Heart Of Texas (Historical Romance) (25 page)

"I don't believe you."

"I guess it's time for me to tell you all about
myself."

"I asked you to tell me about your past the
other night, and you refused, and now I know
why. I don't care anymore."

He could hardly find his voice because she was
looking at him with such contempt. "I did tell you
that one day you would come to despise me, and
you do."

Her head dropped just a bit, but she brought
it up again. Standing there beside him, she still loved him; she still wanted him. She wanted to be
in his arms right now. There were tired lines beneath his eyes, and he looked like he was suffering. But she told herself it was an act to gain her
sympathy, and she would not fall for his trickery
a second time.

"I don't feel anything for you." Now she was
being untruthful; her need for him was stronger
than it had ever been. "To love a man I must
respect him, and he must be honest and honorable. You are neither."

He flinched as if she'd struck him. "I can see
how you might feel that way."

"What did you expect?"

He pulled out a chair and sat down. "If that's
fresh coffee on the back of the stove, I'd take a
cup." He rubbed his eyes. "If you don't mind."

She poured him a steaming cup and set it before him. The longer he remained in her kitchen,
the more her agony was prolonged. "Drink it
fast."

He looked at her, wishing he dared reach out
and take her hand, pull her onto his lap, and
make her believe him. He took a sip of coffee and
set the cup down. "I want to tell you about myself,
Casey. It's not a pretty story, and you will probably
be shocked." He raised his gaze to hers. "Another
thing I haven't told you is about my mother. She
was a full-blood Comanche. For the first thirteen
years of my life I lived with her. I'm proud of the
Comanche blood that flows in my veins, but I am ashamed of that part of me that came from Cyrus
Slaughter."

She didn't believe him. He wasn't an Indian.
"Don't, Gabe. I don't want to hear any more."

"Omous is my uncle, my mother's brother, and
Flint is my cousin. My Comanche family is very
devoted to me because of my mother, and they
have always helped me when I asked it of them.
They came here to help me protect your family."

Her gaze swept his face. What she had thought
to be a dark tan could be the darker skin of an
Indian. She knew he was waiting for her reaction.
"Your eyes are like your father's," was all she could
manage to say.

"No other comment-not how could I ever
have kissed you when I am nothing but a halfbreed?" He lowered his voice. "Or how did I dare
touch you?"

She heard the defensiveness in his tone. What
did he expect of her? "I am half English and half
Scottish. What does that make me?"

"Fortunate. Everyone accepts you for what you
are. Some people are not so fortunate."

Anger welled inside her. "How dare you say this
to me? Do you think I care who your mother was?
Although," she said, fighting for control, "I do
have some objections as to who your father is.
And I resent the fact that you brought Omous and
Flint here to keep an eye on us when you
couldn't."

When Gabe reached for her, she shook her head and quickly stepped away from him. Heated
words poured out of her. "Now that I think about
it, their arrival was very timely. They appeared to
rescue me the day Mr. Teague came here. You
must have staged the whole thing just for my benefit."

"I know this has all been a shock to you, Casey.
I never intended for you to learn that Cyrus is my
father in this manner." He stood up, shaking his
head. "There is nothing I can say that will change
your mind. I'll do as you say and leave." He
reached out and took her hand, raising it to his
lips. "I missed you while I was away. I couldn't wait
to get back here so I could see you."

She slid her hand out of his grasp. "I won't listen to any more. You should leave before Sam
gets up. And we haven't told jenny you are leaving. She... she liked you a lot."

"Casey." He shrugged, not knowing what to say.
"Tell her I'll get her another dog."

"No, thank you. If Jenny gets another pet, Sam
and I will give it to her."

His eyes closed for a moment. "It doesn't have
to end like this, Casey."

She turned back to the stove, clutching the skillet to keep from falling into his arms. She heard
the screen door open and close, and then his
footsteps faded in the distance.

Jenny chose that moment to come into the
kitchen, and Casey was glad. Otherwise she might
very well have gone running after Gabe.

Gabe rode down the deserted streets of San Bastion in a dark mood. He dismounted in front of
the log cabin that served as the area's Texas Rangers headquarters. If he didn't get some satisfaction from the Rangers, he didn't know what he
would do. He had nowhere else to turn.

When he entered the room, the man behind
the desk glanced up at Gabe.

"Can I help you?"

Gabe sat down on a wooden chair and stared
back at the ranger. "I hope so. I'm Gabe Slaughter from Mariposa Springs. The sheriff there
won't help me, and neither will the marshals in
Fort Worth or San Angelo. So I thought I'd try
the Rangers."

"Since I am well acquainted with the sheriff in
Mariposa Springs, I understand why you can't get
help from him."

The man was of medium build with dark hair and dark eyes. Gabe already knew him by reputation. He let nothing stand in the way of bringing
in the bad guy. "Are you Ron Harwood?"

"Yes, I am. And I know who you are, Mr. Slaughter. I also know about your pa."

"Then you probably already know why I need
your help."

The Ranger hooded his eyes but not quickly
enough to hide a glint of suspicion. "You're a
Slaughter, so I can't think why you would need
our help. Your pa's got an army of his own."

"That's why I'm here. Someone needs to protect the family on the Spanish Spur. Cyrus has
already caused them trouble, and there will be
more. The family is named Hamilton-Casey
Hamilton is the oldest; she takes care of her
younger brother and sister."

"I already know about that family, and I know
their situation. Bart Murdock asked me to send
someone to look after them. He said there was a
stampede on their place, and from what he said,
it wasn't an accident."

Gabe rubbed his eyes, which felt gritty from his
long ride. "Will you help them?"

"I can't figure you going up against your own
pa."

"Let's just say that there is no love lost between
my father and me."

Harwood nodded. "I do know about your situation. I've also been told how your sister, Nora,
died."

Gabe leaned back in the chair. "Look, I'm not
here to give you a history lesson on my family. I
just want to know if you are going to help the
Hamiltons."

Harwood glanced right into Gabe's eyes. "The
reason I know so much about your family is because there have been complaints about your pa
from other ranchers around Mariposa Springs. So
many, in fact, it seemed reasonable to investigate
him. I have someone watching him right now.
And," he said, leaning back in his chair, "I mean
to go down there myself and have a look around."

Gabe stuck his hand out, feeling relief. "Thank
you, Mr. Harwood. The Hamilton family needs
your help."

As Casey stepped out of Finnegan's General
Store, a gust of wind tore her bonnet off and sent
it sailing into the street. A man scooped it up and
walked toward her, offering it to her on the tips
of his fingers.

"You must be new to these parts or else you'd
have had that bonnet tied on so it wouldn't blow
away, ma'am."

She smiled and slipped it on her head, tying it
beneath her chin. "I am fairly new here."

"My name's Ron Harwood. I just arrived here
myself. I've been looking for work but haven't had
much luck yet."

"What kind of work, Mr. Harwood?"

"Ranching mostly-cowherding. I'm not good
at much else."

"I may be able to help you. But you will have
to come with me to see the town attorney, Mr.
Murdock. I want him to meet you before I agree
to anything."

Gabe had followed Casey into town, staying a safe
distance away so she wouldn't know he was there,
but close enough to protect her if she ran into
danger. He had held back when he saw her safely
enter Mariposa Springs. He even circled town so
he would enter it from a different direction than
she. What he really wanted to do was demand that
she not ride out alone, but she wouldn't listen to
anything he told her.

When 'he spotted the ranger with Casey, he
smiled. Harwood was a man of his word, and Gabe
was relieved Harwood had taken the danger to
the Hamiltons seriously.

Unknown to Casey, Fletcher and Omous had
been camping out on the Brazos so they could
watch for trouble. Gabe and Flint had set up
camp closer to the ranch so they could ride in
quickly if the need arose.

Sometimes at night, Gabe would visit Kate and
just sit on her front porch, watching the house.
He had even caught brief glimpses of Casey. Not
enough to fill his need for her. But at least he
knew she was safe.

He dismounted and met Harwood's gaze and caught the slight shake of his head, indicating he
didn't want to be recognized.

Casey stopped short when she saw him. "Good
day, Mr. Slaughter," she said in a frosty tone. "If
you will follow me, Mr. Harwood, I will lead you
to Mr. Murdock's office."

The ranger smiled and touched his hat. "Excuse me," he said, stepping around Gabe

Now what was that woman up to? Gabe wondered. And more than that, what was Harwood
doing with her? He had asked him to watch her,
not talk to her. The ranger was not a bad-looking
sort. In fact, women might find him handsome.

For the first time in his life, Gabe was experiencing a new emotion: jealousy.

He had already made up his mind that he
would visit the attorney later on and ask him why
Casey had brought Harwood to his office.

Casey had given Mr. Harwood directions to the
ranch after getting wholehearted approval from
Mr. Murdock to hire him. It seemed the two men
knew each other, and the attorney had a high regard for Mr. Harwood.

She crossed the street to Betsy's Tearoom. She
had enjoyed the sandwich she'd eaten there the
other time she had been in town.

Betsy gave her a cheery greeting.

"I remember you. I found out after you left the
last time that you inherited the Spanish Spur from
Bob Reynolds."

"That's right." Casey seated herself at a table.
"I'd like a cup of tea and a sandwich, please."

Betsy set a cup of tea in front of Casey.

"I only have ham today." -

"That sounds good."

As Betsy brought the sandwich, both women
spotted the tall, handsome man crossing the
street. Everywhere Casey looked, Gabe seemed to
be there. Her heartbeat jumped at the sight of
him. She wished he'd just go away.

"That's the man I'm going to marry," Betsy said,
moving closer to the window. "I get these palpitations in my heart when he looks at me."

Casey took a sip of tea. Kate had said at one
time that Betsy had planned to marry Gabe.
There was a puzzle here she couldn't quite grasp.
Kate had indicated that Gabe had not wanted the
marriage. "Has he asked you?"

"No." Betsy sighed as Gabe rode away. "And he
probably never will. I don't expect him to stay
around very much longer. You see, he and his pa
don't get on. They never have. I'm surprised
Gabe came back at all. He took it hard when his
sister, Nora, died. He blamed Cyrus for her death,
and so do many of us."

Casey shook her head. "He's probably made up
with his father."

"No. Pete Wilson, who works at the Case Mesa
ranch, says there's trouble between them. It seems
Cyrus wants this piece of property somewhere,
and Gabe is determined he won't get it."

Casey felt as though a knife twisted in her heart.
"Are you sure?"

"Yes. You see, Gabe never had anyone to look
out for him after his ma died, except his sister
Nora. His pa sure didn't."

Casey wasn't really listening to Betsy. She had
heard the story before from Gabe himself.

She had thought he had betrayed her, and she
was the one who had not believed in him. At the
first test of their love, she had let him down. He
had been innocent of everything she accused him
of. He had tried to explain, but she hadn't let
him.

She pushed the sandwich aside and stood. "I
find I'm not hungry after all." She gave Betsy
money and left as quickly as possible.

Casey felt ashamed. Gabe would probably never
forgive her, and she didn't blame him.

Still, doubt nagged at her mind, and it followed
her all the way home. Everything had pointed to
Gabe's guilt.

Casey didn't know that Gabe rode behind her,
keeping out of sight, just as he had on her ride
into Mariposa Springs.