Denim And Lace. Diana Palmer

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СКАЧАТЬ made a lot of money on the rodeo circuit in calf roping and team roping. He was good at bareback bronc riding and steer riding, as well. Bess worried about him. Last time, at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas in December, he’d pulled a tendon in his leg and it had been weeks before he could walk without a limp. He had scars all over his arms and chest from the falls he’d taken and a couple of mended bones, as well. But without that extra money, they’d never have made their mortgage payments. Cade was a keen businessman, and since his father’s death years ago he’d had the bulk of the responsibility for the ranch. It had aged him. He was only thirty-four, but he seemed mature and very adult, even hard, to Bess. Not that it affected her feelings for him. Nothing ever seemed to change that sad fact.

      She got out of the Jaguar, pausing to pet Laddie, the black-and-white border collie that helped the men work the cattle. Cade would get angry if he saw her because Laddie was a cattle dog, not a petting dog. He didn’t like her showing affection to anything on his land, least of all to him. But she thought he might like to know about the wayward calves.

      Elise Hollister was in the kitchen. She called for Bess to come in, and Bess opened the screen door, careful not to bang it, because the spring had come loose and there was a small hole in the screen. The linoleum floors were cracked and faded. Compared with the big Samson house the Hollisters’ home was a shack, but it was always clean and neat as a pin because Elise kept it that way. Bess always felt at home on Lariat, and the lack of luxury didn’t bother her one bit. It bothered Cade. He never snapped at her more than when she came here, which was rarely. She hadn’t really had a good excuse since her father had persuaded Cade three years ago to give her riding lessons, and that hadn’t lasted long. Gussie had managed to stop them just after they started, and Cade had seemed relieved. Of course it had been just after his successful attempt to get Bess to stop chasing him, and it had been something of a relief, even to her. Cade’s callous behavior had upset her. She often wondered if he regretted it. She did, because it had left her slightly afraid of him. But her stubborn heart had never found another man to fasten itself on. Despite everything, it was still Cade.

      He only came to the house to see her father, and that had been a very recent development. His attitude was somehow different. Gussie’s hauteur bounced off him these days, for the most part, but the way he looked at Bess was new and a little unsettling. It was as if he was looking for something in her.

      But he didn’t like her on Lariat. She wondered if it might be because he disliked having her see how he lived, comparing his lifestyle with hers. But why would that matter to him when he wanted no part of her? She couldn’t quite figure Cade out. She was in good company there. He was a mystery even to his mother.

      Elise Hollister had gray hair, but she was elegant in her way, tall and slender and sharp featured, with kind, dark eyes and a ready smile. She was wearing a cotton print shirtwaist dress, and her eyes twinkled as she moved away from the sink to wipe her hands on a dishcloth.

      “Hello, Bess,” she said, welcoming the younger woman like a long-lost daughter. “What brings you here?”

      “Cade’s got some calves out on the highway,” she said. “The fence is down, and I thought I’d better tell somebody.” She blushed, thinking how transparent she must seem to this warm, quiet woman.

      Elise smiled. “That’s very kind of you. You look pretty this morning.”

      “Thank you. I’ve been to a coffee,” Bess said with a kind of sophisticated cynicism. “The daughter of one of Mama’s friends is getting married, so I had to make an appearance.” She grimaced. “I wanted to go riding, but Mama says I’ll fall off the horse and break something vital.”

      “You ride very well,” Elise said. Coming from her, it was a compliment because she could ride every bit as well as the cowboys on Lariat.

      “You’re sweet, but I’ll never be in your class.” Bess sighed, looking around the neat, clean kitchen. “I envy you, being able to cook. I can’t boil water. Every time I sneak into the kitchen and try to learn from Maude, Mama explodes.”

      “I love to cook,” Elise said hesitantly, reluctant to offend Bess by making any remarks about Gussie. “Of course, I’ve always had to. And around here, food is more important than anything—at least, to my sons,” she laughed. “I’m lucky to get a chicken bone at mealtimes.”

      Bess laughed, too. “I guess I’d better go.”

      Elise studied the quiet young face with eyes that saw deep. “Cade’s out with some of the boys, checking on the heifers we bred last fall. Some of them are dropping early. I feel rather sorry for whoever let the bulls in with them too early.”

      Bess knew what she meant. “I hope he can get work somewhere else,” she added. “It’s some of the new calves that are out on the highway.”

      Elise nodded. “I’ll send Robbie out to get Cade,” she said. “Thanks again for stopping by. You wouldn’t like some cake and coffee?”

      “I would,” Bess replied. “But I have to check in by noon, or Mama will send out the Texas Rangers to find me. Thanks anyway.”

      She climbed back into the Jaguar and pulled back onto the farm road that led to the highway. Her eyes restlessly searched the horizon for Cade, but she knew she wouldn’t see him. She spent altogether too much time looking for him. Not that it would do her any good to catch him. Even if he had a wild, secret passion for her—a really laughable thought, she mused—he had too much responsibility on Lariat to marry anyone. He had his mother and two brothers and a respectable amount of land and cattle to oversee. It wasn’t realistic to think that such a responsible man would chuck it all for the sake of any woman.

      She darted a glance at the calves as she drove past them on her way home. Well, at least they were standing beside the road, not in it, and Robbie, Cade’s youngest brother, would find him and tell him about them. But it would have been so nice if Cade had been at the house. She smiled, indulging yet another daydream that ended with herself in Cade’s arms, with his dark eyes full of love as they looked down at her. Always the same dream, she thought. Always the same hopeless reality. She really would have to grow up, she decided. If only she could manage a way to do it without stuffing her overprotective mother into a croker sack and hiding her in the attic.

      She smiled at the thought just as her eyes caught a movement in the grass beside the road. She slowed the Jaguar and stopped. A calf was lying there. It might be hurt. She couldn’t just leave it there. She pulled over onto the side of the road and cut the engine. Now what was she going to do? she wondered as she got out of the car.

       CHAPTER TWO

      THE LONG STRETCH of Texas horizon looked lonely in winter. The man sitting quietly astride the big bay gelding understood loneliness. It had been his constant companion for some years with only occasional and unsatisfying interludes to numb the ache he could never ease. His dark eyes narrowed on the sleek silver Jaguar paused at the road where his calves were straying, and he wondered if it had just come from the house. Probably it had. Gussie Samson wouldn’t have bothered to tell him his calves were out, but her daughter would. Despite all his efforts to drive her away, and his attacks of conscience because of the method he’d once used, Bess kept coming back for more. He wondered sometimes why he didn’t just give in and stop tormenting them both. But that was madness. He was poor and she was rich, and all he could ever offer her was a brief affair. That wouldn’t do for Bess. It wouldn’t do for him either. He had too many principles and too much moral fiber to compromise her for his own satisfaction. He wanted her honorably or not at all. Besides all that, she was СКАЧАТЬ