Salvation in the Rancher's Arms(61)

That was the second time he’d mentioned trying to settle down, but each time the subject arose his expression closed down and she knew the subject was off limits.

“Then why are you doing this? Letting us stay, paying off my debt? Why do you insist on involving yourself in my life like you have some right to be there?”

“Because every time I turn around you or one of your family keeps gettin’ yourself into a situation needing my help. Maybe the men you encountered in your past were the kind to turn a blind eye to such a thing, but I can’t. I’ve got some small scrap of honor left and it’s about all I’ve got, so don’t go askin’ me to just ignore it because my actin’ on it puts your britches in a knot.”

Rachel’s eyebrows lifted of their own accord. His voice was filled with anger and frustration, as if it had been she who put this burden on him. Of all the cotton-pickin’ nerve!

“I am not the one who made you sit down at that table in Laramie to gamble. And I certainly never laid the responsibility of bringing Robert home at your feet. You took that upon yourself after you cleaned him out of every last thing we owned.” How dare he make it sound as if this situation were somehow her fault? If anyone was an innocent victim in all of this mess, it was her!

The horse snorted and shook his head. Rachel loosened her hold on the reins, realizing in her anger she had pulled them taut.

“I didn’t say this was your fault. I’m just sayin’ that maybe if you stopped snapping like a turtle every time someone tried to do something for you, you wouldn’t find yourself in such a mess.”

“Oh!” He may as well have just branded her completely incompetent. “Let me tell you something, Mr. Beckett—”

He rolled his eyes at her formal address, and she swore if her hands weren’t busy holding the reins, she would have reached across and poked him in those damnable hazel eyes.

She pulled in a harsh breath. “You are the most insufferable man I have ever met. You waltz in and take over and then have the audacity to claim honor made you do it, as if that somehow excuses your heavy-handed behavior. Well, let me tell you what your honor has done. It has left me with nothing. Shamus has Brody now. And I cannot use the debt repayment as leverage to get him back because you have gone and paid it off. So do you know what I get to use now, Caleb?”

“Rachel, I—”

“I get to use my body. I get to prostitute myself like my mother did. So thank you. Thank you so much for all the help your honor provided. I hope it makes you feel better.”

She snapped the reins and urged the draft horse to move faster. Unlike Old Molly, this one had some pep and it picked up speed with little effort. Rachel ignored the rattling of her teeth as the buckboard bounced and jostled with every rut and bump in her path. Maybe if she went fast enough, she could outrun the trouble that had grabbed hold of her life.

To his credit, Caleb let her go and it wasn’t long before she left him far behind. It was a relief when she saw her home appear on the horizon.

Even if it wasn’t hers any longer.



Jasper snorted and shook his head, to loosen the hold Caleb had on the reins. He didn’t like traveling at such a slow pace, but he knew it was better this way.

Though his insides begged him to go after her, he would let her blow off some steam while he tried to digest what she had told him. He was afraid if he went after her now, he’d do something even more foolish, like propose they get married so Kirkpatrick would never be able to lay a hand on her.

His guts lurched at the very idea of Kirkpatrick touching her. Of her being forced to submit to him in order to get her brother back.

The thought of marrying her, however, that crazy idea had an unsettling sense of home to it. But he knew better than to get too close to those kinds of thoughts. He’d attempted marrying once before and still bore the scars, both physical and emotional, of that particular disaster. If he’d had any doubt he wasn’t the settling kind, Marianne had made it perfectly clear when she’d turned her back on him. He didn’t need to be dragging Rachel into his hell. No matter how much his heart tried to tell him it was worth the risk.

Besides, he doubted Rachel would even consider a proposal from him at this point. He wasn’t sure what had occurred to put Brody in Kirkpatrick’s clutches, but somehow Rachel blamed him. He’d give her some time to cool her heels then he’d set about figuring out what had happened and how to fix it. One thing he knew for sure, he’d be a dead man before he let her barter her body to Shamus Kirkpatrick.

Caleb sensed the intrusion only seconds before the pounding of hooves reached him and riders surrounded him.