Hell's Belle (8 page)

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"Holy
mackerel, will you look at that?"

The other men
cleaning out stalls paused at the sound of Jordan's surprised voice. He stood
in the open doorway, gazing toward the river. "Wonder what brings
her
out our way?"

Jordan had no
sooner asked the question when a rake handle clipped his left ear and Henry
Dobbs shot past him at a trot. Jordan cussed, picked up the rake, and squinted
into the afternoon sun. Dobbs was headed right toward the woman. Jordan
scratched his head and glanced at his companions in confusion. They were all
staring after Dobbs, too.

"Christ, ever
seen him act like that before?" Jordan asked.

"Nope,"
one of the men answered slowly. "Mebbe she cast one of them love spells on
him."

"Yeah, why
else would he rush over to her like some long-lost kin? That can't be
good."

"Somebody
better get the boss."

Jordan sighed and
headed for the house. Delivering unwelcome news to Delancy Mitchell generally
fell to him. The duty was even less appealing than usual today, because Jordan
knew Del was going over his books, calculating profits and expenses. Trying to
figure out how he was going to pay for the damages to the woman's storefront in
town.

"Del, that
Miss Bell from the emporium is headed here. Dobbs went out to greet her. Seemed
to be acting a little funny, but maybe it's—"

Del's head jerked
up. "What do you mean?"

"Well, he ran
out of the stable like his pants were on fire, right to where she's walking
along the riverbank."

"She's alone?
Why would she come all the way out here? I agreed to settle up with her uncle.
Planned to stop by there tomorrow. Tried going by earlier today, but nobody was
around. The place was locked up."

"Well, maybe
she was busy. You know, out gathering eye of newt, or something."

Del glowered.
"I told you all that was a load of manure. Where is she?" Del
followed Jordy out of his office to the stretch of gravel that led down near
the water a short distance from the ranch house.

"Afternoon,
Miss Bell," Del said in a level tone, touching his hat brim. He didn't
want to act overly friendly, but wanted to make it clear in front of his men
that there was nothing to fear from a harmless gal. "Your kin didn't come
along for this powwow?"

"My uncle and
cousin have gone to Reno for supplies. Some of our stock was…had to be replaced
after the accident last week. And Uncle Fletcher said he'd be ordering more
glass. This was the first chance he had to take care of the window."

Realizing nothing
particularly of interest was being discussed, most of the men had drifted back
to their chores. All except Henry Dobbs, who loitered next to the girl. Del
gave him a look of dismissal, but the boy stood firm. Del cocked his head.
"You need something?"

Dobbs looked from
Del over to Jordan Zoyer and swallowed. "I, uh…I reckon I need to talk to
you. But…" He swallowed again and looked at the girl. With a peculiar
expression that bordered on horrified or abashed.

Del got an
immediate and awkward sinking feeling in his belly. Dobbs was indeed acting
strange, like Zoyer warned. Maybe he was going to ask for some time off. He was
standing mighty close to the Bell girl.

"I don't think
this is the right time," Del stated firmly. "We got a whole herd of
mustangs need gentling, plenty of work to be done. This young lady and I have
business to discuss. I'll talk to you later, Dobbs. Ma'am?" He waved a
hand toward the house.

She quickly
blurted, "Oh no! I mean, that's very gracious of you, but if…Henry's just
wondering if he could have a few minutes to…" Twila paused, noticing Henry
was now beet red with a pleading look in his eyes. He was silently beseeching
her not to give away his secret and admit he'd been secretly helping her for
weeks.

Considering the
standoffish way the other men had regarded her, she realized he felt even more
compelled to keep their association mum. He didn't want to find himself treated
like a pariah too, just because he'd been kind to the local Jonah. She didn't
want to get him in trouble with his boss, either. She never meant to disturb
ranch operations or find herself confronting Del Mitchell. Her problems weren't
worth poor Henry jeopardizing his position.

She took an
apologetic tone. "I spent the afternoon down by the river. I'm afraid I
didn't realize it had grown so late or how far I'd walked. Henry was hoping
you'd let him give me a ride back to town."

"Uh, yessir,
that's it. That's what I was gonna ask. If I could take her back to the
store."

"But if that's
a problem," Twila interjected, "I—"

"No
problem," the boss man cut in, staring hard at Henry, who squirmed under
the intense scrutiny of those blazing blue eyes.

"I'd like to
use the buggy, Mr. Mitchell. Won't be gone but an hour."

His boss ignored
the request and glanced back at Twila. "Stopped by awhile ago. Nobody was
around. Your uncle know you weren't minding the store while he went after supplies?
Planned to see him maybe tomorrow or the next day. Won't mention I was by
today, or that you're standing on my land right now, if that would cause a
difficulty for you."

Del could have
sworn he saw her golden eyes tear up, but she swiped a lock of auburn hair that
blew near her face, and when she glanced back at him, she appeared calm and
collected. "You may tell him anything you like."

"All right,
then. Dobbs can give you a ride back. Your uncle due back tomorrow?"

"Yes, sometime
before noon, I think."

"Have chores
and things to attend to here, myself. I'll meet him in the afternoon and we'll
take care of the damages. Let him know to expect me."

She nodded and
looked to Henry.

Del didn't care for
the growing certainty that
something
had blossomed between Miss Bell and
one of his ranch hands. He didn't know why it chafed him to realize she'd grown
friendly with the young wrangler. Dobbs was a decent kid…But somehow Henry's
character wasn't the point for Del. It was the
something
that chafed,
especially if it was any sort of budding romance. The girl's uncle would chew
up a kid like Henry and spit him back out like a piece of bad jerky. For pity's
sake, Henry had only taken to shaving regularly a few months before.

But Del couldn't
overlook the facts. The gal had walked the several miles from her family's
emporium clear out here, for no apparent reason…Except the obvious awkward
something
neither she nor Henry would fess up to, unless it was truly all about a cozy
little buggy ride.

Del hated this part
of his job. He paid wranglers to work, but he also looked after them. Their
welfare, their safety…he couldn't let young Dobbs walk into a buzz saw without
trying to prevent disaster. And tangling with this particular gal, considering
the sentiments in town, was water way too deep for a green kid. Del focused on
their female visitor.

"You know,
Jordan—the other fellow who was here with me a couple minutes ago—he often goes
into town to play cards in the evenings. The men are finishing up their chores
for the day. Why don't you join us for supper, Miss Bell, and I'll have Jordy
give you a ride back afterward, since he's likely heading your way
anyhow?"

She looked like she
wanted to faint at the suggestion. An invisible filament wound around Del's
guts and squeezed even as she cast about for an excuse.

"I wouldn't
want to impose, and it wouldn't be proper for me to stay out past dusk. But
thank you, sir."

"Oh,
right," Del drawled, as if just chewing on the notion…ignoring the fact
that it wasn't technically proper for her to have come wandering along the
river alone out to a ranch full of men in the first place. He glanced back at
Dobbs. "Well, why don't you go get that buggy hitched up, while Miss Bell
and I review the list of what I owe for?"

Henry obediently
disappeared. Del placed his hand on the small of her back, and gently guided
Miss Bell toward the house.

"I really
shouldn't go inside," she protested weakly. "I hardly know you. I
shouldn't have come. I realize that now. But I can't…it wouldn't be
seemly."

Like she could
attain even "seemly" in the eyes of this town.

Del realized it was
true, though. She didn't know him. Now that they were alone, he wanted to
remedy that situation. He watched her blush prettily now and realized something
even more surprising than her spontaneous visit. Dobbs wasn't man enough
yet…but Del himself certainly was. He could handle this strange girl…in fact,
he
wanted
to.

He wanted to remedy
the situation of them being strangers. He wanted to kiss her, feel his arms
around her. Have those golden eyes of hers—hell yes,
bewitching
eyes, if
he was going to be honest with himself about how this girl affected him—have
those eyes staring up into his own as he bent to taste her.

Maybe there was
something to talk of her being unusual, after all. Not in the ridiculous, scary
way folks were saying. But Del couldn't recall the last time he'd barely spent
two minutes in the company of a girl and found himself so….stirred by her.
Itching to taste her.

Of course, he
wouldn't be so bold as to actually try to kiss her. Today was only the second
time he'd even laid eyes on her. But he couldn't stop looking at her mouth and
thinking about how it would taste. She stared down at her feet and the dust. He
stared at her bottom lip and wondered if it tasted like honey or wildflower nectar.

Then he mentally
shook himself. Had he been worried about young Dobbs? If he didn't stop his own
carnal train of thought before it pulled out of the station, she'd be able to
look at his trousers and guess the nature of his thoughts. He led her just to
edge of the porch and its shaded overhang.

"Are you in
love with him, or is he just a convenient way to escape?"

She jumped as
though he'd tossed a lit tumbleweed at her.

He felt like he'd
lit one and had it bounce back in his own face. What the hell had made him ask
a crazy thing like that?

"Why would you
ask such a strange question?" she demanded, clearly upset. "Mr. Dobbs
is a friend. That's all. My
only
friend in these parts. He stops by the
store occasionally. Since I knew he worked out here, I thought it wouldn't be a
terrible imposition to ask for a ride back. This
is
a horse ranch."

"Yeah, and I—"

"But I see
you're just like everyone else in this godforsaken excuse for a township. Quick
to make assumptions and judge others."

That
made him see red.

"No, I'm not.
In fact, I'm probably the only man in this whole place who's furious over the things
folks have been saying about you. I know the gossip is a load of manure. I was
there
when the horse crashed into your place, remember?"

"Yes."

It wasn't a spoken
word exactly. More of a hiss that dissolved into what Del knew had to be a
feminine sob. But she'd turned away, and he'd chosen the shade of the porch,
which kept things cloaked in a bit of mystery. He'd wanted to pretend this was
some sort of civilized parley. Ha! They were both too jumpy for that.

Both
.

Del realized with
some astonishment that they were too deeply aware of each other on a primal
level for this to be anything but an awkward confrontation. She wasn't
interested in Henry the way he'd first thought. Oh no. She was nervous and
skittish because of Del himself. Almost afraid to look right at him. Blushing,
mortified…yet it wasn't due to rumors or what others thought of her. She'd been
brave enough to come on to his land, with a bunch of cowpokes giving her the
stink eye. No, the real nervousness started once they found themselves alone
together.

He
wasn't the only one imagining
kissing, maybe a whole lot more…

He cleared his
throat. "My given name is Delancy, Miss Bell. I'd be a darned sight more
comfortable if you'd use it. Be honored to do the same with you, but we've
never been formally introduced. Let me see if I remember…Lila, was it?"

Now she turned
around and looked at him as though he'd handed her half the diamonds in King
Solomon's mine. Her smile dazzled like noon sun on the Truckee. "Close.
Twila," she corrected.

He offered his
hand, and she slid her smaller palm atop his. "Honored to make your
acquaintance, ma'am." Del suddenly wanted her to keep smiling like that,
to keep looking like there was something to like, a reason to be happy in this
remote township. So he made it easy for everyone.

"And now that
we've officially become acquainted, I hope you'll count me among your friends
in Wadsworth. Next time you find yourself down here by my spread, maybe you'll
stay to supper and let me drive you home. Ah, here's Henry, with your
chariot."