Cowboy's Bride (19 page)

"Have enough?" she asked sometime later as
be pushed away his plate and took a last sip of coffee.

"Plenty, thanks."

"Are you going to show me how to print the
reports now?" she asked brightly.

There was something wrong.
She wasn't sure
what, but he was definitely acting differently than yesterday.
As
if this was the first day they met.
Their conversation was almost
stilted.
Was he not a morning person?
Was that all there was to it?
No, she'd seen him most mornings at six, and it was after eight
now.
He'd never behaved this way.
Something was wrong, but
what?

He hesitated, then nodded.
"Okay, let's look
at what you've got so I can get going.
I've things I have to do
today."

She nodded and jumped up.
Leading the way to
the office, she wanted to tell him she wasn't holding him up.
Once
she knew how to run the reports and analyze them, she wouldn't need
help any more.
And the plans were well under way for the roundup.
If he didn't want to come over for a few days, it was fine with
her.
She'd manage just fine.

He sat behind the computer and flipped it
on.
Typing in various commands, he turned on the printer and sat
back.
Nothing happened.

He pressed a few more keys.
Nothing.

Puzzled, Kalli watched over his
shoulder.

"What are you doing?"

"Tying to run the reports.
Let me try this."
He typed a few more commands.
Nothing.

He glanced at her oddly, then typed a few
more letters.

"Kalli, there's no data."

"What does that mean?"

"I mean, there's nothing here.
I thought you
put all the information in."

"I did." A sick feeling hit her.
"You mean
there's nothing?"

"Did you save it each day like I showed
you?"

"Of course."

"Where's the backup disk?"

She looked blank.
"What’s a backup
disk?"

He sighed and looked at the computer.
"Something's wrong.
You said you finished inputting all the data,
but there's nothing here.
The last entry is for December, one I put
in when Philip was too sick."

"Nothing I input is there?" God, the hours
and hours she'd slaved over the blasted machine, and for nothing?
Had she done it wrong?

"How can that be?
I followed your
instructions perfectly.
I input into all the cells just as you
showed me.
I updated each record just like you showed me.
I saved
it every day, just like you showed me."

"There's nothing here, Kalli.
I'm
sorry."

She stared at the computer in total
disbelief.
She couldn't understand how all her hard work had
disappeared.
She'd followed the instructions perfectly.
She knew
she had.
She felt a sinking in her heart.
All the hours, for
nothing!
She’d have to do it all over again.

Suddenly she glanced at Trace.
He watched
her warily.
Awaiting an outburst?

Or was there more?

She couldn't help suspect something was
wrong--and not only with her computer.
Trace had acted funny all
morning.
He'd sidestepped their coming here to the office last
night by taking her to bed.
He’d planned to leave first thing, but
she'd reminded him of the computer.
Now there was nothing
there.

Horrible suspicions flooded her mind.

He had told her how to save the data.
What
if he'd told her wrong?
What if this was just a way to sabotage her
efforts so she'd get discouraged and give up the ranch?

He'd been acting oddly all morning.
Had he
known there would be nothing here?
Had he deliberately taken her to
bed last night when she'd mentioned wanting to run the reports to
distract her?
God, she felt sick.
He wouldn't have done that.
He
couldn't have.
There had to be some other explanation.

She cleared her throat.
"I guess I have to
rekey everything," she said calmly.
She would not reveal her
thoughts or the despair she felt.
She needed to think this through.
See if she had made an error.
It was possible—she was not used to
this kind of computer, nor this program.
And she couldn't believe
Trace would deliberately mislead her.
He was too forthright and
demanding.
He'd just flat out tell her things she didn't want to
hear, not sneak around behind her and erase hours and hours of
work.

Yet he was behaving so oddly.

Trace pushed back the chair and stood.
She
stepped back, feeling overwhelmed by his size, by his closeness.
Uneasy with the way her thoughts were heading, she wanted to be
alone to think.

"Kalli—" he started.

"No, don't tell me again how inept I am
about ranching.
I'll figure this out and get all the figures put
back in." She avoided his eyes.
Had he set her up?
Had he led her
to believe she was doing it correctly, only to have her spin her
wheels?
She remembered the endless hours and hours she’d spent
hunched over the damned keyboard.
How excited she'd been yesterday
when she'd finally punched in the last number and hit the save
button.

"Kalli."

"You'd better get on to your ranch.
I know
you have lots to do." She turned and led the way to the kitchen.
Standing stiffly by the table, she avoided his eyes.
Trace
hesitated only a moment before snatching up his hat.
He left
without a word.
She stood still, fighting tears of frustration as
she heard his truck start, depart.

Taking a deep breath, she turned and began
to wash the breakfast plates.
She had to input everything again.
Surely it’d go faster the second time around.
She sure hoped
so.

* * *

Tuesday was the day she'd selected to begin
the roundup.
Early that morning trucks hauling horse trailers began
arriving.
Before long her entire yard was filled with dusty
pickups, various trailers and over a dozen men and horses.

Kalli hadn't seen Trace in the intervening
four days.
But she refused to let it bother her.
Deep in the night
she'd dream of him, dream of them together.
But during waking
hours, she was too busy to miss him.
Too hurt and proud to call him
and ask if he was avoiding her.
The suspicions she'd had about
sabotage of the computer only solidified with his continued
absence.
Yet she couldn't believe he'd ever do something so
underhanded.

She greeted her neighbors and their
cowhands.
Josh was beside her, giving her clues as to who each was
and their importance in the area.
Many had helped with past
roundups, Josh and the other Triple T ranch hands reciprocating.
Kalli greeted each in a friendly manner and soon felt at ease with
these western men.
She rarely had problems relating to men, due in
large part to her brothers and her training in the medical
field.

Tom Hyden cornered her with a few friendly
words as the men began saddling horses, calling friendly insults to
each other and discussing the plan of attack.

"My wife wants you to come to dinner as soon
as we have this roundup done.
She's dying to meet the proper
Bostonian who dared to brave the wilds of Wyoming," he said with
teasing grin.

She liked him on the spot.
Laughing gently
in return, she nodded.
"I think I'll disappoint her.
Even my folks
have to admit they failed to turn me into a proper Bostonian.
They
think they have a maverick in their midst."

"Well, I reckon you'll fit right in here.
I
see Bob Marshall just pulled in, Trace behind him."

Despite herself, her eyes swung to the
drive.
She stared hungrily at Trace's truck as it found a spot and
pulled to a stop.
He climbed out at the same time another man got
down on the far side.
The cowboy went to the trailer ramp and began
offloading the two horses.

Trace's glance found Kalli and he nodded,
his eyes swinging around the yard.
He ignored the heat that sparked
in his body at the sight of her.
Four days had been too damn long.
He should have come over sooner and checked on things.
Now he
forced his mind to the roundup.
It should keep him busy enough to
keep his mind off Kalli.
It was a good turnout.
He'd have expected
nothing less from his neighbors.
They'd all be willing to help,
knowing Kalli was new and wanting to show their best side.
And for
Philip’s sake.
He’d been a good neighbor to them all.

He hadn't expected the kick in his gut at
seeing her laughing with Tom, however.
The older rancher was
happily married.
What was he hanging around Kalli for?

Hie last few days had been endless.
He'd
wanted to call her a dozen times.
Wanted to come by and see her
even more.
But he wasn't going to let himself succumb to weak
temptation.
He was not going to set himself up for a heart load of
hurt.

Disappointed when Trace continued to ignore
her, Kalli still listened carefully as he explained the game plan
to the men, pointing out the direction of the camp he'd chosen,
assigning rotating tasks.
The men were respectful, some of the
cowhands even admiring.
Surely a man such as he would never stoop
to taking advantage of a woman, no matter how much he coveted her
land.

"Now the camp’s close enough that food can
be easily transported from here, but far enough away to keep the
flies and cattle and dust from infiltrating the homestead.
Any
questions before we start?" he finished.

There were one or two, then the men mounted
and rode off, each knowing his own responsibility, each ready to do
his part.

In only a few moments, Kalli was alone in
her yard, with the dust still settling from the many horses.
She
sighed and turned to the bunkhouse.
She and Charlie would be
feeding this horde, and he'd said it was a full day's work every
day.

By the time they were ready to take dinner
to the camp, Kalli had an entirely new appreciation for Charlie and
his cooking.
There was enough food for a small army.
Knowing how
much Trace ate, she could imagine each of the men would put away
just as much.
Her brothers always ate enough individually to supply
a family of four.

Charlie easily handled the logistics of
moving the food and keeping it hot from years of practice.
Ready to
go, they climbed into the truck and headed for the action.

It seemed like utter chaos when Kalli and
Charlie crested the rise that separated the branding area from the
home base, but in only seconds she could see some sort of rough
choreography.
Each man performed his assigned task.
There were the
ropers who lassoed the calves and drew them to the men on the
ground.
The teams on the ground flipped the calves to their sides,
quickly castrated, then notched one ear while a third man pressed
the hot brand onto the flank.
In less than two minutes, the calf
was released to run bawling back to the herd, seeking its
mother.

More men hearded cattle from the far reaches
of the ranch.
Several kept the branded calves from mingling with
the unbranded.

It was hot, dusty and noisy.
Kalli watched
in stunned awareness for a long moment, long after Charlie climbed
out of the truck and began setting up the chow.
It was awesome.
Nothing like the romantic notion she had of cattle drives.
The
noise was appalling, calves bawling, men swearing, searing sizzles
of the brands, deep bellows of the mother cows.
Horses snorted and
hooves pounded.
The stench of burning flesh, blood and sweat
mingled with the dust flying in the field that had earlier in the
day boasted green grass.
The sun beat relentlessly on the scene.
Wrinkling her nose in distaste, Kalli thought back to her pristine
hospitals.
The sterile atmosphere was sometimes sundered by the
trauma of the injured, but quickly restored.
What a contrast.