A Rancher's Vow

Alcina guessed chores on a ranch didn’t wait, not even for a wedding. She thought to join the hired hand, to keep him company for a few minutes, when a voice coming from the opposite direction distracted her.

“C’mon…I know you want it…”

A man’s enticing voice.

“That’s it, sweetheart…”

Reed’s voice.

“That’s good, isn’t it?”

Alcina’s mouth went dry at the seductive tone.

“I told you it would be…”

Who in the world was out here with him? Alcina wondered, her imagination on overdrive. Like a fool, she found herself wanting the full picture.

“More, yes…take it all…”

Shocked by the implication and yet drawn like a moth to a flame, she came close enough to see for herself.

And then her face flamed with her foolishness.

For, hunkered down next to his truck, Reed was hand-feeding a wretched-looking brown and white dog with a torn ear. The moment the animal spotted her, it backed off toward the pickup, cowering.

“You scared her,” Reed stated. “Damn! And I was just getting her to come around.”

Alcina ignored the blame placed on her and murmured, “Oh, no, girl, you don’t need to be afraid of me,” crouching also and holding out a nonthreatening hand.

Aware of Reed staring at her, Alcina grew self-conscious, but she didn’t want to scare the dog further and so stayed exactly as she was. Barely a moment went by before the animal ventured forward to smell her fingers.

“You poor thing,” Alcina said, turning her hand so the dog lightly nuzzled her palm. In the same tone, she asked Reed, “Where did she come from?”

“Not here. I found her on the road—the reason I was late. I’d never ask you to lie, but if you wouldn’t tell Chance…”

She remembered him being honest to a fault, so his keeping something like that from his brother was a big deal. Reed confiding in her… Warmth flooded Alcina.

“I think Chance would understand, but I’ll keep mum.”

She’d always known Reed was a kind man. Without thinking, she stroked the dog’s neck, then continued petting her, running a hand down a bony spine.

Suddenly catching herself, Alcina murmured, “Oh, sorry.”

She expected the dog to slither away and was surprised when it moved closer for more.

“She must trust you,” Reed said.

Alcina ran gentle fingers along the animal’s protruding ribs. “You don’t have to sound so surprised.”

“I didn’t mean that to sound judgmental. It’s just that she’s so skittish.”

Suddenly feeling a little skittish herself, Alcina met Reed’s gaze and realized that he was staring at her. His expression was appreciative. And puzzling.

“What?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Most women wouldn’t have touched a dog that looked scruffy and sick.”

“I’m not—”

“Most women,” he finished for her. “I remember.”

Getting to her feet, Alcina asked, “So what’s her name?”

“I don’t know. She’s not my dog.”

A disbelieving Alcina cleared her throat.

“She’s not.” Reed rose, as well. “But I intend to find her a good home.”

From the way the dog was looking at him so adoringly, Alcina figured she’d already found herself one—her new owner obviously hadn’t realized it yet.

“In the meantime,” she said, “you have to call her something.”

“What’s wrong with Girl?”

“Not very personal.”

“Then what do you suggest?” he asked.

“You want me to name your…uh, her?”

“Why not? It’s only temporary.”

“Right, temporary.” Alcina looked deep into the dog’s liquid brown eyes. “Hey, Temporary.”

The dog whistled through her nose and gave a sharp bark.

“I think she likes it,” Alcina said.

Reed snorted. “Temporary? Come on, that’s a ridiculous name for a dog.”

“Then you name her.”

For a moment, she thought Reed might take her challenge. Then he shrugged.

“Temporary it is.”

Alcina grinned. They stood there grinning at each other for a moment before she remembered the festivities. She’d only meant to kill a few minutes and had lost track of time.

“I think we’d better get back if we want to send the bride and groom off with our best wishes,” she said.

“That means it’s time for you to get back into the pickup,” Reed told the dog.

He patted her and opened the door. She stood there looking at him.

Giving her a hand signal, he said, “C’mon, Temporary, get in.”

The dog jumped into the truck and onto the driver’s seat where she settled, her adoring gaze still on Reed.

“You’re her hero,” Alcina murmured.

“I only did what any decent person would do.”

She knew that wasn’t true. The world was filled with decent folks. But the dog obviously had been on her own for a while now. Only a really caring person would have taken the time and trouble with her that Reed had.

With the dog settled, they hurried back to the party to find the wedding cake had already been cut, and the unmarried men were being urged to step up for the garter toss.

Nearly two dozen men, mostly old bachelor cowboys, got into the spirit of the competition. Moon-Eye was at the front of the line, she noted; he must have finished his chores. Even Bart and Reed jostled each other good-naturedly as one of the musicians beat a tattoo on his drum.

Chance took a quick look over his shoulder, and Alcina was certain he aimed directly for Bart, who was committed, if not yet officially engaged, to Josie Walker.

Only, Reed was the one who ended up with the garter on his arm.

Alcina tried to sit out the bouquet throw, but Pru wouldn’t hear of it. Certain her friend would send the spray of flowers Josie’s way, Alcina gave in and moved to the opposite side of the much smaller group of women, the oldest of whom was Felice, the youngest Lainey.

When the bouquet wound up in her own hands, Alcina was floored.

Pru turned to face her, a sly grin quirking her lips, and Alcina knew her friend had sent the flowers her way purposely. What in the world was she thinking?

Just then, the band started a lively tune.

“Well, isn’t this an interesting development,” Pru said, drawing closer, Chance in tow. She shifted her mischievous gaze from Alcina to Reed.

“You really shouldn’t have,” Alcina muttered.

A challenging glitter in his eyes, Reed asked, “Alcina Dale, where’s your spirit of fun?”

And before Alcina knew what was happening, he’d swung her into his arms for a dance.

As they did the Texas two-step, the newlyweds grabbed hands and rushed through the dancing crowd. Catcalls about their wedding night and handfuls of birdseed followed them. Alcina watched them go with a bit of envy, the emotion exacerbated, no doubt, by the man who wrapped his arms around her.

“Amazing, Chance settling down,” Reed said. “I never thought I’d see the day.”

“People do strange things when the love bug bites them.”

Alcina was only too aware of something nibbling at her.

After the disagreement that had punctuated their reunion, who would have thought she would end up in Reed’s arms? Being there felt too good for her peace of mind, Alcina decided. He was merely getting into the spirit of the occasion, while she was feeling things that made her chafe.

She wasn’t a teenager anymore…not even a young woman…so what was her problem?

While she’d thought of Reed fondly through the years, she hadn’t kept herself on a shelf waiting for him to realize that she was the one for him. She’d gone on with her life, to other men, other relationships. She’d returned to New Mexico after college in New York, but she’d soon had reason to return to the East Coast. Working as an interior designer, she’d met plenty of eligible New York bachelors. Her friends out East had considered her sophisticated when it came to matters of the heart after her seemingly easy split with Jeffrey.

But suddenly she was thrust back to the uncertainty of her youth. Sweaty palms. Palpitating heart. Overactive imagination.

Surely it was only her sentimental streak at work. That and a healthy libido.

The moment the music ended, Alcina thought to put a stop to her renewed attraction to Reed right then and there, but the band merely swung into a softer, easier piece, and he pulled her even closer. They fit together perfectly, his chin resting against her temple. His warm breath drifted across her forehead and shot goose bumps down her spine.

Alcina groaned.

“Am I holding you too tight?”

“No…yes.”

“Make up your mind. Which is it?”

Alcina made a big show of adjusting the bouquet that lay along his back. She murmured, “There, that’s better,” as if holding the flowers had been her problem.

“Mmm.”

She wasn’t about to let him know that he was the cause of her discomfort. But now his breath was tickling her ear. A tiny thrill traveled all the way down to her toes. She tightened her hold on the bouquet, and the fingers of her other hand pressed into the garter.

The significance of the wedding tokens didn’t escape her.

Despite her being a rational, sensible, self-reliant woman, she wished—only for a moment—that old traditions had some basis in fact. That a bridal bouquet and a garter really were good-luck charms that could turn her youthful fantasies into adult reality.

Then Reed turned his head to gaze into her eyes, and his face slowly inched closer, and a little smile played across his lips, and crazily—only for a moment—she thought he was about to kiss her.

Pulse jagging, reality returning in a rush, Alcina ended that moment fast.

She stopped dead on the dance floor and pushed at Reed’s chest until he released her. Staring at him, hardly able to catch her breath, she felt too foolish for words.

“Something wrong?” he asked, that knowing smile still flirting with his mouth.

“Something, yes…”

Like her heart pounding as fast as a freight train…

…and her knees softening to Jell-O…

…and her brain turning to mush.

“But don’t worry about it, okay?” she gasped.

With that, Alcina rushed off the dance floor and cut through the noisy revelers.

“Alcina, wait a minute,” Reed called.

Not stopping, she nevertheless glanced over her shoulder and saw him still standing on the dance floor, hands on his hips and staring after her as if she were a crazy person. So much for any attraction that had sparked between them, she thought. After this, added to their earlier fight, he’d be sure to keep his distance.

Chagrined, she fled toward the buildings and the refuge of her car that was parked on the other side. Not that she could go home, she realized—she’d promised Pru some quality time with her new husband.

She was thinking that she’d go for a long drive and was trying to visualize where, when a series of weird noises cut through her jumbled thoughts.

A muffled boom was followed by a high-pitched outcry…several horses, she realized…horrible noises tearing from their throats.

Equine screams that sent gooseflesh down her spine.

The music died abruptly and voices rose behind her as she ducked between buildings. Drawn to the disturbance on the other side, she gasped in shock and fear, and for a moment stopped, frozen at the sight.

The barn was ablaze and three horses milled about before it. The animals were trapped in the small corral adjacent to the burning building.

“Dear Lord!”

The blaze was growing, and as sparks shot into the dry brush surrounding the fence, the lines of fire spread so fast that Alcina could hardly take in the reality of what she was witnessing. Inside the corral, the screaming horses—three of them—stood out in dark silhouette against the orange glow. One of them reared, frantic hooves slashing at the pipe and wire fencing.

The gate!

Dropping the bouquet, Alcina ran for all she was worth as another explosion shot the flames higher and wider. If the horses weren’t freed fast, they would either burn to death or injure themselves, perhaps fatally, while trying to escape.

Unlatching the gate, she swung it open wide. Immediately one horse popped out as if greased and goosed.

Alcina whistled and shouted, “C’mon!” to the others. She stood back to give them a wide berth.

A second horse shot past her.

But a third continued to screech and dance in circles, seemingly too terrified to recognize the safety of the opening. And another whistle from Alcina didn’t seem to cut through his panic.

A roar of voices behind her told Alcina that help was on its way. Someone else who knew more about horses would have a better chance of rescuing the creature. A glance over her shoulder assured her that she was the only one close enough to help now before it was too late.

Heart pounding, she ducked through the opening. Someone cried, “Alcina, stop!” but she was too focused on the terrified horse to heed the warning.

“Easy,” she crooned. “I’m going to get you out of here. You’ll be all right.”

The horse snorted, threw up his head and rolled his eyes at her in distrust. He wasn’t going to come easily, that was for certain. Maybe if she got around behind him, she could drive him out.

As Alcina drew closer, the terrified horse acted cornered. Screaming, the bay reared, then bolted forward as if ready to drive right through her. Alcina tried her best to get out of his way, but she wasn’t fast enough.

Half a ton of panicked horse glanced off her shoulder. Alcina flew back, stars of pain and orange flames and flailing yellow silk filling her vision for the few seconds she was airborne. Then she landed hard, all the breath knocked out of her.

She couldn’t move.

The fire raged closer…its greedy heat licked her.

Stunned, she watched a spark land on the tip of her silk wrap.

Like a fuse, it ignited.

Chapter Three

“Alcina!” Reed cried again as the bay shot through the opening, scattering a handful of men who’d converged around the perimeter of the fire.

Fire…

Her shawl…

And Alcina wasn’t moving!

Fear squeezed his gut as Reed ducked into the corral even as she untangled herself from the material and rolled away from the new burst of flames. Mere seconds later, Reed was at her side, stomping on the burning silk. Voices rose behind him—Pa and Bart shouting orders to control the fire before it spread to the storage shed or bunkhouse.

Alcina was struggling to sit. Doused in the orange glow of the reflected flames, she appeared strangely calm.

“I’ve got you,” he muttered, swooping down and pulling her to her feet. “Can you walk?”

She choked out, “I think so,” but Reed realized she was having trouble breathing.

Cursing, he lifted her into his arms and carried her out of what had grown into a nearly complete ring of flames.

Men and women in their Sunday best had pitched in to fight the fire. A bucket brigade formed from a nearby horse trough and a stream of water from the garden hose hit the flames. People scraped an area ahead of the fire bare so it had nothing to feed on, while others shoveled loose soil over burning grasses or used wet burlap feed sacks to beat back the smaller flames.

And Bart seemed to be everywhere at once. In charge. In control. As usual.

But Bart’s being in the saddle was after the fact. He hadn’t been able to stop that fire from starting. Certain that he’d heard something weird, Reed was wondering exactly what had happened, when he noticed one of the guests leaving alone.

Vernon Martell.

Reed guessed the newcomer didn’t want to get his fancy leather jacket or new boots messed up.

Alcina pushed at his chest. “Reed, you can let me down.”

“If I did, I would probably just have to pick you up again.” His temper flared. “All that dry brush catching fire, whatever possessed you to go into that corral, woman?”

“That’s Alcina to you,” she said icily. “My being a woman has nothing to do with it. I was merely trying to save one of your precious horses from being added to Felice’s platters of barbecue.”

Reed figured Alcina hadn’t intended to be funny, but the black humor of her comment got to him, and he couldn’t help himself. He snorted. He couldn’t stop, either. Not all the way to the ranch house, where he carried her straight inside. The whole time, she lay in his arms, stiff as a cord of wood. Her lips didn’t even twitch once that he could see.

Reaching the deserted kitchen, he set her down and was relieved that she was steady on her feet. He probably could leave her alone in good conscience. After all, everyone was outside fighting the fire.

Everyone but the two of them.

Torn between a sense of duty and pity for the woman who had taken him away from it, Reed took a good long look at his older brother’s childhood friend, the daughter of their pa’s former partner and current enemy.

Grime streaked her dress and dappled her creamy skin. He skittered his gaze away from the top of her bodice where ash marbled her breasts, and let his eyes wander up her long, elegant, black-striped neck. Her hair was soot-laden, as well, and dirty strands tumbled from their pins. A regular bird’s nest, only not so neat.

“You’re a mess,” he stated flatly.

“You don’t look so great yourself,” Alcina grumbled.

Reed rubbed a smudge from her chin and then held it steady so he could gaze deeply into her eyes.

He was looking for a concussion…

What he got was caught.

He didn’t quite know how it happened, but when Alcina’s gray eyes went all wide and soft on him, Reed felt his mouth go dry and his gut knot.

“I—I really am all right,” she said. “Thanks to you. I do thank you for rescuing me.”

Alcina sounded oddly breathless.

Reed felt a little short-winded himself.

Still, he said, “Knowing you, you would have rescued yourself, given another minute or two.” He found himself smoothing a thumb over her grimy cheek. “But I’m glad I could be of service.” A little soot couldn’t hide her sheer beauty and Reed wondered why her looks had never impressed him before. “Dollars to doughnuts you really are all right, but I think you should see Doc—”

“No. Really. I’ll probably be bruised and stiff in the morning, but nothing’s broken,” she insisted. “He’ll merely tell me what I already know to do, sensible things like take a couple of aspirin, get in a hot shower and then apply an ice pack to the sore spots.”

She’d always been that beautiful, Reed guessed…but had she always been so stubborn?

He said, “If you won’t agree to see the doctor, maybe I ought to inspect those sore spots myself.”

Not that he normally worked on people; he usually kept his doctoring skills to ranch animals.

“I don’t think so.” Alcina’s gaze narrowed on him and she crossed her arms over her chest. “Our relationship isn’t that personal.”

Getting her drift, he muttered, “Oh.”

“Yes, oh!” she said with extra emphasis.

Which made him want to check all the more.

He was having a moment of clarity, Reed realized. Normally ambivalent about the women who passed through his life, he was more interested in Miss Alcina Dale than he should be, considering the way her daddy and his pa had been fighting mad at each other for years.

She shifted uncomfortably under his close gaze. “So maybe you’d better get back outside.”

“Right.” He backed off a bit, but suspicions were niggling at him. “Before I go, answer me something, would you?”

“If I can.”

“You beat everyone else to the barn.” He didn’t want to think the fire was anything but an accident, but after the cryptic hints about this and that going wrong on the spread that he’d gotten from Bart, he had to assume the worst. “You didn’t see anything unusual, right?”

“Other than the fire? No. But maybe you ought to ask Moon-Eye.”

“Why Moon-Eye?”

“He was out there earlier.”

“In the barn? When?”

“I saw him right before I spotted you with the dog,” Alcina said. “I mean, I really couldn’t see who the man was for sure, but I assumed that it was Moon-Eye…doing chores.”

Frowning, Reed shook his head. “As far as I know, Moon-Eye never left the party.”

“Then if he wasn’t in the barn…” Alcina’s forehead creased. “Who was?”

Who, indeed?

THE CRISIS WAS OVER, Alcina realized when she left the house a few minutes after Reed. Thankfully, the fire had been extinguished. Some people were standing around talking, while others were already heading for their vehicles.

Obviously, the festivities were over, as well.

Reba Gantry and her escort stopped nearby, their voices low in a heated discussion. The café owner’s finery had been ruined, but somehow Cesar Cardona had managed to remain picture-perfect, as if the land developer had stood back to watch the barn burn.

Reba’s voice suddenly rose, carrying across the few yards that separated them from Alcina. “I wouldn’t keep anything this valuable without trying to find the rightful owner!”

“It wouldn’t be like you stole anything!” Cardona growled. “Think of it as payment for the clothes you ruined doing your good deed. A reward.”

Puzzled, Alcina took a better look at the couple and noted something sparkly in the café owner’s hand.

Cardona continued to argue. “Anyone could have lost it. You’ll never find the person.”

“Not if I don’t ask around, I won’t.”

“Even if you do, how do you know whoever claims it is the rightful owner? What if I told you that I lost it?”

“I’d call you a damn liar and then some, Cesar Cardona. You don’t fool me none. I know the kinds of things you’ve been up to around here.” Appearing as disgusted as she sounded, Reba glanced around and, when she saw Alcina, headed her way, waving the sparkly object that was the focus of the couple’s argument. “Say, honey, you didn’t lose a diamond tonight, did you?”

Alcina shook her head. “I prefer pearls.”

“What about Pru? Could this have come from her engagement ring?”

Alcina took a closer look at the trillion—a triangular-shaped unmounted diamond.

“Nope. Wrong cut.” And unusual. “Where did you find it?”

Reba pointed. “Over by the entrance to the barn. Rather, what’s left of it. I was swatting down some flames with wet burlap when this beauty nearly jumped up and bit me.”

Staring down at the sparkling diamond in her dirty hand, Reba wore a wistful look. No doubt she would like the gem for herself, Alcina thought, admiring her honest nature.

She suggested, “It probably belongs to one of the other women who were fighting the fire in the same area.”

“Nope, already asked them.” Reba sighed and pocketed the stone. “But the diamond belongs to someone, so I’d better get a move on and spread the word that I have it before the party breaks up.”

The party had broken up with the first whiff of smoke, but Alcina didn’t bother clarifying.

“Cesar?” Reba called, making a one-eighty. “Now, where did that man go?”

Alcina spotted him climbing into his shiny black truck. “Uh-oh, looks like he lost patience with you. If you need a ride back to town, let me know.”

Following Alcina’s gaze, Reba muttered, “Well, I never…! He’d better not come back sniffing around me for what he’s not welcome to anymore, that’s all I have to say.”

With that, the café owner marched off and approached a small knot of people standing near the parked cars.

Alcina wasn’t aware of Hugh Ruskin until he said, “That was a real brave thing you did, ma’am, putting yourself in the thick of the fire to save that horse.”

Alcina knew the bartender only by sight and reputation since she didn’t frequent the Silver Slipper. And after the altercation between him and Bart over Josie, Alcina had to admit that she was surprised to see him on the Curly-Q at all.

“Nice that someone appreciated my effort,” she muttered, wondering if he’d been eavesdropping on her and Reba.