for the new barn,” Chance said, “since it was burned on my watch, so to speak.”

  Pouring himself a cup of coffee, Reed said, “You’re not taking the blame for this one.”

  Not like in the old days when Chance would let himself be a scapegoat for every little thing that went wrong on the spread because Pa and Bart always expected him to be
the screwup responsible. Way back then, Reed hadn’t been able to understand why Chance had done that sort of thing—bad enough that he’d actually been guilty plenty of times. But now Reed saw his younger brother’s actions through more knowing eyes. At least Chance had never been invisible, not the way he himself had been most of the time.

  “Don’t worry,” Chance said, “I have the money from my rodeo winnings.”

  Which Reed knew Chance had wanted to use both to build a house for his family and to start a rodeo school.

  “But this wasn’t your fault,” Reed stressed.

  “But it was the fault of one of my so-called ‘guests.’” Chance shook his head. “And if I hadn’t agreed to have the wedding party here on the spread…”

  Chance hadn’t even allowed Reed to volunteer to help kick in some of his back pay. Knowing he was fighting his usual losing battle to be heard when it came to voicing his opinion around his brothers, Reed tried to cool Chance down yet again.

  “You don’t even know for certain that the fire wasn’t accidental.”

  Despite what Alcina had seen and what Pa had told him, Reed didn’t want Chance blaming himself.

  “Yeah, I’m afraid we do know, Reed,” Bart said. “I checked things out pretty thoroughly at first light. There are some definite flow patterns on the floor. The fire burned more intensely in those areas, which indicates an accelerant was used.”

  Though he’d suspected it was arson himself, Reed really had hoped he was wrong. “That could simply have been due to gasoline or diesel fuel being left in the wrong place.”

  Carefully pulling a dark object from his vest pocket, Bart asked, “Was this left in the wrong place?”

  Holding it only by the edges, he set down a melted blob the size of a deck of cards in the center of the table. Reed took a closer look at the charred mess. While the object was virtually destroyed, closer inspection revealed it to be the remains of a pager.

  “Who around here uses a telephone pager?” Chance asked.

  “Whoever chose it as a device to set off the fire. All the arsonist needed was a cell phone to trigger it.”