Katie’s heart pounded with dread at the words.
“You can count on me,” Vance answered. “I’ve handled my share of men like that.”
“My wife is up in that loft. You wait for her to come down and follow her back to the house; and don’t you make any jokes about us being up there, understand? You be respectful.”
“Jesus, Lloyd, you don’t have to tell me that.”
Lloyd looked at the other two. “We’ll ride all goddamn night if we have to—try to cut them off before they run across my father. They’ll be going a lot slower than us and will stop somewhere tonight, so we might be able to catch up with them by tomorrow.” He kicked his horse into a hard run, and the other two men followed.
Katie watched them ride off. Pepper and Cole were good men, older like Jake but solid and able. Jake suspected Pepper and Vance were former outlaws, but then, so was Jake Harkner, so he knew men like that better than any other kind. He read men pretty good and seemed to sense which ones could be trusted. So did Lloyd.
“Take care of him,” she whispered in a quick prayer. She hurriedly dressed. She felt embarrassed at having to walk out there and face Vance Kelly, but there was no getting around it.
It seemed they would never be able to totally relax and enjoy the new life they’d found out here. She supposed she would just have to get used to the fact that where there was a Harkner man, there was almost always some kind of danger, even without wearing a badge. All they needed was the name, and guns were required. But she loved Lloyd, and she’d learned to live with the danger.
Besides, this was nothing compared to what happened back in Oklahoma. At least not yet.
Four
“You getting sore in all the wrong places from too much riding?” Jake turned his horse to face his wife.
“It’s not the riding that’s got me sore in all the wrong places,” Randy teased, taking up the reins of their packhorse.
Jake laughed in the teasing way he had of making her feel embarrassed.
“On a trip like this, a man your age should be too tired for frivolity, Mr. Harkner.”
“Don’t underestimate what a man my age is capable of, Mrs. Harkner.” Jake winked at her as he lit a cigarette.
“In your case, I don’t underestimate anything,” Randy shot back.
“You’re the one who kept offering herself to me,” Jake teased. He grinned and turned his horse, heading down a pathway toward the valley below.
Randy followed behind him, pulling the packhorse along. “Just don’t be underestimating me, dear husband. I’ve been just fine on this trip. I’d rather put up with the hard ground and lack of comforts than be home worrying about what’s happening when you’re gone for too long at a time. We went through enough of that back in Oklahoma.”
“Well, being a marshal back there proved more dangerous than all the grizzlies and bobcats and rustlers here, but even so, I’m not bringing you along every time I do this. We needed the time together, but these trips are too dangerous for you.”
“Are you giving me orders?” she called out.
Jake kept the cigarette at the corner of his mouth when he glanced back at her. “You mean by saying you can’t come with me next time?”
“I mean exactly that.”
He turned away. “Then I am giving you orders. What if something goes wrong? You’re a distraction. I might not be as alert as I should be.”
Randy smiled. “I like being a distraction. That means you’re still attracted to me. A woman my age needs to know that.”
“Hell, you’re ten years younger than I am. Maybe I’m the one who needs to know he’s still wanted.”
“Half the women in Colorado want you.”
“Easy, Midnight.” Jake pulled up on the reins to the black gelding he favored over the other horses he owned. The path had suddenly banked steeper, and small rocks tumbled as Midnight whinnied and stepped lightly to his master’s command. “Stay there!” he told Randy.
Randy slowed her horse, a gentle gray gelding called Shortbread. She watched with concern as Jake led Midnight down the steep path that had become more of a washout after a short but hard rain last night. Rocks and dirt tumbled as Midnight half slid down the bank to a flatter pathway. Jake dismounted and tied the horse, then grasped at trees and rocks and anything else he could to keep from slipping as he climbed back up to where Randy waited. She noticed how worn-looking his black leather boots were in spite of being fairly new. The silver Mexican conchae and extra-fancy stitching made them sturdy enough for the wear and tear of ranching, but they were already scratched and dirty.