Salvation in the Rancher's Arms(60)

She left the restaurant, her shoulders squared, not even the slightest bend showing in her spine. The navy blue homespun skirt swished about her legs with each irate stride. Only her anger remained, lingering in the air around him.

What had she meant when she said he had no idea the position he’d put her in? What part of the puzzle was he missing?

One thing was certain, he had every intention of finding out.



By the time they left town and headed back to the ranch, Rachel’s stomach writhed like a nest of eels. Not even the serenity of the forest could calm her fears. In the span of twelve hours everything had flipped on its ear.

Shamus had Brody.

He had struck the lowest blow possible, taking the only thing that mattered to her, the only thing she would give up everything for. Her family.

Brody. What had he been thinking going to Shamus? But she knew exactly what her brother was thinking. He figured that with Robert gone it was his responsibility to see them out of this mess, even if it meant working for the enemy to pay off the debts.

Her brother had no idea the mess he had stepped into. She had tried his whole life to protect him from the truth. If Shamus told him he was his true father, what then? Everything would change, and not for the better. Brody had been looking for a father figure his whole life. Robert had proven woefully inadequate. What if Shamus tried to fill that role? He could turn on a certain slimy charm when he wanted to, convincing you he could perform miracles. He’d fooled her mother into believing him. Would he fool Brody in the same way?

Perhaps if she hadn’t seen him destroy her parents’ lives, she, too, would have been taken in by him. But she saw through his slick veneer to what he really was. A monster.

Now it appeared the monster was ready to destroy her family again, and Rachel had no ammunition to stop him. Even so, if she gave in to his lecherous demands, Shamus wouldn’t get her land. Everything she once owed Shamus, she now owed Caleb. The question was—what did Caleb want in return?

The buckboard jolted as the wheel slipped into a rut and then climbed out, the horse straining at the task.

Why had Caleb paid the debt? What was the advantage? He already had everything. Her land, her home. She’d tried giving him her body but he’d turned her down, though he claimed that had nothing to do with how much he wanted her. But morning had a way of shedding its harsh light on things, and Rachel realized the intimacy they’d shared by revealing their pasts had been nothing more than an illusion created by the night.

Caleb may have lusted for her physically, but he had made no claims of love. The thought slipped into her mind unbidden. She tried to shake it out, but the word stuck. Love. Something she had longed for her whole life. She thought she’d found it once, but she had been sorely mistaken. She would not be duped like that again.

Last night was nothing more than two people caught up in a moment, reaching out to find temporary respite from the chaos of the past two weeks. Soon, the shine of this new life on the ranch would wear thin and Caleb would realize what a scramble it was. Then what? He’d leave or he’d send her packing. Either way, there was no future for them together.

The thought left an empty hollow in her chest. In the short time he’d been with her, Rachel had become accustomed to Caleb’s presence, looked forward to it as much as she fought against it. She did not want to fall for him. He was a drifter with a haunted past, an edge of danger and secrets he would not reveal. It was a heartbreaking combination and she’d do well to be rid of him.

But knowing that and wanting it, she discovered, were two entirely different things.

Caleb pulled Jasper up even with the buckboard. “Still angry about me paying off the debt, aren’t you?”

She glanced up at him, her hands tightening on the reins. Shamus’s threats wore a fresh track in her mind. She wasn’t sure what she felt more—fear or anger. Maybe they were one and the same. She had yet to tell Caleb about Brody’s defection. She’d stormed out of the restaurant before she could.

“You have no idea the situation you’re dealing with, Caleb. You should have stayed out of it.”

“Can’t do that.”

She turned in her seat slightly to face him, giving the horse enough rein to take his lead. “Why not? What is it to you whether I owe money to Shamus or not? It’s none of your concern.”

The morning sunlight filtered through the trees and touched his face, illuminating the sharp edges and grim set of his mouth. “It is my concern. You’re my concern.”

“I am not—”

“You are. And don’t get me wrong. I don’t like it. Last thing in the world I wanted was to show up here and be puttin’ down roots. I tried that once and it ended in a real bad way. I know this ain’t the kind of life I get to have, and so be it.”