Karen Kirst - The Horseman's Frontier Family

Her brother shot her a dubious look. “Please tell me you’re not really that naive. What do you have that he wants?”

The name on the stake. “Rightful ownership of this claim.”

“Exactly.” He snapped his fingers.

“Let me get this straight. You think he bought the cow not as an act of kindness but as a bribe. He’s going to try and convince me not to contest the claim.”

“That’s right.”

Resuming her task, she mopped her forehead with her sleeve. “Doesn’t sound like something he’d do.”

“Oh, what, now that you’ve spent a whole day in his company you know what kind of person he is?”

“No, of course not. It just doesn’t seem like he’d put forth that kind of energy on a plan that isn’t foolproof. He’s rather busy, if you can’t tell.”

Glancing toward the stable, Reid smirked. “Yeah, well, his single-mindedness will only benefit us. When all is said and done, that will be your stable, sis. Yours and Walt’s. It’ll save us from having to build it later.”

Her gaze once again drawn to the taciturn middle Thornton brother, she experienced a pinprick of disquiet. How would she feel if she’d worked that hard on something only to have to leave it behind?

“Oh, no, you don’t.” Her twin was suddenly squatting in front of her, his coffee-colored eyes boring into hers. His ivory felt hat sat at a rakish angle on his head. “Don’t feel sorry for the guy. He doesn’t deserve your compassion, Evelyn. Remember, he’s trying to steal Walt’s inheritance. He’s taking advantage of a widow and her fatherless child.”

She disliked it when Reid read her mind like that. Some things a girl preferred to keep private. Lifting her chin, she met him stare for stare. “I could never forget that.”

Studying her with narrowed eyes, he finally nodded, then frowned again at her navy blue skirt and white scoop-necked blouse. No doubt he disapproved of her not wearing proper mourning clothes.

“Before you say it, I own only one appropriate outfit.” She lifted the long-sleeved, too-elegant-for-everyday-use black blouse out of the sudsy water. Aware of Evelyn’s scant wardrobe, her mother-in-law had made her several outfits to wear to church services. Not a fan of black, she’d rarely worn this particular one. “I have to wash it sometime. Besides, it shouldn’t matter what I wear out here when there’s no one around to see.”

Again, a long, slow perusal. “Evelyn, I—” Frowning, he stared at the ground beneath his dusty boots. “I’ve wanted to ask you about Drake ever since...” Cautious eyes met hers. “Look, the accident shocked us all. I know you have a huge burden to shoulder. Walt’s silence adds to that, I’m sure, but I’m worried about you. We all are.”

Laying the soap aside, she rinsed the material and wrung out the excess water. “There’s no need to worry. I assure you I’m fine.”

For her brothers’ sakes, she’d tried her best to hide her unhappy marital state. After all, Theo had introduced her to Drake Montgomery, and all three brothers had encouraged her to accept his proposal. If they’d discovered the true state of affairs between her and her husband, they would’ve blamed themselves. And perhaps intervened, which could have ended in violence. So she’d playacted.

Reid followed her to the rope she’d strung up between two oaks. “That’s the problem. A woman who’s just lost her husband should not be fine.”

“Everyone grieves differently.” Hooking the clothespins in place, she checked to see that Walt was still cavorting with Lion and Shadow along the stream bank. “Besides, I’ve a lot to keep me busy these days. There isn’t time to dwell on our loss.”

“You were inconsolable after Ma and Pa died,” he pointed out, following her back to the pile of laundry awaiting her attention.

“That was different.”

“Evelyn—”

“Reid.” Holding up a hand, she shot him a quelling look. “No more. Please.”

He opened his mouth to speak, shook his head and snapped it shut again. As she bent to her task, relief speared through her. Her brother could be relentless. Somehow she doubted this was the last time she’d hear of this.

“I’d better go.”

“Thanks for the rabbits. I’ll make a nice stew for supper.”

“That’s nice.”

Hearing the note of distraction in his voice, she looked up and caught him staring in Gideon’s direction, a troublesome glint in his eyes.

Popping up, she slipped her arm through his. “I’ll walk you to your horse.”

Unfortunately, they had to walk past the stable to where Rusty was tethered to the corral fence. Just as they came abreast of the door opening, Gideon emerged and bumped into Reid.

“Sorry,” Gideon muttered.

Shaking free of her hold, Reid sidestepped to block his exit. “Why don’t you watch where you’re going, Thornton?”

“It was an accident,” he clipped out, holding himself erect. Aloof. “No need to make more of it than it is.”

Although about the same height, Gideon had at least forty pounds of solid muscle on her brother. The outcome of an altercation between the two men wasn’t difficult to envision.

Reid poked a finger in Gideon’s chest. “Nice try with the milk cow. But I’m wise to your schemes, and so is Evelyn. Don’t think you can charm your way into keeping what doesn’t belong to you.”

Gideon’s head reared back. His icy gaze slammed into her, silently accusing. “My motivation had nothing to do with the dispute.”

Was he speaking the truth? Or was he just a clever actor?

Aware of the ratcheting tension, Evelyn tugged on her brother’s forearm. “Reid, please. Let it go.”

“Steer clear of my sister and nephew, you filthy cur.”

Color climbed up Gideon’s neck. His massive hands curling into fists, he stuck his face close to Reid’s. “Or what?”

Oh, no. Gideon’s legendary temper was about to be unleashed.

“Oh, you’ll find out what,” Reid sneered.

“I don’t cotton to threats, especially from a man who’s trespassing on my land.”

“Why, you—”

“Don’t do this.” Evelyn hauled on Reid’s arm with all her might but couldn’t budge him. “Think of Walt.”

Beneath her fingertips, she felt his thick muscle quiver, and she thought Reid would shake her off again. He surprised her, however. With a parting promise that this conversation wasn’t finished, he guided her to the corral. A sigh gusted from her lungs. Crisis averted.

This time. What will happen the next time your brothers come to check on you? What if she couldn’t talk them down? Theo, Brett and Reid loathed the Thornton brothers. Now that Gideon stood in the way of her inheritance, the state of affairs would only deteriorate.

Someone was likely to get hurt, which would only serve to traumatize Walt further.

No matter what, she couldn’t let that happen.

Chapter Four

“I want a word with you.”

Gideon gritted his teeth as he walked along the stream. Why couldn’t the Montgomery woman leave him alone? Didn’t she have the common sense to know not to provoke a riled beast? The rage coursing through his body made him feel more beast than human. This lightning-quick temper was a curse that had originated in childhood, about the time his father dumped him and his brothers at Cousin Obadiah’s, went off to fight for the North and never returned. With God’s help he’d learned to control it. There’d been exceptions, of course, like the time he broke Theo Chaucer’s nose.

Lately, that control was slipping more often. Despite his antipathy toward the Lord, he recognized he wasn’t strong enough to master it by relying on his own strength.

He glided his hat along the surface of the water, scooping a fair amount into the crown. Then he upturned it over his head, the cool liquid shocking the anger out of his system. Slowly rising, he turned and climbed the gently sloping bank to where she stood waiting beneath the cottonwood branches, her black boot tapping out an impatient rhythm. Her molten-molasses gaze accused him of all sorts of ills. May as well get this over with.