Hunter's Moon (Hunter Family Saga; Half-Moon Ranch 1) (23 page)

Melinda decided it was time she took matters into
her own hands. If Brent Hunter didn't come to her,
she would go to Brent Hunter.

It was a bold and daring move, and more than a
little outrageous, but Melinda didn't care. When
she made up her mind to get something, she got
it. And she had made up her mind that she wanted
Brent.

Melinda knew her parents had been invited out
that afternoon, so it was the perfect opportunity for
her to sneak off and find Brent. She saddled her
horse and rode for the Half-Moon, excited about
seeing him again. Though it was true that he had spent last Sunday with the slut from the saloon, this
week it was her turn to see him.

Mrs. Brent Hunter. Melinda sighed to herself. She
liked the sound of that. Now if she could only
convince him.

Had she been less determined, she might have
felt a bit nervous about making such a long ride
on her own, but she had no time to waste
worrying. She was after Brent. Nothing else
mattered.

Jack saw the lone rider coming toward the house.

"Abby? You expecting some company?" he called
out to her.

"No, Papa. Why?"

"There's someone riding in," Jack told her.

Abby had been in her room, at his call she came
out. "Who is it?"

"It looks like that girl from town-that
Melinda-and she's till by herself."

Abby went outside with him to welcome her.

"Melinda," Abby said as the other woman reined
in and dismounted.

"Hello, Abby, Mr. Hunter."

"This is a surprise," Abby said.

"I know; I planned it that way. I wanted to
surprise Brent. Can you get him for me?"

"Brent's not here," Jack offered.

"Oh." Melinda's disappointment was obvious.
"Well, I can wait. Will he be back soon?"

"Brent doesn't live here with us anymore," he said
bluntly.

"I didn't know," she said, shocked and suddenly
worried that the man of her dreams was gone.
"Where is he? He hasn't left the area, has he?"

"No," Jack answered, although there were times
when he wished Brent were gone. "He just moved
down to the old cabin by the creek. You can find
him there."

"Could one of you show me how to get there?"
Melinda asked. She had no idea where the cabin was
and wasn't about to return home after riding all this
way without seeing Brent.

"Abby, take her out to the cabin," Jack ordered.

Abby didn't really want to see Brent. She was still
angry with him for moving out, but Papa had put
her on the spot.

"Give me a minute to get my horse," she told
Melinda. Her thoughts were not pretty as she went
out to the stable to saddle up Moon Racer. The only
thing that made her smile was the prospect of
surprising Brent with Melinda. It was going to be
interesting to see his reaction to her unexpected visit.

The day was passing blissfully for Brent and Crystal.
In their own way, they had each chosen to live for
the moment, and each moment they had together
was paradise.

When Brent was with Crystal, he allowed
himself no worries about his father or the work
around the ranch. He allowed himself to relax
and enjoy her company. Crystal, too, put from
her any thoughts that might ruin her time with
Brent. She took what pleasure she could, while
she could.

With their passion for each other momentarily
sated, they dressed and left the haven that was
Brent's bedroom.

"Want to go for a ride? I brought Honey here for
you.

"Oh, good, I'd like that." She was fond of the
horse and eager to ride her again.

They left the house to saddle their horses and
rode off to enjoy the peace and beauty of the
countryside. They followed the stream for a few
miles to a place where it formed a small pool.
Crystal convinced Brent to go wading with her.
She didn't splash him this time, but he still
started to chase her.

This time Crystal did not run from him. This
time Crystal ran to him.

Brent swept her up and carried her to the bank
and laid her upon the soft grass.

"I told you wading was fun," she said, drawing
him down for a provocative kiss.

Brent was tempted to take her again, right then
and there. The heat of her kiss told him without
words that she was ready and willing, but he held
himself under restraint.

"We'd better go," he told her, standing up and
moving away from her.

"Why?" Crystal asked softly. "I thought this was
our day to do whatever we wanted to do."

"It is," he answered, trying to deny the passion he
was feeling.

"Well, there's something I want to do." Her
words were an enticement.

"What?" he asked, his voice gruff as he struggled
to control his desires.

"I want to make love to you again," Crystal told him as she smiled up at him invitingly. She was
feeling terribly brazen, but right then it didn't
matter. All that mattered was being back in Brent's
arms.

Brent had always considered himself a man of
iron self-control. During the years he'd spent
building up the Half-Moon and paying off its debts,
he hadn't given a thought to his own pleasures. He'd
cared only about providing for his family and taking
care of business. And right now he knew he should
deny his need to make love to Crystal, but his desire
for her overruled all logic.

There on the soft bed of grass they came together in
a passionate blending that left them both exhausted.

They finally moved apart and got dressed again.

"I think I like spending Sundays with you,"
Crystal told him. "And I especially like going wading
with you." She added the last with a grin.

"I like wading with you, too."

He kissed her one final time, and then they rode
back toward the cabin.

"I wonder where Brent is?" Melinda said as she and
Abby looked around the deserted cabin.

"Knowing my brother, he's out working
somewhere. That's about all he does." To herself, she
had to admit that he'd done a good job of fixing up
the old cabin. It actually looked nice.

Melinda intended to change his devotion to work
just as soon as she could get her hands on him. But where was he? "It's Sunday. He should be enjoying
himself."

"I don't think we're talking about the same man,"
Abby said.

Melinda wasn't going to give up easily. "I'm going
to wait here for a little while. He's bound to show up
eventually. You can go on, if you want to."

Abby thought it was a little strange that Melinda
wanted to stay there at the empty cabin to wait for
Brent.

"I'll stick around for a while," she told her. "I
haven't seen much of him this week."

Inwardly, Melinda was angry. She didn't want
Abby anywhere around when Brent returned, but
there was no way to get rid of her. Melinda managed
a sickeningly sweet smile as they settled in together
to await Brent's return.

"There are horses tied up at the cabin," Brent
pointed out as they came within view. "One of them
is Moon Racer-I wonder what Abby's doing here. I
hope there's no trouble."

He urged Storm to a quicker pace, and Crystal
followed after him as he rode in.

"Abby?" Brent called out as he reined in before
the house and quickly dismounted.

He had just started up the porch steps when the
door opened and Melinda walked out.

"Hello, Brent," Melinda purred, meeting him on
the porch. "I've been waiting for you."

"Melinda?" He was caught completely off guard
by her presence. "What are you doing here?"

"Why, I came to see you. Your sister was kind
enough to bring me out here."

"Abby?" He looked past Melinda to where Abby
was only) ust now coming out of the cabin.

"She came out to the house looking for you, so I
brought her over here to see you," Abby explained
quickly.

Melinda gazed at him adoringly. Obviously she
was expecting a warm welcome from him. And then
Melinda heard the other horse coming.

"What is she doing here?" Melinda demanded,
her dreamy expression changing to an ugly sneer
when she caught sight of Crystal.

"Crystal is here as my guest today," Brent said
sharply, irritated by Melinda's audacity. He hadn't
invited her to the Half-Moon, and he had no idea
why she'd come so boldly on her own.

"But I came all this way just to visit with you,"
Melinda said, gazing up at Brent.

"Was there something that you needed?" he
asked.

Melinda blushed with humiliation. "No. No,
there's nothing I need."

She started down the steps, completely outraged
over how things had turned out. No wonder Brent
hadn't come to town this weekend! He'd been out
here-with that slut!

Melinda realized miserably that she'd ridden all the way to the ranch just to be with him, and he was
sending her away. He was ignoring her!

"I'll be going."

"Can you find your way back to town from here?"
Abby asked.

"Yes. I'll be fine." Melinda held her head high as
she left them. She wanted nothing more to do with
any of the Hunters. She knew the way to the main
road, and she would go straight back to town. Her
hope of winning Brent had been dashed. She tried to
think of another man in town as desirable as Brent,
but there wasn't one. No one measured up to him.
Bitterness filled her as she mounted up.

Crystal had been surprised to see Melinda come
out of the cabin when she rode up-and she'd been
a bit jealous. For a moment she'd wondered what
the other woman was doing there. But the abrupt
way Brent had sent her off eased her anxiety.

Abby said nothing for a moment as she watched
Melinda ride away. Then she looked at Brent.
"Woman trouble, big brother?"

"You have no idea."

"Never mind," Crystal said smoothly, dismounting
and going to stand at Brent's side. "I can see why any
woman would want to have your attention."

Brent looked down at Crystal, his expression
changing to one of affection.

"Honestly, if I'd known you were here, Crystal, I
would never have brought Melinda out to see
Brent."

Brent shot Abby another look of disapproval.

"All right. I'll leave." She started to go to her
horse.

"If you'll wait a few minutes, we'll ride over to the
house with you. I thought we'd come for dinner
tonight," Brent told her. "There's something I need
to talk to Pa about, and Crystal wanted to see both
of you again."

"All right, I'll wait."

"What did you think about Brent's moving here
to the cabin?" Crystal asked her. "He did a fine job
of fixing the place up, didn't he?"

"Yes, he did," Abby agreed. She said nothing
more, though, for she didn't want to share her true
feelings about Brent's moving out.

Brent saw the hurt in his sister's gaze. "Abby, I
told you that you can move in with me anytime."

Abby looked him straight in the eye. "I know you
did, but I'm staying at the house. Papa can't make
me leave, like he did you."

Brother and sister stared at each other for a long
moment.

"Well, if you want to eat, we'd better head back
now. Are you going to ride or drive the
buckboard?"

"We'll take the buckboard," Brent answered,
knowing he would have to take Crystal back to town
after dinner.

They rode for the main house. Crystal glanced
back once toward the peaceful setting of the cabin, and she smiled as she remembered their hours there.

Jack appeared to be glad to see Crystal again, and
dinner was pleasant. Brent wasn't looking forward to
talking to his father about what he'd heard in the
saloon the night before, but he knew he had to ask
him about it before he left to take Crystal back to
town.

"I need to talk to Pa for a minute. I'll meet you
outside," he told Crystal.

She went on outside with Abby to give them
privacy.

"What's bothering you now?" Jack challenged,
immediately taking the offensive.

"When I was at the Lone Star last night, the
bartender told me you were there drinking last
week."

"Yeah, so?"

"He also told me that Edmund was with you and
that you were talking about buying more property
for the Half-Moon."

"Talk is cheap."

"What did you and Edmund talk about?"

"He said there was some property for sale that
adjoined the Half-Moon."

"You didn't do anything stupid, did you?"

Jack glared at him. "Remember who you're
talking to!"

"I know exactly who I'm talking to! Don't forget I
know how you are when you're drunk!"

"You think you're so smart, but you don't know
anything!"

"What did you do?" Brent suddenly went cold.

Jack gave him a sly look. "Remember the Sullivan
ranch?"

"Iona Montgomery's place-the one that
belonged to her late husband? Edmund sold it right
after he married her. Why? What about it?" A sense
of dread filled him.